OK, I know this is the Strat part of the forum, but I was afraid my friends here might not be able to help me if I post over on the Fender amp forum......or at least i might get help from total strangers! LOL!

I have several amps and one is a 1970 fender Bassman head connected to a 2 x 12 cab made by a company call Tube Works. I was going to use the amp and cab to play music through this Sunday at a wedding and noticed something weird. We had the speakers sitting on a patio up about 12 feet. If you stood by the speakers on the patio, it sounded great—nice full bass and equal treble. As one walked down the stairs in front of the speakers, the sound got thinner and thinner until it was ear piercing treble. Walk off to the side of the speakers and the fullness came back. It was like they projected directly from the front of the speakers a very high end tone, even as far as 25 or 35 feet away. Walk 30 degrees, or more, left or right, the fullness came back! It was like night and day.

I went and got my 1974 Fender Bassman 10 which is a cab with 4 x 12 and amp build into it. It did not do this. Any direction or degree the sound was full and balanced. We ended up using it for the wedding.

Now i understand why sometimes I would be playing with people, using that setup, and my guitar sounds GREAT and other times, sounded thin and weak. I now know it had to do where I would stand while playing!

So what's up with 2 x 12 speakers having such direction variation in tone?? Cheap speakers? cone design made for some other application? Can someone explain this? Would the same thing happen if I was using a Fender Twin Reverb with 2 x 12???

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Is the cab a sealed back?

If so it may help to open it up. It will really cure a overly projectional cab.

The screaming treble center could be down to the speakers used. Whip one out and put it in something else. It's unlikely to be the head causing the trouble. Though I have had a similar problem with a new'ish Marshall. The bias slipped way cold and left the amp devoid of any middle or bass. Sorted the bias and the thing went back to Norman Normal.

My hitlist order would be
Try a different head.
Take a look at the speakers (check they are not double coned. Some manufacturers use a smaller cone at the center of the speaker to help treble. Watkins amps and some early pre'63 celestions had this).
Finaly try the cab with the back panel removed.

Heres a example of a early double coned celestion from a old Vox.

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No no and no

It could be the cab design its self, size and back opening as Niki said and the surroundings of where you were. Did you fool with the angle of the speakers on the patio.

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Yes, the back is open on this cab and when I turned the cab about 30 degrees away from where the people would be sitting it was full and bassy. Stand withing 15 degrees to straight on and it was super treble. Must be the speaker design. No extra cones like Niki showed and the cones are pretty big, unlike hi-fidelity speakers.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

I'm stumped assuming the impedances are all correct. Thats a logshot though, for it to affect the sound like that.

Was the speaker raised at the time you noticed the problem. If it was lower it, is all I can think.

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No no and no

I think it's not the speakers per se but the way sound waves travel that gives us the different perceptions of tone dependant on where we stand, an amp will sound fuller if you are in front of the speakers and thiinner as you move to the side. The 4-12 cab also moves a lot more air than the 2-12 and consequently will create a fuller more dispersed tone. I attended a sound symposium given by Peavey amps some years ago and the presented generated sound waves of different frequencies and had a guy move around the room and raise his hand when he noticed a louder fuller sound,it was amazing to see just from moving a couple of feet he could percieve a great change in tone and volume.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

This is interesting. Thanks.. The weird thing is that this 2 x 12 cab sound very thing when it is ear level straight on. And get fuller from side to side or up and down. Turn the cab 30 degrees and it sound great. Stand it sideways on the floor at your feet and it sounds great. straight on it sounds like a beer can. One would never want to use this on a stage where the cab would be the same level as everyone's head. It would be ear piercing treble.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com