• 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.

question about 4x12s

xlows

xlows

Oct 21, 2006
1,036
3
Minnesota
#1
why is it that it seems like most bass 4x12s aren't in the little square boxes that guitarists use? we put 4x10s in those things... why not 4x12s? (for a good image of the sort of 4x12 enclosure i'm thinking of, look no further than the aguilar gs412)
 
#2
xlows said:
why is it that it seems like most bass 4x12s aren't in the little square boxes that guitarists use? we put 4x10s in those things... why not 4x12s? (for a good image of the sort of 4x12 enclosure i'm thinking of, look no further than the aguilar gs412)
Click to expand...
Ask one of the senior players here. I'm sure they will insist the internal volume of the enclosure is in-fact engineered & "tuned" for a certain SPL efficiency, and have to be that large so the longer waves will not sound thin.

Guitar enclosures can 'get away' with being smaller without sacrificing the higher freqs and tone (in a nutshell).
 
#4
L-1329 said:
There are square 412's, my SWR 12-stack is one. I've seen bigger 410's than this cab, and it sounds great. Sounds even better with my SWR 12-pack on top of it too.
Click to expand...

hey, i run a 12-stack with a 12-pack on top of it as well... 6-12's rock!! :bassist:

i'm still looking for a second 12-pack to go with my second 12-stack so that i can complete the 12-12 wall of doom! :eek:

JR
 
#5
JGR said:
hey, i run a 12-stack with a 12-pack on top of it as well... 6-12's rock!! :bassist:

i'm still looking for a second 12-pack to go with my second 12-stack so that i can complete the 12-12 wall of doom! :eek:

JR
Click to expand...

:eek:

Holy carp, that would be lethal! I love it!

If I ever came across another 12-pack I'd grab it up in a second. I was lucky to find the one I did. Consider me totally envious of you cab collection!:cool:
 
#8
Taller and narrower has two primary advantages:

1) much more portable, rolls like a dolly instead of pushing around a squatty cab on casters.

2) Gets the drivers closer to ear level, so you can hear it better when standing nearby.

I also *think* you get less comb filtering with an offset arrangement, but I'm not totally sure about that. Whatever is going on, the GS412 sounds GREAT and is very easy to move around.

Basically they are stuffing 12s into the form factor of an 8x10, and it works great.
 
#10
xlows said:
why is it that it seems like most bass 4x12s aren't in the little square boxes that guitarists use? we put 4x10s in those things... why not 4x12s? (for a good image of the sort of 4x12 enclosure i'm thinking of, look no further than the aguilar gs412)
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief you can't get good bass response by stuffing as many drivers as possible into a cab; quite the opposite, in fact. Most bass cabs are grossly undersized for the driver complement they contain. The average ten needs at least 1.5 cu ft to work as well as it can, the average 12 at least 2 cu ft- you do the math from there. Guitars can get away doing it because they don't need response below 100 Hz.
 
#12
Some 4x12 bass cabinets are also ported, so they'll need to be bigger to accomodate the ports. Then there's also a tweeter in many cases.

One example is the GK Neo 412 - it's a ported cab with a tweeter. None of that stuff would fit into your ordinary guitar cabinet.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back