When we asked “Which speaker size projects best for a bass player when playing live?”, many of you posted comments on what you think works best. Some of you wrote very detailed comments. There were a few that really stood out, enough to where an entire article (the one you’re reading right now) could be dedicated to it.
I’m very surprised that most bass players still use 1 x full range cab or a combination of 2 x full range cabs of different speaker configurations. In the early 80’s I switched from using full range cabs to a sub and top cab employing an electronic cross over. When I made the switch it was magic. I’ve used a few different combinations. 2×18″ for a sub with a 2×10″ on top crossed over around 100htz or 2×15″ on the bottom with 2×10″ on top. It’s the only way to go. Clarity, punch, lots of bottom end and high end definition. You’ve got to move air and that’s not going to happen playing through a 2×10″ cab. And most 2×10″ can also have a tweeter as well. It’s a set up that’s bassically a small P.A. system. At present I’m only using a 1×15″ cab for my sub and it’s really not enough for the bottom end. I plan on adding another 1×15″ cab to beef up the situation. If you want to heard over the drummer and a guitar player you’ve got move air. And it’s not just about volume. It’s about clarity & projection. Get yourself a sub and a top cab and an electronic crossover. And, a good quality rack mount compressor. The real secret to a balanced attack. It’s not overkill. It’s the reason every soundman tells me my bass sounds great. (Fender Jazz Bass with EMG’s)
I am always amazed by the number of folks who still think 10’s have more “punch” and “clarity”, and 15’s have more “warmth” and “low end”. Seriously? With all of the proven data that shows the only thing a speaker’s size tells you about a speaker is the size of the speaker, one has to wonder how this is still a topic of discussion. If you wanna mix driver sizes, knock yourself out, it’s your rig, your sound, and your money, but in most cases, the 4×10 is able to handle more wattage than the standard 1×15, so while your 4×10 is humming along, your 1×15 is on the brink of destruction. Unless you’re listening specifically to the 1×15, you may not hear it struggling until it’s too late. I played the “standard” 410/115 combo for years. Thought it sounded killer, until I played a rig with 2×212’s. That rig went deeper and had more articulation than my 410/115 ever thought about, and with less EQ! From that point on, I’ve only played two matching cabs or one really good cab. Right now, I’ve got two LDS 15/6/1’s and two Ampeg PN-410’s, but my gigging rig is a single Barefaced Big Twin II, which is a ported 2×12 with a horn. That single 2×12 is as loud and as deep as the two Ampeg’s and it has the same kind of articulation as the two LDS’s. It also happens to weigh less than 50 lbs, and it has super smooth casters and a well-placed top handle. My point is that my 212 cab has all the “punch” of 10’s and all the “warmth” of 15’s. If I needed another cab(I don’t), I’d buy another Barefaced BTII. Why would I take a chance that some other cabinet with a different sized driver will pair up with this cab and sound like crap? I know this cab sounds amazing, so why wouldn’t I just buy another one? Mismatched drivers MIGHT work, but matching drivers DO work, and speaker size really means nothing… Just so everyone doesn’t think I’m totally new school, my pedalboard is almost all analog(my loop switcher has some digital qualities), and my main amp is an all-tube Mesa Strategy(my backup amp is a Mesa D800+…;-) )
What Cabinet And Speakers Are Best Suited For My Amplifier?
I am a live player, have done some studio in my past but I perfer playing live. Back in the late 80’s early 90’s I had a Fender BRX bi-amped 400 watt head with a 2×10 and a 15″ each in it’s own cabinet. Then my friend who at that time was a rep for Kaman Corp. He convinced me to use his Trace Elliot’s SMX-12 2×10 combo w/ horn back in the early 90’s one night. That configuration sold me, thus selling my Fender amp, speaker cabinets, and even Fender Jazz V string ( it had Kubicki active electronics and I had upgraded to Bartolini pickups). After trying his amp and his Hamer Cruise Bass V with a 2Tek bridge (Jazz inspired and passive) I was sold! Had everything I needed, and my tone was much more defined than with my Fender kit. I was playing in a 3 piece Classic Rock band back then and need clear tones and a defined sound. After that tryout, the 2×10’s w/ a horn and a English made Trace head became my go to. I just like the early Trace stuff’s warm, defined tone even still today. Currently I am using an English pre-Gibson Trace GP-7, a Rane dual compressor with crossover, w/ 2×10 w/ horn cabinet. Bass guitar goes in to a Tech21 Sansamp VT direct box before amp/compressor and split to PA mixing board. I’m 63 and I like the modular stack approach due to weight/transporting it for other gigs. I just need to hear myself on stage, not really to project. Last year for 3 months I played without an amp on stage as a trial to explore downsizing, just direct into PA and thru monitors. Hated it! I went back to the amp after 3 months. I really feel an amp on stage helps me stay connected to the band. Without an amp on stage it was very hard for me, especially after using amps on stage since the early 70’s. I did try the challenge, but I don’t care for bass just in monitors or thru a small monitor. JMHO, and it works well for me. I am always conscience of my volume and band mate interactions.
I am a pro player of over 40 years on electric and upright, with over 10, 000 gigs in the New Orleans area. If you have to be louder than a 10″ speaker can provide on an upright gig, that gig should be on electric. I used to use 6 different cabs I made myself- 2 cabs w/single 15″ Altec Lansing 4-21, 2 cabs with single EV 12L, and 2 cabs with single 10″ Hartke aluminum cones. Each cab was 8 ohms and built to specs derived from the computer EV 12L design. I would mix and match cabs to whatever the gig demanded. I even had a junction box so that I could run 3 cabs but still have the resulting ohms fall between 4 and 8 ohms. Then Hurricane Katrina destroyed all of that gear. When I got new gear I got a single 10″ and a single 12″ from Flitesound. This is what I use now for any gig. Loud electric gigs get both cabs, upright gigs get the 10″, and I use the single 12 on the occasional gig needing more than a 10″. That’s it. 4 10″ cabs have a pronounced mid range bump that you can’t get rid of. 8 10″ cabs are stupid unless you are playing heavy metal. Most concert rental rigs are TOO BIG. I like to use a small cab on stage at a concert or festival, like a 2 10″. That way you can push the cab up to, but not into, distortion. This gives the best bass tone without being distorted. A smaller rig on any stage makes the soundman’s job easier, with monitors not as loud, and reduced low frequency feedback due to low frequency resonances. Use a small cab, push it up to the threshold of distortion but not into it, and you will get great tone, a happy sound man, and grateful fellow band members. I recently played a small jazz room here in town with both electric and upright- I used a rebuilt 1969 Fender Showman head with a LDS 2 8″ cab. With each axe in its own separate channel, it was perfect.
Back in the 60’s I used a 1966 Fender Bassman amp (blackface) with a really large 212 cabinet (new size for ’66). That worked fine for high-school group and also worked fine when I first started touring with a nightclub group (5-days a week, 50-weeks a year). Then the guitarist and keyboards both bought Vox Super Beatle amps, which buried my poor Bassman. In 1971 while playing “Little Bo’s” in Lincoln Nebraska, I visited Hospe music looking for a dual showman. They had sold out the week before so I was trying everything in the shop. The finally showed
Jensen Loudspeakers Presents New 12
I am a live player, have done some studio in my past but I perfer playing live. Back in the late 80’s early 90’s I had a Fender BRX bi-amped 400 watt head with a 2×10 and a 15″ each in it’s own cabinet. Then my friend who at that time was a rep for Kaman Corp. He convinced me to use his Trace Elliot’s SMX-12 2×10 combo w/ horn back in the early 90’s one night. That configuration sold me, thus selling my Fender amp, speaker cabinets, and even Fender Jazz V string ( it had Kubicki active electronics and I had upgraded to Bartolini pickups). After trying his amp and his Hamer Cruise Bass V with a 2Tek bridge (Jazz inspired and passive) I was sold! Had everything I needed, and my tone was much more defined than with my Fender kit. I was playing in a 3 piece Classic Rock band back then and need clear tones and a defined sound. After that tryout, the 2×10’s w/ a horn and a English made Trace head became my go to. I just like the early Trace stuff’s warm, defined tone even still today. Currently I am using an English pre-Gibson Trace GP-7, a Rane dual compressor with crossover, w/ 2×10 w/ horn cabinet. Bass guitar goes in to a Tech21 Sansamp VT direct box before amp/compressor and split to PA mixing board. I’m 63 and I like the modular stack approach due to weight/transporting it for other gigs. I just need to hear myself on stage, not really to project. Last year for 3 months I played without an amp on stage as a trial to explore downsizing, just direct into PA and thru monitors. Hated it! I went back to the amp after 3 months. I really feel an amp on stage helps me stay connected to the band. Without an amp on stage it was very hard for me, especially after using amps on stage since the early 70’s. I did try the challenge, but I don’t care for bass just in monitors or thru a small monitor. JMHO, and it works well for me. I am always conscience of my volume and band mate interactions.
I am a pro player of over 40 years on electric and upright, with over 10, 000 gigs in the New Orleans area. If you have to be louder than a 10″ speaker can provide on an upright gig, that gig should be on electric. I used to use 6 different cabs I made myself- 2 cabs w/single 15″ Altec Lansing 4-21, 2 cabs with single EV 12L, and 2 cabs with single 10″ Hartke aluminum cones. Each cab was 8 ohms and built to specs derived from the computer EV 12L design. I would mix and match cabs to whatever the gig demanded. I even had a junction box so that I could run 3 cabs but still have the resulting ohms fall between 4 and 8 ohms. Then Hurricane Katrina destroyed all of that gear. When I got new gear I got a single 10″ and a single 12″ from Flitesound. This is what I use now for any gig. Loud electric gigs get both cabs, upright gigs get the 10″, and I use the single 12 on the occasional gig needing more than a 10″. That’s it. 4 10″ cabs have a pronounced mid range bump that you can’t get rid of. 8 10″ cabs are stupid unless you are playing heavy metal. Most concert rental rigs are TOO BIG. I like to use a small cab on stage at a concert or festival, like a 2 10″. That way you can push the cab up to, but not into, distortion. This gives the best bass tone without being distorted. A smaller rig on any stage makes the soundman’s job easier, with monitors not as loud, and reduced low frequency feedback due to low frequency resonances. Use a small cab, push it up to the threshold of distortion but not into it, and you will get great tone, a happy sound man, and grateful fellow band members. I recently played a small jazz room here in town with both electric and upright- I used a rebuilt 1969 Fender Showman head with a LDS 2 8″ cab. With each axe in its own separate channel, it was perfect.
Back in the 60’s I used a 1966 Fender Bassman amp (blackface) with a really large 212 cabinet (new size for ’66). That worked fine for high-school group and also worked fine when I first started touring with a nightclub group (5-days a week, 50-weeks a year). Then the guitarist and keyboards both bought Vox Super Beatle amps, which buried my poor Bassman. In 1971 while playing “Little Bo’s” in Lincoln Nebraska, I visited Hospe music looking for a dual showman. They had sold out the week before so I was trying everything in the shop. The finally showed
Jensen Loudspeakers Presents New 12
I am a live player, have done some studio in my past but I perfer playing live. Back in the late 80’s early 90’s I had a Fender BRX bi-amped 400 watt head with a 2×10 and a 15″ each in it’s own cabinet. Then my friend who at that time was a rep for Kaman Corp. He convinced me to use his Trace Elliot’s SMX-12 2×10 combo w/ horn back in the early 90’s one night. That configuration sold me, thus selling my Fender amp, speaker cabinets, and even Fender Jazz V string ( it had Kubicki active electronics and I had upgraded to Bartolini pickups). After trying his amp and his Hamer Cruise Bass V with a 2Tek bridge (Jazz inspired and passive) I was sold! Had everything I needed, and my tone was much more defined than with my Fender kit. I was playing in a 3 piece Classic Rock band back then and need clear tones and a defined sound. After that tryout, the 2×10’s w/ a horn and a English made Trace head became my go to. I just like the early Trace stuff’s warm, defined tone even still today. Currently I am using an English pre-Gibson Trace GP-7, a Rane dual compressor with crossover, w/ 2×10 w/ horn cabinet. Bass guitar goes in to a Tech21 Sansamp VT direct box before amp/compressor and split to PA mixing board. I’m 63 and I like the modular stack approach due to weight/transporting it for other gigs. I just need to hear myself on stage, not really to project. Last year for 3 months I played without an amp on stage as a trial to explore downsizing, just direct into PA and thru monitors. Hated it! I went back to the amp after 3 months. I really feel an amp on stage helps me stay connected to the band. Without an amp on stage it was very hard for me, especially after using amps on stage since the early 70’s. I did try the challenge, but I don’t care for bass just in monitors or thru a small monitor. JMHO, and it works well for me. I am always conscience of my volume and band mate interactions.
I am a pro player of over 40 years on electric and upright, with over 10, 000 gigs in the New Orleans area. If you have to be louder than a 10″ speaker can provide on an upright gig, that gig should be on electric. I used to use 6 different cabs I made myself- 2 cabs w/single 15″ Altec Lansing 4-21, 2 cabs with single EV 12L, and 2 cabs with single 10″ Hartke aluminum cones. Each cab was 8 ohms and built to specs derived from the computer EV 12L design. I would mix and match cabs to whatever the gig demanded. I even had a junction box so that I could run 3 cabs but still have the resulting ohms fall between 4 and 8 ohms. Then Hurricane Katrina destroyed all of that gear. When I got new gear I got a single 10″ and a single 12″ from Flitesound. This is what I use now for any gig. Loud electric gigs get both cabs, upright gigs get the 10″, and I use the single 12 on the occasional gig needing more than a 10″. That’s it. 4 10″ cabs have a pronounced mid range bump that you can’t get rid of. 8 10″ cabs are stupid unless you are playing heavy metal. Most concert rental rigs are TOO BIG. I like to use a small cab on stage at a concert or festival, like a 2 10″. That way you can push the cab up to, but not into, distortion. This gives the best bass tone without being distorted. A smaller rig on any stage makes the soundman’s job easier, with monitors not as loud, and reduced low frequency feedback due to low frequency resonances. Use a small cab, push it up to the threshold of distortion but not into it, and you will get great tone, a happy sound man, and grateful fellow band members. I recently played a small jazz room here in town with both electric and upright- I used a rebuilt 1969 Fender Showman head with a LDS 2 8″ cab. With each axe in its own separate channel, it was perfect.
Back in the 60’s I used a 1966 Fender Bassman amp (blackface) with a really large 212 cabinet (new size for ’66). That worked fine for high-school group and also worked fine when I first started touring with a nightclub group (5-days a week, 50-weeks a year). Then the guitarist and keyboards both bought Vox Super Beatle amps, which buried my poor Bassman. In 1971 while playing “Little Bo’s” in Lincoln Nebraska, I visited Hospe music looking for a dual showman. They had sold out the week before so I was trying everything in the shop. The finally showed
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