4x12 cab ok for bass?

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daydreamdelay
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4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by daydreamdelay » Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:38 pm

I'm thinking about taking up bass again and have this Traynor head that should work fine.. rather than buying another cab for bass (though there's a nice old Bassman 2x15 I could get if needed) I'd like to utilize one of these empty cabs I have. The one I'm leaning toward is this old Peavey cab that's divided horizontally, it's about as deep as a bass cab so I think it could work out pretty well. I've never used 12" speakers before for bass though so I'm wondering if they'll be ok and if there's a specific type I should go after that would sound good for both bass and guitar?

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by mezcalhead » Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:56 pm

Most of my bass-playing career was spent using a single 4x10" cab, with Eminence speakers IIRC.

Lots of clarity but also lots of bass from that, more than enough for the 3-piece bands I usually played in, so I bet 4x12" would be absolutely fine with the right speakers (although I have no recommendations there, sorry!).

If I was going to do it again I'd have a separate 1x15" to supplement the 4x10" on larger dates.
Last edited by mezcalhead on Sun Feb 25, 2007 5:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by mynameisjonas » Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:16 am

i played bass through my marshall 4x12 (celestion G12 75W) cab for years, and i´ve always been very pleased with my sound. i´ve never really liked the sound of "true" bass speakers though, so maybe my opinion isn´t very helpful.

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by chrisjedijane » Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:36 am

I used to use a 100W laney head with a laney 4x12 for gigging back when I played bass in a band - basically because it was the loudest amp in the house and therefore the least likely to blow up when playing bass through it.

The 4x12 always sounded good though :)
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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by Sebastian » Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:29 am

mynameisjonas wrote: i played bass through my marshall 4x12 (celestion G12 75W) cab for years, and i´ve always been very pleased with my sound. i´ve never really liked the sound of "true" bass speakers though, so maybe my opinion isn´t very helpful.
Me too... never had a problem with the 4x12, I also used a Marshall 1959SLP for the Bass. Well, if you're into that Motörhead bass sound...  8) 8) ;)
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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by i love sharin foo » Sun Feb 25, 2007 6:46 am

I agree with everyone else. I have played a good bit through my old Orange 4x12 (and 2x12 too). It has always sounded real nice to me. Depending on how loud you are planning on playing, I would probably try to get speakers with a fairly high power handling just for the added security of not blowing them up and also for a little more clarity. That said, my Orange cabs have a mix of original greenbacks and newer V30s. I don't love the V30s with guitar, but the harsher high end doesn't come through as much with bass. All of my bass experience comes from my little Musicmaster bass and more recently, the VI. So I haven't used a full scale bass with this setup.

Also, if you even have the chance to get it, the old Fender 2x15s sound really, really nice with bass  :?

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by daydreamdelay » Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:48 am

thanks for the input everyone  8)


Justin.. how do you feel about the Fender 2x15 compared to the 4x12, is there much difference as far as low end?

I probably don't need to worry much about wattage as I'd be using my Traynor head which is only 50watts.. don't think there would be much problem with such low wattage as the guy I bought it from used it with one of the loudest drummers I know, plus I like a little dirt in my bass tone  :?

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by i love sharin foo » Sun Feb 25, 2007 6:29 pm

To me, the 2x15 cab sounds more authentic for bass. It isn't as tight as the 4x12, but it seems like more subtleties of your playing come through better with it (with a bass). I think it is mainly due to the different frequency range the 15s can handle. They both sound good, but I like the 2x15s a little more for bass.

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by daydreamdelay » Sun Feb 25, 2007 7:58 pm

hmm.. I'll have to think it over, this Fender cab would probably cost about the same as four speakers for my empty one. I had the same cab last year and liked it well enough with my Bassman 50 so if I can scrape the money together and it's still there in a few weeks I might just grab it and be done for now. I can always get speakers later and take my time to see which I prefer

thanks  :)

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by i love sharin foo » Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:37 pm

daydreamdelay wrote: thanks  :)
No problem at all  :)
daydreamdelay wrote: I can always get speakers later and take my time to see which I prefer
That was what I was thinking, too. I always thought the 2x15 cabs weren't very good sounding based on the fact that they don't sell for much. But after I got mine, it really surprised me how good it sounds.

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by aen » Sun Feb 25, 2007 10:06 pm

YOu know, i find it strange that guitar cab speakers are supposedly so endanghered by bass guitar.  I mean, sure they're usually meant for guitars, but when a speaker can only handle half of the audio spectrum, that seems like a shitty speaker to me.  Bass speakers are not endangered by the "Dangerously high and powerful" frequencies created by guitar....

Apparently they are much superior in construction and versatility.
I prefer their older stuff.

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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by chrisjedijane » Mon Feb 26, 2007 2:29 am

I think that the majority of bass speakers are supposed to act like PA speakers, and on the whole give a much more "accurate" recreation of the actual tone of the bass, whereas guitar amp speakers are generally useless for everything else (very pronounced in the mid-range, making any audio signal sound like crap). However, this crapness at everything else makes them sound mega with distortion and stuff.
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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by pullover » Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:31 am

aen wrote: YOu know, i find it strange that guitar cab speakers are supposedly so endanghered by bass guitar.  I mean, sure they're usually meant for guitars, but when a speaker can only handle half of the audio spectrum, that seems like a shitty speaker to me.  Bass speakers are not endangered by the "Dangerously high and powerful" frequencies created by guitar....

Apparently they are much superior in construction and versatility.
When Carol Kaye played bass for the beach boys, she reportedly used a super reverb, she just didn't turn it up too loud. Bass requires more power to amplify it, which in turn causes the speaker cone to vibrate more. So the speakers in bass amps are usually rated for higher wattage, which is why they can handle more damage. Lower wattage speakers break up easier than high wattage speakers - and this is a trait that many guitarists want. That's why a lot of guitar amps have 25 watt speakers, and bass amps have 100 watt to 500 watt speakers.
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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by FireAarro » Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:31 pm

pullover wrote:
aen wrote: YOu know, i find it strange that guitar cab speakers are supposedly so endanghered by bass guitar.  I mean, sure they're usually meant for guitars, but when a speaker can only handle half of the audio spectrum, that seems like a shitty speaker to me.  Bass speakers are not endangered by the "Dangerously high and powerful" frequencies created by guitar....

Apparently they are much superior in construction and versatility.
When Carol Kaye played bass for the beach boys, she reportedly used a super reverb, she just didn't turn it up too loud. Bass requires more power to amplify it, which in turn causes the speaker cone to vibrate more. So the speakers in bass amps are usually rated for higher wattage, which is why they can handle more damage. Lower wattage speakers break up easier than high wattage speakers - and this is a trait that many guitarists want. That's why a lot of guitar amps have 25 watt speakers, and bass amps have 100 watt to 500 watt speakers.
Yeah, I was wondering why a 30 watt tube amp would have a 30 watt speaker when it would be putting out a lot more than 30 watts at cranked levels.

Does this speaker distortion wear out the speakers fast or anything?
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Re: 4x12 cab ok for bass?

Post by chrisjedijane » Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:38 am

technically it'll blow the speakers if you push it hard enough. A lot of amp designers try to make sure that the speakers on their amps have around 20% more power handling than the amp they're connected to, just to make sure this doesn't happen.

Speaker breakup is nice enough, but it's not so good for the speakers themselves.
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