The Advent of the Ten inch speaker.

[Youngspanion]

How long have ten inch speakers been used by bass players?

Someone said to me that Harkte made them famous with their aluminum cones and before that, most guys used 12, 15 or 18 inch speakers for their cabs.

True or false

[lfh]

In my neck of the woods (Sweden), they started becoming popular in the mid 80:s. Trace Elliott was the leading proponent on our side of the pond, and Mark King one of the high profile users.

[Lo-E]

Unless I'm way off the mark here, I believe the Ampeg 8x10 is from the early '70s.

[BigOldHarry]

The SVT 8x10 had been around for YEARS when SWR / Harkte hit the market with 4x10 cabs in the late '80s... but it is true: Most bassists used 15"s (I was gigging very regularly back then). I was *very* hesitant to embrace the whole 10" speaker thing... I was lucky enough (?) to be teaching at a music store that carried lots of bass gear, so one day, after work, decided to do some "side by side" testing... I ended up selling my 2x15" cab and buying a Harkte 4x10 that I had for a while until I went SWR (Marcus was my absolute hero back then, even though I was in a heavy band... go figure)... Now I'm running Epifani 2x10 cabs.

[Yools]

Ampeg produced the first SVT 8x10 cabinet in 1969. To my knowledge, that's one of the first production bass speaker cabnets to use 10" speakers.

-Y

[BassmanPaul]

And Leo Fender used tens in his Bassman amplifiers in the fifties.

Paul

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by Yools

Ampeg produced the first SVT 8x10 cabinet in 1969. To my knowledge, that's one of the first production bass speaker cabnets to use 10" speakers.

-Y

Can't agree with this one BUT I will say that it was the first bass cabinet that actually worked!!!!

Paul

[lfh]

I think the first 4x10 is the 1955 model of Fender Bassman. Of course, that amp ended up being used primarily as a guitar amp. The SVT was introduced in 1969. (I read the question as "when did the 10 in era begin".)

[BigOldHarry]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

And Leo Fender used tens in his Bassman amplifiers in the fifties.

Paul

I think I had forgotten about the bassman because no bassists used or liked it. In fact... thinking back... I think it was THESE amps that turned me (and many players) to 15"s back in the '70s. That guitar players discovered their charm is another matter (and a happy one, at that) -- but it wasn't until Ampeg came around that 10"s had a real place in bass gear.

[lfh]

Does anyone know what year they were launched? I'm pretty sure I've seen them in shops in 1985, and in any case they predate the SWR Goliath, that was introduced in 1987 according to SWR's website.

"The worlds first bass-dedicated 4x10” cabinet"

[rbonner]

That actually reads, SUCCESSOR to the worlds first dedicated 4X10" bass cabinet. Successor means came after, or superceads..... Big difference.

I also had a tough time getting my hands around the 810 concept. I was playing 215's and then 2 118 cabs... Hated the 18" but loved the 215 stuff. It wasn't until the 2000's that I purchased my first 810 and that was after buying a 410 first...

Still have two 215 cabs and really like them, use them with the 810's.

BOB

[lfh]

Originally Posted by rbonner

That actually reads, SUCCESSOR to the worlds first dedicated 4X10" bass cabinet.

Read earlier on said page. You're referring to the 1048H, which is not Trace's first 4x10, but the most well known.

[rbonner]

Yeah Peachy, in 1979 ten years after the SVT in 1969... But AMPEG built a 36 10" cab and that was far more significant to the Bass Industry.

[lfh]

1982

1983

So what about the first Hartke 8x10? Didn't Jaco play them for a while?

Hartke 8x10 for Jaco (1984)

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by rbonner

That actually reads, SUCCESSOR to the worlds first dedicated 4X10" bass cabinet. Successor means came after, or superceads..... Big difference.

I also had a tough time getting my hands around the 810 concept. I was playing 215's and then 2 118 cabs... Hated the 18" but loved the 215 stuff. It wasn't until the 2000's that I purchased my first 810 and that was after buying a 410 first...

Still have two 215 cabs and really like them, use them with the 810's.

BOB

traynor had 8x10's very early in the 70's.....but 2x15 \'s were the popular choice

[Bassflute]

Originally Posted by Youngspanion

How long have ten inch speakers been used by bass players?

Someone said to me that Harkte made them famous with their aluminum cones and before that, most guys used 12, 15 or 18 inch speakers for their cabs.

True or false

Originally Posted by Lo-E

Unless I'm way off the mark here, I believe the Ampeg 8x10 is from the early '70s.

Ampeg ONLY used them in arrays of 8, which made them quite impractical, so not many people used them for long...it was indeed, Mr. Larry Hartke on this side of the pond, and Trace on the other, who made 10's famous for use in EVERYTHING, from 2x10's on up. Portable, punchy, and great sounding.

Cheers,
Cameron

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by Youngspanion

How long have ten inch speakers been used by bass players?

Since the early 1950s, as long as the electric bass has existed.

[Ric5]

Originally Posted by Lo-E

Unless I'm way off the mark here, I believe the Ampeg 8x10 is from the early '70s.

Yep +1

[BigOldHarry]

Interesting that the whole 8" experiment has rather failed... Perhaps the 10" speaker is the "Sweet spot" for this area of engineering...

[doc540]

I could've sworn Sunn made an 810 cab back in the day.