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TL-606 owners unite

#41
B-string said:
I have a pair I built back in the early 90's, loaded with EV's being used for PA duty mostly these days. Now I wonder how 3015's would sound in them????
Click to expand...

Heard one last night at a friend's gig. He just built the cab this week, and as I suggested he made the ports a little taller, using 1 X 3 stock for the port runners instead of 1 X 2. Just enough to reduce the net internal cab volume a little and to accommodate higher power levels at the lower frequencies.

Sounded absolutely stellar for the old school jazzy blues thing his band is doing. Should work well for PA too. :bassist:
 
#42
I got to test run my new homebuilt 606 Friday.

Couldn't be happier with the home built. I've been running the 3015's in an old PV 2-15, and while it was better than the old EV's I'd had in it, it was obvious I wasn't getting everything I wanted in the lower register.

The moment I plugged in the 606, it was a huge improvement, the 3015 could finally breath and I got the big sounding low E to A I've been after.

My plan was to run the 606 bottom and my Epifani UL 112 top, for a instant three way full range speaker set up. And it was really good, super sounding, huge range, but it scared the guys right off the bat. "too loud!" :rollno: ( the place was pretty empty, no bodies to soak up the sound) When I ran both cabs at 4ohms it really opened up! Once I get it throttled down and eq'ed it should be really cool.

I ended up running one and then the other, and I liked the ballsier sound and feel of the 606 better. Darker, warmer and just plain bigger sounding. Either one would be more than enough for a small room.

My build came in @ $250 including driver $145, wood, parts $60 and paint. Well worth the effort. It is an easy build. I wired it with speakon connections and built some speaker cables while I was at it. I'll probably add a set of castors to it so I can roll it around.

Thanks to Passingwind for speaker advice and parts ordering!

I think a pair of these could be devastating. I'll probably whip up another to make use of the other 3015. Or I might try a more complex project like the Greenboy fEARFULL. I've been wanting to knock off a Accugroove EL WHAPPO!
 
#43
I built one in 1988. It has been with me since. I also built the 806 with a 12. The 15 has had EV 15B and JBL E140. Back then I wanted a real speaker but had no dough. I bought a blown 15b for 10$ and had it reconed for 85$. I bought a sheet of 3/4" Birch and built it up. The 12 also has a JBL E 120 in it. I can play any gig with either or both cabs. It kicks butt with my Sunn 300T.
 
#44
Spent some time playing the B1500 into a single TL606 tonight, and really like what I hear with my fretted and fretless P basses. Thick, warm, punchy and loud. This is still with the EV speakers. Think I'll try the 3015's next ... who knows, might gig with this setup this weekend!

Cheers,
Liam
 
#47
Not that I've seen. Mesa's 1x15 is still small, but not quite the same design. I think they went with tube ports.

I'm pretty sure that Low Down Sound will custom-build to your specs, so if your specs are a TL-606, they'll make it for you. Reasonable cost, from what I hear.

Otherwise, many would suggest downloading the plans, and taking it to a cabinet or furniture builder who could whip it out quickly and cheaply. Do the finishing and wiring yourself, and you'll be way ahead. A cabinet builder would also have access to better materials than you, has the right glue, fasteners, etc...and could do some custom joinery to make it look like an Ethan Allen TL-606.
 
#48
Actually I have a Mesa Diesel 1x15 and an Orange OBC 115, so I'm good to go. I was just curious if such a venerable design as the TL-606 was currently being manufactured by more that one company. Of course, building your own is a great idea also!

Dan
 
#49
Also, the same tuning and internal space the TL606 presents can be done with less weight without any other changes. There's nothing exceptional about the way the TL606 is constructed. It's actually kind of a clunky brute way of supplying a given panel rigidity with some wood where it doesn't supply any real benefits except crude joins, that could be better applied to bracing going to thinner panels.

The main staying power of the TL606 is that it fits a variety of 15" woofers decently with that tuning, frontal port area and internal volume.
 
#50
greenboy said:
There's nothing exceptional about the way the TL606 is constructed.
Click to expand...

It is/was arguably exceptionally easy to build, no? No need for any clamps, and plenty easy to get airtight.

I likely never would've contemplated building my own cabs without someone like E-V having made those plans readily available. Not sure whether to thank 'em or cuss 'em out, yo...:p
 
#51
Well, I used my 2 x TL606 stack last night in a loud cover band gig. Material ranges from the Stones, Aerosmith, Skynyrd and AC/DC to Nickelback, RHCP, Creed, and Buckcherry. I was using my B1500 and my P bass with a Hipshot XTender key for drop d.

The tone, volume and general performance of these cabs was just stellar. I had the B1500 set flat except for a bit of cut on the Sub Bass. Drive and volume were both at about 10:00, and I was using a tiny bit of compression from my BBE Optostomp. The cabs were good and strong all the way down to the drop d. It really was one of my favorite sounds I've ever gotten. Clear, but with some midrange grunt that I was really digging, but didn't give up the ghost down low. 5 string may have been different ...

The cabs still have the EV's in them. I'm still contemplating throwing 3015's in there, but the tone and performance with the EVM 15B's was stellar. Someone asked me in this thread or another for my impressions of these cabs with the B1500. I'd say they're about perfect together.

Here's a pic from the stage last night:
tl_rig.jpg


Cheers,
Liam
 
#53
liam_g said:
Well, I used my 2 x TL606 stack last night in a loud cover band gig. Material ranges from the Stones, Aerosmith, Skynyrd and AC/DC to Nickelback, RHCP, Creed, and Buckcherry. I was using my B1500 and my P bass with a Hipshot XTender key for drop d.

The tone, volume and general performance of these cabs was just stellar. I had the B1500 set flat except for a bit of cut on the Sub Bass. Drive and volume were both at about 10:00, and I was using a tiny bit of compression from my BBE Optostomp. The cabs were good and strong all the way down to the drop d. It really was one of my favorite sounds I've ever gotten. Clear, but with some midrange grunt that I was really digging, but didn't give up the ghost down low. 5 string may have been different ...

The cabs still have the EV's in them. I'm still contemplating throwing 3015's in there, but the tone and performance with the EVM 15B's was stellar. Someone asked me in this thread or another for my impressions of these cabs with the B1500. I'd say they're about perfect together.
Cheers,
Liam
Click to expand...

That was me. Thanks so much for the review.
 
#54
liam_g said:
Well, I used my 2 x TL606 stack last night in a loud cover band gig. Material ranges from the Stones, Aerosmith, Skynyrd and AC/DC to Nickelback, RHCP, Creed, and Buckcherry. I was using my B1500 and my P bass with a Hipshot XTender key for drop d.

The tone, volume and general performance of these cabs was just stellar. I had the B1500 set flat except for a bit of cut on the Sub Bass. Drive and volume were both at about 10:00, and I was using a tiny bit of compression from my BBE Optostomp. The cabs were good and strong all the way down to the drop d. It really was one of my favorite sounds I've ever gotten. Clear, but with some midrange grunt that I was really digging, but didn't give up the ghost down low. 5 string may have been different ...

The cabs still have the EV's in them. I'm still contemplating throwing 3015's in there, but the tone and performance with the EVM 15B's was stellar. Someone asked me in this thread or another for my impressions of these cabs with the B1500. I'd say they're about perfect together.

Here's a pic from the stage last night:
tl_rig.jpg


Cheers,
Liam
Click to expand...

Lookin' good. Also, that is a different bass than the first pic, no? I used one with a Mark IV and a Peavey Fury bass, and never liked it. Now, with an active Jazz and the PLX, a pair of them are a totally different animal. I still want to try them with 3015's. GAS never sleeps.
 
#56
I bought my TL-606 from a guitar player who didn't know what the cabinet was but was unloading stuff to pay bills. It's a very solidly executed homebuilt job with the "proper" EVM-15L.

I've used it with various amp heads and my impression is that the cabinet is very finicky about what it's paired with and a certain amount of EQ tweaking in necessary to bring out its best sound. In general, from 80-130 Hz is very prominent but it poops out rapidly below 70 Hz. IMO, it's a great cab for "vintage" tone and particularly suited to classic rock. I liked the sound of the cab with an SVT-3 Pro as well as a Hartke 3500 but not so much with a Peavey MarkIV. However, when I got a Mesa M2000 head the cab REALLY came alive. I've used different cabs with that head but no other cab I've paired with it has been a better match and I always get compliments with the tone. The two just plain go together and I'm guessing the large numbers of fans of the Mesa Diesel 1x15 (essentially a TL606) is a testament to that.

One thing to be careful with, because the EVM-15L doesn't have the same low frequency punch that most modern bass players are used to, some users have a tendency to boost the lows to make up for it and the limited excursion of the driver means there is a high risk of damaging it. I frequently come across threads on audio forums along the lines of "Why do I keep blowing the speaker in my TL606?!!!" It's just not capable of pounding out the low end as well as other speakers.

I play at very modest volumes and I'm attentive to my bass sound, but I've occasionally pushed it a bit hard and had the speaker start barking at me. :D

I've also used the cab paired with several different guitar heads and I let my guitar playing friends use it once in awhile and it sounds phenomenal for electric guitar.
 
#58
had a TL-606 pro built several years ago, painted flat black. on the cheap at the time, used a Peavey whatever till that cratered. replaced it with a JBL E140. Awesome!

use it solo or with a SWR Jr Goliath & GK800. recently had it covered with Marshall vintage red tolex.

thought about building the TL-806, but it's really a guitar cab. not as deep (10.5") as needed for bass.
 
#59
Just got the 3015's into my TL606's today. Will try them out soon, and gig with them this weekend. I'm curious to see how they compare to the EVM 15B's. If I don't dig the tone as much, I'll have to think about the weight savings versus the tone. I'm guessing tone will win, and the 3015's will head on over to the Sunn 200S that is sitting in the corner driverless right now.

If I keep them, I believe I'll send the EV's somewhere to be reconed to the 450 watt newer spec though, just for safety with my B1500. Would like to see full T/S params for this though, so I can model max power in WinISD instead of just looking at the thermal power rating ...

The 3015's will have to sound pretty stellar for me to prefer them to the EV's. We'll see.

Cheers,
Liam
 
#60
Oh my. 3015's absolutely rock in these cabs. I'll have to wait until Friday night to hear them in a mix, but solo these seem to have all (or at least most) of the richness of the EV's, but with extended lows and more clarity. I'm extremely pleased so far.

Also, I just got the chance to play a Hartke LH500 into these, and it absolutely kills. That clean tube warmth and Fender-ish tone stack seem to match up extremely well with the TL606's. Plus it feels like an ultralight compared to my B1500! ;) One of these is on my GAS list officially now.

Cheers,
Liam
 

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