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anybody using four 1x15" cabinets stacked vertically as their main rig?
- Thread starter Bob_Ross
- Start date
YES! Even 3 of those Subway 15 cabs would be feasible with the Mesa D-800 head running at 2.67 ohms.
Can this be done with one D800 into 4 subway 15s? I was planning initially for a 12 and a 15 but now the possibilities! Ordering the D800 this week.
Driving a 2 ohm load is absolutely the easiest part of all this; pretty much any modern power amp of any power output will drive 4 ohms all night quite happily so a two channel amp sorts that little issue out, the question I'd be asking myself is whether there's a better way of achieving what I want to achieve. Four 15" drivers shifts an awfully large amount of air for use purely as a bass backline, and with that size rig you'll probably find that to get it to a level where you're comfortable on stage you'll be making the first 10 rows of your audience bring their last meal back up when you hit the low notes. Not only that but unless you have a very disciplined set of musicians in your band you might find they start turning up to try balance their sound against yours, before you know it you're in the sound equivalent of a football riot. Isn't there any way you could maybe use 2 15" cabs and raise them up a bit? Or use a 15" cab on the bottom with a 4x10 on top to get a bit of clarity and punch up nearer your ears? Do you really need all that volume on stage?
If your experience doesn't let you understand why someone would want/need four 115's, then your 35 years of playing does not give you any perspective that would assist the OP.
He plays a different gig than you do, no need to get offended, just different interests in the vast world of music.
I don't want to get too into the whole 'experience' can of worms too much, but I've been a world touring sound engineer and musician for almost 20 years and I've probably worked with 2000+ bands (a good proportion of them being loud rock bands) in venues ranging from clubs and theatres right up to arenas and stadiums. In all that experience I'm really struggling to think of many scenarios where the amount of bass backline the OP is suggesting is actually needed. Wanting that amount of backline and actually needing it are two very different things.
Here's an idea. Get four Audiokineses Thunder Child 118's. Stack them two high and two wide. That will give you ear-level monitoring.
In one of the other threads about having my dream Arena rig, I listed as follows:
8 x AK TC118's, 4 on each side of the drummer stacked two high. Eight GK MB800's with 4 running and four as backup.
If you use these TC118's I'm sure you will have no problem rattling the walls of any gig you're doing! Plus for their high volume they're pretty portable and fairly light, 43 pounds. So, 4 of these stacked two high and two wide. Two 800 watt amps running at 4ohms will get plenty loud!
In one of the other threads about having my dream Arena rig, I listed as follows:
8 x AK TC118's, 4 on each side of the drummer stacked two high. Eight GK MB800's with 4 running and four as backup.
If you use these TC118's I'm sure you will have no problem rattling the walls of any gig you're doing! Plus for their high volume they're pretty portable and fairly light, 43 pounds. So, 4 of these stacked two high and two wide. Two 800 watt amps running at 4ohms will get plenty loud!
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I've gotta have the last word, so no replies to this!
I ran 2 2-15 cabs in the late 60's under a Fender Bassman head! (which I still have) It actually sounded pretty good...back then. Guitarist used a single 2-15 and we had a Hammond organ and Leslie. I do not miss those load-in/outs with the bus we had to buy to haul that stuff along with our heavy Altec-speakered PA. But, then I was still a young'un.
And I doubt you would have much interest in the type of shows where the back rolls in piles of cabs. Thats quite alright. I dont expect every musician to be a fan of every other musician. But to say that the back line that is used by a band like Jucifer isnt a necessary part of their stage show, would be false.
Here's an idea. Get two Audiokineses Thunder Child 118's. Stack them on top of each other. In one of the other threads about having your dream Arena rig, I listed as follows:
8 x AK TC118's, 4 on each side of the drummer. Eight GK MB800's with 4 running and four as backup.
If you use these TC118's I'm sure you will have no problem rattling the walls of any gig you're doing! Plus for their high volume they're pretty portable and fairly light, 43 pounds. So, 4 of these stacked two high and two wide.
I use a fEARful 1515/66 as often as possible, some times with a multi kilowatt power amp. Some people play loud gigs. And that is ok.
I use a fEARful 1515/66 as often as possible, some times with a multi kilowatt power amp. Some people play loud gigs. And that is ok.
Bring on the thunder! That sounds like an awesome setup. Unfortunately I have a shoulder issue and I'm afraid the fEarful would be too much for me to schlep around. Lately I'm moving to smaller louder cabs, thus the Hathor series. I know I'm not needing the kind of volume you do.
What does having an interest in those types of shows have to do with anything? Do you really think I've liked all of the 2000+ bands I've worked with? You're a million miles away from being correct if you do, this has been my job for 20 years and I work to the same standards whether I like the music or not.
The fact remains that there are very few situations where a backline that large is genuinely needed (Jucifer are hardly representative of the masses). Look at my wording here - needed. If it's part of your show and massive loud backlines are what you do then fine, but the OP didn't suggest that was the case (and if it was, why would he ask in the first place?)
Actually my '66 weighs less than my old 410. And with wheels and skid rails, I never even have to pick it up if I dont want to.
That said, I do haul a 110 pound tube amp, so a cab lighter than that isnt much of an issue.
Ahhh the glory days. But you know what-- even the younger guys are finding the benefits to buying the loud portable light cabs nowadays. People are smartening up and realizing they don't need to pack 200 pounds for bass amps anymore. Back in our day, we had no choice. Believe me, I sure didn't look forward to moving my Ampeg 215 folded horn cab after a show. It was 24 inches deep, 4 feet tall and two feet wide. Don't remember how heavy, but it felt like a ton after a long night LOL.
Bag End 18s interest me and 3 or 4 stacked up would gain some respect . Four cabinets could be connected in series-parallel load of 8ohms with 8ohm cabinets. The new Ashdown Rootmaster 115/tweeter is a 15 I might dig.
