Using a HPF live with a 5-string

[silky smoove]

I thought (and was trying to convey to the OP) that the Cali76 HPF knob doesn’t actually cut low frequencies out of your signal like a standard HPF does.

This is correct

Does the Cali76 HPF knob actually remove low frequencies from your overall signal?

No, it only removes low frequencies from the detector circuit. It has no impact on the audio path. You could think of it as an emphasis control, which is how some manufacturers label it, but even that introduces some confusion.

 

[SLO Surfer]

This is correct


No, it only removes low frequencies from the detector circuit. It has no impact on the audio path. You could think of it as an emphasis control, which is how some manufacturers label it, but even that introduces some confusion.

Thanks! I guess I was about half right

 

[silky smoove]

Thanks! I guess I was about half right

Better than me on most days

 

[H Nighttrain]

I've found that I either set my hpf (Broughton) to where I can't really tell it's doing much (usually ends up be ~45-50 Hz) or, if I want to more safely push volume w/o significantly compromising tone, ends up ~70-80 Hz I think.

 

[Groove Doctor]

I run my HPF closer to 70-75 Hz (guessing based on the position of controls) and I'm still shaking the walls all day. And it's one of the first thing's I'd adjust after the volume up or down to adjust to a room.

Mine is set around there when I run my BIG rig. I get ear fatigue without my HPF.

I run my variable HPF at about 60-70 Hz, set by ear according to the situation, 4 string bass or 5 string bass.

Yep.

Besides, the human ear sucks at hearing anything below ~45 - 50Hz (depending on your amount of hearing loss. Tinnitus says eeeeeeeeeeeeee…) so all that’s there is rumbly, high excursion frequencies that’d blow a speaker before you could hear them.

Correct for 95% of the population. When I hear subsonic noise and I feel nausea & feel like someone is squashing my head.

There were two other bass players at a GTG of 40 people who also had to leave the room when one particular custom built bass amp was being played. The lows on that custom amp & cab were insane.

According to one research study, fully opening both rear windows in a car on the highway produces 10-20Hz at 130dB. The very few that can hear it can’t stand the noise.

(I also hear fluorescent lights and TV’s on standby mode. I used to hear 26kHz, now it’s down to 22kHz).

I turn mine up in frequency until too much bottom end is gone. Could be 30Hz could be 150Hz

At one gig I set my HPF to its highest frequency of 140Hz and there was still too much bottom end.

That gig was like playing in a bunker…. I was near a corner with brick walls, low concrete roof & wooden dance floor (likely glued onto a concrete floor). IIRC it had resonant frequencies at A & D.

 

[Element Zero]

Mine is set around there when I run my BIG rig. I get ear fatigue without my HPF.

Yep.

Correct for 95% of the population. When I hear subsonic noise and I feel nausea & feel like someone is squashing my head.

There were two other bass players at a GTG of 40 people who also had to leave the room when one particular custom built bass amp was being played. The lows on that custom amp & cab were insane.

According to one research study, fully opening both rear windows in a car on the highway produces 10-20Hz at 130dB. The very few that can hear it can’t stand the noise.

(I also hear fluorescent lights and TV’s on standby mode. I used to hear 26kHz, now it’s down to 22kHz).

At one gig I set my HPF to its highest frequency of 140Hz and there was still too much bottom end.

That gig was like playing in a bunker…. I was near a corner with brick walls, low concrete roof & wooden dance floor (likely glued onto a concrete floor). IIRC it had resonant frequencies at A & D.

If I’m running cabs while kids and wife are home, it’s set at 150. I kinda have to have them in a corner and against a wall. But the few chances I get to crank em up, I run it at 30.

If I’m playing with headphones I experiment and change it up all the time. Whatever sounds best for the song I’m learning or playing along with.

 

[Groove Doctor]

(Possibly stupid) Question:
With a standard HPF (-12db / oct) set to 40Hz, is there an audible difference between on and off with a bass tuned to E standard?

I personally set my HPF by ear. I turn it up by small increments until it cuts into the 'meat' of my signal, then back off one increment.
This is usually somewhere around 70 Hz. I play a 6 string in B standard and I favor a bass heavy sound.

Depends on the bass. A piezo pickup is more accurate at reproducing artefact lows. More so on a Double Bass.

Depends on the amp. Many commercial amps have a built in -12dB/octave HPF somewhere between 10-40Hz. I’ve heard of some amps having two HPF’s at two different frequencies providing -24dB slope below the lower set HPF.

Adding a variable HPF to your amp effectively does the same thing as above. Gentler/ more musical cut in the playing zone & even stronger cut in the subsonic zone.

Right, but there's also all of the other non-musical information that the HPF can act on. Even players with super clean technique generate content below E when placing their fingers on the strings or removing them. Sloppy players even more so. This is where you'll often hear a difference with an HPF set at or near the fundamental of the lowest pitch available. It's oftentimes a noticeable difference but does become a case of not only listening to the difference, but knowing what to listen for. If all you're focusing on is the tone of a sustained note in isolation, then I'd agree that you'd likely hear little to no difference.

I was about to say this.

I've found that I either set my hpf (Broughton) to where I can't really tell it's doing much (usually ends up be ~45-50 Hz) or, if I want to more safely push volume w/o significantly compromising tone, ends up ~70-80 Hz I think.

Nicely explained.

 

[Adjectives]

Late to the party and don't have a cali76(now I kinda want one tho...) I swear by the Broughton lp/hp filter. Extra boost if I ever need and it's my solution to "de-booming" a room. Hasn't left my board in 7 years.

 

[pepj]

I would use my amp if needed but I never have to touch the eq anyway.

 

[Barghest]

HPF's are something more players should be using, especially on gigs that either don't have a sound engineer, or the engineer/venue has an old analogue desk that doesn't have its own HPF/LPF built in. Whenever I'm running the desk, I tend to gut everything below 30Hz at a minimum, and adjust from there, just because it tends to make everything bloated and flabby, not punchy and hitting you in the gut like we all want.