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Trace Elliot............ewwwww!!

DWBass

DWBass

The Funkfather
Jan 24, 2003
24,623
1
22,461
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Newport News, VA via NYC
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#1
Was in a rehearsal studio a couple days ago and there was a TE 1x15 combo with a TE 4x10 connected. Neither unit had tweeters! No matter what I tried, I still couldn't get any 'semblance of 'high end' outta that setup! I have played non-tweet' setups before and I was able to get at least a little high eq snap but this rig just sucked! Anyone have any similar experiences with this or any other brand rigs??
 
#2
The old saw "never judge the quality of a brand based on experience in rehearsal studios" comes to mind here.

The rehearsal studios we use has a bass rig in each room. These include Eden, Ampeg, Ashdown, Trace - just about anything they can get their hands on cheap, I suspect. The rigs have ALL been abused by musically useless kids with cloth ears and not much in between, and they ALL suck.
 
#4
bassybill said:
The old saw "never judge the quality of a brand based on experience in rehearsal studios" comes to mind here.

The rehearsal studios we use has a bass rig in each room. These include Eden, Ampeg, Ashdown, Trace - just about anything they can get their hands on cheap, I suspect. The rigs have ALL been abused by musically useless kids with cloth ears and not much in between, and they ALL suck.
Click to expand...
LOL!

I mean, if I wasn't doing any slapping, there wouldn't have been an issue but plucking a high E on the G string was almost non existant. Was as if I played it fingerstyle! :rollno: Horrible!
 
#5
To each his own. I turn the tweeter down on every cab I own that has one. I even rewired my Bag End 4x10 with a switch to defeat the tweeter. This was all prompted by switching from a solid state preamp and a Crest CA9 to an Ampeg SVT (non-pro) and a Fender Studio Bass all-tube head. I found the harmonic richness of all-tube amps in the high midrange to overwhelm the tweeters and come across shrill. With the solid state gear it wasn't so much this way, and I could control the high end on the preamp and still make use of the tweeter.

One of the several cabs I have is a TE 1153 single 15, with no tweeter. It has a Celestion driver (supposedly with Kevlar fibers in the paper cone) that is very flexible compared with many other 15's, such as JBL's, which are constructed from thicker, stiffer paper/cardboard. It produces highs up to about 5KHz very smoothly, and sounds clear, crisp and full with an all-tube head.

Tom Bowlus, editor and founder of Bass Gear Magazine reviewed this cab favorably against other single 15's that had tweeters and/or midranges:
http://bowlusblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/1x15-shootout.html

So, my point here is not to disagree with you or challenge your opinion, but to say that different amp/cab combinations can make all the difference. I think TE cabs w/o the tweeters are among the fullest, and punchiest cabs I have played through. But I play fingerstyle almost always and really don't dig slapping unless it is subdued, generally using flatwounds on a P-Bass (THE sound of Disco/Funk styled 70's slapping...Ready Freddy Washington style....not that I can play anywhere near his talent level).
 
#6
Boot Soul said:
So, my point here is not to disagree with you or challenge your opinion, but to say that different amp/cab combos can make all the difference. I think TE cabs w/o the tweeters are among the fullest, and punchiest cabs I have played through. But I play fingerstyle almost always and really don't dig slapping unless it is subdued, generally using flatwounds on a P-Bass (THE sound of Disco styled 70's slapping...Ready Freddy Washington style....not that I can play anywhere near his talent level).
Click to expand...
I hear you and I like my slap sound the same way! Not a fan of that high eq shrill sound a la Mark King! Ugh! This rig just wouldn't give me anything and that's with the highs boosted ALL the way! Nothing!! I mean it sounded really muffled! I've never known 10's to not give up any high end at all. I owned a GK 4x10 w/out a tweet' and it sang perfectly for me!
 
#8
I feel the same way about Mark King's tone. He is absolutely one of the most talented guys out there, but that super snappy, high-end zing, just sounds harsh to my ears. Again, to each his own.
 
#11
I went to Iceland and had about 3 weeks of playing everyday for a church band trip. Took my MM Stingray 5, GK 800rb and asked to have a 410 provided. Got to the first theater and what was waiting; a TE 410 w/o tweeter. I was a little worried but once we got plugged in and started playing, I thought it sounded very good. Sure, it didn't have that sparkle, but that thing cut through the mix very well. And that was playing in churches, theaters and outdoors, you name it. I was actually a little bummed to see it go when it was time to come home. Never had any problem hearing the high notes though. IME
 
#14
bassybill said:
The old saw "never judge the quality of a brand based on experience in rehearsal studios" comes to mind here.

The rehearsal studios we use has a bass rig in each room. These include Eden, Ampeg, Ashdown, Trace - just about anything they can get their hands on cheap, I suspect. The rigs have ALL been abused by musically useless kids with cloth ears and not much in between, and they ALL suck.
Click to expand...

Is this by any chance Robannas??
 
#16
JimmyM said:
The most useless thing I ever saw put into a cab was a melted Sugar Daddy bar.
Click to expand...

I saw a keyboard player load his box of floppies (yes, they did use them at one point to load sounds and samples) into the back of an open-back guitar cab for load. Needless to say, those magnetic discs were useless when it came time for us to play that night.
 
#19
I owned a 115 and 410 Trace Elliot Cab back in early 80s till 2000 pushed by an Ah250 head All pre gibson. That rig had more punch all the way across the spectrum than any rig I ever played through. It was like hauling a semi around !
 

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