Vertical cab stacking---the only way to play

[walterw]

i suspect ol' jimmy might have moved on to other gear in the 6 years since he started this thread, or at least in the 5 since anybody posted in it

[walterw]

Originally Posted by jeffgnr90

I have an Acoustic b115neo and an Acoustic b410. how would I set that up to est optimize it's performance. Regardless, I'm planning on selling both these cabs for something else, preferable 2 210's or 2 215s.

the collective TB wisdom says that if you are gonna use that mismatched stack, put the 15 on top so you can hear it giving out, which it will do before the 4x10 even wakes up.

otherwise, the geddy vibe strikes me as being more about 15s, so a pair of good 15 cabs could do nicely for that sound.

[Floyd Eye]

Originally Posted by walterw

i suspect ol' jimmy might have moved on to other gear in the 6 years since he started this thread, or at least in the 5 since anybody posted in it

LOL.

[Downunderwonder]

Originally Posted by jeffgnr90

I have an Acoustic b115neo and an Acoustic b410. how would I set that up to est optimize it's performance. Regardless, I'm planning on selling both these cabs for something else, preferable 2 210's or 2 215s. what should I get to best push my 600w 2ohm head? I know ohms plays a factor but I just don't know what to do speaker-wise. I play in a 3 piece "prog" rock band and use lots of OD/distortion. Im kind of going for that Geddy Lee type sound like from Moving pics which I have down prettty good, atleast to my ears.

You got the selling bit spot on. Meantime it's better for your 115 to be on top.

2 2x10 has best dispersion, 2 2x15 some of the worst. Split the difference with 2 2x12 with vertical alignment and more appropriate power handling?

The collective wisdom of TB must have taken a giant leap forward with this thread.

[walterw]

wait, did he really mean two 2x15 cabs? that's just silly.

two fifteens or two 2x10s, either stacked vertically, would make more real-world sense.

[jeffgnr90]

Haha I'm still learning. I realize now that my rig is meh hence me selling it. But i have been playing with the 1x15 on top of the 4x10. And i meant 2 2x15s vertically stacked lol but what would be better? 2 2x12s or 2 1x15s? or 2 2x10s? Lol this is my problem. I can play bass, but when it comes to the gear, i really don't have a clue. i only have experience with 10s and 15s. What would i gain from 12s or 18s? I suppose it's mainly just the speaker situation I have trouble with. Cause I finally get ohms and all that jazz

[jeffgnr90]

Originally Posted by walterw

the collective TB wisdom says that if you are gonna use that mismatched stack, put the 15 on top so you can hear it giving out, which it will do before the 4x10 even wakes up.

otherwise, the geddy vibe strikes me as being more about 15s, so a pair of good 15 cabs could do nicely for that sound.

And I remember reading somewhere that Geddy used to 15's which is why they're in my head. I don't know if that was 2 1x15s stacked or 2 2x15s stacked or whatnot. But I am under that same impression. I'm not trying to cop his tone or anything, more so use it to influence me towards something similar that would work in a 3 piece.

[walterw]

2 2x15s stacked vertically? really? you wanna move that, lift the one onto the other, or try to fit it on typical bar stages?

think of one 2x15 by itself as being kinda equivalent to two 2x10s stacked vertically, in terms of size and ballpark volume.

i use 2 1x15s, and it's plenty powerful for grindy (and yes, somewhat geddy-esque) rock stuff.

[jeffgnr90]

Originally Posted by walterw

2 2x15s stacked vertically? really? you wanna move that, lift the one onto the other, or try to fit it on typical bar stages?

think of one 2x15 by itself as being kinda equivalent to two 2x10s stacked vertically, in terms of size and ballpark volume.

i use 2 1x15s, and it's plenty powerful for grindy (and yes, somewhat geddy-esque) rock stuff.

lol I mean like I said, I'm still learning here. Now I know 2 2x15's is ludicrous. I probably could've searched it myself and figured that out but meh I didn't

[jeffgnr90]

I think what I'm going to end up doing is trying out 2 SVT210av's and maybe keep the 1x15 (i guess for lows?) Then the question for me is do I stack all 3 of those or should I have the 1x15 off to the side? Obviously when I have all 3 I'll use my ears, but what would you guys recommend?

[walterw]

no, no and no.

mixing different cabs like that doesn't do what you think it does (the 15 doesn't necessarily have more lows than the 2x10, and may have less); read some more threads on that, there's always at least one raging like jupiter's red spot in the amps forum.

[Vince Klortho]

Originally Posted by jeffgnr90

And I remember reading somewhere that Geddy used to 15's which is why they're in my head.

For a long time he used four SVT 8x10 cabinets. I have seen them five times and that is what he had each of those times. Lately he does not use speaker cabinets at all.

[Vince Klortho]

Originally Posted by jeffgnr90

I think what I'm going to end up doing is trying out 2 SVT210av's and maybe keep the 1x15 (i guess for lows?) Then the question for me is do I stack all 3 of those or should I have the 1x15 off to the side? Obviously when I have all 3 I'll use my ears, but what would you guys recommend?

I say try it and see how it sounds. Be sure to walk around at a fair distance in front of the stack.

It might sound OK. It's hard to predict.

[walterw]

right. best, most consistent and predictable results usually come from finding a cab you like the sound of, and if it's too small, using an exact matching duplicate to stack on it.

that means if you want to build on what you have now, the thing to do is "audition" each cab and see which one you like best by itself, then ditch the other one for a copy of the one that wins.

[Downunderwonder]

Attn jeffgnr90 Were you deprived of Lego as a child?

This thread is a beacon of hope for those who subscribe to hifi stacks carrying rooms and stages the world over. Abandon mixed cabs, embrace the hifi.

How big of an audience do you want to cover with only your vertical rig?

It's a loaded question. When you're Flea you get to play whatever the heck you want, mere mortal weekend warriors, not. There is a limit to how loud you want to be on any particular stage before (a) you drown out the tone of unreinforced drums, (b) you overpower the monitors, (c) drown out vocals in the PA (d) all of the above.

Do you recognise those kinds of problems at yours or other shows you have been to?

[Downunderwonder]

Originally Posted by jeffgnr90

I think what I'm going to end up doing is trying out 2 SVT210av's and maybe keep the 1x15 (i guess for lows?) Then the question for me is do I stack all 3 of those or should I have the 1x15 off to the side? Obviously when I have all 3 I'll use my ears, but what would you guys recommend?

No side by side. Mixing may work out ok, I do it myself but it's not as good as hifi biamping, although less loud. Better to follow the vertical paradigm with whatever size of cabs you need.

From the sound of it you might need more than 2x 210 can do, no problem if the rest of the system is up to the task per my previous post. If I joined the dots right 2x 212 is the rig you might be looking at. One for big gigs and two for smaller ones.

No that isn't a typo. Get back with what you need to get done with your rig and I'll explain.

[jeffgnr90]

Originally Posted by Downunderwonder

Attn jeffgnr90 Were you deprived of Lego as a child?

This thread is a beacon of hope for those who subscribe to hifi stacks carrying rooms and stages the world over. Abandon mixed cabs, embrace the hifi.

How big of an audience do you want to cover with only your vertical rig?

It's a loaded question. When you're Flea you get to play whatever the heck you want, mere mortal weekend warriors, not. There is a limit to how loud you want to be on any particular stage before (a) you drown out the tone of unreinforced drums, (b) you overpower the monitors, (c) drown out vocals in the PA (d) all of the above.

Do you recognise those kinds of problems at yours or other shows you have been to?

Well the drowning out of the vocals and loudness of the guitarist were the only problems the last serious band I was in had live. You could always here the vox and the melody, but never the lyrics. And people have mentioned that the guitar was too loud. Basically every show. This is a new band I'm in so I have no clue what to expect in terms of live sound for us. Almost every show we've played hasn't had PA support, which is why I feel like the move to stacked 210s would benefit me more so. And I just think my speaker setup wasn't really getting the job done. My sound meshed perfectly with the guitar/drums, I just wasn't happy with my tone.

And sorry to kind of hijack this thread by the way lol

[jeffgnr90]

Originally Posted by Vince Klortho

For a long time he used four SVT 8x10 cabinets. I have seen them five times and that is what he had each of those times. Lately he does not use speaker cabinets at all.

Yea I know his sound is just about cab-less nowadays. That's pretty cool you saw them live though, what tours did you see them on, 2112, Farewell to Kings?

[JimmyM]

BTW, just as a "historical" note, this thread was the exact moment that got me interested in acoustics. Had zero interest in it before then. Since then, I've learned a lot of strategies for optimizing tones, reducing comb filtering, reducing boundary effects and phasing issues, and just generally sounding better onstage and off. It's rare that I have a tone problem these days, and it's usually the soundman's fault when it happens

[jeffgnr90]

Yea I've already learned a lot from this thread too, so glad TB is in existance!