• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Help with the choice of equipment?

Sergeon

Sergeon

Guest
Jun 22, 2018
17
12
36
Russia
#1
Hi guys! I need help in choosing bass equipment for playing in clubs and small gigs. We plan to play Melodic death / blaсk. For better compatibility of the planned equipment, I wanted to choose an amplifier powerful enough and for its power to choose the parameters of the cabinet. We want to make the cabinet ourselves, but for this we need to understand what version of the case is suitable for our purposes (sealed or ported). And what are the speakers for this use. (Budget 700 ~ 800 dollars)

From bass guitar amplifiers I looked through:
- Tech 21 VT Bass 500
- Ampeg PF-500
- Ashdown Rootmaster RM-500-EVO
- Aguilar Tone Hammer 350
- Markbass Little Mark III
If anyone has had experience with them tell me which one will be the most glaring to my intention?

About the cabinets, as far as I understand - Sealed gives a more tight sound at the bottom, a bit compressed and not so critical to placement on the stage. And the ported has more bottoms and sounds louder, but it's harder to do. Can you advise from your experience, which version of the case is preferable in this case?

About the speakers. Which format is better to choose 10, 12, 15? Are there any good-sounding speakers at an affordable price?

Type of connection in series or in parallel? As far as I understand it affects the resonant frequency of the speakers (Description from one web-page): at a parallel connection, due to the mutual connection, the resonant frequencies of both heads merge into one; With a serial connection, this does not happen, which contributes to the expansion of the low-frequency region. At the lowest frequencies, the recoil of the two heads almost doubles. In this case, the sound addition (proportional to the square of the area of the diffusers) increases 4 times.

It turned out a lot of letters (and maybe a lot of mistakes). But if you have thoughts on these issues - write to me. I will be glad. These answers will also help other guys who are looking for answers to similar questions. Thanks!
 
#3
Thank you, bobyoung53! I found on the forum a link to a page with a photo of the design of DIY SVT 8 x 10 sealed cabin okabass It's huge power cab. Maybe SVT-212AV?
What do you think of the Hartke HA3500( or HA5500)? it has tubes and solid state preamp and control to mixing them
Yah 8 x 10 have vertical design and it is preferable. Thank you for idea!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bobyoung53
#4
Hi Sergeon. Welcome to Talk Bass. I've worked with a few of the amps you mentioned so I will give you my impressions of them. Both the Tech and the Ampeg PF 500 will work well for you. I've played through both with good results and neither one is very expensive. I am running a PF 500 these days and like it very much. I've never played through an Ashdown so I can't comment on them. The Tone Hammers have a good reputation but are a bit more costly. I personally would prefer the 500 over the 350 but again , it is more expensive than the Ampeg or the Tech. I have played through a couple of Mark Bass rigs (again , more expensive) but I just never cared for the sound I got out of them. They are powerful enough and worked O K but since I play mostly Classic Rock and Country , I'm looking for a fatter and pillowy sound that I just couldn't seem to get out of the Mark Bass rigs. This is subjective to my tastes in sound and there are a lot of people that love Mark Bass gear. I'm just not one of them.
As to the cabs , I've been playing through an Ampeg 8 10 for several years now. Simply by changing a couple of settings on my bass or the amp , I can get pretty much any tone out of it I want. You really can't go wrong with that or a similar cab. The ported Ampeg 4 10 cabs do tend to be a bit more boomy but this might be what you are looking for for your type of music.
Wiring the cabs will depend on the ohm rating for the individual speakers used. The speakers used in the Ampeg 8 10 are 32 ohm , 100 watt speakers. Wired in parallel they end up with a 4 ohm rating for the cab. Matching speakers to a cab can be difficult. I would go with what has already been done rather than trying to experiment with any untried set ups. Untried stuff might work well but then again , it might sound terrible. For example , years ago I bought an Ampeg 2 15 sealed cab that the guy that had it before me had put 2 Scorpion speakers in. Loud enough but sounded kind of lifeless. Years later , I bought a Peavey 2 15 vented cab and proceeded to blow the speakers in it. Since I wasn't using the Ampeg cab anymore , I decided to take the speakers out of it and put them in the Peavey cab. The Scorpions that sounded so bad in the sealed cab absolutely came alive in the vented cab. One of the best sounding cabs I own now and i use it regularly for practices. Anyway , the point is speakers need to work with the cab. They are not guaranteed to work with just any cab. Hope this helped.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eriky4003 and Sergeon
#5
There are so many options and your budget will limit some of them.

An important consideration is how easy will it be for you to obtain service should you ever need it. The advantage of an all tube amp is that it should be relatively easy to have repaired locally.

On the other hand, if you need crazy loud, a tube amp may not get you there. Consider a PA amp, match it with a good pre-amp.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bobyoung53, scuzzy and Sergeon
#7
Do you guys have any drawings or the dimensions of the box Ampeg 8x10? I found on one of the sites the dimensions of the box 660 x 1219 x 406 mm. Is It true?

If I can not immediately buy 8 x 10 I think it's possible to temporarily install 4 speakers and 4 stubs.
 
#9
These are the exact dimensions I just pulled off of my 2005 Ampeg cab.
H 48 1/4"
W 26"
D 15 7/8"
Angled panels on the back are 5 1/2" each
These are all measurements taken from the outside of the cab to the outside of the Tolex. You probably need to knock off about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch for the Tolex.
My cab is made out of 5/8" OSB.
Note: Plywood is a bit lighter and maybe a bit tougher. Mine being OSB has never been any problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sergeon
#13
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Sergeon and bobyoung53
#19
While searching the Internet found costs of 2 speakers for SVT-810E:
- Celestion BL10-100x 10" 8 Ohm speaker that costs 66$ (at serial and parallel connection it is possible to make the final resistance of 4 Ohms)
- Eminence® Bass, 10", Legend B810, 32 Ohm 150 watts for 69,99$
And speaker for Custom DIY 2x15 cab build and TL606.pdf
- Eminence Kappalite 3015 with a discount final price is 180$

I think if the Celestion BL10-100x 10" 8 Ohm and Eminence Legend B810 is not good quality it is better (to my Budget) to make a Custom DIY 2x15 cab or 2xTL606 cabs (or build an SVT 8x10 and use 4 speakers and 4 stops and when the funds appear to buy 4 more speakers)
 
Last edited:
#20
In the Custom DIY 2x15 cab build thread I found Faital 15PR400 speaker. johnk_10 gave an example of the sound of a speaker:

Custom DIY 2x15 cab build

Sounds good! And I found it on our store at a price of 145$ He also said "i just tried the Faital 15PR400's with the ports sealed for the first time, and they do sound great with them closed. with them sealed, it immediately feels and sounds more like what i'm used to playing thru, but everytime i try it with them open, it sounds so good (a little bigger and fuller) it's really hard to tell which way i like it best."

He compared 3015 and 15pr400:

first, the 3015's

the 15PR400's

Cool! It has good readability. I think the cab with 2x15pr400 is great solution!
 
  • Like
Reactions: beans-on-toast and wave rider

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back