Freedman DynaCab sounds to scooped

bansta

bansta

Member
Hi guys,
The Freedman DynaCab sounds somehow "different" to me: too scooped, with a lot of not-so-pleasant higher frequencies, no matter what amp I use it with. Perhaps some of you have developed a kind of 'best practice' in the use of the cab? Mic combination? Position(s)?
Aggressive EQ-ing (a cut-off above 6kHz) helps in some matters, but this is just one cab that needs such treatment. Is this the way to go?
 
Last edited:
If it works for you, then yes, it is absolutely the way to go. Every guitar/pickup, not to mention our fingers, are different. Here are two videos by Leon Todd about Dyna-Cabs that may help you further:




Play around with the alignment tab. Try one cab at 8mm and see if that does anything for you.
Also worth noting: you can swap between cabs without losing any of your dialed-in settings, so if the Recto Straight doesn't do it for you, try 5153 Stealth, USA Mc90, or even the 1x12 Hot Kitty.
 
bansta said:
Which DynaCab would you recommend to use in conjunction with the Freedman HBE as an alternative?
Click to expand...

You've got ears, don't you? Use em!

There are dozens of cabs available right there for you to experiment with. Nobody else has your ears and nothing anyone tells you is going to be more helpful or faster than you going through and hearing things for yourself.

If it were me, I'd start with the 4x12's and work my way down.
 
bansta said:
Which DynaCab would you recommend to use in conjunction with the Freedman HBE as an alternative?
Click to expand...
I really liked mixing the on-board Friedman GB/V30 Dyna Cabs, so much so that I got the 412 Freedman Cablab pack of the same cabs to mix in CL and import (not sure the CL pack is the exact same cab instance, but its the same type at least). As I understood from some posts here at one time, mixing those 2 replicates a popular Friedman physical cab containing that combination of speakers - separately mic'd but residing within the same cabinet. So what I do currently in CL4 is to mix 412 Freedman GB-121, GB-57, V30-121, V30-57 (positions to taste), and export to one IR that I use often in Ax3. Anyway - noodle with mixing the on-board Friedman 412GB+V30 cabs is the suggestion - might yield something for you
 
Last edited:
bansta said:
Which DynaCab would you recommend to use in conjunction with the Freedman HBE as an alternative?
Click to expand...
Use your favorite bands tone as a reference, then find what ever IR is sonicly closer to it, even 1X15 IRs can help achieve a disere tone, even if the reference band didnt use a 1X15 at all.

Trust your ears.
 
All Friedman IR packs sound like that to me. Except the Two Notes ones that have Dave’s own cabs, but they aren’t stock Friedman cabs. Bear in mind, Friedman uses Chinese V30s (that have that 5-7kHz spike) and Greenbacks (that are quite scooped anyway in the larger scheme of things).
 
bansta said:
Perhaps some of you have developed a kind of 'best practice' in the use of the cab? Mic combination? Position(s)?
Click to expand...
Folks, he's asking for some tips on how to use the cab better. Surely we can help him out that way instead of "don't use it" or "you've got ears, use them"?

I'll ditto the stuff above referencing the Leon Todd videos. For this particular cab, I like using the new default distance and position settings with both dynamic mics and a low and hi cut of 90 and 6000 to start. Doesn't sound scooped at all to me.

This is from the FM, but the same setup can be used on the III.

1737489290895.png1737489319606.png
 
Last edited:
Karl Houseknecht said:
Folks, he's asking for some tips on how to use the cab better. Surely we can help him out that way instead of "don't use it" or "you've got ears, use them"?

I'll ditto the stuff above referencing the Leon Todd videos. For this particular cab, I like using the new default distance and position settings with both dynamic mics and a low and hi cut of 90 and 6000 to start. Doesn't sound scooped at all to me.

This is from the FM, but the same setup can be used on the III.

View attachment 150616View attachment 150617
Click to expand...

"You've got ears, use em" is a perfectly valid suggestion and it, along with what it implies, is genuinely good advice.

The guy obviously feels like he needs to use matching amp and cab pairs, but this tells him he doesn't need to limit himself like that. Sure he could stubbornly stick with the cab he's selected and use EQ's and filtering and all kinds of other stuff to eventually fit that round peg in a square hole. And sure, there is a chance that doing that could get him closest to what he's looking for, but his complaint about the nature of the cab seems like he's got an issue with the core tone of it that further processing won't help. This tells me he should try different cabs and mics. And once he goes down that road, nothing we can describe here will help him more than him just listening to the sounds themselves and picking what he likes best.

As for his question about best practices, my advice would be to pick out an IR profile (whether it's a single IR or a blend of multiple) and pretty much stick with that for everything you use for that general gain level / vibe. I have a lot of "modern high gain" patches and while most of those patches feature a different amp than the last patch, they all use the same set of about 4 IR's I think go well together. Same story with lighter overdrive tones and an associated set of IR's, same story with clean tones. :)
 
Last edited:
Karl Houseknecht said:
Sorry, it comes across as unhelpful and dismissive. He literally asked for specific help in the original post. Mic combinations and positions, for a starting point. After that, he can use the ears that he has.
Click to expand...

Sorry if you think I'm unhelpful and dismissive then?

Not sure what else to say considering I've also typed about a quarter of a page, more than anyone else in the thread actually, of very specific, actionable advice, you know, because I'm being so unhelpful and dismissive.
 
Last edited:
GreatGreen said:
his complaint about the nature of the cab seems like he's got an issue with the core tone of it that further processing won't help
Click to expand...
If he needs more midrange, further processing absolutely can help. Start with the preamp on the cab block and add some midrange there, or go into the amp block output EQ and bump up the midrange there, or even turn the mid knob on the amp. Or add an EQ block after the cab. Don’t need to throw out the cab because it doesn’t sound the way you want it right out of the box.

I frequently bump the 1 and 2K bands in the amp block’s output EQ to give it a little more cut. Processing!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom