Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I just bought one of these today from Gob Instruments off Reverb for around $40 shipped:
Guy Hacco, the guy who builds these things, e-mailed me back to say that this unit operates in about the 50-250hz range.Seems to be passive. Let us know how it works out.
Really interested in how it works out for you. Please test it out and let us know!
If it's passive, that range may vary with the impedance of the input signal. For instance, an active bass plugged directly into it may react quite differently than a passive bass. Not knocking it though. It's a very cool concept for the price. In fact, I was actually just looking at those on Reverb the other day! Let us know how it works out. I'd be interested in seeing a schematic or a pic of the guts. Maybe there's a transformer in there?
I assume that if it has neither a battery nor a power brick that it is
Thank you - I have an fDeck HPF3, which can be dialed down to 35 Hz.(at 12 dB/octave fixed + 12 dB/octave variable; 24 db/octave in total). For the vast majority of rigs and situations, that's more than low enough, but sometimes I want (or think I might want) something that goes a hair lower.
I like that it's 24 dB/octave, though. I think I'd like that better than the 12 dB (last I checked) of the Broughton stuff, though I haven't tried it yet - there are arguments for the shallower slope and I suppose that, as with most things, it would depend on the situation.
I could be wrong, MarkA but if the FDeck starts at 35Hz, I believe it HPFs everything BELOW 35Hz so I believe it's already doing the job you want.
My original post indicated I was HPFing below 20Hz but as it is pointed out above it really starts at 25Hz.
I do want to thank Keyboardguy for posting the photo. I believe I've set mine closer to 7:30 (60Hz?), probably only need it at 8:30.
@shadven posted:
I bought one (Mesa WD 800) about 10 months ago.
I love it and I gig with it fairly often. But, I am an Ampeg tube guy (Marshall and Fender tubes too). So, I don’t like tone quite as much as my favorite Ampegs (V4B and vintage B-15), but the WD-800 sounds great and you have a lot of control.
The HPF is awesome!! On loud gigs on boomy stages it is a god send! I can’t sing the HPF praises enough!
I also bought the Subway 2x15 cab (55 lbs) and it is almost as loud as my SVT with 8x10 cab. I’ve rocked some big outdoor stages with that rig.
Last edited:
Welcome to the clan, a HPF is awesome! It sure can clean up a live gig!
Oops! Started to reply when I read this initially, weeks ago, then got sidetracked.
Thanks for posting - and sorry that I was unclear. I should have said "starts filtering a little lower than 35 Hz" rather than "goes a little lower..." which, on re-reading, is a misleading way of putting it.
I'm aware that the HPF3, however it is set, is always filtering all content below 35 Hz. I think that this starting point is more than low enough for most situations (including most rigs), but I'd be interested to try something that could be dialed to start filtering down in the 25-30 Hz range (though it, like the HPF3, would affect frequencies slightly higher than its specified corner frequency).
I do like that the HPF3 is nice and steep (24 dB/octave below 35 Hz and 12 dB/octave from where the adjustable filter is set down to 35 Hz) and think the stacked fixed/adjustable filters are a useful design.
Mine, until recently, spent most of its time on my rarely-utilized pedalboard. I've put a battery in it, though, and tossed it (with a short cable, small screwdriver, and a spare battery) in my gig bag - I'm more likely to use it that way, particularly when I'm at a jam session or otherwise playing through a rig that's not my own.
Last edited:
@Mike Arnopol posted:
All of the drivers that I know that aren't designed exclusively for subs--all of the woofers used in bass cabs---have a free air resonance of 40 to 50 hz. They don't work well under that.
Most reflex cabs are tuned (typically) in the 42 to 50 hz range. What this means is that any frequency under that tuning frequency--the speaker behaves as in free air. Which means that it's flopping around aimlessly.
What this means is that when you play a note under that tuning frequency--typically under 42hz (or higher in many cases) The speaker is just flopping around trying to reproduce that note.
What happens is that since the cone movement is uncontrolled, the second harmonic (octave) is being reproduced poorly as the cone is uncontrolled.
The second harmonic is what we key off of for pitch. That second harmonic then is boomy and uncontrolled. This is the reason that many guys (correctly) say that having that extension causes too many problems on stage---not the fact of reproducing 30hz.
People should use a HPF set to around 40hz. All of a sudden the B string tightens up and you lose the boom. Running a reflex cab without a HPF will result in a crappy B string sound .
So if you have a Meatbox or the like in front of a HPF, does one cancel out the other so you hear nothing but clean tone? This is a serious question.
That's some very good advice. As a side note, one outlier is Mike Arnopol. According to his home page, his 8" driver has an fs of 31 Hz! I think he's using a different version of that speaker now, so that spec could've changed slightly.
@redstrand
"I concur, I liked the (Mesa d) 800+ but I really love the (Mesa) WD.
I can dial in a great tone with every bass I have, Some amps don't like my Rics (and new P bass with the Nordenbacker) but the WD is able to take it to a new level, fat full round tone.
The Mid forward helps everything and just a quick bump with the HPF and no mud.
Only needs about 10-15% and no boominess or any mud, the low end tightens up and I just dig it
