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new cab for down tuning

#21
-Cab 'ratings' for both wattage and frequency response are usually pretty suspect. Don't believe them.

-Seldom do players really need to go as deep as they think, and seldom do cabs really go as deep as companies want you to think.

-If you really could go that deep, you'd really just be creating a sonic mess in the room. And/or you'd be expending a whole lot of wattage for no gain. You'd also be risking excursion damage to speakers for no gain.

-FDeck's HPF3 is a great little unit. I use mine pretty much any time I play, and it doesn't 'gut' your sound...just takes care of the 'negative lows'.
 
#24
Try boosting some of the second and third harmonic frequencies and you'll be amazed how much low end you hear. Then try only boosting the fundamental frequency and you'll be amazed at how insignificant that sound can be compared to the first test. So, +1 on high pass filter, but +2 on really figuring out your eq. Try to get your hands on a multiband, or better yet, digital preamp and see what frequencies sound like what. Use that as your starting point to figure out how to solve your problem.
 
#25
It should be noted that ported cabs are much more susceptible to low frequency damage than sealed cabs, as once you go below their port tuning they effectively loose all dampening effects of the enclosure. In most cabs, that's up in the 40's or 50's, which contributes to the muddiness so many people mention in the low frequencies.

With a busy bassline, the low frequency notes can often run together just from room harmonics alone. But I find the slower basslines can often get a nice punch from that fundamental 36Hz primary from drop D tuning, such as Linkin Park.

The downside, of course, is that sealed enclosures are only half as efficient as ported.
 
#30
I know all the spec nerds are going to jump all over me for this (as they usually do) but i tune as low as g# and f# (below B) with my 7 string. My favorite cabs are the ampeg 810e and 410he. To get super low frequencies i send an xlr from a sans amp RBI to foh. No cab has the range you can get with an xlr.

For some situations the hlf works very nice also. Like if your normal gig is playing covers at a restaurant or bar where the bass isn't going through a pa. The hlf works great in that situation. It also works nice if you just like a tone of 40hz boom. But for me i rarely play without going through a pa with subs. So really there are plenty of options out there because different cabs are better in different situations. one thing i will say though is I'm all about ampeg classic cabs reliability. I've played so many shows and never had any issues with them. I had my 810e for over a decade and never had an issue. Other brands id be lucky to get a year out of a cab without cone creasing on speakers, blown horns, or speaker cable jacks wearing out. I push my cabs hard and they keep on taking it.
 
#31
swamp_bass said:
It should be noted that ported cabs are much more susceptible to low frequency damage than sealed cabs, as once you go below their port tuning they effectively loose all dampening effects of the enclosure. In most cabs, that's up in the 40's or 50's, which contributes to the muddiness so many people mention in the low frequencies.
Click to expand...

True in general, but tune a cab properly for the range of frequencies it will see, and its excursion-limited power handling (and SPL) over that range will surpass that of an equivalent sealed cab.
 
#32
I mean no disrespect to the OP who is asking a very legitimate question IMO. But I have to ask, if all this new music is calling for drop "???" tuning, and no cab can realistically reproduce it, including your typical club P.A., and the solution seems to be HPF anything below say 50Hz with a 12-24dB per octave filter, why would you want to bother with drop tuning at all? Why not just play an octave up? I mean, sure a Meyers or Danley can handle it, but most clubs are high-passing their subs at 35-50 Hz anyway because they don't want to run the risk of blowing their very expensive cabs either due to low frequency excursion. (And sub-bass crap is much more likely to get into a PA sub than a bass cab. Just dropping a mic on the stage will do it.)
 
#34
downtuning is about much more than the fundamental you get on your open low string. there are a variety of other reasons it might be desirable. think of how low sabbath was tuning for their time. what bass amp on the market was engineered to handle that?
 
#35
BFunk said:
But I have to ask, if all this new music is calling for drop "???" tuning, and no cab can realistically reproduce it, including your typical club P.A., and the solution seems to be HPF anything below say 50Hz with a 12-24dB per octave filter, why would you want to bother with drop tuning at all? Why not just play an octave up?
Click to expand...

With F#1 your overtones are spaced 46 Hz apart, whereas with F#0 your overtones are spaced 23 Hz apart, give or take. So even if your rig has to be high-passed to protect it from the fundamental, and even if the first overtone is barely there, you still have a richer harmonic sequence with the drop tuning.

I've never done a down-tuning-friendly cab, but now I wanna.
 
#37
monsterthompson said:
easy, tiger. you've got some hathor pipeline to start pushing out first :D
Click to expand...

Well you guys get GAS and I get something similar, only I want to design & build instead of own & use.

Actually one of the Hathor cabs in the pipeline will deliver the first overtone of low F#, but I get the impression that's still just entry-level around here.

I remember a few years ago exchanging e-mails with Skip Fantry of Knuckle Guitar Works, and he was talking about tuning to E0. I chickened out of trying to do a cab for him to try.
 
#40
Nephilymbass said:
I know all the spec nerds are going to jump all over me for this (as they usually do) but i tune as low as g# and f# (below B) with my 7 string.
Click to expand...
You play a 7 string bass???!!!! DAMN!
BFunk said:
I mean no disrespect to the OP who is asking a very legitimate question IMO. But I have to ask, if all this new music is calling for drop "???" tuning, and no cab can realistically reproduce it, including your typical club P.A., and the solution seems to be HPF anything below say 50Hz with a 12-24dB per octave filter, why would you want to bother with drop tuning at all?
Click to expand...
But the biggest reason we downtune is because the tone you get. You get a really nasty raw aggressive tone when you hit B and lower than you just don't get in higher tunings, plain and simple.
I too rarely play a gig that I'm not DI in to the board, but that doesn't mean the monitors are working very well. We have a guy around here that usually does sound for all the shows in the area and he has nice equipment, just has no idea how to use it, so we still need to be loud on the stage so we can hear ourselves because the monitors are usually pretty much worthless.
 

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