Which affects tone more: Head vs Cab?

[skier4467]

So...

Which do you think affects your sound more, your amp head or your amp cab?

 

Would you recommend a new player to upgrade their head or their cab first?

 

why?

 

Thanks.

[Kindness]

An amp typically can affect your tone the most because of the tone controls. However, both play significant roles in your tone. Which is more significant depends on the amp and the cab.

 

I always recommend finding the cabinet that meets your needs regarding tone, volume and portability first and pairing it with an appropriate amp second.

[iamdenialNJ]

I say it's a 50/50.

 

Top of the line head + {censored}ty cab = crap

{censored}ty head + top of the line cab = crap

 

I'd rather have a mediocre head and cab than any of the top formulas.

 

But I can always get a {censored}ty head + cab or vice versa and sell the {censored}ty item and fund for something better.

 

But that's just me.

[lokidecat]

I say it's a 50/50. Top of the line head + {censored}ty cab = crap {censored}ty head + top of the line cab = crap I'd rather have a mediocre head and cab than any of the top formulas. But I can always get a {censored}ty head + cab or vice versa and sell the {censored}ty item and fund for something better. But that's just me.

 

Anything I play through = crap

 

:facepalm:

[Kindness]

Personally, I think it is easy to find {censored}ty cabs and hard to find {censored}ty amps.

[zachoff]

The person affects tone more than either of the two.

 

I could plug into head A and cab B and sound like me.

 

Kindness could plug into head A and cab B an sound like Kindness.

 

That said, heads will dictate your tone more than cabs... Especially since most sound guys will run you DI, anyway.

[bassthumpintwin]

I always recommend finding the cabinet that meets your needs regarding tone, volume and portability first and pairing it with an appropriate amp second.

 

This.

 

That being said, I guess it all depends on your situation and what you are already working with.

 

If you have a decent cab and your amp is noisy, cutting out, underpowered, or what have you, then get a new head.

 

If your head is pushing adequate power but your cab is farting out on the lows, or the speakers are about to blow up, then get a new cab.

 

As far as tone is concerned, you'll be able to adjust that a lot more on the head than the cab. The cab is pretty much fixed, minus a possible horn adjustment or something. On the other hand, as stated before, a crappy, poorly designed cab, with generic drivers will sound like crap with even the best of amps.

 

Depending on budgets, timelines, needs, and situations, you might be better off to upgrade both with a middle of the road item for each, rather than a super nice one or the other.

 

That, or just find a nice head AND cab used for half the money...

 

Now, we haven't even touched on the the bass guitar....

[NeonVomit]

I've found that the head doesn't have as much importance as the cabinet, especially if it's one of the more 'transparent' sounding ones.

 

DevilRaysFan one made an epic (in terms of info, not length) post about this, maybe he can chime in.

[FreestyleIntruder]

Going by empirical observation I'd have to say the cabinet.

[mrcrow]

i cant think of many technical reasons

but i would think if your head is an ok make and so gives you a lot of control eq etc

then a cab which is static electronically...would be the part to influence tone permanently

 

head ...variable

cab...static

[Cliff Fiscal]

The person affects tone more than either of the two. I could plug into head A and cab B and sound like me. Kindness could plug into head A and cab B an sound like Kindness. That said, heads will dictate your tone more than cabs... Especially since most sound guys will run you DI, anyway.

 

I think HC has coined this theory "the James Hetfield effect".

[L. Ron Hoover]

The answer, as Kindness said, is "it depends."

 

The part of the amplification chain with the most inherent distortion is the speaker cabinet. So if you're trying to get a super clean tone using a very neutral preamp (like a Millennia or Summit) then the cabinet would likely have the most affect on the overall sound

 

However, a lot of bass-specific amplifiers have inherent non-neutral responses designed in and you also have tone controls that can drastically alter tone. So if you're using an old SVT or using a lot of EQ, then it's likely that the amp is contributing more to the overall sound than the cab.

 

You'll notice that cabinet manufacturers never spec distortion figures. There's a reason for that.

[ezstep]

I find it amusing that some people will spend many hundreds of dollars on a nice head, then buy as cheap a cabinet as possible, then wonder why their nice amp/head doesn't sound as good as ____fill-in-blank____.

 

Since we tend to hang onto cabinets a lot longer than heads, I would suggest following Kindness' first post...locate the cab that fits your needs first, then get the head to match.

 

 

 

Someone here had in his signature the fact that some people spend thousands of dollars on mixers, power amps, f/x, mics, etc, then play them through $139 speaker and wonder why it doesn't sound pro-quality.

[georgestrings]

 

That said, heads will dictate your tone more than cabs... Especially since most sound guys will run you DI, anyway.

 

 

 

Yeah, that's how I see it, too - *most* heads have some sort of "voice" - like G-K or Ampeg for example - that color their outgoing signal somewhat, regardless of the cab they're pushing...

 

While I agree with Kindness about getting a cab that suits your needs, the other part of that is that an amp with a good quality DI can be quite useful through the FOH - and, it's not uncommon in the gigging world to use house cabs, or share cabs amongst bands on the same bill... So, with that being said, I would place *slightly* more importance on amp selection than cabs - as long as the cab could produce enough volume to be heard well enough on stage...

 

For example, I'm doing a 2 band gig on friday, and both of us bassists are using a house SVT810e - I'll use my 700rb-II through it, and know exactly what to expect, sound-wise...

 

 

- georgestrings

[mrcrow]

cabs definately...buy the best they are your voice

[wades_keys]

 

Yeah, that's how I see it, too - *most* heads have some sort of "voice" - like G-K or Ampeg for example - that color their outgoing signal somewhat, regardless of the cab they're pushing...

 

Truth.

 

 

Would you recommend a new player to upgrade their head or their cab first?

 

No.

 

I would recommend a new player take lessons first.

[kpax]

I guess I'd say head because practically all bass cabs have gotten pretty damn good and most have the same eminence drivers anyways.

 

So... Which do you think affects your sound more, your amp head or your amp cab? Would you recommend a new player to upgrade their head or their cab first? why? Thanks.

 

[RSBro]

Bass.

 

/thread.

 

[rpsands]

My take:

 

The cabinet is going to limit your tone more than your brand of head or its eq options (unless it's master vol only and no tone controls). If a cab can't produce "grindy" mids, no amount of eq will enable it to do that, and same with thumping bass and facemelting highs.

 

Do like Kindness says: Find your cab first.

 

I can get my sound out of basically any bass head with enough watts with no issues as long as I've got my trusty cab. I've had like four or five different rigs with this cab and never had an issue with sound really.

[rpsands]

 

I guess I'd say head because practically all bass cabs have gotten pretty damn good and most have the same eminence drivers anyways.

 

 

Not all eminence drivers are created equal, and not all cabinet designs are either. Genz benz' vertical 2x12 with fairly high excursion neos vs. an Ampeg 410E with junk OEM betas, for example. Or any number of other examples I could come up with...Mesa's 115 with a nice neo woofer and a big internal volume vs. their own PH1200 which is basically a box of shenanigans.

[kpax]

Sure there's differences but mostly they're all pretty good compared to the old days.

I find that the voicing of the amp is more limiting. For example, I really don't care much for my GK1001RBII. I have trouble getting the mids the way I like but I like my VB-2, SVT CL and SansAmp RBI just fine.

Some modern amps just sound kind of constipated and dense to me. I think they're way too "Hi-Fi". I don't care for SWR heads either.

 

 

Not all eminence drivers are created equal, and not all cabinet designs are either. Genz benz' vertical 2x12 with fairly high excursion neos vs. an Ampeg 410E with junk OEM betas, for example. Or any number of other examples I could come up with...Mesa's 115 with a nice neo woofer and a big internal volume vs. their own PH1200 which is basically a box of shenanigans.

 

[rpsands]

 

Sure there's differences but mostly they're all pretty good compared to the old days. I find that the voicing of the amp is more limiting. For example, I really don't care much for my GK1001RBII. I have trouble getting the mids the way I like but I like my VB-2, SVT CL and SansAmp RBI just fine. Some modern amps just sound kind of constipated and dense to me. I think they're way too "Hi-Fi". I don't care for SWR heads either.

 

 

Buy a VT bass pedal, problem solved. It's a lot cheaper than finding out your cabinet can't produce the notes below E on your 5-string without distorting, or isn't capable of sound above 2500hz, or similar.

[kpax]

Shenanigans?

Are those nice drivers? They sound Irish.

 

Not all eminence drivers are created equal, and not all cabinet designs are either. Genz benz' vertical 2x12 with fairly high excursion neos vs. an Ampeg 410E with junk OEM betas, for example. Or any number of other examples I could come up with...Mesa's 115 with a nice neo woofer and a big internal volume vs. their own PH1200 which is basically a box of shenanigans.

 

[The Real MC]

50/50

 

I rely on tube overdrive in my amp for my tone and punch.

 

I rely on my 2x15 cabinet to project it.

[infralife]

Wow, this is so on topic. How unusual! I think you should upgrade amp and cab as a pair. The max wattage and rated ohms of the cab dictate the appropriate amp and visa versa.