Tweeters?..... We Don't Need No Stinking Tweeters!

[Passinwind]

Sorry for the pedantry but you mean Sturgeon's Revelation don't you? Sturgeon's Law is "Nothing is ever absolutely so." The revelation is the now hackneyed 90 percent of everything yada yada...

Please post your cites. No, not really. I actually love pedantry and always welcome informed correction. Link Removed

And yes, the greater point is that I dislike crappy woofers and midrange drivers and cab designs in general just as much as poorly implemented tweeters. And 90% is probably far too generous in my book, but of course everyone gets to write their own book.

 

[spiritbass]

Mids going up to 8 kHz, isn't that like cheating?

Some may consider it cheating. I like a brighter tone than most, I think, and love it. They are 5 1/2" Faitals, I believe.

 

[Acoustic356]

I love the full range sound. If it's there, the sound man can reduce the high end in the mix for live or recording. If it's not there... you can't add it.

 

[ebozzz]

I love the full range sound. If it's there, the sound man can reduce the high end in the mix for live or recording. If it's not there... you can't add it.

Good point but the sound would have to be coming primarily from a mic'ed cab, right?

 

[Acoustic356]

Yes. If you aren't running through a cab and going direct you're going to get the highs anyway.

 

[BlushResponse]

I've been trending towards not having the tweeter/horn turned on at all. Finger noise is pretty bad on a fretted bass.

 

[Freekmagnet]

I hate tweeters. Every one I've had buzzed or rattled or distorted or something. They don't seem to add anything I really need for my bass sound, so I just turn them off if there's one built into the cab.

 

[bassdude51]

Help me out if I am wrong................... my computer research is saying that D# @ the 20th fret (Fender Bass) on the G string is = (around) 311.2 hz. In other words on my P Bass the highest note possible is about 311.2 hz. Way, way below the 20,000 hz what a tweeter puts out.

So 311.2 hz is the fundamental of my highest note on my bass and anything over that frequency are harmonics (whatever that means) that are fluttering around off of the string/strings.

Yeah, so like tweeters are kind of over kill?

I'm not trolling or trying to start something but hey you tech heads, fill in the blanks about sound and frequencies and why our bass cabs need to go beyond the fundamental range of notes.

 

[samson3382]

No tweeters, a paper cone mid driver works best for me, doubling.

 

[waveman]

I turn them off or disconnect them completely. Most woofers in bass cabs have enough frequency range for me

 

[corndog]

I have a Traynor TC112, with a tweeter. Thankfully. I can turn it off.

 

[Acoustic356]

Help me out if I am wrong................... my computer research is saying that D# @ the 20th fret (Fender Bass) on the G string is = (around) 311.2 hz. In other words on my P Bass the highest note possible is about 311.2 hz. Way, way below the 20,000 hz what a tweeter puts out.

So 311.2 hz is the fundamental of my highest note on my bass and anything over that frequency are harmonics (whatever that means) that are fluttering around off of the string/strings.

Yeah, so like tweeters are kind of over kill?

I'm not trolling or trying to start something but hey you tech heads, fill in the blanks about sound and frequencies and why our bass cabs need to go beyond the fundamental range of notes.

I am not technical, but can absolutely tell the difference between my Bergantino which is full range vs a cab with no tweeter. There's a difference between the fundamental tone and all the other transient sounds like harmonics, overtones etc.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

Those who are turning them off should check and see if their woofers are first running full range. Many horn-loaded cabs actually start to cross-over into the tweeter in the high-mids. Ergo, turning them off or the whole way down is cutting those high-mids. And regardless if you like the super highs associated with a tweeter, you most certainly need those high-mids for presence and upper-harmonic definition.

 

[tminus10]

Im not a big fan of tweeters in bass cabs. My cab has 4 4" speakers and they go up to 12k. That's plenty treble extension and sounds more natural to my ear IMO, YMMV and all that. I will say though, tweeters and crossovers have come a LONG way and sound much better than they use to 20 years ago. I still prefer a paper cone.

 

[ebozzz]

Ok, my cab arrived today and it's a little different than what I was expecting. What I thought that I ordered was a front-ported, 4X8 NEO cab with no tweeter. What I received is a sealed 4X8 NEO cab with no tweeter. Never had a sealed cab before so I don't know if I should be happy or ticked off. Won't be able to do much with it until the weekend......

 

[ebozzz]

First impressions, maybe I need to be happy.....

 

[Silas Stingy]

My bass playing only allows me to be good between 65hz and 4khz so no tweeters for me.

 

[Rick James]

Help me out if I am wrong................... my computer research is saying that D# @ the 20th fret (Fender Bass) on the G string is = (around) 311.2 hz. In other words on my P Bass the highest note possible is about 311.2 hz. Way, way below the 20,000 hz what a tweeter puts out.
So 311.2 hz is the fundamental of my highest note on my bass and anything over that frequency are harmonics (whatever that means) that are fluttering around off of the string/strings.
Yeah, so like tweeters are kind of over kill?
I'm not trolling or trying to start something but hey you tech heads, fill in the blanks about sound and frequencies and why our bass cabs need to go beyond the fundamental range of notes.

At least 75% of what you hear with any instrument is harmonics. That applies to everything from drums to bass to vocals. Harmonics are responsible for tone and timbre. If all you heard was the fundamental you wouldn't be able to tell a bass from an oboe. Where bass is concerned anything higher than 8000 hz or so is overkill, so you don't need a tweeter that goes higher than that. What you do need is good response in the upper mids, where the woofers aren't effective. The problem with most tweeters is that they don't work in the upper mids. They start working around 4000 hz, and that's too high. That's why I mentioned the Eminence BGH 25, because its designed to work as a Bass Guitar Horn, down to 2000 hz with a good crossover, and it doesn't do much above 10,000 hz.

 

[Szyszaczek]

So why not Eminence N320T-8 it has 800Hz-20kHz add Eminence KAPPALITE™ 3015LF-4 and crossover on 1,2kHz and You set to go?

 

[Arjank]

They start working around 4000 hz, and that's too high. That's why I mentioned the Eminence BGH 25, because its designed to work as a Bass Guitar Horn, down to 2000 hz with a good crossover, and it doesn't do much above 10,000 hz.

As I already explained, it's horn is to small to get down to 2khz (the horn width needs to be at least 6.5" to get down that low). I would use the BGH25 not lower then 3.5khz with an 18dB/oct x-over.