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TL-606 owners unite

#61
liam_g said:
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
Click to expand...

Please remember to give a b1500 & 2x 3015/TL606 review after your show. Thanks!
 
#63
I've been using a Carvin BX1200 with my Mesa Diesel 2x15 with 3015s. It's a TL606 design that originally came with EVM15L drivers. The 3015 drivers make for a smoother tone that goes deeper and doesn't get dirty on the low notes. Althought the EVs had a lot of character I prefer the 3015 sound - more versatile. Plus it eliminates about 15 pounds. At 1200 watts the Carvin is a beast. Much more amp that what I need to drive this cab even though I play in a pretty loud band. I've read here that the Mesa Walkabout is a good match for this type of cab. It's only 300 watts. Seems like the B1500 would be overkill for an efficient cab like this.
 
#64
A B1500 is overkill for almost anything short of outdoor gigs with no PA support. But ... the tone is great, it sounds wonderful at lower to medium volumes as well as loud, it can be thrown in as a make-shift poweramp if the PA amp blows, and it's not *that* heavy or bulky when put in a shallow rack.

I'd ideally like something lighter that put 300 - 400 watts into 8 ohms (one TL606) and 500 - 600 into 4 ohms (the stack). That's one reason I'm looking at the Hartke LH500 ... but there are a ton of amps that fit that power range. A GK 700RBII would be wonderful with these cabs I believe, as would any number of others.

But the B1500 is a special amp, and I don't really mind putting up with the weight and overkill factor in exchange for its versatility and tone.

Cheers,
Liam
 
#65
Mo'Phat said:
Please remember to give a b1500 & 2x 3015/TL606 review after your show. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm so tired I can barely type, but thought I'd throw some thoughts out here. I am stunned by how good this setup sounds. There's still a ton of richness, but with more clarity and note definition, and with extended lows. One of the telltale differences was on ballads. Often I'll play those up near the neck of my P bass. With the EV's this was just too thick, and the notes had little definition. With the 3015's, the tone when played that way was solid and articulate, but had the mellowness and richness I was going for.

So, I was using just about the same settings on the B1500 as before: eq flat except a bit of cut on treble and sub bass, drive and volume both starting at about 10:00. I did end up cutting the volume a bit, to 9:00, as these seem louder than they were with the EV's. They did the pants flapping very nicely, and I could really feel the bass vibrating my legs as well as hear it.

This is a killer combination. The cabs are different with the 3015's. They retain the same basic character, but are a tiny bit more modern sounding, mostly due to the added extension and clarity. But it's sort of a "vintage modern" if that makes sense, because they are still so rich, warm, and with such great mids. To me, they're just about perfect for what I do, which is mostly classic rock, southern rock, blues, and country. But I can also see using these for jazz and fusion such as Weather Report, Return to Forever, Tribal Tech, etc. For more modern tones, Marcus Miller and other sizzly slap stuff, not so much, but you knew that. They're also each about 12 pounds lighter, which really puts them into a different category. Load in and out was very noticeably easier.

I love these cabs, and this head. I am still very much wanting to try the Hartke LH500 more in depth with the cabs. And I'm also going to run a Carvin BX500 through its paces. But the B1500 is a wonderful thing with these TL606/3015's, and with the superior power handling of the drivers, this setup could be used for some very loud situations. Robert Reynolds of the Mavericks has taken an interest in one of the guys I play with, Ryan Weber (country / southern rock), and is helping us book a ton of shows. I'm going to be doing some outdoor shows at rodeos starting in August with him, as well as a lot of casino circuit stuff. These cabs will be with me when I do.

Okay, enough rambling from me!

Cheers,
Liam
 
#68
Mo'Phat said:
Thanks for that thorough review, Liam. Much appreciated.

Is there any downside at all?
Click to expand...

None to me. They are different though, so if someone is of the mind that the original EV's are the perfect, be all and end all drivers for these cabs, then they might not like the differences. To me they are improvements, but for some they might not be.

I'm gigging tomorrow and Wednesday night with a single TL606, then Saturday again with the stack. Looking forward to it!

Cheers,
Liam
 
#69
The gig with the B1500 and one TL606 / 3015 went very well last night. Here's a murky iphone pic:
Link Removed

This was a country and southern rock gig at a small bar. This setup was perfect. This was another gig where I used my P bass with the hipshot XTender for drop d, and response was great all the way down to the D. I'll have to throw a 5 string at these cabs one of these days. But the P is my main bass, so I'm extremely happy with these cabs, and am very happy at the performance of one of them. Nice, tasty, rich mids, good clarity for what it is (i.e., no midrange driver or tweeter), warm, and handles the P extremely well. I'm still using the same settings on the B1500: eq flat except a bit of treble and sub bass cut, drive at about 10:30, volume adjusted to suit (10:00 worked well last night). A very nice combination.

Cheers,
Liam
 
#70
Fresh from the garage, shop! One baffle has the classy laminate with matching port cover. (this was a cabinet door once). Everything else is 3/4 ply or scrap fir. (old window trim, and a one time fouton frame).
Biscuit joinery on all joints, some 1/4" staples.


All my other cabs just went up for sale! (check my cabs for sale ad:smug:)

This should be the ticket! I can get both in the back seat of the Corolla, 45 lbs each, all the rest of the gear, and my lovely and patient wife.

Thanks honey, the bathroom remodel is coming right up! Pick me out some tile you like.

I super pleased with this project. Can't wait for an outdoor gig to let it off the leash.
 
#72
liam_g said:
I'm so tired I can barely type, but thought I'd throw some thoughts out here. I am stunned by how good this setup sounds. There's still a ton of richness, but with more clarity and note definition, and with extended lows. One of the telltale differences was on ballads. Often I'll play those up near the neck of my P bass. With the EV's this was just too thick, and the notes had little definition. With the 3015's, the tone when played that way was solid and articulate, but had the mellowness and richness I was going for.

So, I was using just about the same settings on the B1500 as before: eq flat except a bit of cut on treble and sub bass, drive and volume both starting at about 10:00. I did end up cutting the volume a bit, to 9:00, as these seem louder than they were with the EV's. They did the pants flapping very nicely, and I could really feel the bass vibrating my legs as well as hear it.

This is a killer combination. The cabs are different with the 3015's. They retain the same basic character, but are a tiny bit more modern sounding, mostly due to the added extension and clarity. But it's sort of a "vintage modern" if that makes sense, because they are still so rich, warm, and with such great mids. To me, they're just about perfect for what I do, which is mostly classic rock, southern rock, blues, and country. But I can also see using these for jazz and fusion such as Weather Report, Return to Forever, Tribal Tech, etc. For more modern tones, Marcus Miller and other sizzly slap stuff, not so much, but you knew that. They're also each about 12 pounds lighter, which really puts them into a different category. Load in and out was very noticeably easier.

I love these cabs, and this head. I am still very much wanting to try the Hartke LH500 more in depth with the cabs. And I'm also going to run a Carvin BX500 through its paces. But the B1500 is a wonderful thing with these TL606/3015's, and with the superior power handling of the drivers, this setup could be used for some very loud situations. Robert Reynolds of the Mavericks has taken an interest in one of the guys I play with, Ryan Weber (country / southern rock), and is helping us book a ton of shows. I'm going to be doing some outdoor shows at rodeos starting in August with him, as well as a lot of casino circuit stuff. These cabs will be with me when I do.

Okay, enough rambling from me!

Cheers,
Liam
Click to expand...

OT

Liam,

I realize that in an earlier post (different thread?) you already attested to the ability of the 3015s to handle the detuned "D" on your P bass. But how do you feel they would stand up to the open "B" string on a fiver? :hmm:

I ask because I've recently been lurking on the Low Down Sound club thread, where I've been getting up to speed on the capabilities of the Kappalite 3015 drivers in a decent-sized 1x15 configuration. Now I'm considering having Don @ LDS build me a couple of compact cabs with 1x15 + tweeter, featuring the 3015 - and I'd like to get your take on the concept, especially for when I start playing five-strings. Application would be mostly for club gigs, moderate volume at most, no heavy hitting.

Many thanks in advance,

MM

/OT
 
#75
Sounds encouraging, gents. For my purposes, it wouldn't have to go quite as deep as the LF version anyway, as I'm looking for a little different tonal profile here - and I already have plans to invest in three-way cabs that feature the LFs... :cool:

MM
 
#76
Only took a month:rolleyes: They (3015's) are much deeper than the 1502 BW's. They also have an good amount of punch when pushed fairly hard. One of the drawbacks of active electronics, IMO, is that there are so many tonal roads to go down, it takes considerable time. However, run flat, the natural tone is totally useable. I have at least 6, that are so different, yet pleasing. The pair seems to be a perfect match for the PLX1602 in 4ohm bridge mode. Looking back, the BW's were perfectly serviceable, but a pair these 3015's are attack monsters. It was a $255 dollar experiment that worked out very well.
 

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#80
I'll be building two of these in the next few months. Can't wait and I'll be asking some questions after I go through the thread a few more times.

Until then...
 

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