Think I finally found my sound

[Flatball]

My main bass has been a P-bass modded with active EMGs and it has served me well. But...

I just picked up a little Mexican Jazz bass - new, with stock everything.
Did a gig this weekend in a club where the sound is great and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Holy s**t. The Jazz into the WT550/D210XLT/D212XLT is AMAZING. Both pickups wide open gave me unbelievable punch that made the kick drum/bass combo sound like something done in the studio, it gave me delicious growl when I wanted it, popping  made me sound like a funk-master beyond my merit and the overall tone is just what my ears want to hear.

Of course, getting the EQ adjusted right on the WT550 took some doing. It's hard to get all those little lines pointing exactly to the top ;-)

[esa]

quote:Originally posted by Flatball

The Jazz into the WT550/D210XLT/D212XLT is AMAZING.

Mmmmmm...  Jazz bass through an Eden rig...


I hear you, man.  I live in that Nirvana:

[vince a]

Missed this one . . .

I run nearly the same rig as you (550, 210XST, and a 212 XLT), and I get a incredible sound with my MIA Jazz 4 string, and when needed, a Lakland Vintage Jazz 5 string. From a great punch to rolling off the neck for growl . . . the sound is unbelievable, as you say!

I do adjust the EQ for each "place" that we play, and have seldom ended up with them 'straight up.' Running totally flat isn't appealing to my ears. Most of the time I end up with a 'smiley face' . . . bass to treble . . . and little to no Enhance! I do use a WTDI pedal as a way to kick in the mids when I need them. I also have a P Bass and think that the Jazz sounds a tad better with this rig!!!!!

[Flatball]

Update  -  After a few more gigs, I am LOVING my tone.

[Bassmann1968]

Great update Ray []
The knobs should lock in that middle position [^][^]

[TOM]

quote:Originally posted by esa

quote:Originally posted by Flatball

The Jazz into the WT550/D210XLT/D212XLT is AMAZING.

Mmmmmm...  Jazz bass through an Eden rig...


I hear you, man.  I live in that Nirvana:




___________________
WT800 > D210XLT (x2, vertical)

 Esa
 what is your opinion  two d-210xlt  horizontal???

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D210XLT x 2/  D112XLT x 4/
WT-800B / WP-100nav/ WT-1000 / WT-405 / WTX-260 x 2 / MH600 'METRO' HEAD / NEMESIS N28E

[esa]

quote:Originally posted by TOM

Esa
 what is your opinion  two d-210xlt  horizontal???

Vertically stacked drivers have greater dispersion in the upper-mids than horizontally stacked ones.  The larger the driver, the narrower the dispersion.  Horizontally aligned 10-inch drivers have the same dispersion as a single 20-inch driver, which is pretty narrow.

I stack them vertically to be sure that the sound the audience is hearing is the same sound I am hearing.  (Horizontally stacked, listeners to the sides of the rig would not hear the upper-mids, because they would be 'beaming' straight out in front.)

I dig the vertical set-up because I can hear all the frequencies that the rig is producing no matter where I am on the stage, and know that the sound in the room is the identical to the sound on the stage.

Of course, once the bass signal is run through a PA, it only matters to the people on-stage.  

The first time I set up vertically in rehearsal, every single band-member commented that they could hear all sort of things in my playing and tone that they'd never heard before.

[8D]

[TobiasMan]

quote:Originally posted by esa


The first time I set up vertically in rehearsal, every single band-member commented that they could hear all sort of things in my playing and tone that they'd never heard before.

[8D]

I'm hoping that means they were hearing "good things". []

[]

[TOM]

Thanks for your answer!!!
Tom

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D210XLT x 2/  D112XLT x 4/
WT-800B / WP-100nav/ WT-1000 / WT-405 / WTX-260 x 2 / MH600 'METRO' HEAD / NEMESIS N28E

[esa]

quote:Originally posted by TobiasMan

I'm hoping that means they were hearing "good things". []

Absolutely - everyone was diggin' it.  [8D]

quote:Originally posted by TOM

Thanks for your answer!!!

My pleasure.

I decided to do a quick visual for you, as well. []
This is a ripple-tank simulation of sound waves from a single source.  Think of it as looking down from above on a vertical stack of two identical 10" drivers projecting sound:

As you can see, the signal is the same everywhere the wave travels.

Now, here are the same two drivers, as seen from above, in a typical horizontal set-up:

You can see there's a big difference here.  In the center section is the full signal, and anyone standing in that inverted "V" will hear everything alright.

Then you have the black smears which define the "V" - those are areas of phase cancellation, where you wouldn't hear much of anything at all!

The areas outside the black seem to appear normal at first, but if you look closely, you can see that they are completely out of phase with the center section (green where red should be, and vice versa).  These are the areas where the upper mids and highs are not audible.

You can see from the graph how a drummer or guitarist - or anyone not standing directly in front of the bass rig - couldn't possibly hear the full tonal characteristic of the bass...  they'd be hearing it out of phase, and without the upper-frequency content.

This explains why everyone could hear me so much better when I first set my rig vertical at the rehearsal - my tone was filling the room, not just "beaming" in the center.

The lesson: If you want to be sure that the sound you hear in front of your rig is the same sound everyone else is hearing, stack identical drivers vertically.


You can tinker with ripple-tank simulator here:
http://www.falstad.com/ripple/

...and I'd like to apologize to Flatball for hijacking his thread!

[]