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.
Just opened up my 210MBE...
- Thread starter miner49er11
- Start date
Ok this thread has gone full circle more than once now. I'm out. Let me know if Bob Gallien chimes in again because until then, it's the same posts over and over.
Out of curiosity, what was the orientation (flat on the floor.., tilted back?) and location (approx. distance from from room corners or walls) of the MB210 which you tried, and did you compare it to other amps set in the same posture and location?
I compared it to an MB115 sitting right next to it. Both were on the floor and I was sitting on a stool several feet away. The MB115 has some mids - the MB210's mids are a nonexistent mess and I had to turn the bass almost all the way down to get any mids (and you can imagine what that did to the sound).
Thank you for supplying this context.
TalkBass is a forum where I see some new MIA Fender owners asking for advice on which pickups they should get.
Mod fever in its various forms appears to be epidemic on TB and it would seem that stock bass cab modifications may become popular as well.
The pre-purchase 'knuckle test', and the before-I-sell-this-thing-let's-try-some-additional-bracing-and/or-batting may save some players a load of cash in the long run.
Sure, there's science involved in all this but it's also business.
Follow the money
The new GK MBE combos are inexpensive and light weight. Seems like something had to give somewhere to make that possible. Not that I know what it is or why. I'm just saying I'm not sure I'd simply take someone's word for it when I know they stand to benefit financially from a certain decision. I think investigation and experiementation are fair ideas.
Thank you for supplying this context.
TalkBass is a forum where I see some new MIA Fender owners asking for advice on which pickups they should get.
Mod fever in its various forms appears to be epidemic on TB and it would seem that stock bass cab modifications may become popular as well.
The pre-purchase 'knuckle test', and the before-I-sell-this-thing-let's-try-some-additional-bracing-and/or-batting may save some players a load of cash in the long run.
I'd never advocate modding pointlessly, but these cabs are such a tremendous bargain that if one has to spend an hour tuning up the bracing and lining the walls I would consider it money well spent.
I don't say necessary because tons of cabinets sound fine to most people without it. But it should seriously open up your mids to line the cabinet. I like quilt batting to about 2 inches deep myself. It's the lightest option and works fine if the cabinet is braced sufficiently.
Is it better to use lining than to not? absolutely. Will everyone see a positive difference? no. Will anyone see a negative difference? Doubt it.
Is it better to use lining than to not? absolutely. Will everyone see a positive difference? no. Will anyone see a negative difference? Doubt it.
A couple of questions...where do you get this batting, and how much weight do you think it would add to a combo like the MB212?
I'd check with them beforehand as to whether the speakers are still covered if you do something like lining the cab. Speakers are only covered for a year though so probably not going to be an issue for most people.
I like the sound of my GK MB 115, I was thinking about adding to it but the efforts would be for minimal gains if any, perhaps it sounds so great because it was designed like that. It's a custom driver for the enclosure and amp, that's why it's so loud. Perhaps the tone of the unlined box was taken into account when designing the amplifiers voicing.
Why isn't everyone who has a Markbass combo pulling it apart to replace the pizeo tweeter. For the price that MarkBass commands they should come with a proper compression horn. I don't hear anyone complaining about that. Another reason for selling my Markbass LM is because I could not stand the fan noise, perhaps I should have replaced it with a more expensive quieter fan, why does it spin at full power all the time, come on, this is class D, them fans must be a cost cutting measure to make those LM's so affordable right !
Why isn't everyone who has a Markbass combo pulling it apart to replace the pizeo tweeter. For the price that MarkBass commands they should come with a proper compression horn. I don't hear anyone complaining about that. Another reason for selling my Markbass LM is because I could not stand the fan noise, perhaps I should have replaced it with a more expensive quieter fan, why does it spin at full power all the time, come on, this is class D, them fans must be a cost cutting measure to make those LM's so affordable right !
FYI, the LMII is a class A/B amp (which is at least part of the reason why it sounds so fat and warm, and why a fan is needed). The fan is literally whisper quiet though (can't hear mine even if you put your ear up to it). If yours made noise, it was faulty and should have been replaced. It happens sometime.
Regarding the piezo pickups in some of the lower end MB cabs, many complain about them... they are horrible, and tend to fail. The compression horns in many MB cabs are great though.
The idea that a 'custom driver and head voicing' could result in not needed lining material for a cab makes me giggle a bit. However, +1, at the price point, if it sounds OK, what the heck.
Is the cab ported or not? If it is then it's not a good idea to add damping as it will defeat the object of having the port, which is to add better low frequency response. You can add damping to a non ported enclosure and this will smooth out the boomy frequencies but you will lose a bit of volume. I have obtained satisfactory results with lots of different cabs of varying quality simply by having an amp with a good EQ facility i.e. lots of bands and a high Db boost/cut, and then experimenting a lot until I find the smoothest frequency response right down to the lowest string.
Yeah, that MB LM fan was too loud, I thought that was normal as all the ones I came across sounded pretty much the same. The fan noise irritated both myself and my Chihuahua's, one would always stare at the rig trying to figure out what's with the noise, then the other 2 would start barking at that one.
Strange... Again, the unique class A/B power amp with SMPS design of the LMII/III does require more cooling than the typical class D units, but fan noise rarely if ever is mentioned as an issue with these heads. I guess if you are in a very quiet, solo situation, playing extremely softly, you might be able to hear the fan if you were close to the unit. I guess we are all sensitive to different things.
Anyway, glad you found a rig you dig... that's what it is all about!
I would surely like to hear Mr G's take on all this. I wonder if he tried it with and without damping, and settled on without.
I recently started using my Carvin LS 1503 (w/3015LF) again and could sure tell the difference after adding damping to the two side walls (the rear was already lined). This cabinet also sounds like a bongo drum when you knock on the top, so I'll probably add some bracing next time I pop it open.
I recently started using my Carvin LS 1503 (w/3015LF) again and could sure tell the difference after adding damping to the two side walls (the rear was already lined). This cabinet also sounds like a bongo drum when you knock on the top, so I'll probably add some bracing next time I pop it open.
