Bass Cabinet Speaker size and why?

[Jinobass1]

What’s your Favorite speaker size and Why?
I found 12” speakers in late 90’s and never went back except when I couldn’t bring my own,and had to use what was there.
Of course to get there I owned and gigged w/1x18, 1x15, 2x15 8x8, 2x10, 4x10 (x2)
8x10,1x12,2x12,4x12.
Or use them as stack with different combinations.
And Having to do bunch of gigs with other bassist and bassists in duo,trio situation or more,sometimes with drummers or w/o drummers but that’s a whole another thread…….

 

[2saddleslab]

Started with 12's and except for a short stint w/ a 115/210 stack, I've stayed with 12's. A single 12 for small to medium gigs, and 212 for medium to large gigs.

 

[mmbongo]

Whatever sounds best!

For instance I never really liked any 15’s until I heard the Mesa Subway 15 and I haven’t heard another 15 like it.

 

[agedhorse]

Big enough but not too big…

 

[discochris]

Clearly, you need a wall of 8x10 cabs powered by 2000 watts of custom built power. BECAUSE MORE AND BIG AND LOUD!

/s

It's what you like, and what works for the places you play. Do you have FOH support and your amp functions as a stage monitor? Are you trying to keep up with massive guitar stacks? Do you play in a silent stage setup? I've had 115 combos, 410 cabs, 115/210 cab combinations. Now I have a 112 combo and a 112 plus 200w class D head for most things.

Personally, my favorite of everything I've owned is my 410 Peavey cabinet. But my favorite of anything I've played through was a band we opened for and shared bass and drums where he had an SWR 115 and 210.

What makes you happy?

 

[Johnny Fingers]

Too big:

 

[KohanMike]

When I started playing bass uke in mid 2014 when i was 64, I used a Crate Limo 50w 10" guitar amp (have to have a battery amp), which worked until my 35 person uke group had a gig at Santa Monica High amphitheater and it didn't cut it. So I looked around and found the Phil Jones Bass Double Four, 70w very compact and used an external laptop battery. The next outdoor gig we did was for the inauguration of the Culver City subway L station, and the PJD4 also did not cut it.

I opened a thread here asking what I should get for outdoors and the consensus was a large speaker is necessary, more than watts. One person recommended the Carvin MB15, 20o/250w in a compact lighter weight box. I contacted Carvin and was told their amps were on sale, and that they could put in a 400w neo speaker to make it even lighter. They said they could put in that speaker in the matching 115MBE cabinet, also on sale. I ordered them immediately for $801.84. I also put together an inverter and battery rig that powered both boxes for over 5 hours.

 

[gtirard]

There is no more general relation between speaker size and type of sound, big drivers can be punchy, and small ones can go deep and fat. I like and dislike cabs of all driver sizes. I'd like to try the new trend of tiny drivers arrays, like PJB cabs, just to hear how they sound.

 

[Omega Monkey]

I don't have a strict preference for size. Basically though I like at least a "classic" 4x10 (in terms of output and frequency response) or roughly the equivalent. Otherwise I don't feel like I have enough dynamic range and headroom. For the most part I have a lighter touch, so I tend to have the amp on the louder side. I also don't want to damage the drivers. so I'd always rather have too much than not enough. I had a Goliath III that I loved, that was one of my main gigging cabs at the time. I also briefly had a GK NEO 412 which was amazing, but I only had a chance to take it out once while I had it (for a metal show at an old school club with giant 80s style PA and a drummer who had like $12 cymbals that she would just bash the hell out of in a completely amusical way. Somehow I was the quietest thing on stage and the "sound guy" was still telling me to turn down. I did another gig at the same venue with the same band a while later and I used my pair of Genz Uber Quads. Both setups worked well, they were just a bit different.

So now my pair of Uber Quads are what I would use for any bigger gigs. I have a pair of Genz STL-112s that I use for slightly smaller stuff. A Genz STL 210 if I can get away with it, and theoretically if I thought I could ever get away with it, one of the STL 112s for something really quiet. Also have an EV loaded Carvin 1x15 which is awesome more vintagey style stuff at up to moderate volumes.

Yeah, so anyway the answer is I use whatever sounds good and/or is what I'm in the mood for.

 

[Jinobass1]

Whatever sounds best!

For instance I never really liked any 15’s until I heard the Mesa Subway 15 and I haven’t heard another 15 like it.

I remember 2x15 Mesa Cabinet w/EV speakers,and it definitely sounded different than any other 2x15 cabs!Never really Dug the 1x15 except Old ampeg B-15 flip top for old school Motown vibe and Soft Rock recordings.

 

[Jinobass1]

T

Started with 12's and except for a short stint w/ a 115/210 stack, I've stayed with 12's. A single 12 for small to medium gigs, and 212 for medium to large gigs.

Thats what I use too! 1x12 x2 for medium size!!

 

[Jinobass1]

Clearly, you need a wall of 8x10 cabs powered by 2000 watts of custom built power. BECAUSE MORE AND BIG AND LOUD!

/s

It's what you like, and what works for the places you play. Do you have FOH support and your amp functions as a stage monitor? Are you trying to keep up with massive guitar stacks? Do you play in a silent stage setup? I've had 115 combos, 410 cabs, 115/210 cab combinations. Now I have a 112 combo and a 112 plus 200w class D head for most things.

Personally, my favorite of everything I've owned is my 410 Peavey cabinet. But my favorite of anything I've played through was a band we opened for and shared bass and drums where he had an SWR 115 and 210.

What makes you happy?

Ok FOH for medium size 8x10 or 4x12 for bigger venues, but I never used a Peavy amp yet…gotta check it out! What do you suggest? And 1 more ‘Q’ I never learned the Class “D”or others what are they?

 

[Jinobass1]

When I started playing bass uke in mid 2014 when i was 64, I used a Crate Limo 50w 10" guitar amp (have to have a battery amp), which worked until my 35 person uke group had a gig at Santa Monica High amphitheater and it didn't cut it. So I looked around and found the Phil Jones Bass Double Four, 70w very compact and used an external laptop battery. The next outdoor gig we did was for the inauguration of the Culver City subway L station, and the PJD4 also did not cut it.

I opened a thread here asking what I should get for outdoors and the consensus was a large speaker is necessary, more than watts. One person recommended the Carvin MB15, 20o/250w in a compact lighter weight box. I contacted Carvin and was told their amps were on sale, and that they could put in a 400w neo speaker to make it even lighter. They said they could put in that speaker in the matching 115MBE cabinet, also on sale. I ordered them immediately for $801.84. I also put together an inverter and battery rig that powered both boxes for over 5 hours.

NEO speakers? What are those!???

 

[Jinobass1]

There is no more general relation between speaker size and type of sound, big drivers can be punchy, and small ones can go deep and fat. I like and dislike cabs of all driver sizes. I'd like to try the new trend of tiny drivers arrays, like PJB cabs, just to hear how they sound.

ok I actually did a gig last year and the club had Phil jones bass amp small stack….forgot the model number & it sounded nice and tight but unfortunately I blew it and no sound was coming out.
So we had to temporarily stop the gig and went direct w/my bass coming out of monitor and it was crazy….So embarrassing….maybe if I was using just a passive 4 string P-bass it would of worked out,maybe….

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Speaker size is just part of the overall cabinet equation. But using the Subway line I think I prefer 2x10 overall. I've never seen one of their 4x10 cabs in real life, but I may like that best. Second place would be the 1x15 and third 1x12. I ended up with a 1x15 and 2x10 for a stack, but I never really need that much volume for 99% of my gigs. I kinda want a 2 1x12 stack just for transportability.

 

[Marko 1]

For a stage, so long as the cab/stack consists of at least four 10"s, two 12"s, or two 15"s.

No speakers smaller than 10"s no matter the number,

it just looks silly, stop it!

 

[Killing Floor]

Most of my current gear uses 12” but I don’t seek out 12. I don’t know that it matters much if the system is designed properly.

 

[dwellers]

I too have had just about every single and combo of speaker/cab sizes. 1x18, 4x10, 2x10, 1x15 etc etc. But I recently purchased a RevSound 212T and I have to say I'm in heaven. I also have two of the PJB C4 5" cabs for home practice and very small gigs. The 212T is aligned vertically so it takes up very little floor space which is a HUGE help for the kinds of gigs I play. Plus, it removed any stress about which cab to bring. I was always thinking and re-thinking my decision to bring just the 15, just the 210, both and so on. This eliminates that decision and allows me to stress on just which bass to bring and whether to bring a backup, change the battery...you get it.

Finally, the single cab is light at only about 32 pounds. I can basically do a one trip load-in/out and that is great. And because it's on the tallish side, I can hear it without propping it up on something or tilting it back, even if I'm pretty much right in front of it.

Love what you play and play what you love!

 

[Barticus]

What are you gigging with on tour?
Amp and cab…
Or are you just running IEMs?

 

[Ostie]

I have a 115 and a 210, but I don’t use them together. I could if I had to, but I haven’t needed to in a long time. Not since my younger days, when you put everything you owned on stage, whether you needed it or not.

I had a cab with an 18 in it for awhile. I don’t miss it.