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Peavey 1820 Bass Cabinet


Jammin_Bass

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I used to have one. Gigged with it probably >100 times. It was a bit...uhh...vintage sounding. Very loud, though. I got asked to turn down by sound guys and venue owners more times than I can remember.

 

Also be warned - they are {censored}ing big and heavy so it might be worth investing in a Chinook helicopter to carry it around

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I may be in the minority in this, but I found the 18" to be lacking. The sound was woofy and indistinct, and it could not handle the low end I was feeding it without complaining noticeably. Call it "farting out" or whatever term you use for bad speaker noises. I had 2 and they both did the same thing when fed an open low A at ~ 200 watts at high volume. This was using the cabinet's built in crossover. The 10s sounded great with the high end they were getting from the crossover, I suspect I would love them as guitar speakers. My reading on Talkbass before I gave up on that forum led me to believe most people love the Black Widow 18" but hate the 10" Scorpions.

 

 

I decided to sell the cabinets rather than invest in new 18" drivers for them. They were among the many 4 Ohm cabinets I tried out while searching for the right mates for my 400PS. IIRC I bought them for close to $100 each in incredible condition - a quick wipe with Armor All and they looked new - and sold them for $50 each after trying to get rid of them for months.

 

Both cabinets were well made, very sturdy construction. As large and as heavy as small houses; I sold them before the economy tanked, or I might be living in one now.

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I have 2 of them in storage. Little harsh at the top, little weak at the bottom, but pretty brutal sounding all around. They weigh a metric {censored} ton too.

 

 

I wonder how they would sound with the right Neo drivers.

 

For sure they will be lighter, deeper, and louder.

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In theory, you'd think these cabs can take a ton of power but on the contrary.......uh...nuh!! I did a gig with a backline of a Peavey 3620 (that's 2x18's & 2x10's) and it could barely handle the 200w from a Peavey Mark IV head! Now if you updated the drivers, the thing could probably blow the roof! But the cabs are huge and heavy, quite the opposite of todays footprints!

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The enclosure volume for the 18" isn't all that much either, so I suspect Peavey had to make some design compromises so the cab didn't end up the size of a semi trailer.

 

Of course there's the 3620, with two 18's and a pair of tens. I saw one in a MusicGoRound store once, and it was HUGE.

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In theory, you'd think these cabs can take a ton of power but on the contrary.......uh...nuh!! I did a gig with a backline of a Peavey 3620 (that's 2x18's & 2x10's) and it could barely handle the 200w from a Peavey Mark IV head! Now if you updated the drivers, the thing could probably blow the roof! But the cabs are huge and heavy, quite the opposite of todays footprints!

 

 

 

I've put 800 watts into one of those 3620 cabs. The issue isn't the drivers. Its the corssover network. If its not biamped the 10's take a beating and there is alot of bleed from the cross over in general.

 

I have no idea what your guys are talking about with the lack of low end. Sure sub 60hz performance isn't great. But why are you worrying about bands lower then that anyways ? Its not like any of the modern rigs can truly project with any real volume frequencys that low anyways.

 

The BW 18's are conservatively rated at 400wattas each. They will take it.

 

a peavey Mark IV head is not going to properly drive one of these cabs anyways. The 10's will fart out long before you get the 18's moving on a 3620 and I'd suspect the same thing would happen with w a 1820.

 

As for bottom end defitnition. They are a bit muddy in the 200-400hz region "deleting the cross over cleaned up my rig immensly"compared to newer gear but my gig experience tell me that never makes it to the FOH anyways.

 

There are older vintage cabs and that have alot of that older vintage sound. But I used to play in a band covering Korn and Primus and we had no problems getting good tone out of the 3620.

 

YMMV but alot of times users don't understand that the cab crossover network absolutely suck.

 

You must biamp these cabs for them to work properly. Fullrange operation absolutely makes them sound like dog{censored}.

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  • 1 year later...
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So the two full-signal jacks are both inputs, one going to the 18, the other to the 10's? So one can ignore the hi/lo jacks and use an external x/o into the two full-signal jacks?

 

And can you remove one of the 10's to save weight w/o having the hole hurt the sound?

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So the two full-signal jacks are both inputs, one going to the 18, the other to the 10's? So one can ignore the hi/lo jacks and use an external x/o into the two full-signal jacks?


And can you remove one of the 10's to save weight w/o having the hole hurt the sound?

 

 

You got that backwards, sport. The Hi/Lo inputs are for biamping, they bypass the crossover. The two full range jacks are just paralleled into the crossover.

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  • 9 years later...
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I used this cab for many gigs and it was always LOUD. I could never use the volume higher than 20% max on my GK head. It's a beast and powerhouse. I ended up putting a handle/bar on the back as well as two fixed casters on the back, so I could tilt it back and wheel it around, but then it would stand upright and flat when in use - best of both worlds. I haven't gigged in some time, plus moving and don't have the space to take it with me. It hasn't been listed for sale yet, but it's available.

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