Cab Pack 17 for Shiva, Bludotone - Amp Speaker Page tricks

austinbuddy

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One of the super-cool things Cliff has done in firmware for some time is allow us to set the LOW RES FREQUENCY in the amp block (see Speaker tab/page) and also increase the resonance. Others have posted on this topic.

In Cab Pack 17, there are three little tricks/applications I use this for.

For the "Shiva" Cab, that's a 1x12 Bogner dual port cab with a Celestial Classic Lead 80 in it. I used the real speaker cab on 6th Street in Austin throughout 2008 with an early Bogner Ecstasy 101b, and it sounded GREAT.

It's a 16 ohm cabinet and sometimes it sounded good with 8 ohms going in...but that's another topic.

According to specs, that Celestial Classic Lead 80 has a "resonant frequency" (see Celestial home page) of 85...but because it's a closed-back cab (ported), that tightens up bass so one suggested trick is to set the Low Res Frequency up by 10 over the amount, so here to 95. Maybe move the resonance up to 8 or 8.5 from default as well. Use your ears, experiment. You will not just hear it but "feel it" like a real cab when it dials in (if you are using FRFR monitors).

Note that the Blue Euro amp model defaults to a value higher than 95. So, changing this may help you dial in that "thunk" woody sound a good closed-back cab gives you. I know, because this cab in real life really fooled SM57 mics into thinking it was a 4x12.

The same would go for the Bludotone 1X12. The speaker there is a 100 watt Warehouse WGS Blackhawk AlNiCo, which is a replacement for an old EV SRO. Specs say that resonant frequency is 88, so try 98. This little dual-port cab has deceptively great, full bass. It's modeled after the Dumble Cab Larry Carlton uses (although he uses an EVL12 in his). 8 ohm cab.

Last, the REVERSE is true for open-back cabs! Take the Bludotone 2X12 "oval back" cab, very similar to what Robben Ford uses.

These are a pair of Celestion Heritage G12-65H speakers here (and 4 ohm at that). Those rate at 85 resonant frequency, so try 75 or 85 (not 95), and up the resonant frequency to 8 or 8.5, and see what you think of the cab now.

When I first shot the Bludotone 2X12 IRs I thought they lacked the bass I was hearing in the room. Used some Null mics in Axe Edit to fatten up the bottom to compensate in presets. Then I figured this out, the IRs are actually spot-on, just needed to do this trick. Works great!

For those interested in applying this to your 4x12 user IRs, the Celestion V30s resonant frequency is 75, as are most G12M Greenbacks (20 and 25 watt), but the G12H "Jimi" Greenbacks are at 55...

Use your ears, whether this is all technically right I have no idea, but I sure like the results! And the results are what matters! Good luck!
 

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Great information. Thanks for sharing. Will def. give it a try when I'm back from business trip next weekend.
Btw - I think this cab pack really doesn't get the level of attention it deserves.... I love it.
 
Thanks snoop! We've never had it so good as guitar players, that's for sure.

Was honored Cliff liked these IRs good enough to want include two in the AXE FX's factory presets. The pack really fills in a pre-existing gap in available IRs for the boutique amp choices in the AXE FX. Really love the Shiva cab, and the 1X12 Bludotone, they sound as good as any 4X12 IR for recording purposes to my ears.

Keep meaning to do a video/audio clip thing demo'ing this Cab Pack's virtues but simply haven't found the time (yet!)...I guess overtime I sit down to do it, I get lost in playing and programming presets, and BOOM, there goes 4 hours!
 
That's some valuable information. Thanks for this austinbuddy!

@ML SOUND LAB can you confirm any low resonant frequency values from your latest Marshall pack? I wonder if the low end works better with ~75hz then they do at 110hz (default value on some Marshall models). Not saying that they sound any bad as I'm using them atm, but I like the idea of idealizing things :)
 
Speaker low res frequencies are not the whole truth. Cliff had a mathematical way of approximately calculating it and I can't recall it right now.

110hz is definitely closer to the truth. It might be 106hz or 108hz depending on the cab and that's a subtle difference in how the low end reacts. It's safer not to touch it if you're not sure what you're doing. :)
 
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