I'm a guitar player trying to learn bass and although I have a couple of bass amp combos, I ran my bass through an old Crate guitar amp just to try it to see how it sounds with the 12" speaker. It had a different tone, kind of like Bouree by Jethro Tull which I kind of liked. I imagine bass players want a tight sound with a closed back cab but was wondering if anyone used an open back.
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Do Bass Players ever use an open back cabinet?
- Thread starter 8up
- Start date
At low volumes they can sound okay but they’re much too inefficient to use in a band setting and you’d be likely to blow the driver if you tried.
Carol Kaye
With the Versatone.
Q. What instrument/amp did you use in the 60s recording sessions and how often would you change strings?
A. I used the Fender Precision bass, with the Fender Super Reverb open-back 4-10" speakers amp for a long time. Then about 1966-67 or so, I started using the enclosed cabinet double-amped Versatone amp (3-4 amps carted around by my cartage company, Van Cartage). You always wiped your strings after each date, and I would carry a chamois for this purpose plus would wipe the strings off with jewelry cleaner once in awhile to keep the strings sounding live, being careful not to get any on the instrument.
With the Versatone.
Q. What instrument/amp did you use in the 60s recording sessions and how often would you change strings?
A. I used the Fender Precision bass, with the Fender Super Reverb open-back 4-10" speakers amp for a long time. Then about 1966-67 or so, I started using the enclosed cabinet double-amped Versatone amp (3-4 amps carted around by my cartage company, Van Cartage). You always wiped your strings after each date, and I would carry a chamois for this purpose plus would wipe the strings off with jewelry cleaner once in awhile to keep the strings sounding live, being careful not to get any on the instrument.
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I don't necessarily recommend it, but I have done it. I learned to play through a blackface Fender Twin Reverb. The original speakers were blown and I played through a Traynor YC-810 (Big-B). I eventually bought a pair of JBL E-120s to load into the Twin. I believe the E120s were rated at 150W RMS each, so that's 300W RMS of power handling. Of course they could not handle anywhere near that much bass. The Twin is considered an 85W amp. The E120s seemed to handle almost the full clean power of the amp as long as I kept the bass control at 4 our lower.
As far as I know, open back cabs actually behave like a ported design. However, I believe resonance is unusually high for a bass cab, so an open back cab can't give you any serious lows.
I used the Twin a variety of ways. My bass was a Rick 4001, and I ran Ric-O-Sound with the bridge pickup routed to the twin and the neck pickup routed to either a Yamaha B100/115 combo or an Ampeg SVT and 810. I also ran biamped with the Twin and SVT. I used an Orban 672A for processing, so the crossover could only be run down to 200hz. I even used the Twin full-range in a cover band. I elevated the Twin and ran a mic to the PA.
Keep in mind the JBL were pretty robust speakers. Most open back guitar speakers will fart out and suffer damage at a fairly low power level.
I have a '75 Twin Reverb that had the original Utah speakers but replaced them with Jensen Blackbird speakers. I don't think I'll run my bass through that. The Crate was given to me by my neighbor so I wasn't too worried about running a bass into it. I never heard JBLs in person but I know they are bright and tough.
I remember hearing years ago that Mike Mills recorded the early REM material through a Fender Twin but I don’t know if that’s true.
It always struck me interesting that Carol Kaye and other session players in LA used those open-back amps long after the B-15 had become the standard in studios East of the Mississippi River.
But the needs of recording are significantly different than those of playing live. If you don’t need a lot of volume or deep bass you can absolutely gig with an open-back cabinet but it’s not ideal. You could also drive a nail with a pipe wrench but that doesn’t make it a good idea.
It always struck me interesting that Carol Kaye and other session players in LA used those open-back amps long after the B-15 had become the standard in studios East of the Mississippi River.
But the needs of recording are significantly different than those of playing live. If you don’t need a lot of volume or deep bass you can absolutely gig with an open-back cabinet but it’s not ideal. You could also drive a nail with a pipe wrench but that doesn’t make it a good idea.
Part of it could be that ol’ East Coast/West Coast rivalry.
Ampeg-New Jersey
Fender-California
Fender closed up the back of that Fender Super Reverb open-back 410 creating the Fender Bassman 410 eventually.
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I’m sure that had a lot to do with it. Shipping heavy items across the country was a bigger deal then.Part of it could be that ol’ East Coast/West Coast rivalry.
Ampeg-New Jersey
Fender-California
My buddy has an old Fender Bassman with a matching 215 open back cab. I can’t stand it. Sounds all butt-flubbery milquetoast to me.
I use my pipe wrenches, and my impact wrench, as a hammer way more frequently than I'd like to admit (journeyman pipefitter)
Short answer - no, ok for low volumes but not a performance levels.
Isn’t that why they call it an impact wrench?
- Apr 18, 2008
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I had a stack back in the 70’s, head and 212 open back cabs, no idea the make, was loud and good tone, don’t stand behind it or it would feed back
- Feb 12, 2006
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No, not really. This would be a free air model.
Not sure how “you know” this, JBL speakers used for guitar and bass are not particularly tough.
Very, very different performance needs. At low volumes with little low frequency extension and level it can work, but as soon as the volume and bass content increases, that’s how speakers get damaged.
