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Observations of a first time rig builder

#61
Oh master rig builders! Lend me your ears, and years of wisdom!!!!
Im trying to add that middie growl to my rig. My bass is a laguna with single humbuckers. But I want to change put my amp. (peavy 210tx as old as the dinosaurs and just as heavy) defiantly going the stack rout this time, so any recommendations? I was gonna buy a head first, anything under a grand. And.... GO!
 
#65
Oobly said:
GK MB800 and a fEARful :) Just my 2 cents.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/gallien-krueger-mb800-758227/index3.html#post11511561
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That's a pretty good suggestion for a fairly low cost solution. It's probably one of the lowest cost (for the power) and lightest hybrid heads and then you can pump that into a small cab that produces a lot of volume while handling a wide frequency range. That's all you really need for small to medium sized venues. You might also want to look at a Carvin BX1500.
 
#69
u84six said:
- Speaker positioning can change your sound quite a bit. The reason 2x15s can sound just as loud as a 410 (which has more cone area) is because the speakers are positioned vertically and there's only one edge close to another speaker.

;)
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This is untrue. Area of a circle is Pi*r-squared. Area of two 10" circles is 157". Area of one 15" circle is 177".

Nevertheless, your point is well taken. Get speakers away from the floor, if you can. Your other observations are on target as well.
 
#71
Old Fart said:
This is untrue. Area of a circle is Pi*r-squared. Area of two 10" circles is 157". Area of one 15" circle is 177".

Nevertheless, your point is well taken. Get speakers away from the floor, if you can. Your other observations are on target as well.
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Also somewhat untrue. Speakers aren't circular, they're conical...
 
#73
Old Fart said:
This is untrue. Area of a circle is Pi*r-squared. Area of two 10" circles is 157". Area of one 15" circle is 177".

Nevertheless, your point is well taken. Get speakers away from the floor, if you can. Your other observations are on target as well.
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Didn't you forget cone height and slant height in that calculation? There's more to the surface of a cone than its radius. And 15" are generally deeper than 10".
 
#74
Sure, cone angle could come into play. A very flat 15" speaker could possibly have less area than two very deeply coned tens. But that's unlikely. Fifteen inch speakers move a fair bit more air than two tens. The problem though, if there is a problem, would be quickness. In theory, 10" speakers can move more quickly.

It was not my intent to be critical. The observations are solid, including the point made with the comparison between speakers.
 
#75
BurningSkies said:
-Don't buy or change everything at once. People have a tendency around here to want to change their whole setup...bass, amp, cabs, and all the other junk.

Don't do it. All the time guy come in that have gotten themselves into the deep end of the tone pool because they've changed EVERYTHING and they don't have a good starting or reference point to figure out how to get what they want.

Its much easier to buy one piece and live with it, integrate it and learn it before deciding they need the next new thing. Often times a new purchase sets off a chain effect of buying, then you're out in the middle of deep water and come to TB and post a thread that says:

HELP ME FIND MY TONE.

You've lost your tone by getting all new unfamiliar gear.
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This is sound advice, and I would like to add something to it: Using your gear and getting the full potential from it requires time and practice. This is most important for basses, of course, but holds true for amps, cabs and pedals as well. The different responses from different gear will both frustrate you and help you develop your technique to compensate for/accentuate the particular sounds of your equipment. This should be seen as an opportunity to train your ear as well as your fingers and become an accomplished player on any kind of gear. As with any other aspect of music, it will take a lifetime to learn but is a rewarding experience.

For example, my current practice amp is terrible. It is a small Cheri combo with 15 watts and a 10" driver, designed for guitar, not bass. I am currently looking for a new combo, but I have only started my search now that I have learned how to make that crappy amp sound very nice. I can now deliberately force the power section to distort just enough to still sound musical, and I have learned how to attack to gain the most volume the amp has to offer. It is still very limited, but I made as much out of it as possible so I can upgrade with a clear conscience.

I would sum up this philosophy like so: don't replace your gear until you are happy with it.

Unless, of course, it is broken. I hope this made sense.

Martin
 
#76
Faderoktopus said:
I would sum up this philosophy like so: don't replace your gear until you are happy with it.
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Heh. I like that. It makes sense, too. You have to really know your gear in order to make it sound as good as it can. And it makes no sense to replace things that you don't know how to use. Otherwise, how will you know what you're *not* looking for?
 
#77
silky smoove said:
More to the point, cone area isn't a particularly useful measurement. What you're interested in is displacement if you want to compare things spatially.
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Yes. Piston (cone) area x stroke (excursion) = displacement.

u84six said:
Didn't you forget cone height and slant height in that calculation? There's more to the surface of a cone than its radius. And 15" are generally deeper than 10".
Click to expand...
No. For calculating piston area, the piston shape is moot. Only the projected area (a circle) matters.
 
#78
Old Fart said:
The problem though, if there is a problem, would be quickness. In theory, 10" speakers can move more quickly.
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Myth, mostly. If a 10" and 15" speaker are reproducing a 2khz tone, they are both changing directions every 1/2000th of a second. Pretty fast.

If the 10 can vibrate at 6khz, and the 15 can only do 4khz, you could say that the 10 was "faster", but only above 4khz.
 
#80
1n3 said:
Yes. Piston (cone) area x stroke (excursion) = displacement.

No. For calculating piston area, the piston shape is moot. Only the projected area (a circle) matters.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I figured that the depth would add to the amount of air being pushed. Kind of like a dish versus a cup with the same radius, the cup would obviously throw the most water. But I guess that's not the case with speakers.
 

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