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If you're playing in a band that's loud enough to mic the kick drum, but not playing venues with PA, then you absolutely need something big enough to keep up -- forget about 150-watt (and smaller??) combos and extension speakers. A head and cab is the logical path, but meanwhile, try to make do with the BA115HP if that proves repairable. Then marshal your resources while you keep diligently seeking a used head and cab. If you could find an older Peavey amp and a PV 215 cab, that could be a great score on your budget. Alternatively, as has been mentioned, there tend to be more 410 cabs in the used market as folks upgrade.
I know your area pretty well -- there was a boatload of PV gear sold into that market in the late 70s, 80s, and 90s, and almost all of it is still serviceable. There should be something out there in the wild that would work for you. I'd consider putting a listing in the 'musical instruments - for sale' section of the local Craigslist saying you're looking to buy a bass amp and emphasize that you're on a tight budget without actually saying what your top dollar is. Then try to negotiate with any responders that exceed your budget. I don't cruise CL as much as I used to (my GAS is thoroughly quenched), but I used to see ads here -- admittedly a larger market -- where it seemed as if the seller was 'highly motivated', as they say in real estate.
And keep in mind that you'd be able to sell the Ampeg if it's working and recover your repair investment at the very least. I know all too well how it is to be scrambling and trying to do things without sufficient scratch -- patience is even more important in that situation. Good luck with it.
That 115 is an awesome amp. I've had it 5 years in that time I have jammed with friends at not real a band but just jam sessions. Though we did play quite a few summer backyard parties a few graduation parties for friends kids a wedding or two. Where multiple musicians would rotate in and out. It was plenty loud enough. Yeah, I built a stand that not only lifts it off floor a little but also angles it back a tad.What a bummer. Maybe they got busy and you’ll hear back.
that 140 head might work, but seems kinda low to me. I’d shoot for a 350 head, ideally 500w. (Heads are typically advertised/named after their 4ohm rating. 500w head will typically put 350w into 8 ohms.)
A 4 ohm cab will give you more output than a comparable 8ohm cab. The benefit of 8 ohm is running 2 cabs together. 2 8 ohm cabs run a 4 ohm load. So for your situation a single 4 ohm 410 sounds like the best bang for the buck (but then you can only run one.) some heads can run at 2 ohms (2 x 4 ohm cabs) but you gotta look at the manuals.
in the meantime, get that 115 up
Off the floor, roll down bass EQ and roll up the mids for increased cutting power. I used to have the 100w version of that amp, it got quite loud!
Keep at it, there’s something out there for you!
Thank you for the information I understand what it means now. I just never seen a cab that said 16 ohms. not that i rally have been doing this long. I always just dealt with combos' easier to just plug and play. Just now have advanced beyond those. Need something bigger with upgrade options. Like speaker configs.From what I gathered on the web, that cab has 4 x 16-ohm drivers and is set up to either run as a series/parallel combination as one 16-ohm load, or it can be split into two 2 x 12, 8-ohm halves. That implies that it would be fairly easy to actually use it as an all-parallel 4-ohm load with a minimal amount of effort -- either with a simple internal wiring modification, or using two speaker cables plugged into the parallel outputs of your amp...which I'm presuming it does have.
Of course, that doesn't change the fact that it is NOT a bass cab...and given Behringer's reputation for performance, I wouldn't expect that it would work all that well for that purpose.
See my post #6 about BA115 and external cabinet: no go.Well, Got the Ampeg back it was n OP amp fried replaced it. Works great I forget how loud it is. Not often i get to crank it up even at 7 she's got some power. So, Wednesday or Thursday Hartke HA2500 bass amp 250 watt
Seismic 400-watt 2x10 Cabinet - Seismic 300-watt 1x15 Cabinet - will be delivered. I'm getting there and I am going to also wire the Ampeg so i can use it as another cabinet if needed. Will have to research it to find out exactly how and if i can use the 2 15's together.
I'm not adding a external speaker. I'm going to use the speaker as a cabinet.See my post #6 about BA115 and external cabinet: no go.
It's the other half of the same equation: you won't be able to run your 4-ohm Ampeg 'extension' speaker in parallel with another speaker cab because the parallel impedance is going to be below 4-ohms, which is probably a bigger load (lower nominal impedance) than your inexpensive amp is going to be able to handle. Plus there's the issue of two parallel loads with unequal impedances and single vs. multiple drivers...the point is, your 4-ohm, single 15 'extension cab' can't contribute anything useful to the equation of your getting louder. IMHO, anyway.I'm not adding a external speaker. I'm going to use the speaker as a cabinet.