oli@bass
Well-known member
AFAIK Tony Levin
- Thread starter kevins
- Start date
AFAIK Tony Levin
DaddyFlip
Well-known member
I'm not an expert, but you can do it without problem, provided you make the necessary adjustments to the nut to allow the thicker guage strings to fit. Good luck!
Hellboy
Well-known member
Sorry my friend, but I disagree!
It's usually contrary!
Especially when we talking about further PA support and it all have kind of tweeters, horns, or other Hf drivers in system.
Any instrument should have features to radiate whole tonal spectrum in the air!
That's my professional opinion as an sound engineer, and every musician must have an option to make setup of his/hers own instrument, tune it a bit with some preamp EQ and respect suggestions from soundman in studio or live performance!
But, I must also respect Your vision of bass sound, that's the way it works!
It is all a matter of taste. I have several friends that are pro musicians that don´t like tweeters and I´m not that fond of them myself either.
//J
Hellboy
Well-known member
+!
But seriously, I have been thinking about stringing up a bass BEAD. That is, get a set of 5 strings and throw out the G-string...
Anyone else try that?
(Sorry, I am hijacking this thread and sending it in a new direction).
Yes I´ve had several 4-string basses tuned that way before going 5-string. Works fine. No problem at all. Try it.
//J
bovinehost
Administrator
Exactly. I'm not a "pro" by any stretch of the imagination, but I've been around long enough to know what I want and most especially what I do NOT want. I am completely aware of how to get the sound I want. I know what will help me achieve it and what will work against me. Tweeters are not a part of my equation. As I've said before, if I wanted 'zing', I'd play the cymbals.
Hellboy
Well-known member
T Alan
Well-known member
Huh. I just want to hear the full frequency of what my instruments produce naturally.
Hellboy
Well-known member
Some say that tweeters add frequencies that are not produced naturally by the instrument. But again. It´s all a matter of taste. Nothing is right and nothing is wrong. It´s all up to the individual player to decide. I personally often notice that those higher frequencies in a bass sound gets in the way in a mix for other instruments. The bass sound in itself is not prio 1 for me. The bass is a part of something bigger. The important thing is the whole picture, not the individual parts. I try to dial in a bass sound that fits in the mix. How my bass sound when I press the solo button on the console is not important at all.
//J
Big Poppa
Well-known member
why limit yourself...it depends on the tune and the band and you can always have less.
Tweeters only reproduce what's fed into them. If the frequencies weren't there to reproduce, they wouldn't come through the tweeter. Why eliminate an entire frequency range? As BP said, you can always turn it down. I love hearing as much of the frequency spectrum as possible. But whatever works, works.
drTStingray
Well-known member
This is absolutely right
If you want shimmer like the bass sound on the first Rage Against the Machine album, tweeter on full with a bit of treble boost on the amp EQ (oh and plus a StingRay) does the job just fine.
Now you wouldn't use that for country or rock and roll eh? Trouble is I played back to back rock and then rock and roll gigs - and forgot to turn the tweeter off
It also goes to prove that whoever came up with the line which involves the words trick pony and one as a description of the Ray didn't know what they were talking about
Hellboy
Well-known member
Tweeters often add frequencies that are just too high up in the register. A normal 12´ speaker have all the hi end I personally want and need. I´m not too interested in the chase for full bandwith that amp/speaker manufacturers seem to focus on these days. Same thing as with cameras. Great many pixels is not the most important thing when looking for a digital camera. More important with a hi quality lens. Same thing with many large-diaphragm condenser microphone that are manufactured these days. A microphone with full bandwith can create problems when recording and mixing. Older microphones like a Neumann/Telefunken/Siemens U47 and other microphones with a M7 diaphragm or most ribbon microphones doesn´t have full bandwith and that is great when recording vocals since you often won´t have to spend lots of time to take care of those nasty S-, T- and F-sounds in a vocal take. Older microphones drop off around 14 - 15 kHz and that is most often a very good thing. I bought some Coles 4038 ribbon microphones awhile back and they are made "old school". Nothing over 15 kHz. I often use them as over head mics on drums. Cymbals sound very big and natural without hurting the ears. Love those things. Very musical sounding. Wonderful on a bass amp as well. I tend to have the same opinion about tweeters in bass speakers. Too high frequencies in a bass sound can create problems. So I personally don´t necessary need a tweeter. That is of course a personal opinion. But I do feel that the rather common chase for full bandwith bass amps/speakers isn´t necessary or even healthy. A great lower register and a defined mid range is on the other hand very necessary. For me. Again, personal opinion.
//Jan
woaaaaaaaaaaa
i didnt realize that was actually THE sterling ball. i would have commented more on that if i knew at first. thats crazy awesome though, that hes on a forum with a bunch of people just because. this is probobly another good example of why musicman is a pretty bitchin' company. if a factory is ever opened in chicago, id probobly be one of the first to apply for a job there.
keep up the good bass-smithin'
oh and after a good 5 years of having the thing i finally got my younger brother to admit a stingray is better than a rickenbacher.
i didnt realize that was actually THE sterling ball. i would have commented more on that if i knew at first. thats crazy awesome though, that hes on a forum with a bunch of people just because. this is probobly another good example of why musicman is a pretty bitchin' company. if a factory is ever opened in chicago, id probobly be one of the first to apply for a job there.
keep up the good bass-smithin'
oh and after a good 5 years of having the thing i finally got my younger brother to admit a stingray is better than a rickenbacher.
five7
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
- Messages
- 4,296
Powman
Well-known member
Darn tootin, its the main man himself. I must admit, I too was pretty tickled when I figured it out. Maybe thats what helps this company produce such quality products...is that Mr. Ball himself connects with his customers.
shakinbacon
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2008
- Messages
- 791
I find tweeters help add definition much the same way a bit of midrange helps cut through a mix. Going from a 1983 Peavey TNT 130 combo with only a 15" to cabs with a woofer & tweeter almost made me cry - I could hear the notes again! (I sold that piece of gear long ago and never regretted it)
I agree with BPs sentiment and am beginning to think I'm a roundwound player again due to the "you can always have less" theory of eq'ing to approximate a flatwound sound. I know, I know - its not the same thing, I'm just saying I'm coming around for the umpteeth time realizing why roundwounds are so popular.
S
sitonmybass
I own Hartke because I'm not a big fan of tweeters and the Hartkes give me enough top end. Since I play finger-style, pick-style and slap/pop they work for me. I found that when doing the "pop" part of slap/pop SOME tweeters and SOME tweeter settings can "spit." Operative word there was "some." I don't HATE tweeters, in fact I have had many instances where I've been provided with a back-line rig that contains them and I use them judisciously and with reasonably pleasant results. But I love my Hartke rigs. I have 7 pieces of Hartke gear. Two matching combos, two different pairs of matching cabs and a head. Hartke isn't for everyone but I dial in a very balanced tone, so I've been told.
I also like my entire (and hopefully well balanced on board) sound to come out of one type of driver as opposed to the sometimes disjointed tone I've heard some players get where all of a sudden the treble goes "HERE I AM!"
Give me smooth anyday.
I also like my entire (and hopefully well balanced on board) sound to come out of one type of driver as opposed to the sometimes disjointed tone I've heard some players get where all of a sudden the treble goes "HERE I AM!"
Give me smooth anyday.
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