Fender Rumble 2x10 Extension high-end

J

jrbass70

Jun 9, 2020
73
98
2,911
New Jersey
#1
I have a Fender Rumble 800 (not the on-stage, the newer 800 which is similar to the 500 but with more wattage capacity and lighter).

Anyway - recently I purchased the Fender Rumble 2X10 extension cabinet. When using both cabinets together I am getting MUCH more higher-end frequency response. I have disabled the tweeters on both amps. It becomes more noticeable the louder I play (naturally). In order to get a sound more similar to just using the one 800 alone I have to completely turn off the treble control, roll of the high-mids and roll the tone control on my J-Bass down to about half-way (with just the 800 my treble is Fender Rumble flat (9'oclock) and tone control is about 1/4 off.

I have a Tech21 Q-Strip so I connected that keeping it flat but enabled the LPF and that helped considerably. So my thinking is that for some reason the extension cabinet is voiced with a lot more highs. I know the 800 is different than the Rumble 500 so it is possible it is voiced differently or is it possible the new extension cabinet needs to be 'broken-in'. I have read that this is true of speakers but I've never really noticed because I had nothing to compare to.

Thoughts?
 
#2
So I have been playing more and have noticed that it wasn't a truly fair comparison at first because once I add the extension cabinet I am louder and all frequencies are much more accentuated. I notice that when I go back and forth between using just one and then 2 cabinets everything is more intense - bigger lows and bigger highs. If I use one cabinet and raise the volume more I start noticing a lot more high end (but the low end doesn't sound nearly as good). I have to say once I started playing with both cabinets, playing with one sounds awful! It's funny cause I've always liked the sound of the Rumble amp but man playing 2 Cabs together is SO much better.

Now that all being said my one complaints is that it takes a LOT to tame the highs. It's crazy that to get the tone I want I am using an LPF - you would think these speaker response would be more tuned to leave out those highs. I suppose they kept a large frequency range to support all types of bass players -- maybe it's just not my taste, but I am surprised at a high volume how bright the sound can be.

Curious if others have noticed this? Or maybe just have a strong preference to a darker tone...
 
#3
Ok! All good. And did you stack the combo on top of your extension cab? Because having speakers up nearer to your ears could account for a lot too. When I played guitar I always put them up high so I could really hear what the speakers were doing.
 
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#4
Yes and interestingly enough I think it sounds much worse when up high. I put it back down on its own and sounds much better. I was wondering why it sounded so awful on its own - I mean I've used it for a while and like it a lot. The sound changes a lot when you put it up high. It's fine when they are both played together though.

In any event I still don't like how much total high end there is. I guess that's actually been a complaint of mine about the Rumble all along - why is flat on the treble at 9O'clock?? And the EQ on the treble is listed as +-15db at 10,000kHz which seems really high for bass guitar (most eq's are around 4Khz for treble on bass in my experience). Turning the tweeter off helps and I'm not sure what the full range of sound is without the tweeter but in any event just too much high end with both of them cranked up - I think I'm sending the extension cab back. The combo is usually plenty loud (except for maybe an outside gig with no PA support), so I was getting it purely for a beefier sound.
 
#6
Are you listening from a distance in front of the amp? Especially with an ext cab hooked up, the tone will be very different in front of the system than say, 20 feet out in front of it.
At least that's how my Rumble 200 and 115 cab are, they sound totally different a distance out as the sound really throws. Just curious if you've tried your combo and ext cab together in a large room or area, and then stand out a ways to see if the sound changes.
Good luck, I want to get that new 800 combo also!
 
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