In this discussion about T-birds on that OTHER forum

[Granny Gremlin]

He used the Thiele/Small parameters for the stock speakers to design what he thought would be a flat response, then rebuilt the cab it to that. Things don't work like that in the real world. Even if he could have, he was clueless. The purpose of a bass cab isn't to reproduce the exact signal coming from the amp with no deviation. That's the goal of reproduction equipment, not music-making equipment.

Yes, but my point was that the whole thing is futile because the drivers aren't flat; the cab itself is not the issue rather it's the upper midrange bump typical of instrument speakers.  Something I suppose you imply by your last line there.

[Pilgrim]

"That's the goal of reproduction equipment, not music-making equipment."

I think that's right on target.  The goal of capturing/reproducing music is to replicate the original.  When you make music, the equipment influences and changes the sound.  That's why different people prefer different amps and cabs.

[Dave W]

Yes, but my point was that the whole thing is futile because the drivers aren't flat; the cab itself is not the issue rather it's the upper midrange bump typical of instrument speakers.  Something I suppose you imply by your last line there.

Right. And even if they were flat, you couldn't make the cabinet sound flat. The real world of speaker cabinets doesn't operate that way. Likewise with the way we hear. The parameters are useful for design, but only to a point.

"That's the goal of reproduction equipment, not music-making equipment."

I think that's right on target.  The goal of capturing/reproducing music is to replicate the original.  When you make music, the equipment influences and changes the sound.  That's why different people prefer different amps and cabs.

That's also why the idea of a "hi-fi" sounding bass or bass amp is self-defeating. Hi-fi = high faithfulness to the original performance. When you're making music, you are the original performance, not a reproduction of it.

[Pilgrim]

That's also why the idea of a "hi-fi" sounding bass or bass amp is self-defeating. Hi-fi = high faithfulness to the original performance. When you're making music, you are the original performance, not a reproduction of it.

BE the bass......

[Granny Gremlin]

Yeah, but in all fairness, the term 'hifi' in that context has a modifier (i.e. "hifi-sounding") somtimes omitted for brevity's sake, and is used in a metaphorical vs litteral way; i.e. the bass sounds like a record (processed; scooped; compressed; whatever the current flavour is) vs live.  A valid descriptor in that sense IMHO.

[patman]

I never understand these concepts...I plug it in, if it sounds good, I play it.

[eb2]

My concept gradually became if I could lift it without throwing my back out, I liked it.

Nowadays, if it looks cool in the basement, I keep it.  And throw laundry on it.

[drbassman]

Right. And even if they were flat, you couldn't make the cabinet sound flat. The real world of speaker cabinets doesn't operate that way. Likewise with the way we hear. The parameters are useful for design, but only to a point.

That's also why the idea of a "hi-fi" sounding bass or bass amp is self-defeating. Hi-fi = high faithfulness to the original performance. When you're making music, you are the original performance, not a reproduction of it.

Amen Dave!  I am the music, not a clone!

[uwe]

An EB-0 sounds like an EB-0 over any amp, nuff said. And no amp and speaker can make a bass other than an EB-0 sound like one.

[Granny Gremlin]

You can come rather close though (mostly string choice and EQ; never quite the same though)... and plug any mudbucker into a Peavey Bandit 10" solid state guitar practise amp - you won't even recognise it.  A very good/useful recording tone and very un-muddish (I guess that Peavey stumbled into a preamp design that doesn't freak out at the load and signal strength of a mudbucker; whodathunkit). Actually, the all tube Peavey Bravo 112 guitar combo I have also seems to work well in a similar way (I bought it because it was cheap, all tube, and I though it would be more practical to use with my EB3 due to more power, as well as a spare amp to have around the studio since it is pretty versatile; actually a good amp). The seller was tickled that I showed up with the EB3 to test it before purchase.

[exiledarchangel]

I'm just curius, with what speaker did you test the amp?