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Sunn Sceptre Vertical 4x12 for Bass?

HeavyAxe

HeavyAxe

Jul 16, 2013
420
222
Alberta, Canada
#1
Hey, folks. I was telling a buddy of mine I recently met at a concert that I was looking for a new cab(s) and he mentioned he has the titled cabs in his garage. He wants to get rid of them and I said I might be interested. I know this question will probably make some cringe, but do you think I could run a bass (Rickenbacker 4001) with a Mesa Boogie 400 into these two 4x12's? They are from the 60s/70s and I know lots of bassists used guitar cabs/amps back in the day but the last thing I'd want to do is destroy these things. I'll add, I do not need extreme tonal clarity as I love Geezer or Jack Bruce distorted punchiness so if I could still use these amps without wrecking them, though sacrifice a little clarity I could live with that.
Thanks

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#2
Short answer: Nah, probably not gonna work. These are vocal PA columns, not actually paired with the Sceptre as far as I'm aware. The Sceptre came with a staggered 4x12, not vertical. These would also most likely have Sunn transducers, and not bass specific ones, so I doubt they'd put up with much in the way of bass signal. They're cool I've seen guys use them for guitar, I just don't think they'll cut it for bass.
 
#3
if you can get them for nothing then they might be worth trying!

you might end up needing new speakers for a half-decent bass tone, which quickly becomes more expensive than a proper bass cab that would likely do better.

still, the idea of one of those cabs, a tower of 4 vertical sealed 12s, is intriguing; with the right speakers i bet it could be surprisingly easy to hear (think of the little ampeg sealed SVT 2x10 cabs in a vertical stack, just bigger). good luck getting that tower into your car though.
 
#4
walterw said:
if you can get them for nothing then they might be worth trying!

you might end up needing new speakers for a half-decent bass tone, which quickly becomes more expensive than a proper bass cab that would likely do better.

still, the idea of one of those cabs, a tower of 4 vertical sealed 12s, is intriguing; with the right speakers i bet it could be surprisingly easy to hear (think of the little ampeg sealed SVT 2x10 cabs in a vertical stack, just bigger). good luck getting that tower into your car though.
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Well, I was thinking maybe you could pair it with a 15 or something just to get sufficient bottom end, but I am no expert in this field at all. They sure do look cool though.
 
#5
HeavyAxe said:
Well, I was thinking maybe you could pair it with a 15 or something just to get sufficient bottom end...
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whattaya, new? ;)

mixing cabs is not the shortest path to awesome bass tone (and is an endless, raging Jupiter's red spot of debate on TB as new folks keep showing up with the same old misconceptions).

back on-topic, a 12 that was OK for sealed cabs, like (just guessing here) the eminence beta 12, loaded up in one of these might actually sound pretty strong. the form factor of the tall, skinny cab is a good one on stage, it lets you hear yourself well and covers a wider area than a fatter cab (counter-intuitive but that's how it works).
 
#7
walterw said:
whattaya, new? ;)

mixing cabs is not the shortest path to awesome bass tone (and is an endless, raging Jupiter's red spot of debate on TB as new folks keep showing up with the same old misconceptions).

back on-topic, a 12 that was OK for sealed cabs, like (just guessing here) the eminence beta 12, loaded up in one of these might actually sound pretty strong. the form factor of the tall, skinny cab is a good one on stage, it lets you hear yourself well and covers a wider area than a fatter cab (counter-intuitive but that's how it works).
Click to expand...
I'm thinking if he doesn't want to much for them I'll pick them up and put new speakers in one of them and if I dig it do the other too.
 
#8
Yes, those are PA columns(from back when only the vocals went thru the PA)and they will sound awful. The speakers in those cabs are just not up to low frequency reproduction, the enclosure size can't really develop the low end, BUT...if it's Jack Bruce style goose farts you want, that's what you'll get. Now, Sunn did make a(primarily)guitar cab, 40" high, 24" wide, 15" deep(same size as their more popular 2x15" cabs), with four 12" speakers; if you had one with more modern, bass friendly drivers it might work pretty well, but it was a totally sealed box, so super low bass response is out of the question. Plus, those are not easily found.
 
#11
I have a pristine 1970s 4x12 UN-staggered Sunn cab that is definitely a guitar cab that has the original Sunn Transducers. I have actually used it for bass.
The day I bought it I was on my way to a gig in a town an hour from home. I had seen this cab on the guys lawn over a preceding weekend when he was having a yard sale.
I thought about the cab often over the two weeks since I had seen it and decided to stop and ask if he still had it. I figured he had surely sold it. I knocked on the door and asked if he still had it he said yes. I asked how much he wanted for it, he said 50 dollars. I chocked back a response. I looked at it and it was near new condishion. I asked does it work? He said last time he heard it with his brothers Karaoke rig it was fine. I said will you take $35 he says sure, so I stuffed it in my truck and went to the gig. Hahahaha
I had to move it to get to my stuff so I just rolled it in to try out and it sounded fine. I used it for the rest of the gig. It sounded great! I didn't really push it but this was not a quiet gig we played fairly loud.
I've always thought it would be great to hear it with 4 modern 12s but I'm not spending that kind of cash on a cab I will never REALISTICLY gig.
Sunn cabs were always fairly large for the speaker compliment. it would be interesting to measure the volume of the cab and model it, you might find its plenty big enough for bass speakers but again an expensive experiment if you don't have the Speakers just laying around.
 

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