How to hook my rig up...simple question

The specs are at:

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-and they say you can use either a 1/4" or a Speakon connection at the head.

I can;t guarantee what any model of Avatar 4x10 has, but I bet there is a 1/4" phone jack connection on it.

I would use a speaker cable, with 1/4" male connector on each end. It would look like an instrument cable, but electrically they are a bit different inside.

YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS. Never turn a tube head on without a speaker load on it. It'll fry. Be sure you are connecting the right cables in the right place.

a speakon to speakon cable will be your best choice.

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garmenteros said:

YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS. Never turn a tube head on without a speaker load on it. It'll fry. Be sure you are connecting the right cables in the right place.

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Very useful information for someone with a tube amp, which the Markbass 800 is not. He's got a hybrid, no need to worry about proper loading (as long as you don't go below the minimum).

Schecter4 said:

I would use a speaker cable, with 1/4" male connector on each end. It would look like an instrument cable, but electrically they are a bit different inside.

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Is there any way to visibly tell which cable is for speakers and which one is for an instrument? Does it matter if you use a speaker cable to hook up an instrument or vice-versa?

OH MY. The bigger plug with the plastic in the middle of it would be for a speakon cable. Standard 2 conductor type is what you want.

Probably good practice to not turn on any type of head without the cabinet hooked up up first, although your markbass head is NOT a tube head in the standard sense of description, being that it has a solid state power section with a tube pre- amp. Solid state power will not "fry" without a load attached.

Only use a speaker cable to connect to your speakers. If you unscrew the end and see 2 leads sodered to the jack then it is a speaker cable (usually black/ white). The instrument cable will have a shielded ground. If you can't unscrew it, it is an instrument cable. Speaker cables are typically thickers as well. Hope that helps. And again, don't use an instrument cable to connect your head to your speakers.

Flycutter said:

Is there any way to visibly tell which cable is for speakers and which one is for an instrument? Does it matter if you use a speaker cable to hook up an instrument or vice-versa?

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Speaker cable has two identical conductors around 12-16 gauge designed to handle the current an amplifier's output produces. Instrument cable is a very thin + cable with a shielded braided metal ground (-) around the outside of it.

Speaker cable is not shielded, so it will make noise when used with low level input signals. Instrument cable is not if sufficient thickness to handle the current from the output of an amplifier.

Of course, speakon cable won't work for your bass or amp input, so you don't have to worry about it.

subopposite said:

I actually do think I know that music instument cables have one black ring on the connector and audio equipment has 2 black rings on the connector. For playing, you want the one black ring on the end.

Why?...That is for someone else to tell you.

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Do you mean the black rings around the 1/4 plug? Actually 1 ring is "mono" and 2 rings is "stereo". In both cases, that would be an instrument cable. If I did not understand your comment then, sorry for the misunderstanding in advance.

subopposite said:

Who knows tgrant. My music shop told me one ring instrument, 2 rings stereo equipment cabling.

I am finding my music shop is not so good with info on a couple of different occasions. Or not as accurate as they should be.

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They were right on this one. Stereo as in mono vs stereo. The two rings are because it's a TRS set up (tip-ring-sleeve), meaning there are right and left connections. Look at a pair of headphones, same thing there.

Yes, speakons are your best choice, But you can use quarter inch also. Quarter inch connectors have been used for years long before speakons were developed. The reason why speakon connectors are better is because they have a locking connector that won't pull out. You would probably knock over your amp or break the speakons wire connection before the locking mechanism on the speakon connector would break.

As for better current transfer? I hardly believe it is any better than a quarter inch connector. More depends on the wire gage, length, and quality of the speaker cable itself rather than the actual connector. The higher the power amp output and longer the cable length, the heavier gage cable wire you should use.

There are formulas you can look up for the proper gage wire to use so I'll spare the details. For most applications, 12 or 14 gage should be used in the shortest length necessary.
Also it is important to use speaker wire ONLY which differs from instrument cable due to the fact instrument cable is shielded and speaker cable isn't. You definitely don't want to use speaker cable for a bass cord unless you want to hear A.M. radio and other noise interferences thru your amp.

When buying cable, just be sure to look as it is usually well marked on the package or cable itself which type of cable it is or ask a salesperson.

It is even more important to use the correct speakon connectors. there are 2 pole, 4 pole, and even 8 pole connectors, yet they all have different usages. Use a 2 pole if you require just a straight connection from amp to speaker and don't require a mono bridge connection from your amp to speaker cab. This connector is usually called a Neutrik NL2FC. and the two speaker wires are connected to a single positive and negative terminals on the speakon connector itself.

You may also use a speaker cable with a Neutrik NL4FC 4 Pole connector wired on it. This lets you hook up 4 wires in a 4 wire conductor cable to one speakon connector and send it to a stereo biamp speaker cab setup that accepts this connection. But most likely you will find one available to buy with only 2 conductor wires on it.

One good reason to consider using a Neutrik NL4FC with 2 conductor wire is flexibility now or in the future. These cables can be used for straight amp/speaker connects and are usually sold with the 2 wires pre-connected to the +1 and -1 terminals so it is ready to go for this basic amp/speaker setup. This connector has 4 wiring terminals labled +1 and -1 and also +2 and -2 . This same speakon connector can be used also for bridged mono but requires a simple rewire to do so. Most Neutrik NL2FC are factory prewired and can't be modified so that's why I recommend using the Neutrik NL4FC.

If you wish to run your amp in bridged mono (if applicable), You must use a Neutrik NL4FC 4 Pole connector and properly rewire only one end of it (use +1 and +2 terminals )on that end of the amp side connection while the speaker cab connector side is wired on the +1 -1 terminals on that speakon connector. A piece of good advice is to label this cable as a bridge mono cable and more importantly, label the amplifier side of it so there wont be a mix up. Otherwise you will have cross polarity and could damage your equipment.

While this rewire is relatively easy to do yourself, BUT if your not sure about it, take it to a amp repair shop or ask some one who is knowledgeable and let them show you how. Here is a cool video link briefly explaining it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH0kVA-ZvPQ


I personally use and make my own custom cables using speakon connectors with 12 gage wires and keep 2 pairs on hand for my 2 bass cabs both in 6 ft lengths and when necessary I use 20 ft lengths. I also keep on hand one bridged mono wired cable with a Neutrik NL4FC (wired +1 +2) on the amp end and a Neutrik NL2FC (factory pre-wired +1 -1) on the speaker cab end. These cables and connectors can be ordered online from many dealers.

Here is a sexy rear end pic of my setup...

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=142873&stc=1&d=1255228682

SPEAKON CONNECTORS LOOK LIKE THIS...

If by "This" you mean, the one on top he's got his fingers on.

Steve said:

If by "This" you mean, the one on top he's got his fingers on.

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YES!

You have the same rig as me...see the above picture for what cable you need.

OK. Here's what you want. Print this picture and take it with you to the guitar store.