What speakers for a 100w Marshall?

[Hassouni]

Hello TalkBass chaps, first post here (guess who just fled HC?). I play bass and guitar but have recently joined a band on bass. My one and only amp is a Marshall 100 watt plexi reissue, going into a GK Backline 410. I love the head, but I've been told this is an awful cab, and it doesn't sound fantastic to my own ears. I've read a lot about getting a cab that has speakers with the right sensitivity and I'm not sure what else.....

So what speakers are best for a tube Marshall? Is there an affordable 10" I can replace the stock speakers in the GK with? I'm a grad student so I don't have piles of money to throw in...

Thanks!

[PJSShearer]

The knee-jerk response is that the perfect cab for a 100w Marshall amp is a Marshall 4 x 12" with Celestion speakers, preferably with the angled front - I'm an old skool guy!!.

I'm not familiar with GK cab you have so I'll leave to others to comment as to what can be done with it, but as you're on a budget, I'd be looking at selling it and getting something else more suitable second hand.

[Hassouni]

A Marshall 412 bass cab w/ bass Celestions I take it?

[PJSShearer]

Originally Posted by Hassouni

A Marshall 412 bass cab w/ bass Celestions I take it?

Of course, but the ultimate would be two 4 X 12" cabs stacked + a 1972 Jazz bass, flatwounds, curly lead, cheesecloth shirt, bell bottoms and an Afro.... .

[Hassouni]

Can't really afford a Marshall bass 412...

[PJSShearer]

Apologies, I'm joking (a little). I come from a time when Marshall 4 x 12"s were easy to come by second hand and so didn't cost a lot!!.

Anyway, what exactly is "wrong" with the sound you are getting from you present Cab?. Could be that the Cab ain't the problem, you need to try a few other cabs out to see if changing it will help.

THEN, if your cab really isn't working for you, you would be better served by selling it and buying one you do like - if you change the speakers you'd not get your money back if you wanted to sell the cab in future.

I'd recommend looking at a second hand 1 or 2 x 15" ... see if you can find one you can try ..

[Hassouni]

Well, what's "wrong" with it is that it just doesn't sound bassy enough I guess. Partially (I'm sure) this is because I'm using a Superlead and not a Super Bass, but as is well known, the two are extremely similar circuits. Also, it's a 400w cab or something, and obviously the head is way less. I have no idea how efficient the speakers are either.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Welcome to TalkBass Hassouni.

If a used JCM800 bass cab is out of Your price range, what is the price range then?
GK backline isn't the best there is, but definitely not the worst either.

I used to play through a JMP1959 and 412+215 JCM800 cabs. G12H100's on the 4*12, plenty loud and full of vintage vibe, even in the late 80's .

Regards
Sam

[Hassouni]

I'm not really sure what my price range is, I guess I'd like to spend as little as possible (I know that's a copout answer)

How much different physically is a Marshall JCM800 bass cab than a guitar cab? Doesn't Steve Harris use regular 1960 cabs?

Is the G12H100 just a more powerful version of the G12H 30? Is it the 55hz version?

[Amokoma]

Doesn't really matter that much IME, just as long as it's bass speakers.
I have a Peavey 5150II that sounds really cool through my Ampeg SVT HPC Ultra 810 (phew) cab. It's rated at 1500W RMS. Kicks ass!
I also tried it through a Marshall Mode Four 400W cab, but the bass was left wanting.
But it's a REALLY good combo for metal guitar!

[N.F.A.]

I have certainly used a 4 x 12 cabinet with my Marshall SLP 100 for bass live many times successfully. I have Vintage Celestion 75's in mine for a total of 300 watts. No chance of blowing a speaker here. It is louder than God. My cabinet was made by Carvin though it looks like a Marshall. I bought it with an x100B many years ago and got the speakers custom. I just wish I could still use it! It is way too loud for any gig I play nowadays. I envy you if you can play loud gigs still.

[Hassouni]

Those Celestions, were they the G12T-75?

[N.F.A.]

I think so, and they are totally kick a@@. No way you have to worry about blowing them even if you dime the amp. I am not even sure if Celestion still makes that model.

[N.F.A.]

Here's a pic:

[Hassouni]

They do, as a guitar speaker. I think they go in a lot of metal-oriented cabs. These, right? http://professional.celestion.com/gu...etail.asp?ID=5

[N.F.A.]

If those are the ones they were making 20 years ago or so then yes they are the ones.

[BassmanPaul]

Just chucking different speakers into a cab will never make a bass cabinet. In the early Seventies I used a 4x12 100W slant front cabinet. At the time there was only the 80W cabinets with four 20W drivers or the 100W with four 25W drivers. There was no bass version. I'd not use one in todays world. They WILL eventually fail.

Paul

[Hassouni]

I'm curious about the JCM 800 bass cabs, they look JUST like the guitar cabs...Is there a tangible difference?

[Walking]

Originally Posted by PJSShearer

Apologies, I'm joking (a little). I come from a time when Marshall 4 x 12"s were easy to come by second hand and so didn't cost a lot!!. ...

Interesting to hear how it is in england. Here in minnesota, I am seeing marshall 4x12s being a dime a dozen. I am guessing lots of folks get tired of hauling them around when they can't really use their full power in large rooms.

To my thinking, a marshall bass amp is going to have too small an ouput transformer to put out the low notes I like. I tried running my bass through a hiwatt back in the day, and it was anemic to my ears...

[Hassouni]

Marshall guitar 412s are a dime a dozen, but the bass cabs seem much rarer.

Funny you say that about Hiwatt, one of my favorite bass tones is on Live at Leeds, and that's all Hiwatt, if I'm not mistaken