Building my first Rig

[DerrickLamar22]

I bought my first separate AMP/CAB set up last year and spent the last few months getting familiar with wattage, and ohms, and all the technical jargon that goes along with them. My current set up is an '78-'82 model Peavy 400 "B" Series amp head with on-board Distortion, Fuzz, and blend through a 4 ohm 1x15 Peavy cab. The amp runs at 200 watts and 2 ohms. Id like to add a new cabinet first, preferably a 4x10, at 4 ohm also so when I split it the load on the amp hits 2 ohms. What are 4x10 cabinets I should look into or possible upgrades? 400-500 is my spending limit, as I play in my apartment mostly.
I play a Schecter 5 string with a lot of finger plucking pseudo-flamenco strumming, tapping, and occasionally slap, if that helps with suggestions.

 

[Vince Klortho]

Are you sure that cabinet is 4Ω? That is a rather rare thing for a 15" cabinet. Anyway, I don't know of a 4x10 cabinet that is 4Ω.

For upgrades, I would look into Hartke's 4x10 cabinets. They have a very bright sound to them. If you don't mind a heavy cabinet the 4.5XL is a very good one to try. It is likely to go deeper than your 1x15 cabinet.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Your upgrade plan comes unstuck when you turn to the amp. Few amps do 2 ohm, and if you get one that does you run into overpowering the 15 or failing to drive the 4x10 and not hearing the 15.

 

[basscooker]

Your budget will allow for more than just adding a cab. Do you like the tone you have now? You may be better suited to add another cab as close to the one you have now as you can find. You can't predict if adding a different cab to the setup will sound good. At least by adding another cab like the one you have, you9only change the output power, and should just have the same tone, louder.

If you are planning on eventually changing the amp, it may not be a bad idea to do that first. I agree that a 4 ohm 1x15 seems a dead-end.... too many amps will not be able to use anything but that single 4-ohm cab. I'd suggest (as an alternative to my first suggestion) shopping a different cab altogether with a different amp, too. $400-$500 can go pretty far in used gear depending on your area...

 

[DerrickLamar22]

Vince i am sure that the amp is 4ohms, thats what the Peavy sticker says on the back. I have always used combo amps so I didn't know much about separate stacks till recently. The only reason i thought of keeping this equipment is because Ive grown familiar with it. Maybe just building from the ground up is a better idea.

 

[Vince Klortho]

If you like the amp first try a different speaker with it. Used 4.5XLs can be found rather inexpensively because they are rather heavy - almost 100 pounds. The 410XL is another good one. It is slightly less heavy and doesn't go quite as low but almost. It is a very common cabinet too. There are lots of those used on craig's list or at GC. I got one at GC for 200.

You might find that you want something smaller than those like a 2x12 or 2x10. That's OK too. Those will be better for apartment playing but you'll have to figure out if they will be enough to contend with a band in a live situation. For me, it would be unlikely because I play with some very loud SOBs.