Cabinet connection question and quality question

BassMeditation · #1 08-20-2011, 08:33 PM

Let me revise this for clarity sake. I know nothing of amps as far as cabinets go so bare with me. I found a 1x18 cabinet thats used for 99 dollars, I was wondering if it would be possible to connect to a behringer Ultrabass 1x10 using a Y-splitter. Using the cabinet and behringer to connect to the female ends of the Y splitter and connecting it to a pedal just to connect the circuit to the bass, essentially using the cabinet to beef the sound up. Like I said I know nothing of cabinets and am low on money, but I wanted to make sure it would be safe also..

Thanks in advance. (forgot to write down the brand of the cabinet like a dummy)

SurferJoe46 · #2 08-20-2011, 10:24 PM

This just sounds wrong at every turn.

You've got a new/used 18" cab - no name mentioned nor what the design is for in the first place.....

and ---

you are using a guitar amp for a bass on a splitter......

and ---

you are going to try to run a cab of unknown Ohms and Wattage ratings from a practice amp ....

and ----

I'm gonna sidestep this and not say any more.

BassMeditation · #3 08-20-2011, 11:25 PM

ooooookay.

BassMeditation · #4 08-21-2011, 02:06 AM

*revised for clarity.

stacker · #5 08-21-2011, 02:34 AM

Well, I can't imagine the combo having a speaker out, but you never know (Gallien Krugers did). If it does, it will state what ohmage of speaker config it can handle. Also, it is essential to know what the ohmage of that cab is if you plan on connecting it to anything, especially a valve amp.

That said, that cab would do you no good whatsoever for you'd never hear it if you were standing close enough to hear the combo. This is because the bass wave generated by a cone that size will take quite a distance to propagate. More's the point, it would be felt more than heard and that would p*** your neighbours off, bigstyle.

I'd sack the idea. Unless, of course, you fancy taking up dub reggae, in which case sack the combo and get an amp head!!

BassMeditation · #6 08-21-2011, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stacker

Well, I can't imagine the combo having a speaker out, but you never know (Gallien Krugers did). If it does, it will state what ohmage of speaker config it can handle. Also, it is essential to know what the ohmage of that cab is if you plan on connecting it to anything, especially a valve amp.

That said, that cab would do you no good whatsoever for you'd never hear it if you were standing close enough to hear the combo. This is because the bass wave generated by a cone that size will take quite a distance to propagate. More's the point, it would be felt more than heard and that would p*** your neighbours off, bigstyle.

I'd sack the idea. Unless, of course, you fancy taking up dub reggae, in which case sack the combo and get an amp head!!

thanks for the help man, I figured for 99 dollars I might be able to get louder with it for backyard gigs and other guerilla gig type deals. I was thinking as far as the Y-splitter running the cable from the combo amp into one of the female ends and the cable from the 18" into the other, and connecting that to a pedal, not sure if that makes sense.

stacker · #7 08-21-2011, 02:50 AM

I'm getting confused. Does this amp have a jack socket bearing the legend 'Speaker Out'? If your amp does not have such a socket, you cannot connect an extension cab.

RickenBoogie · #8 08-21-2011, 08:24 AM

You can't just "connect" these things without understanding what's going on. To connect a speaker cab to a combo amp, the combo amp MUST have a SPEAKER OUT. Nothing else. And, I doubt very much a 10" Behringer combo would have one of those. Anything else, like a Y cable, or any other INs or OUTs, are not meant for this.

makohund · #9 08-21-2011, 11:43 AM

I can't quite figure out how you are trying to hook that thing up either.

Your bass, pedals, etc are all signal level circuits. They need to go into an amplifier to do anything. Now an amp head may or may not have some ins and outs available for doing more with that signal (effects loops and such) but at the most basic level an amp takes signal in, and puts power out. The power out is what drives a speaker. Those are the only things a speaker can plug into, and will probably be labeled "speaker out".

A combo is just an amp head and speaker cab in one unit. The speaker out of the amp is permanently connected to the included speaker.

You can often connect more than one speaker to an amp, but that requires either another speaker out connection on the amp, or a second connection on the speaker to send some of the power it is getting on to the next speaker cab (called daisy-chaining). In the case of a combo amp it could be either way internally, but there HAS to be some kind of jack available to get that amp power out of your combo and into your cab. (A signal level circuit will do nothing, it has no power.)

Next thing to take into account... any given amp can only handle a certain number of speakers. Speaker loads are measured in ohms, and the ohms get smaller as you add speakers. To calculate the load, you HAVE to know how many ohms your cab is rated at. You also need to know what the minimum ohms your amp can handle... if you go below that number you can fry the amp. Read the FAQ on this forum to see how to do the math. (Don't worry, it is simple once you get the idea.)

In summary, if your combo does not provide a speaker out jack, you are out if luck. (Unless you are handy with electronics and modifying things... I'm guessing no on that.) And even if it does, you need to know the ohms rating on everything (the amp, the internal speaker, and the separate cab) to see if it can handle it without frying the amp. And then you can start worrying about whether or not there are enough watts available to actually do a good job of it.

Hope that helps, and gets a head start understanding the FAQs. Hey, we all have to start learning this stuff sometime, and somewhere.

BassMeditation · #10 08-21-2011, 08:36 PM

Thanks people, I atleast know more now than I did yesterday, thats always a plus. I think I may just buy a cabinet and head in the future, thats what I get for trying to be cheap as a musician eh? Once again, thanks, peace and positive vibes to yall.

Eric Moesle · #11 08-22-2011, 09:53 AM

Sounds to me from his post like he is planning to plug the 18" extension cab directly into his pedal, using a Y adaptor, with the other end of the Y going to his amp.

That's a terrible idea. A pedal can't drive a speaker cabinet, and hooked up that way the amp does not send power back toward the pedal so that it can power the extension cab in such a manner at all.