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Is one 2x10 enough?

HMZ

Dec 21, 2003
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USA-Mineola
I have an out door gig coming up that my band plays every year its a Saturday and Sunday street fair. When playing the gig I usually use one 2x10 and a 1x15 cab or two 2x10 cabs. This year I will only be able to bring one Aguilar DB210 cab and my Markbass LMII but we will have P.A. support. I think I should be fine with this setup. What do you think?
 
I have found that it has been for me. I have used a single 212 and single 210 and found that the 210 was plenty. I have also used the 210 and 212 together and I did not need the two cabs. It was way more than I needed so I hauled them out for nothing. I'm not required to carry all of the bass in the house. I run a D.I. to the board from my Bmax or Sansamp and let the PA carry my FOH signal. We also run keys and an acoustic guitar into the monitors and I still have had plenty of volume with just the 210 cabinet.

Now, the two or three guitars that I play play with are using a 50 watt Peavey 2x12 tube combo and 65 watt 1x12 tube & SS combos. The drummer is not heavy handed either so my 500 watts into a 2 X 10 cab works great. Your band, music style and of course stage volume may require more than a 210 cab.
 
If you have PA help it's a non-issue out front. As far as the guys in your band a 210 of almost any stripe can sound pretty "small" outdoors. Could maybe get enough out of it without farting out to take care of you and your drummer but the guy on the other side of the stage could want some bass in his monitors if they'll support it. I'd try a tight set up, close to each other and face your cab sideways across the stage and not out toward the audience. For what it's worth.
 
I like my 210, sounds good, great for practice or a small gig, it's just outside I'd put a 15 under it. If you're talking about something less than a 610 to carry to the gig and back, I'd look at 212's or 410's or a 3way of some kind. You'd be looking at something between the two as far as having enough to gig and still carrying one cab up the stairs. It all depends on what gigs you're playing. If you mean just something to play at home that sounds decent (not a cheap 15 watt) amp, a decent combo with a 12 incher and 30-50 watts will do the job.
 
I like my 210, sounds good, great for practice or a small gig, it's just outside I'd put a 15 under it. If you're talking about something less than a 610 to carry to the gig and back, I'd look at 212's or 410's or a 3way of some kind. You'd be looking at something between the two as far as having enough to gig and still carrying one cab up the stairs. It all depends on what gigs you're playing. If you mean just something to play at home that sounds decent (not a cheap 15 watt) amp, a decent combo with a 12 incher and 30-50 watts will do the job.

we have a trailer so i don't mind lugging around my ampeg 610hlf and my 400+ for gigs. i just don't want to lug that up and down two flights of stairs when i need to practice or gig. i've been debating getting a small decent comb amp for my apartment, but I already have an awesome sounding head, so why not get a small cab i can leave at home? i've been looking at the avatar neo210 because they sound good, and they are easy on the wallet.
 
Then that cab is a good choice, it'll play rehearsal just fine as long as you don't rehearse at crazy loud volumes, too much for the room etc. and obviously it'll play an apartment. Set it upright so the speakers are vertical one on top the other, will sound a little more defined and get the sound source a little closer to your ears. I practice with a 210 and it fits the bill nicely as long as the band doesn't practice at gig volumes in someplace smaller than a gig venue and of course indoors.


P.S. If you're taking a 400+ and a 610 to gigs you know what you're going to sound like, get the 210 and some used 300 watt SS amp to practice with, as long as you can get enough of what you want to play well and have fun instead of having to work with something you don't like.
 
The two guitar players both use 4x12's but are not over the top loud. The drummer is powerful but not overbearing.

Well then you may be asking a bit much of a 2x10. As the one post said. If you are indoors it won't be a problem but outdoors you may want to look at a 2 X 12. A neo 2X12 isn't too heavy. The Avatar I have used weighs less than 60 pounds.
 
Well then you may be asking a bit much of a 2x10. As the one post said. If you are indoors it won't be a problem but outdoors you may want to look at a 2 X 12. A neo 2X12 isn't too heavy. The Avatar I have used weighs less than 60 pounds.

I'm waiting on another Aggie DB210 from Musician's Friend but it doesn't look like I'll get it in time for the gig. I do have a GK BLX210
that I use at rehearsal. I could stick that under the Aggie for the gig. The GK 210 can only handle 200 watts but paired with the other cab it might work.
 
Don't get all wrapped up in power handling, your speaker will fart out before they get fed that much. Remember, just because you have a 600watt or whatever head doesn't mean you're feeding your speakers all that power, in fact you're likely feeding them a fraction of it unless you have everything dimed. If you're doing that, you need a bigger amp.
 
Two weeks ago I did an outdoor gig with two Aggie DB210's and it sounded great. I had bought one DB210 at GC it was in brown (it was all they had and it was a floor model). I liked it and decided to buy another one from Musicians Friend but they were out of brown so I got a green one. I really didn't care they were different colors
but when the wife saw them she liked the green so back to GC I went to return the brown one. I called MF to get another green one and now they were out. So now I have to wait a month or so for Aguilar to get some to MF.
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Then that cab is a good choice, it'll play rehearsal just fine as long as you don't rehearse at crazy loud volumes, too much for the room etc. and obviously it'll play an apartment. Set it upright so the speakers are vertical one on top the other, will sound a little more defined and get the sound source a little closer to your ears. I practice with a 210 and it fits the bill nicely as long as the band doesn't practice at gig volumes in someplace smaller than a gig venue and of course indoors.


P.S. If you're taking a 400+ and a 610 to gigs you know what you're going to sound like, get the 210 and some used 300 watt SS amp to practice with, as long as you can get enough of what you want to play well and have fun instead of having to work with something you don't like.
yeah i keep all my gear minus my bass at my place. i dont mind bringing the 400+ home with me but i might get a small solid state power amp to just stay home and then just run it with my sans amp. who knows though. at this point, its all just thoughts.