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seymour duncan 8x5 cabinet
- Thread starter tickbasskee
- Start date
Uhh….you sure about that? SWR may have had Henry the 8th(8x8”), and Phil Jones in more recent times has persued the use of multiple smaller speakers, but from 40-some years ago, all I recall is that SD just had the usual 2x10” and 4x10” cabs…they weren’t being innovative in that respect. An odd number of drivers creates ohm load problems.
There’s an ‘805’ fuzz, a nod to Santa Barbara’s area code.
There’s an ‘805’ fuzz, a nod to Santa Barbara’s area code.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,066
- 45,989
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Somebody or other did Bose 800/802 clones back then, I can't recall who offhand though. The Bose cabs used eight 4" drivers, so nothing wonky impedance wise.
Even numbers ballance out, regardless of driver size. I realize there’s been three-driver cabs through the years, in various configurations(Sunn and Fender had 3x12” guitar cabs way back, then later all sorts of 2x10” plus 15” or 18” bass boxes), but I don’t recall those as being higly successful.
Ahh, that’s a high frequency array, very much a part of the bi-amp mindset of those times. I don’t think I ever saw that, but I do recall the aforementioned Bose cabs, and even more bass gear specific, the Trace-Elliot add-ons. They kinda died the death.
As if the tweeters in the 4x10” cabs weren’t enough…
I think Greg Lake had a rig like that later on.
I think Greg Lake had a rig like that later on.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,066
- 45,989
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
That's the one I was thinking of, actually. IIRC, primarily a PA/DJ speaker, but as @Michedelic says, the bass biamping thing brought al kinds of janky stacking configs as well. For a time I had a 118 folded horn, 2 x 115 cabs, and either a 12/horn JBL wedge or a 210 cab on top, triamped.
Why, I could only dream of such a rig back then! I had to build my own 1x15”, with a used Mitchell 4x10”, no tweeter, on top, powered by a first generation QSC power amp with a measly 125 watts per side. And I ran both bass guitar and monophonic bass synth through it.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,066
- 45,989
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
I only could swing a rig like that because I ran a repair shop and could repurpose broken stuff for pennies on the dollar. And I still also had to build my own janky cabs in most cases, but that fit our band's punk/hippie aesthetic well enough to get a pass. That whole phase was pretty short lived in any case.
Hoo-boy, you want jank? As I had(short-sightedly)sold my trusty Sunn 200s rig after over a decade of service, for being “old” and underpowered, when I got in this particular band as a start-up, I had nothing besides a small HH guitar combo. The guitarist who joined had a 50-watt Crate 1x15” bass combo, so we swapped, but I put that on top of a typical Marshall 4x12” that an aquaintance had left behind while off being a junkie idiot(we were all living the boho life at the time). The Crate powered the Marshall as well. Did a couple of gigs, all that I can say is, it worked, but that’s about all.
Just wondering if seymour duncan remembered making it . I can't find anything on it like specs ,wiring and good replacement speakers .thanks guys.
I bought one new from Seymour Duncan in the 80s (I still have it). It was to compete with the Bose 802 at the time. It was to pair with their bi-amped head. Sold as a "set" - a single 15" cab, 8 ohms with a 200watt JBL speaker, and the 8x5" array, sealed cab, 8ohms (I think it's 200 watts also). I did a lot of rehearsals and small gigs with just the 8x5 cab - it wasn't quite as "mid-range honky" as the Bose. And if you pumped bass frequency into it, it took the low end really well. With boosted low EQ sent to the 8x5, it sounds a lot like a Phil Jones C4 - not quite as deep, as the PJB is a ported cab - but a little tighter since it's a sealed cab.
FYI, The Bose 802 is very HiFi with the required EQ box. Here is the EQ curve:
I had a chance to demo a stack of 802s pushed by a 400W Bose amp in the early 80s (can't remember if it was 2 or 4). While I thought it sounded great, it had pretty limited headroom. The cabs are rated 240W with a sensitivity of 91dB 1W/1m. My guess is the sensitivity is at 1kHz.
I’ve told this story a few times on TB…back in the late 90s my band opened for a touring band and the bass player offered his rig when he saw my modest set-up. He had landed a TE endorsement deal and was enthusiastic to share. It was half of this rig, driven by a beautiful glowing AH600SMX head. It was the most heavenly experience to stand 12 feet in front of it. Those bright boxes where no joke - really filled out the upper mid range without the hiss and spit of the 410 tweeter.
