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2 Types of bassists it seems....
- Thread starter coffinbuilder
- Start date
You sure? My rig is head + 1x15 + 2x10, but it definitely weighs more than 100 lbs all together.
I can think of a few venues like that. Stacks and stacks of PA, half dozen monitors, but you cant hear ANYTHING on stage. It's like playing in a void.
I keep thinking I want to get a 2nd Bass 400 or a strategy 400 so I can run all my cabs at once. SWR 2x12, Boogie 1x15, GK 4x12/2x10.
Having a fEarful is just so unfair on so many levels.
It's one of those medium DOOM rigs that actually crushes the monsters without needing back surgery afterward, but doesn't fit the mini group at all either.
Your fEarful weighs about 75 lbs. as I recall from the other thread, right? That's still pretty hefty, but when these guys are talking about hauling these old 100+lbs. cabs around thinking they are bringing the big cannon, when in fact their old cabs can't even touch your dual 15 (with the the 3015LF's) it just amazes me just how little they know about what modern speakers can do for them. Really, you could have built two smaller 15/6's and while it still wouldn't fit the mini category, each cab would have been easier to haul.
Yeah, I'd say you border the upper end of the medium category because the cab you have, while a tad heavy, will give you the low end at a loud volume better than these "monster" rigs, yet weighs less. I have a 215 cab that comes in at 38 lbs. and while I can get loud enough to go deaf with it, it can't handle the low end anywhere close to yours. I sacrificed low end for size. If I wanted loud, deep low end I wouldn't buy some old dinosaur cabs, I'd build a fEarful. Very cool cab design.
Yes, there is a 3015 full range driver and then the Beast...the 3015LF. Both are neo. One is great as a full range driver and the other is for bowel movement without weighing as much as the owner.
Yes, there is a 3015 full range driver and then the Beast...the 3015LF. Both are neo. One is great as a full range driver and the other is for bowel movement without weighing as much as the owner.
Yeah, I don't really need the super low frequencies. I play a standard 4 string and cut out the low lows anyway. Is the regular 3015 mid-heavy, loud and capable of handling a fair amount of watts?
I don't either...but some do, which is why the 3015LF paired with a dedicated midrange is an ideal cab (think fEarful 15/6).
But yes, the 3015 is a powerful full range woofer. It's range is from 40Hz-4kHz, handles 450 watts, with a sensitivity of 100.8dB and a decent xmax of 5.9mm (compared to the LF's 9.6mm xmax
). And it weighs less than 1lb.!!!Sorry for the thread derail, but it's a relevant point that bass players today do not need these anciently designed behemoths to be stupid loud, even in the low end.
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That's true, but a live show is as much about aesthetic as sound. The key is finding a compromise between the two that works for the genre.
I don't either...but some do, which is why the 3015LF paired with a dedicated midrange is an ideal cab (think fEarful 15/6).
But yes, the 3015 is a powerful full range woofer. It's range is from 40Hz-4kHz, handles 450 watts, with a sensitivity of 100.8dB and a decent xmax of 5.9mm (compared to the LF's 9.6mm xmax
Sorry for the thread derail, but it's a relevant point that bass players today do not need these anciently designed behemoths to be stupid loud, even in the low end.
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Or, one could design an ancient looking behemoth armed with newer speakers and be even more obscenely loud. A 4x15 with regular 3015's could crush cities. I think I have an idea of what kind of cab to use if I'm ever in a drone band.
Then build a single 215 cab out of 1/2" ply loaded with 3015LF's and mids. Then build a whole freaking wall of fake cabs out of 1/4" ply for aesthetics.
Look I love the classic Ampeg SVT head and the 810 cab. I would love to own one again someday. But even if I had the 810 cab, I'd build a new cab out of 1/2" ply (properly braced) and it would sound the same, yet be lighter. And I'd probably use a power amp with a VT pedal instead of the tube amp. But that's me. God, how I hate 3/4" plywood.
There just is no reason for bass players to haul unnecessarily heavy gear anymore unless you are broke (buying used, outdated gear on the cheap) or have absolutely no carpentry skills.
What is it with the need to own these old, far too overweight cabs when you can get the exact same sound (and look if need be) going lighter? Is it some kind of macho, martyr, masochistic thing?
I thought this thread would be way more interesting as in:
2 kinds of bass players / ones that play way too many notes and ones that play just right
Gear shmear, use whatever makes you happy and let the others do the same
PS - I too fit in neither camp with a GK MB200 (for the light work), a TL606, a Berg 322 and either a LMII or SVT; how great is it to have so many quality options these days!
2 kinds of bass players / ones that play way too many notes and ones that play just right
Gear shmear, use whatever makes you happy and let the others do the same
PS - I too fit in neither camp with a GK MB200 (for the light work), a TL606, a Berg 322 and either a LMII or SVT; how great is it to have so many quality options these days!
The thing about speaker design is that if a speaker can handle deep lows, then it won't be very good on the highs and visa versa. There is always a trade off.
The 3015LF only goes up to 1.5kHZ so using only that, you'd lose a lot of upper mids and highs. And before anyone says they play bass, not guitar and they don't need all that high end, consider that part of the reason you may feel the need to be so loud is that your "bass" rig lacks clarity. If you only use a 3015LF, you can turn it up as much as you want and still probably have a hard time hearing yourself against guitars.
Low end does not cut through at all. Mids do.
Then build a single 215 cab out of 1/2" ply loaded with 3015LF's and mids. Then build a whole freaking wall of fake cabs out of 1/4" ply for aesthetics.
Look I love the classic Ampeg SVT head and the 810 cab. I would love to own one again someday. But even if I had the 810 cab, I'd build a new cab out of 1/2" ply (properly braced) and it would sound the same, yet be lighter. And I'd probably use a power amp with a VT pedal instead of the tube amp. But that's me. God, how I hate 3/4" plywood.
There just is no reason for bass players to haul unnecessarily heavy gear anymore unless you are broke (buying used, outdated gear on the cheap) or have absolutely no carpentry skills.
What is it with the need to own these old, far too overweight cabs when you can get the exact same sound (and look if need be) going lighter? Is it some kind of macho, martyr, masochistic thing?
Did you think I was talking about visual aesthetic? Beyond volume, there's a special vibe to having a whole mass of speakers working at once.
Full disclosure, 75% of the time, my rig is just a tube head into an Orange 1x15".
I'm in the same boat as Jimmy.
I play my small, and Medium rigs far more than my big rig now.
But for pure tone the big rig is the s**t.
It's all what the gig calls for.
what the what?
Let me tell you what the "special vibe" to a wall of speakers is to the average gigging around town bass player. It's called sitting on top of your rig because there's no stage space. It's called taking an hour to pack up after a gig in the wee hours of the morning. It's called fighting with the sound guy about your volume level for every gig. It's called having him turn you down in the house and your monitor. And it's called being ignored and unheard if one happens to be a bass player in a rock band...Unless you're on that magical short list of rock bass players anyone knows or cares about. Big speakers do not equal big cajones. And drunk head bangers or drunk clubbers or drunk jazz snobs don't care about your rig. They really don't.
If you're lucky that one squirrely dude in the corner who's not been dancing but eyeballing you all night, may come up and gush over your speakers, because he's a bass player. But then he's usually mohlered up, too.
