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Looking at buying a new bass cabinet


isaac42

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New to me, that is. I've been thinking about downsizing my rig, and there's an Avatar B210 bass cabinet on Craigslist just a few miles away. I'll go have a look at it tomorrow.

 

Anybody have any experience with or knowledge of Avatar cabs?

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Not that brand specifically but I've played with bass players who used 2X10" Cabs. To put it simply they sucked.

Nothing involving loudness. You can get allot of volume out of 10's these days but volume wasn't the problem. There simply wasn't enough bottom end to match the kick drum. Above 100Hz it was plenty loud but the bass frequencies you feel in the chest weren't there.

 

Maybe if you mic the cab or supplement the sound running a DI through the PA and use the 2X10" as a stage monitor you could get by.

to me however, 4X10" or a 1X15" has always been the bare minimum for matching and unmiced kick drum. Like I said, its not the volume, its having a large enough footprint to produce a solid foundation.

 

Without it, there's something missing. In the cases I referenced, the pass player would crank up and start sounding like a guitar players as the 10's were pushed into saturation. Not my idea of a nice sounding bass. The 2X10 on top of a singe 15" sounds great. The 10's can handle the mids and highs and the 15" the lows and subs. I have an old EV can with 2X10's and an 18". I can plug in to the 10's only and it doesn't cut the mustard. With the 18" you can rock the house.

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Never owned one but from what I can find they use off-the-shelf Eminence drivers, which can be nice when it comes to replacing them. As for whether a 2X10 is "big enough," it's a case of listening with your eyes. A number of years ago I had multiple opportunities to hear a church keyboardist play through a Peavey 2X10 cab and the low notes shook the building. I played bass through his rig a few times and never felt cheated in terms of volume or punch. I see no reason why it you couldn't do the same with a bass full time. As you already know, you're not going to get much of anything below the second harmonic anyway no matter how big your cab is.

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New to me, that is. I've been thinking about downsizing my rig, and there's an Avatar B210 bass cabinet on Craigslist just a few miles away. I'll go have a look at it tomorrow.

 

Anybody have any experience with or knowledge of Avatar cabs?

 

Never played through one, but they made nice stuff.

 

Check it out.

 

All I have for bass gear is an older UK made Ashdown AMB 500 4x10 combo. That thing sounds amazing, but takes 2 people to lift it.

 

The other bass amp I have is an SWR California Blonde. I played most acoustic guitar through it, but they were designed for acoustic double bass. Kinda heavy too.

 

As an at-home bass player, I'm not much worried about weight.

 

Aguilar makes killer bass cabs. If you can find one used in your area.

 

They make many, including a 1x12 which might be a nice compromise

 

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Never played through one, but they made nice stuff.

 

Check it out.

 

All I have for bass gear is an older UK made Ashdown AMB 500 4x10 combo. That thing sounds amazing, but takes 2 people to lift it.

 

The other bass amp I have is an SWR California Blonde. I played most acoustic guitar through it, but they were designed for acoustic double bass. Kinda heavy too.

 

As an at-home bass player, I'm not much worried about weight.

 

Aguilar makes killer bass cabs. If you can find one used in your area.

 

They make many, including a 1x12 which might be a nice compromise

 

There is a pair of Aguilar cabinets for sale locally, but they're going for $550 each (both for $1000!), whereas I got this one for $175. As I didn't win the $1.6B lottery prize, money is still an issue. This one is smaller than any of my other bass cabinets, as well as lighter. Has nice handles. No casters, but it's small and light enough to carry. It produced enough bass to give my ears that "stuffed" feeling, in a room larger than several of the places I play, so I'm not worried about that. Actual tone in a gigging environment remains to be seen. I'll use it on Sunday in a large room, at a relatively low level.

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There is a pair of Aguilar cabinets for sale locally, but they're going for $550 each (both for $1000!), whereas I got this one for $175. As I didn't win the $1.6B lottery prize, money is still an issue. This one is smaller than any of my other bass cabinets, as well as lighter. Has nice handles. No casters, but it's small and light enough to carry. It produced enough bass to give my ears that "stuffed" feeling, in a room larger than several of the places I play, so I'm not worried about that. Actual tone in a gigging environment remains to be seen. I'll use it on Sunday in a large room, at a relatively low level.

 

Nice.

 

I'm not sure what I would use for a bass amp these days, if I was a gigging bass player.

Something light 4 sure.

 

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In my experience, nothing moves air like big cabinets, but they take up a lot of room in the car, and are heavy to boot. And, frankly, I don't need to move all that much air at most of the gigs I play these days. In my loudest band, I don't even use a bass amp anymore. I go straight into the PA.

 

I do kinda miss the way the bass envelopes me with a big rig, though.

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My favorite cabinets are 2x15"s, but I've used a couple of 1x15"s that I really liked. One is the Sunn 115S from the 70s. I really regret selling the one I had, and wish I could find another, but they're as rare as hen's teeth.

 

I've been thinking about building a couple of 1x15" cabs. One for small gigs, two for larger, but, now that I have the B210, I don't know whether or not I'll make the effort.

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Congratulations and Happy New Cab Day. :thu: Like you, I value portability. I drive a Corolla and there's no way I could haul a big rig without buying a new car. Sure, I could borrow my wife's Jeep Liberty in a pinch but I don't really have a need. The church where I play occasionally already has an amp anyway. If I were a real gigging bass player I'd look at lightweight cabs I could both lift single handed and fit in my car, maybe a 2X10 and a 1X15.

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My favorite cabinets are 2x15"s, but I've used a couple of 1x15"s that I really liked. One is the Sunn 115S from the 70s. I really regret selling the one I had, and wish I could find another, but they're as rare as hen's teeth.

 

I've been thinking about building a couple of 1x15" cabs. One for small gigs, two for larger, but, now that I have the B210, I don't know whether or not I'll make the effort.

 

If you ever come across a Sunn 115H grab it.. Even if its beat up and needs a speaker its an incredible sounding folded cab with a long throw.

I found one in a pawn shop when I first moved to TX. I had to leave my coveted B52 Ampeg cab with 2X15" Altecs behind because I didn't have room in the van.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\tsunnrhfront-jpg.2297940.jpg Views:\t1 Size:\t153.4 KB ID:\t32380424","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32380424","data-size":"full","title":"sunnrhfront-jpg.2297940.jpg"}[/ATTACH]

 

Sunn made some incredibly nice sounding and durable cabs. That 1X15 folded cab is still a bit big because its deep but it does a nice job competing with a drummers kick. My old bass player blew the original Square Magnet Sunn speaker into chunks of paper. I found a mint condition 15" JBL to put in there. I had to shave the wood a few millimeters to fit the magnet in there.

 

You know I used that cab for years and always wondered why it sounded great by itself but anytime I used another cab it sounded awful. Even biamping where one cab produced lows and the other mids sounded weird. With all the preaching I do here about getting phase matched I don't know why it took me so long to think of it. The speaker in that cab faces the rear and it its port lengthens the time it takes to reach the front. Its phase is off with a front loaded speaker cab by about 180 degrees. Once I swapped the speaker polarity it was balls to the walls with any cabinet matching.

At longer distances it was never an issue but up close to the amp it felt thin with other cabs/amps.

I'd typically use that cab solo however so it was never an issue.

 

Just solid clean sound and the string snap from that cab was less offensive, less in your face, because its ported.

 

With two of these you could play the Phili Spectrum. My old bass player had one with the Model T head. Absolutely mind numbing. The Model T tube head was Sunn's solution to the Ampeg SVT. not sure if they made a 8X10 cab though. I know they made 6X12 and 6X10's I have the 6X12 with the V shaped speaker baffle.Its great sounding bass or guitar cab because the angled baffles can be heard all over the stage. Absolute monster to move however. I'm far too old now to be moving big cabs. When I was 18, I could flip an SVT and big A7 cabs by myself without a problem. My back's a wreak after 50 years of playing out. A single 15 does the job. I sometimes use a 2X10 for guitar. I built my own cab and put a couple vintage Jensen's in it for small gigs. A 4X10" open back is my preferred guitar cab now. My bass player can match me with his 1X15' cab easy enough.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\timages?q=tbn:ANd9GcQOcEMdzBytWKqLaVrsTn7kriVo-8h7a6iPTVTZV5wq7_Yrm0yP.jpg Views:\t1 Size:\t13.7 KB ID:\t32380426","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32380426","data-size":"full","title":"images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQOcEMdzBytWKqLaVrsTn7kriVo-8h7a6iPTVTZV5wq7_Yrm0yP.jpg"}[/ATTACH]

 

I can say one of the better small bass combo amps I've heard was my buddies Trace Elliot. It had a single 10" speaker and it sounded huge for its size. If I only used my ears I could swear it had a footprint as big as a 15". Pretty darn loud too. We used to do backyard jams with it and I'd play through a small 15W amp. If I was doing a drummerless gig that's definitely the way I'd go. I could always pump a signal through the PA if I need more juice. Again, the key isn't needing to be super loud. Even a 25W bass amp like the old Portaflex will let you match a drummer so long as the cab is good.

 

The footprint simply needs to match the kick or you wont sound right. 10's can wind up sounding too much like guitar forcing the guitarist to thin out his sound and making the whole thing go down the tubes. When I play guitar I want the bass handling the frequencies below the guitar strings. When the guitar has more bass tones then the bass has, that's where I draw the line. Same thing playing bass, I want to vibrate the floor and make the toes tingle. Guitar shouldn't be able to do that. On a wooden stage guitar might thump on power chords, but its the drummer and bass you feel in the feet.

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If you ever come across a Sunn 115H grab it.. Even if its beat up and needs a speaker its an incredible sounding folded cab with a long throw.

I found one in a pawn shop when I first moved to TX. I had to leave my coveted B52 Ampeg cab with 2X15" Altecs behind because I didn't have room in the van.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\tsunnrhfront-jpg.2297940.jpg Views:\t1 Size:\t153.4 KB ID:\t32380424","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32380424","data-size":"full","title":"sunnrhfront-jpg.2297940.jpg"}[/ATTACH]

 

Sunn made some incredibly nice sounding and durable cabs. That 1X15 folded cab is still a bit big because its deep but it does a nice job competing with a drummers kick. My old bass player blew the original Square Magnet Sunn speaker into chunks of paper. I found a mint condition 15" JBL to put in there. I had to shave the wood a few millimeters to fit the magnet in there.

 

You know I used that cab for years and always wondered why it sounded great by itself but anytime I used another cab it sounded awful. Even biamping where one cab produced lows and the other mids sounded weird. With all the preaching I do here about getting phase matched I don't know why it took me so long to think of it. The speaker in that cab faces the rear and it its port lengthens the time it takes to reach the front. Its phase is off with a front loaded speaker cab by about 180 degrees. Once I swapped the speaker polarity it was balls to the walls with any cabinet matching.

At longer distances it was never an issue but up close to the amp it felt thin with other cabs/amps.

I'd typically use that cab solo however so it was never an issue.

 

Just solid clean sound and the string snap from that cab was less offensive, less in your face, because its ported.

 

With two of these you could play the Phili Spectrum. My old bass player had one with the Model T head. Absolutely mind numbing. The Model T tube head was Sunn's solution to the Ampeg SVT. not sure if they made a 8X10 cab though. I know they made 6X12 and 6X10's I have the 6X12 with the V shaped speaker baffle.Its great sounding bass or guitar cab because the angled baffles can be heard all over the stage. Absolute monster to move however. I'm far too old now to be moving big cabs. When I was 18, I could flip an SVT and big A7 cabs by myself without a problem. My back's a wreak after 50 years of playing out. A single 15 does the job. I sometimes use a 2X10 for guitar. I built my own cab and put a couple vintage Jensen's in it for small gigs. A 4X10" open back is my preferred guitar cab now. My bass player can match me with his 1X15' cab easy enough.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\timages?q=tbn:ANd9GcQOcEMdzBytWKqLaVrsTn7kriVo-8h7a6iPTVTZV5wq7_Yrm0yP.jpg Views:\t1 Size:\t13.7 KB ID:\t32380426","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"32380426","data-size":"full","title":"images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQOcEMdzBytWKqLaVrsTn7kriVo-8h7a6iPTVTZV5wq7_Yrm0yP.jpg"}[/ATTACH]

 

I can say one of the better small bass combo amps I've heard was my buddies Trace Elliot. It had a single 10" speaker and it sounded huge for its size. If I only used my ears I could swear it had a footprint as big as a 15". Pretty darn loud too. We used to do backyard jams with it and I'd play through a small 15W amp. If I was doing a drummerless gig that's definitely the way I'd go. I could always pump a signal through the PA if I need more juice. Again, the key isn't needing to be super loud. Even a 25W bass amp like the old Portaflex will let you match a drummer so long as the cab is good.

 

The footprint simply needs to match the kick or you wont sound right. 10's can wind up sounding too much like guitar forcing the guitarist to thin out his sound and making the whole thing go down the tubes. When I play guitar I want the bass handling the frequencies below the guitar strings. When the guitar has more bass tones then the bass has, that's where I draw the line. Same thing playing bass, I want to vibrate the floor and make the toes tingle. Guitar shouldn't be able to do that. On a wooden stage guitar might thump on power chords, but its the drummer and bass you feel in the feet.

 

No, they never did. The Model T was really more favored by guitar players than bass players, anyway. Bass players at the time went for the Concert Bass amp, or, better yet, the Coliseum Bass, if they could afford it.

 

One drawback to the Concert Bass amp was that it was stable only down to 4 ohms, so you couldn't use it with a stack of Sunn 118VH cabinets. Worked well with one, though.

 

sunn_concert_bass_w_118bh-jpg.1135642

 

I had a pair of the 118MH cabs. Had to use a slave amp to power the second one. Never really sounded right. I figure it was a phase issue for me, too.

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Used it again last night, this time with a more conventional bass, specifically, a Ric 4003 with roundwound strings. Still sounds good. The cabinet seems to be voiced with a fair amount of low end, not so much midrange, and then it has the horn for the highs. The result is a scooped sound, a bit lacking in midrange for my taste, but the bandleader loves it, and I like the portability. I'll like it even more after I install some casters, so I don't always have to carry it.

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