Why did you not choose a cabinet from the same company who makes your amp?

[dukeorock]

Originally Posted by Green Lantern

Cool; I had Tannoys but in the past couple years I moved on to Focal Twins. What are you using now in your studio?

Since being reminded how crazy OT this is, if you care to PM me, or perhaps we could start another thread, I would love to talk about studio stuff!

[wmheilma]

Mostly I go by sound and not matching labels, but...

I am still looking for a matching Trace V-Type cab for my Trace V-Type V6 head. When I have had money and really looked, the only ones for sale seem to be in the UK. That is just too much shipping cost.

[Balog]

Not reading the thread, but answering the OP: previously because Crown makes PA amps but not speaker cabs, and The Cabs That Must Not Be Named (lest the trolls come) seemed clearly superior in quantifiable ways than commercial offerings. I'm in the midst of selling or trading everything I own to restart, and when I do I'll again go for small maker cutom cabs because I personally feel they offer measurable improvements in the things that are important to me.

[PlungerModerno]

I'm currently running a Barefaced Compact + GK mb fusion.

Both super light - I was looking at a GK mb500 + 212 NEO cab. The 212 was wide (i.e. awkward) and just under twice the weight of the compact. Also had a tweeter I wasn't terribly interested in.

Got the fusion rather than the 500 as I liked the way the tube saturation sounded on demo's. I was not disappointed with either choice. I have not A/B'ed the GK NEO 212 with a Barefaced cab so I can't compare them properly. I similarly have not played through an mb 500. I've heard them and they sound beautiful.

So that's my reason... I don't want to lift more than I have to .

[spector_boogie]

I did, and usually always do.

[dukeorock]

Originally Posted by wmheilma

Mostly I go by sound and not matching labels, but...

I am still looking for a matching Trace V-Type cab for my Trace V-Type V6 head. When I have had money and really looked, the only ones for sale seem to be in the UK. That is just too much shipping cost.

The full Trace matchup looks very cool, for sure.

Having been an endorsed artist for a long time, I usually start with a matching rig, because that's what the company wants you to do...many times it works pretty darn well, but I tend to mix and match in the end, to suit whatever it is I'm after

[LowBSix]

I bought my MESA PH 210 when I was picking up a smaller more efficient cab than my SWR Goliath/Eden 410.

I was using a Walter Woods 600/450 and the PH killed over Genz, GK, Ashdown, Ampeg, etc. that's when I became a MESA fan.

Subsequently I sold the Woods as it was 20 years old and ca$h was tight. I tried Thunderfunk, GB Shuttle 6.0, MarkBass, Eden, Line6, Aguilar, etc.

On the way I picked up 2 PH 112s and I liked it as is, single or mixed with the PH210. Next I tried an Eden 210XLT 4 ohm and does a great job and quite versatile. Then, a MESA Scout 12/4 ohm, it growls and thumps beautifully!

In July 2013 I will have completed my 6th decade on Earth. Between herniated disks, back surgery, less need for a "big rig" and playing mostly mid to small clubs and studio work....

I've ordered a custom build from Don at LDS a 1010/6 4 ohm 1050 watt cabinet in Vintage Tweed weighing in at 30 pounds.

So, the Eden is going for sure and time will tell on the PH210 and Scout. Who knows I may order another LDS or pick up something used....

Tone is my ruler. No need to match brand, but it looks good

[BassmanPaul]

The company who manufactured my speaker cabinets doesn't make amplifiers.

[will33]

My amp and speaker story......

Yeah, people always love it when you talk about yourself a lot.


The last complete rig I bought brand new, whoch was also my first proper loud, big stage rig, was a Carvin PB500 with their matching 210 and 115 cabs in the early '90's. I later tried their redline600 and 410 cab with my 15, but it didn't sound as fat or powerful as the previous setup. Since then I've always bought everything used. You can get more for less and can find a very wide variety of good sounding stuff.


I like Gallien Krueger amplifiers, have since the first time I played one. They can get the sound I like right off the bat, which is a warm, fat, vintage sort of sound but with a bit more growl, attack, and definition in it, sort of like "taking the blanket off" a vintage rig. I never liked GK speakers. Whenever I put the 2 together, the sound I liked went away. It was always too clear, too sizzly, too quick on the attack, too "modern". To be fair, I haven't tried any of their newer speakers, this was years ago.


Vintage sound was, and is, defined by me as....


SVT's!. I love the hell out of those amps, but, when I got to play them a lot was as backline in the late'90's up 'til 2000 or so. I got really put off by them, to the point I would look at them and think, " what's the big deal? I don't get why everybody likes these, it's all mush". I didn't know it at the time, but the 810's I was getting were all from the era of OSB construction and "dark" sounding speakers. I love the old flatbacks and always will and would probably like the newest ones too. One time I got to play one with a couple Trace Elliot 410's and BAM, that's tone, man. It made me realize how much speakers affect our sound.


Not long after that I had picked up a '70's Fender 215 to go with my Bassman135 but could never get it to sound right. I took the cab apart to see what was going on in there. Now, I grew up in a farm, have always been handy with tools, etc. and I'm looking at this thing thinking, "this is just a box, man. I could make this". So when I got the internet for the first time, I started searching up stuff on speaker building. A lot of those searches kept leading to talkbass, so I signed up and proceeded to learn a ton of stuff I never knew about how our gear works and why things sound the way they do. I started building my own speakers and always will. Unfortunately, I still can't build my own amp, so will likely always use amps and speakers that don't "match".

I can now make stuff that sounds how I like it too sound. Much better, because I only have to worry about one pair of ears....mine. And don't have to appeal to hundreds or thousands of potential customers.



So there it is.


And yeah, plenty of folks build speakers but don't build amps and vice versa.

[atomicdog]

Originally Posted by creis2

Wow, great work. I wish I could build something that nice. I'm sure most cabinet makers could build something that nice .

Very nice.

[DaveDeVille]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

The company who manufactured my speaker cabinets doesn't make amplifiers.

... simple and to the point .

[bobcruz]

Originally Posted by creis2

Wow, great work. I wish I could build something that nice. I'm sure most cabinet makers could build something that nice .

Thanks, man. I think anyone can build something nice with all the tutorials and picture-filled build threads here on TalkBass. You need a table saw, drill, clamps and glue. Many use a router to cut the holes for the drivers but I used a powered jig saw to carefully cut the circles. A router is needed to round over the edges after assembly, and since I didn't have one I took the cabs to a friend who does. I'm not the best woodworker or the most patient but I took my time on this build. If I can do it, anyone can. Again, the main reason I did it was for the weight savings and the cabs hit that target really well.

[M. Owen Santy]

I have used Seismic cabs for years with Yorkville, Line6, Ampeg & now Traynor heads for some very simple reasons. They are very affordable, lightweight/small footprint. and their techs have always set me up with exactly what I want in speaker & wiring mods so I have exactly what I want right out of the box.

Nothing in the world worth buying for the name - it's the tone I want.

[JTE]

I've used a lot of stuff since 1976, some matched, some not. First, lots of companies really don't engineer their stuff together. The Guild/Hartke 410 I had in the '80s came years before Hartke had an amplifier- and I never did really like the way my two Hartke 3500 sounded with any combination of my two Guild/Hartke 410, my 4.5XL, and the 210XL. But I did really like my Eden WT-400 with the D410XLT. However, I like that amp with my Avatar SB-112 and B210 rig just as much, as I did with the pair of E/A VL-208's I used to have. My Music Man HD-130 worked great with every cabinet I used, but the least appealing were the two Music Man 212RH boxes I had. Lots of cabinet designs aren't really all that carefully engineered I think. A 4x10 is about the same size no matter who makes 'em, and while they can have widely varying sounds, often they're just about interchangable too.

John

They really don't always go together

[will33]

Originally Posted by JTE

I've used a lot of stuff since 1976, some matched, some not. First, lots of companies really don't engineer their stuff together. The Guild/Hartke 410 I had in the '80s came years before Hartke had an amplifier- and I never did really like the way my two Hartke 3500 sounded with any combination of my two Guild/Hartke 410, my 4.5XL, and the 210XL. But I did really like my Eden WT-400 with the D410XLT. However, I like that amp with my Avatar SB-112 and B210 rig just as much, as I did with the pair of E/A VL-208's I used to have. My Music Man HD-130 worked great with every cabinet I used, but the least appealing were the two Music Man 212RH boxes I had. Lots of cabinet designs aren't really all that carefully engineered I think. A 4x10 is about the same size no matter who makes 'em, and while they can have widely varying sounds, often they're just about interchangable too.

John

They really don't always go together

This^^

There are a lot of driver from days gone by that have great tone. It also seems a lot of them just got stuck in a box. A lot of work seems to have gone into the drivers themselves, but fitting the cabinet around the driver to come up with a really good "system" was pretty much seat of the pants.

It still holds in a lot of cases nowdays. We are getting a good bit more well engineered bass gear now, but still, the old standby designs, 410's, etc. are almost all within a very small tolerance of each other across a whole lot of manufacturers. So, when people ask about swapping around drivers and stuff, I no longer say, "don't do it, it might sound awful". If they already have the stuff, or if it's available for cheap, "go ahead and try it". It's probably not all that different from how some of those drivers ended up in those cabs in the first place. Most of these "designs" are dictated by marketing departments anyway, then the speaker guys just make the best they can out of whatever that is.

I still say do your homework if any substantial amount of money is involved though.

[tmdazed]

I run a Bugera BVP5500 head and love it , did not really like the sound from the Bugera cabinet, there was a guy local that had a early 80's vintage peavey 4x10 for sale , went and checked it out , the thing was almost out of the box fresh , when he told me it not used much I believed him. I always liked Peavey stuff so I pulled the trigger and am still glad I did . Have a marshall head and 8x10 coming my way in the new year so my old faithful will be relegated to backup and rehearsal nights

[dspellman]

Originally Posted by Green Lantern

I am curious what makes some people choose a cabinet from another company other than the company who made their amp. Do you find the cabinet of the same company not provide you with the sound you want?

The cabinets I chose for my rig are lighter, smaller, better sounding and more expensive than the cabinets the amp company makes. Their amp heads are outstanding, but the cabinets themselves are fairly ordinary.

[jungleheat]

I would put 2 EVM 15B Pro Series 15s in a well designed box up against any 4x10 someone might care to bring. But for them it will be like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Those 15s are going to be big, ballsy, and punchy, with a nice smooth upper midrange until they taper off around 5k. Add a tweeter and you'd want for nothing, even for modern slap styles, etc... They will not be "slow" at all. Plus, with 2 15s vs 4 10s you actually have slightly more cone area and very high sensitivity, so unless you had some really tweaked modern 10s with significantly higher excursion, you'll in general get more output from the 2x15. But usually excursion tends to be more or less "proportional" to diameter. So the 10s already have to be much more overdesigned to even match the excursion of the 15s, let alone surpass it.

Add to all that, the 15s are likely to have useable frequency response that reaches 7-15Hz or so below the 10s, will reach nearly as high (which is irrelevant if you're going to use a tweeter anyway), and will have better dispersion than a 2x2 arranged 4x10.

Oh, did I mention 10s cost about 2/3 the cost of a "comparable" (aka better) 15? But you have to use 2 of them to even come close to the performance of the single 15. So you spend 4/3 as much, but get 3/4 the performance.

Now is the point where I should post a picture of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka with a caption that says "Tell me more about why 10s are so much better than 15s".

I will say though, that through a combination of engineering and luck, the Goliath III 4x10 is one of the best "all around" bass cabs out there. Great tone, good low end, and can take a beating, and you can find them all day long used for $400 or less. BUUUUUUUUUT, they weigh 90 pounds, and are a big cumbersome cube shape that can be hard to fit in some cars to move around.

[lomo]

I love my Mesa heads but find my favorite cabs are customs.

[cyclopsbookworm]

I didn't care for the 15's I've tried. They do sound punchy, but in an aggressive flatulence kind of way. I haven't tried many though, so my sample size is limited to the few I've tried. So far the 10's seem to give me better mids and a bit more range (versatility, not frequency). The 15's seem to be a one-trick pony. They do that one thing (punch) very well, but not much else. That was also a deciding factor with how I paired my amp with my cabs...I used my ears! That's what sounded best to me, so I ran with it. It's all really just personal flavor though...much like aggressive flatulence as well.

*Also, weight is a nonfactor for me. I use 210's, so they aren't too heavy. I think they're 65lbs each..head is prolly 30 lbs or so...I've never weighed it. My 1x15 was like 95 lbs. The weight wasn't too bad, but it was just bulky and I kept bumping into walls (though I do that even when not carrying a cab around).