Bass cab dilemma!

[Dronevil86]

Howdy,
So i have had a rig set up for a few months now (Gk 1001rb head into a Hartke 4x10 1000watt cab) and it sounded wonderful. The problem came when i started playing with people, and had two guitars who love to play exceptionally loud. After cranking my rig nearly as high as it would go, all of the notes just kind of bled together. The tone went from crystal clear to absolute mud. After spending the next 3-4 jam sessions tinkering with the eq, i realized that if i wanted my bass playing to have presence through the guitars, it just wasnt going to be clean. Talking to people, and researching this forum have given me some mixed ideas. It seems like a lot of people are telling me if i get a 1x15 cab and throw it on top, then my lower end notes will be clean and super distinguishable. Others have said that an additional cab will not help, and either my amp or cab is damaged. Can someone shine some light on this please????

 

[B-string]

Forget the 115, add a second 410 to get more volume. You then will not be pounding the speakers or overdriving the amp. You are going beyond the clean limits of both. Or convince the guitars to turn down to a reasonable level so you will all have your hearing intact.

 

[jumblemind]

First, tell your guitar players to TFD (turn down please).

Second, you need more speakers. Another 410 on top of yours (ideally the same model) will give you more volume and cleaner headroom. I assume you have the Hydrive, and if you do that's an 8ohm load, meaning you're only getting about half the watts out of your GK. Watts don't equate to volume, but they equate to cleaner headroom, which is to say more in the way of clear notes. You're cranking your GK to fight for volume out of your four speakers, and when you crank a GK you get grind and a bit of distortion. That can be awesome sounding, but in your situation it sounds like you need more headroom and volume. A second 8ohm 410 will get you a lot more volume, and because you will be running a 4ohm load with the two cabs together, you'll be using the full wattage from the GK and getting that extra headroom.

A 15 on top might sound okay, but fighting guitars I'd put another 410 on there. Low end response has more to do with cab design rather than speaker size, as the wisdom goes.

 

[SteveHeissner]

+1 for a second 410 if your goal is high volume with clarity.

 

[FretNoMore]

Guitars playing "exceptionally loud" is your problem allright. Ask them to turn down, both for a more musical experience, and to protect your hearing. I don't think you should spend money because they can't use a reasonable volume level - a 4x10 is loud enough for most gigs and should absolutely be enough for rehearsals.