[Geardaddy]

Beautiful sound Duke.   You could discern that even through Youtube.

[Danny Richie]

Pretty cool man.

I watched the first Youtube link and it really did sound good even through the Youtube clip.

Nice work!

[Russell Dawkins]

We ordered a Thunderchild for my son who plays electric bass and double bass, partly because of the design intention being more of the tonally flat variety, and thus it being appropriate both for electric and acoustic bass.. In fact, I read on the talkbass forum that it sounds flatter than some studio monitors and thus would make a killer home stereo rig as a pair.

It should be here any day! I know he can't wait - he's got the acoustic bass pickup (a "New Realist" - sounds great) and the Sansamp pedal preamp, also sounds great and will work for both types of bass.

This is him and a friend playing on the street last summer at Victoria's inner harbour.

(photo removed - son didn't want it on display!)

It was their first street gig, so they look kind of nervous!

[James Romeyn]

Ryan Thorell makes some of the world's best arch top guitars including for Tommy Emmanuel and Frank Vignola (one was reviewed July 2010 in Downbeat).  He approved of TC early January with a circa $12k arch top.  I thought it sounded great too.   

[Passinwind]

Recently added to the lineup is a new "acoustic-friendly" version featuring a rear-firing tweeter that complements the front-firing horn.  The tonal balance is similar all around the cab, but the SPL is loudest out in front.  This feature bumps the weight back up a bit, to 33 pounds.  Introductory price is $800, going up to $850 on July 1st.

Here is a picture of the back of the acoustic-friendly cab that I picked up yesterday:



Duke and I got to hear several bass players playing bass guitar the through the cab yesterday, as well as my electric upright. I'll post some detailed impressions in a day or two, after I get to play all my various instruments through it for a while. My initial take is extremely positive...

[James Romeyn]

Our new primeVibe USA distributor is Musiquip (sister company to Canada's SF Distributing).  At NAMM 2011 I worked the SFM/Musiquip exhibit about 150' from the Phil Jones' exhibit (maker of highly regarded premium cost bass cabinets and combo amps).  I prefer Duke's TC (even w/o the latest rear-firing tweeter upgrade) in punch, tonal quality, and projection pattern compared to even PJ's most costly offerings.   
 

The above trio played in our sound room last night: L-R, Curtis Smith on drums, Rich Hansen on bass (playing a $2500 Phil Jones combo bass amp with 4x 5-1/4" all forward firing...Rich simultaneously employed an extra passive cabinet hidden behind Curtis), and Carl Hart on guitar playing a sweet as pie '62 Sears Danelectro combo amp (estimated 6W; it easily kept up with Curtis, who hammers his drum kit...the Danelectro with a speaker and two cap upgrades kills my brother in law's $500 street price Fender Blues Jr.)

I've heard Rich play his PJ bass amp several times.  IMHO Duke's TC is clearly preferred vs. the PJ combo amp.  With TC's low cost and performance it's one of the best MI speaker values.     

[Passinwind]

The above trio played in our sound room last night: L-R, Curtis Smith on drums, Rich Hansen on bass (playing a $2500 Phil Jones combo bass amp with 4x 5-1/4" all forward firing...Rich simultaneously employed an extra passive cabinet hidden behind Curtis), and Carl Hart on guitar playing a sweet as pie '62 Sears Danelectro combo amp (estimated 6W; it easily kept up with Curtis, who hammers his drum kit...the Danelectro with a speaker and two cap upgrades kills my brother in law's $500 street price Fender Blues Jr.)

I've heard Rich play his PJ bass amp several times.  IMHO Duke's TC is clearly preferred vs. the PJ combo amp.  With TC's low cost and performance it's one of the best MI speaker values.     

Duke and I met up Saturday in Boise at another Talkbass Get-Together. One of the people playing through my new rig was Michael Manring, a player who puts incredible demands on his amplification system with his often percussive and harmonic-laden techniques and constantly shifting tunings. The "acoustic-friendly" TC sounded absolutely stunning, and we were all treated to a really nice impromptu mini-concert. I really look forward to hearing some more heavy hitters playing through these cabs, not only because I want to see Duke succeed, but simply because so many of them would sound better IMHO.

[James Romeyn]

Duke and I met up Saturday in Boise at another Talkbass Get-Together. One of the people playing through my new rig was Michael Manring, a player who puts incredible demands on his amplification system with his often percussive and harmonic-laden techniques and constantly shifting tunings. The "acoustic-friendly" TC sounded absolutely stunning, and we were all treated to a really nice impromptu mini-concert. I really look forward to hearing some more heavy hitters playing through these cabs, not only because I want to see Duke succeed, but simply because so many of them would sound better IMHO.

Rich Hansen plays much the same as you describe above.  I keep hearing in my mind how much better it will sound on Duke's TC, and can't wait to experience it.  Rich is a major gear head and he wants to hear the TC asap.  I will be shocked if Rich doesn't purchase a TC.  Also Jeremy Nivison is another local pro bass player who wants to hear it.

I'm embarrassed to criticize the design of someone of Phil Jones' caliber, but here goes.  My best guess is, by employing multiple mid-basses rather than a multi-way system, Phil perceives an overall advantage in avoiding all the hassle, effort, compromise, and cost of the XO.  But there's no free lunch.  There simply must, in my mind anyway, exist comb-filtering effects with Jones' design.  I presume the radiation pattern must be quite erratic.   

To me Duke' single greatest trait, after his gentlemanly kindness, is that
Duke instantly, immediately, and forthrightly confronts and admits every design foible and weakness in his philosophy.  No other known audio designer does this, and I've been around many of the best and most successful.  So Duke will tell you how he had to fudge this or that toward achieving a particular goal.  IIRC most often, the fact is Duke's XO's are not easily accomplished, and can take up room and cost and are complex.  Some think (wrongly in Duke's case) that XO complexity always equals degraded performance.   

IMO, the only known potential drawback for the TC is that it might appreciate and/or better employ more power than other cabinets.  Considering Rich Hansen lugs around not only the PJ combo amp, but also the huge passive extension speaker (much larger than the PJ combo amp, which has a smallish face but is very deep and isn't lightweight) I can't help but predict he'll likely soon be selling his PJ and be shopping for a head amp for the TC.  I predict he'll either keep his extension speaker for more output when it's occasionally needed or more likely buy two TC's and sell the extension cabinet also.  Rich is a pro engineer but he plays several times per week.

I suppose for owners of two TCs, depending on the shape of the venue, the player will either stack inverted or otherwise space the two TC's away from each other? 

 



   

[Passinwind]

I have now played gigs in my two most demanding rooms, both busy winery settings with lots of glass, potential for boominess, and background noise. On the first one a musician who has heard me play hundreds of times told me it was the best he's ever heard our little jazz combo sound in there. On the next one the other bassist (we alternate sets at this weekly jam and have known each other for a few years) commented that the Thunderchild-AF was the most acoustic sounding cab he's ever heard me play. In both cases my electric upright just showed a little more of that "real" upright flavor, a very good thing indeed. I sold my go-to cab of the the last 7 years and the TC112AF is now my default choice.

[Duke]

I appreciate the encouragement in the posts above.

Charlie, thanks for posting that - great to find out the acoustic-friendly version works pretty much as advertised out in the real world!  Having some idea of the sort of equipment you normally use, it is REALLY an honor for my little cab to be your default choice.   

[Passinwind]

I appreciate the encouragement in the posts above.

Charlie, thanks for posting that - great to find out the acoustic-friendly version works pretty much as advertised out in the real world!  Having some idea of the sort of equipment you normally use, it is REALLY an honor for my little cab to be your default choice.

Duke,

At the top of the first thread you commented about how no one built what I needed, so I did it myself. As you said...until now! Believe me, my wife thanks you even more profusely than I do...

[Passinwind]

Duke,

At the top of the first thread you commented about how no one built what I needed, so I did it myself. As you said...until now! Believe me, my wife thanks you even more profusely than I do...

Here's a gig review I posted on Talkbass today:

 I've actually played out a couple of dozen times with my TCAF, but last night was the first time it was with my own band, and in full multitasking mode. I used the TC cab for all our onstage monitoring, with bass, vocals, and guitar synth each getting their own EQs and with me playing both EUB and fretless BG besides the synth.

This was my first gig in this very tough room. It's pretty much a classic bomb shelter, albeit with exposed beams and wood on the ceiling at least. The stage is backed by a gabled window with one right angled corner and a fairly low ceiling, and has no carpeting, which holds true for the rest of the place as well. My drummer did bring in a large carpet though. It's a busy, noisy brewpub and was made even noisier by the fact of being an all ages show at standing room only capacity, with maybe 150 people inside. The band is just a duo -- drums and me.

I brought in way too much PA, mostly just because I can. Stereo, biamped 3-way cabs, a really nice mixer, DSP speaker controller, yada yada. I ran just the TC on bass for a while (carried the room fine), just the PA (as an experiment), but both most of the time. I ran stereo effects through the PA, with the lower lows rolled off to prevent phasing problems. I had the TC angled a bit toward the drummer, behind me but positioned so that the 50 degree vertical horn dispersion missed my mic by a little. On such a live stage, and with the back firing tweeter at work, the TC worked great for vocal monitoring. It was also wonderful for bowed EUB, which is uber-demanding on a bass cab. And of course it kills for "normal" bass reinforcement. I never even touched my bass preamp's EQ all night, just left it dead flat. Three thumbs up!

By the way, I did the two rehearsals for this gig with the TC cab handling both vocals and instruments quite happily. I could easily see that working for many of my smaller gigs too, although as usual, two TC cabs would be even better...;^}

[Passinwind]

Just want to mention that I have now been happily gigging and rehearsing with the Thunderchild cab for 3/4ths of a year, and it continues to be my go-to cab for the vast majority of my playing situations. I am really looking forward to hearing the 15" version when it comes out, which I understand is finally imminent.

Thanks again Duke!

[doug s.]

duke, how come, when i go to your website, there's no info on your pro-audio speaker?   

best,

doug s.

[Duke]

Just want to mention that I have now been happily gigging and rehearsing with the Thunderchild cab for 3/4ths of a year, and it continues to be my go-to cab for the vast majority of my playing situations. I am really looking forward to hearing the 15" version when it comes out, which I understand is finally imminent.

Thanks again Duke!

Thank you, Passinwind!  Nice avatar too.

I don't think the 15" version will be a step backwards in anything except weight. 

duke, how come, when i go to your website, there's no info on your pro-audio speaker?   

It's on the way.

I have a guitar cab in the works too, so I'll try to get something up about it as well.

[jtwrace]

We ordered a Thunderchild for my son who plays electric bass and double bass, partly because of the design intention

OK.  Have you recorded anything from his performances?  Bet they would be stellar! 

[jtwrace]

I have a guitar cab in the works too, so I'll try to get something up about it as well.

Fantastic!  Same pricepoint?

[Passinwind]

Thank you, Passinwind!  Nice avatar too.

I have a guitar cab in the works too, so I'll try to get something up about it as well.

I'm very interested in the guitar cab as well Duke.

My new avatar is in honor of the Talkbass discussion of a logo badge for these cabs. I worked through a baffling array (sorry!) of possibilities and even printed a few candidates on sticky-backed clear plastic to get an idea how they'd look. In all honesty, I like the current stealth mode just fine though.

[Duke]

[re: guitar cab] Fantastic!  Same pricepoint?

I'm very interested in the guitar cab as well Duke.

My new avatar is in honor of the Talkbass discussion of a logo badge for these cabs. I worked through a baffling array (sorry!) of possibilities and even printed a few candidates on sticky-backed clear plastic to get an idea how they'd look. In all honesty, I like the current stealth mode just fine though.

The guitar cab will probably be introduced at $500, and there may be a lightweight version for about $550.  Pricing will increase later.  The cab will include some unorthodoxy (surprise, surprise), such as switchable response-shaping circuitry and some attention to the radiation pattern.   A prototype has been gigging in Utah for several weeks now, and apparently gets a thumbs-up from the guitarist, his bandmates (including the bass player), and people in the audience that I've spoken with.   About 45 pounds regular, and about 35 pounds lightweight, bu the lightwweight version trades off some SPL along the way.   

The logo badge I'd like to do is shaped like a squattier version of your avatar, more rectangular than square, probably machined aluminum. 

[Russell Dawkins]

The logo badge I'd like to do is shaped like a squattier version of your avatar, more rectangular than square, probably machined aluminum.

...or bronze? Etched bronze or brass looks cool and isn't as hard to do as you might think - silk screen, wax and acid...