Bass Cabs As PA Mains, in a pinch...

BBEgo · #1 09-17-2010, 08:52 AM

Anybody ever try this out when the FOH needs more than the pa guy has?

My girl bought me a 12 channel powered mixer so I could start doing my own smaller scale projects outside the (non)creative confines of my cover band. The mixer Is quite nice. It has 4 independent 400 watt power amps: 2 for stereo mains, and 2 for two dedicated monitor mixes.

So having never owned a pa before, I don't have any mains for this cool new mixer. Dying to at least hear it, and to make sure everything worked, I plugged in my 2 Eden bass cabs into the left and right FOH outputs, and plugged in a couple Mics and an acoustic guitar. I gotta say I was really pleased with the sound I got.

Since I can't afford a full set of mains, a second monitor, and subs all at once, I'm actually considering buying subs first and using my Edens as mains for a while. I know it's kinda ghetto, but I'm thinking about it.
Anybody ever do this?

LiamPodmore · #2 09-17-2010, 08:54 AM

Theres a guy on here who carries a mixer and stuff like that to gigs so he can use his bass cabs as PA speakers if necessary, cant remember his username but it works fine for him.

Liam

MrDOS · #3 09-17-2010, 08:58 AM

No, but I have noticed that my Bergantino bass cab sounds great just playing an MP3 through it.

I would recommend against buying subs first, however.

1) What are you going to play bass through?
2) The primary purpose (in my opinion) for a PA is vocals. Get a good set of mains speakers first (check craigslist, etc. regularly)
3) Eden bass cabs will not cover a room with vocals because they are not designed as such

Chowowbus · #4 09-17-2010, 08:59 AM

I have used my avatar b410 many times as a PA for practice running my bass and vocals for our 2 non PA owning singers....

billfitzmaurice · #5 09-17-2010, 09:02 AM

If you look at the average PA cab and the average bass cab there's very little there in common. There's also very little in common about how they sound.
Some bass cabs would sound pretty good on PA. Acme 3-ways are one example, as are the fEarful DIY 3-ways. That's because they don't look or sound like the average bass cab.

synterx · #6 09-17-2010, 09:04 AM

I recently used my Genz NeoX-212T cabinet as the subwoofer for a DJ rig. Worked fantastic, really. Sounded tighter and fuller than the guys regular subs! However, I didn't use it for the higher frequencies, just the lower.

That said, I see zero reason you couldn't use your bass cabs. They are speakers after all.

agedhorse · #7 09-17-2010, 09:37 AM

Sure, most bass cabinets w/ tweeters will work "ok" for PA. Not ideal but not terrible either. You will suffer mostly in the high frequency range because PA cabinets generally use more substantial HF devices the are crossed over lower and the crossover filters are steeper and overall the sound is more accurate (which does not translate directly to better in the world of bass instrument reproduction.

As synertex noted, the NeoX 212 is designed and tuned in the low frequency range like any of our pro audio subs would be, with the noted limitations imparted by cabinet size and power handling limitations. I have in fact used those drivers in a real sub design where I was limited in dimensions on a custom architectural design. 8 of those dual 12 subs were impressive to say the least. Cabinets had to fit between studs in a (very deep) wall. The -3dB point of the 16 driver sub system was around 32 Hz. Note the cabinets were 30" deep, not something bass player friendly.

BBEgo · #8 09-17-2010, 09:38 AM

Wow, thank for the responses, guys.
I think I'm gonna do an acoustic guitar gig with them (D212xlt and D210xst) and my single Yammy monitor, and just see how it sounds.

Obviously not a permanent solution, but it might be cool just for a goof.

I'm looking at Carvin's LS1503 cabs for PA mains. Was thinking I'd get those and eventually do the fEarful mod on them and put the Kappalite speaker in em. Should be killer.

Ric5 · #9 09-17-2010, 09:42 AM

I have a 1x15 with a carvin 15 and a carvin horn that makes a good pa speaker. I built the cab myself years ago and refitted it with new speakers about 2000. It is about 19"x24"x13" made from good 3/4" plywood and braced in the corners, glued and screwed. A 2x10 bass cab can work as a pa mid range cabinet. A 1x15 or 1x18 could be used as a sub, but it probably won't have the kick of a real pa sub.

A lot of whether or not it works depends on volume levels. A loud band needs a good pa. An acoustic band can use improvised equipment and make it work.