Creating the Ultimate Bass Guitar Speakers with ToneSpeak

Combine innovative magnetic thinking and the tireless pursuit of the perfect tone and you get the new line of bass guitar speakers from ToneSpeak.

What Makes ToneSpeak Different

A bassist will immediately notice a difference thanks in part to the ultra-powerful neodymium magnet at the heart of each ToneSpeak bass guitar speaker. Neodymium is a rare-earth metal with strong magnetic properties.

“Heavy ferrite-based magnets have been the norm for bass speakers,” says Anthony Lucas, Co-Founder of ToneSpeak. “But a neo magnet can be ten times stronger. By carefully engineering and manufacturing ToneSpeak’s bass line, we can harness that strength and give it to bassists in the form of a quicker attack, more tone, and broader frequency range coverage.”

Anthony spent his career designing guitar and bass speakers, many of which are used by some of the biggest names in music, before partnering with MISCO to launch ToneSpeak in 2021.

“MISCO is kind of the middle of an art sandwich with ToneSpeak,” says Dan Digre, President of MISCO. “Anthony has all this experience with speaker design, which truly is an art. But an individual speaker is only as good as it is manufactured to be. MISCO has world-class testing capabilities and production standards that are tight enough for NASA and the military. We promised Anthony we could help perfect his designs and ensure every ToneSpeak speaker sounded identically great. That way we can all be proud to send these out into the world so musicians can create art with them.” 

A classic design for a bass guitar amp is to pair the woofer with a tweeter to cover higher frequencies that a heavy magnet can’t respond quickly enough for. However, that may not be necessary with ToneSpeak’s bass speakers which are available in 10”, 12” and 15” models. 

Phil Bradbury, the man who hand builds each of the high-end, custom Little Walter Tube Amps, offers bassists a cabinet with a ToneSpeak bass guitar woofer that doesn’t include a tweeter.

“ToneSpeak has already nailed down the guitar market, there's no doubt about it,” says Phil. “Nobody can beat them in the guitar market. I'm now wanting to work with Anthony and the company to get the best bass speakers that money can buy.” 

“Guitarists have an amazing sensitivity to tone color,” says Dan.” These players have fabulous ears—they’re very discerning, and I have a great respect for them. The philosophy of designing a guitar speaker is different from almost any other type of speaker because it’s part of the sound of the instrument. Most other speakers are designed for the signal to pass through as uncolored as possible. But these speakers require the color of the driver to become part of the instruments. And it’s not a commodity: You need to be able to consistently, repeatedly replicate the tone color. Controlling the variables that affect tone color is very important. MISCO has the means of measuring and controlling those factors.”

If you are going to be at The NAMM Show 2024 in Anaheim, CA from January 25-28 stop by the MISCO booth (#4224) and try out these new bass speakers for yourself.

Benefits to Musicians

A bass amp that doesn’t need a tweeter and is powered by a magnet that weighs a few ounces rather than a couple pounds definitely improves portability for any musician accustomed to lugging heavy gear. But the biggest benefits offered by ToneSpeak’s new bass speakers is in the sound quality and performance. 

The lighter mass neodymium magnets improve the efficiency and the transient response, which is crucial for the fast and dynamic attack of bass notes. These speakers convert electrical power into acoustic output very well so users can get more volume and improved overall performance, which is essential for low-frequency, high-energy signals. The wider frequency response range also gives a bassist both the low-end punch and the higher harmonics they want to achieve a wider, warmer tonal quality.

The precision inside/outside copper voice coil, which is wound around fiberglass formers, improves heat dissipation and delivers a smoother response. While the stamped steel chassis is robust yet lightweight to ensure durability without being too bulky.

A career worth of research went into designing these speakers and MISCO is committed to manufacturing each one to the highest level of precision. Please contact our team if you’re interested in switching to the new standard for excellence in bass guitar speakers.