I'm looking for a cool old cab to go with my ad200b. I'm not into 10s (8x10, 4x10, etc). I am into 12's, 15's and cabs with multiple speaker sizes. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an older mesa, sunn, or acoustic 2x15 or anything else interesting. I saw a sunn 202 locally (smaller 2x12 cabinet), but seems to be rated for only 100 watts at 4ohms. Lately I play garage/pysch stuff. Anything you guys particularly recommend?
The E-V TL606 design is pretty sweet for what you describe as wanting. You can roll your own from the original blueprints or readily buy the E-V, Mesa, Orange, etc. versions.
If you want to get really loud and clean with your ad200b, you may need a newer, high power cab from Barefaced, Greenboy, etc. Or possibly go with two cabs with 2x15's and upgrade the speakers. Though the old Sunn cabs with 2x15 JBL's sound sweet and don't need much power to fill a club. 200 watts would be very cool and clean.
I don't know how easy they are to find anymore, but I had a Sonic Funkbass cab for awhile that sported an 18 plus a pair of 10s. It was enormous and covered in gray rat fur, took up a lot of space in storage, and was a miserable bummer to move...but it would kick me and everybody else in the room very, very hard. I had run it with a Hartke 3500 and when I hosted jams with it, the other bass players would salivate waiting their turns to plug in. I received more than one offer-on-the-spot for that rig. It died an ugly death in a basement flood where three and a half feet (yes) of standing water totaled the drivers and soaked the cabinet to swelling. Pitching that puppy was one of the most emotionally (and physically) taxing things I've ever done with a piece of music equipment. Intolerably heavy, but a great general purpose cab with enough booty to blow holes in concrete. If I ever run across another one, I might buy it just for the nostalgia trip. Here's a picture of one I just copped off the 'Net, available for a whopping $149 at a Music Go Round in Greenfield, Wisconsin: {}
I have a Peavey 215 with Black Widow speakers that blows my cat around. I have the 15 inch deep version, and I think there was also an 18 inch deep one, too. It sounds very similar to a homemade TL-606 that someone else mentioned. You can also pick up some Bag End cabs; the single 15 inch cabs come in several sizes. The larger BEs and the 606 both have removable port covers that change the Fc point a bit. Never played a Sunn, but heard them plenty, and they are pants flapping madness, too. If you buy a 606 with an EV driver, there are two types; mine has the 15L, but others seem to like the 15B better; should be fun to research. Except for the BEs, I just bought what I found locally for pretty low cost. Have fun!
Find yourself an old Peavey 215D with black widows. Or as was said find the TL-606 plans and find some EV15-b's, BW1505-8's, or some 3015's.
Older cabinets typically have a much lower power handling rating than cabinets with newer drivers. It’s something that you should be aware of and look out for.
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If your lucky enough to snag an old Fender Bassman 2x12, fill it with 8ohm cast frame speakers of your choice (EV Pros for me), and you'll have the tone of your dreams. {}