Jack 110 First Impressions

[jbass]

I'm presently scrambling frantically to finish a pair of J110s in time for my band's NYE gig, and this afternoon I was able to get one of the boxes in "playable" condition just to satisfy my curiosity after all these long weeks of building. Since I wasn't quite ready to screw down the back panel, I simply wired up the woofer and pressed the back into place. The sound wasn't half bad, but I was getting a lot of air leaks from the back that resulted in an undefined, airy quality. Once I was satisfied that everything was working correctly, I went back into the shop to solder my connections and firmly attach the back panel. When I next tried the cabinet the result was very different. In fact, all I can say is "Wow!" The sound I was getting now was much tighter and much more responsive to my playing than my current 2x10 rig (even on the B string), and I found that some of the flaws in my technique became quite evident (others have said this as well, and now I can confirm it). On top of that the overall response of my bass was very even across the range, lacking in the boomy lows I've endured all these years and with plenty of high end zing for my taste (at the moment I'm thinking about skipping the piezos). I've got a couple rehearsals this week at which I plan to try out my new cabinet. More later....

[jbass]

Well, my rehearsal tonight was canceled, so I didn't get a chance to try my "completed" J110 in a band setting. However, the free evening gave me time to catch the second Jack up to the first and do a little testing. It's late here and my family is in bed, so I had to limit myself to verifying that the second cabinet is working at a relatively low volume. What I noticed right off the bat is that this box exhibits a very obvious buzzing sound not unlike distortion, whereas the first cabinet was clean and clear. Could this be the cone slapping against the throat fillers even without my amp turned up very loud? I have no idea what that would sound like, but being that the noise is constant it seems a possibility. I don't have time to take everything apart again tonight so I can investigate, but I'll hopefully be able to do so before tomorrow night's rehearsal.

On a more positive note, I did take a chance and try both cabinets together for a couple minutes until my wife complained Man, what a difference! Even with the buzzing I was very pleased with fullness of the sound -- especially in the lower registers. All day I've been thinking about building a T39 to get more low end response, but now I'm going to put that idea on hold until I've had a chance to try both cabinets on a few gigs.

UPDATE: I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep with this issue hanging over my head, so I just took the cabinet apart to check the driver and the throat fillers. Not finding any problems, I reseated the woofer and made sure it was snugged down. I checked it with my amp as best I could given the time of night and didn't hear the buzzing. Hopefully it's fixed now.

[Harley]

Could this be the cone slapping against the throat fillers even without my amp turned up very loud?.

Most likely.
The best way to test for that is put some talcum powder on the fillers, screw down driver tight and carefully but firmly push the cone down as far as you can without damaging it.

Take the driver off and see if there's any talcum powder on the driver cone.

I had this problem on 2 J110's I built and discovered I had used 1-1/4" thick foam for the fillers.

Recheck your filler height and also the inside diameter of the anti-slap spacer.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Since it was OK the second time around chances are the driver was originally a bit off-center.

[Harley]

Since it was OK the second time around chances are the driver was originally a bit off-center.

I missed the update

[jbass]

I'm happy to report that reseating the driver fixed the buzzing issue, and now the second Jack sounds just like the first. I took both boxes to my funk band rehearsal tonight and was exceedingly pleased with the sound, as were the guys in the band. My bass of choice was a recently acquired Anthem BEB35TH active five-string, and for my amp I chose my old GK micro bass head (150 watts into a 4-ohm load). After a bit of EQ tweaking I was able to get "my sound" out of the rig and was good to go. First, I tried just one cabinet to see how it would do, but I found it a bit thin on the low end and didn't want to push it too hard. When I connected the second cabinet, however, I was able to get substantially more bottom than I'm used to having with my ported 2x10 box, and I've been pretty happy with that box for years. Amazing. The best part of the evening, though, came at the end of the rehearsal when I threw my bass bag and a small backpack containing the GK head and cables over my shoulder, grabbed a Jack in each hand and walked out to my truck. One trip for everything!

Next up is the funk band's NYE gig (small room, vocal-only PA) for which I'll use both Jacks and my usual 90s vintage Peavey Megabass head (2x200 into 4 ohms). In January my other band is playing a large coffee house with PA support, so I'll probably try the GK head and one J110. Then the funk band will be playing a large room with PA support, and I'll go back to the Megabass/2xJ110 rig for that. If all goes well I expect to be selling off a few of my old cabinets very soon.

[jbass]

The NYE gig with my funk band went well overall, but it wasn't a great opportunity to objectively try out my J110s because we were crammed unceremoniously into the corner of a small venue. As a result, I had plenty of low end, but the mids and highs were sucked into oblivion from where I was able to stand and no amount of EQ would help. What I can say, however, is that with my 200 watt amp set on 3 on the preamp and 7 on the master, I had plenty of volume to handle the room (we used the PA only for the three mics). In fact, a friend of mine in the audience said he was hearing more bass at this show than he was used to hearing at other live performances, yet no one was complaining that it was too loud.

Just for fun, when my friend offered to help me load out at the end of the night, I made a big show of "lugging" one of the Jacks over for him to carry out. Expecting it to be heavy, he heaved it off the floor and then gave me a dirty look when he realized how light it actually is.

My take-home from this gig is that I need to seriously consider adding the piezos to the cabinets. The supports are already in place, as is the defeat switch, so this should be a simple task. I should also think about a way to angle one of the cabinets upward toward my ears, but that would mean either moving my rackmount head off the stack or switching over to a lightweight micro head and using something to hold it in place. Any thoughts?

[AntonZ]

How about placing the cab on top of the amp, with something under the front end to tilt it upward?

Or make a small piece of ply and cleats, cleats on lower front side hooking over the front end of the tilted cab, cleats on top of the same sheet in the back to prevent the amp from sliding off at the back.

[LelandCrooks]

http://www.speakerhardware.com/folding_ ... 570900.php

Very cool piece of hardware.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

http://www.speakerhardware.com/folding_ ... 570900.php

Very cool piece of hardware.

Leland, please send me one of those for my J112. My solution for hearing my cab better is that I sit on a stool, as my back isn't happy standing up while playing, but I could still use a bit of cab tilt.

[LelandCrooks]

http://www.speakerhardware.com/folding_ ... 570900.php

Very cool piece of hardware.

Leland, please send me one of those for my J112. My solution for hearing my cab better is that I sit on a stool, as my back isn't happy standing up while playing, but I could still use a bit of cab tilt.

On it's way.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

http://www.speakerhardware.com/folding_ ... 570900.php

Very cool piece of hardware.

Leland, please send me one of those for my J112. My solution for hearing my cab better is that I sit on a stool, as my back isn't happy standing up while playing, but I could still use a bit of cab tilt.

On it's way.

What can I say, super service!

[jbass]

As an update, I'm happy to report that I had very good results using a single J110 on the coffee house gig this weekend. This particular venue is long and narrow with a small stage shoved into the corner next to the front door, and I ended up with my rig opposite the door next to two cinder block walls. When I first powered up I was really pleased with the amount of low end I was getting in that spot, and things got even better once I was DI'd into the PA (two flown JBL two-ways and a dual 18" sub). All I had to do was boost my stage volume slightly after the first couple of songs (we didn't get an official sound check) to get all the bass I could use. I even wondered if I was too loud, but nobody was complaining. As the set progressed and we settled into the performance, I became increasingly aware of how tight and responsive the bass sounded through the Jack/PA combination. In fact, everything felt so right that after we were done I had to noodle around a bit once the PA was off just to enjoy what I was hearing (we were the last band, so nobody cared). When I later asked the sound guy how the bass sounded, he said "It sounded really good. You could've even come up a little on stage." That made me smile.

[jbass]

The third and final "real world" test of my Jacks took place two nights ago as my funk band played a gig in a large club with PA. Unfortunately, when we arrived to set up we learned that someone had literally blown up the PA the night before, and that left us with a new sound man who had been called in a couple hours prior and who only had time to bring in two Peavey DTH full range cabinets and a power amp. Undaunted, we set up and prepared to do our sound check, only to find out that most of the club's drum mics were missing and the drum wedge had also been blown. Then, just before we started, we learned that the club hadn't put up any of our posters, so there weren't more than 20-30 people in the audience the entire night. Lame, lame, lame. It was just one of those gigs that (thankfully) only comes along once in a great while.

The good news is that my Jacks really hit the mark in terms of backline on the larger stage. Once again I used one channel of my Peavey 2x200 watt head with the pre on 3-4 and the post on 7 or so to get what I needed. The low end was nice and full (I was in a corner again), and I could even hear the mids since I wasn't crammed up against my rig this time. Of course, without the drums in the stage mix I didn't have quite the stage conditions I'd hoped to have (I like to hear a lot of kick, snare and hats), but I think everything would've been just fine had the drums been louder because I had plenty of headroom available.

Now that I've put my new rig through its paces in different settings, the only concern I have is the extent to which I'll be able to push things on larger (outdoor) gigs. I don't really play all that loudly, but I do like to hear myself well without having to play too hard. To that end my two J110s have worked very well so far, but I have to wonder if I should build a third or go for a 20" T39 down the road. At the moment I'm leaning toward the third Jack because I really like the small form factor of these cabinets, but that would also necessitate buying a 2-ohm capable amp. On the other hand, a T39 would work well (aside from the weight) because my existing head is bi-amp capable. So, my question is this: If I'm happy with the overall performance I'm getting from two J110s now (low end included), how much more would a third Jack add? Would it be enough to serve as a reasonable alternative to a J110/T39 (factoring in size/weight, build cost, new amp purchase, etc.), or is there simply no comparison between the two options?

[Harley]

Now that I've put my new rig through its paces in different settings, the only concern I have is the extent to which I'll be able to push things on larger (outdoor) gigs...........but I have to wonder if I should build a third or go for a 20" T39 down the road. At the moment I'm leaning toward the third Jack because I really like the small form factor of these cabinets, but that would also necessitate buying a 2-ohm capable amp. ...... how much more would a third Jack add? Would it be enough to serve as a reasonable alternative to a J110/T39 ?

For starters I wouldn't go J110/T39.

If you're serious about tone and volume for elect bass - which going by your posts you are - then for a top/sub, it'seither OT12/T39 or ( better still ) DR250/T39.

Finding a decent amp that will handle 2Ohm these days is easy. For instance I have an Eden WT550 and it works a treat. So if you're scared off building the DR250/T39, and seeing you already have two J110s, then I'd opt for the 3rd J110 and get a different amp.

Three J110's are more than plenty loud enough for a large stage with decent FOH and will also be adequate for some serious backline.

That rich J110 tone gets even better with 3 cabs, plus the height factor gets the sound closer to ear level...plus looks impressive!