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The difference feel and volume??

bogie1519

bogie1519

Feb 25, 2012
373
490
Beaumont Tex
#1
Hope this question about feel and volume makes sense.
Do you prefer casters or no casters.
Been playing for well over 30 years and always used cabs without the casters.
The main reason being I thought I could feel the "Volume" better. If that makes any sense at all.
But with age comes common sense. I'm tired of dragging around heavy cabs from the trailer to the stage.
Yes I could use a dolly. But this leads to my question. Do you think you lose any of that thump thump by putting casters on all your base subs?

I've been using a Fender T100 tube amp which weighs at least 85 pounds
This weekend i use my Mini Mega Peavey Bass amp rated at 1000 watts which i know is BS but at only 10 pounds. No one even knew the difference!! Is it all in my head?

Sorry to rumble on and on...
 
#3
Search: Bass Amp Acoustic Coupling.

Removable casters are great.
If your cab is big enough, I'm sure it can't be to hard to secure some wheels on it and make it a tilt back cab for easy manoeuvring.

I believe there is a difference in sound and volume but I have no scientific proof to support this perception.
 
Last edited:
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#4
LiptonJigglers said:
Search: Bass Amp Acoustic Coupling.

Removable casters are great.
If your cab is big enough, I'm sure it can't be to hard to secure some wheels on it and make it a tilt back cab for easy manoeuvring.

I believe there is a difference in sound and volume but I have no scientific proof to support this perception.
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip. I agree on the differences. Between volume and feel
 
#5
Two possibilities to work around the topic:

1. Do what PA-People have been doing for ages: Mount the casters on the rear of the cab. It'll stand flush on the ground and when you topple it over, you can roll it around.
2. Get barefaced cabinets. You'll never think about casters when your cab is a one hand carry.


When I had my big and heavy Aguilar cabinets, I had one on casters and the other on top of the first. Both were otherwise identical 212 cabs. I could never make out a difference between the cab on casters and the cab on the floor.
 
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#6
bogie1519 said:
Hope this question about feel and volume makes sense.
Do you prefer casters or no casters.
Been playing for well over 30 years and always used cabs without the casters.
The main reason being I thought I could feel the "Volume" better. If that makes any sense at all.
Click to expand...

A 42 Hz wavelength (your low E) has a wavelength of 27 FEET. Whether your cabinet is on the floor or a couple inches off of it makes no difference acoustically. The only downside to casters is the potential for rattles.
 
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#10
bogie1519 said:
Do you think you lose any of that thump thump by putting casters on all your base subs?
Click to expand...

It definitely reduces the coupling to the floor the higher the cab is raised. Casters aren't high enough to make a difference to my ears. When I used a combo on an amp stand about three feet off the floor it was quite noticeable, but the upside was I could hear the upper mids and highs much better.
 
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#11
bogie1519 said:
Do you prefer casters or no casters.
Click to expand...
I've used both but...my favorite cab I've ever used is my 112 BBC tank. It's a downfiring 12 that weights 20 lbs and has no casters. I can feel and hear myself anywhere on stage. My much larger boogie stack sounds great but doesn't have that character. So in addition to no casters I believe downfiring is something I wish I would have known about decades ago.
 
#12
bogie1519 said:
Do you think you lose any of that thump thump by putting casters on all your base subs?
Click to expand...


allyourbasesubs.jpg
 
#13
micguy said:
A 42 Hz wavelength (your low E) has a wavelength of 27 FEET. Whether your cabinet is on the floor or a couple inches off of it makes no difference acoustically. The only downside to casters is the potential for rattles.
Click to expand...
The difference I could see is that the cabinet sitting flat could be coupling with the floor. Hence the feel part of it. Meanwhile the casters can act like isolators. From an acoustic volume aspect you are completely right.
 
#14
Starting some years ago, I started fitting casters to my larger cabinets to save my back. Quite the contrary to "feeling" the bass, I found that the de-coupling lessened standing waves and the woof at particular pitches that the cabinets had before in certain rooms, resulting in a more even tone. Yes, it took my ears awhile to get used to it, but the back felt relief immediately after the first gig! :thumbsup:
 
#16
frnjplayer said:
The difference I could see is that the cabinet sitting flat could be coupling with the floor. Hence the feel part of it. Meanwhile the casters can act like isolators. From an acoustic volume aspect you are completely right.
Click to expand...

My point is that, acoustically, the cab on casters IS coupled to the floor. The only thing the casters change is, if the cabinet is flexing a lot (let’s hope it isn’t), then mechanically things are a little different, but that’s gotta be a small effect.
 
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#17
el murdoque said:
Two possibilities to work around the topic:

1. Do what PA-People have been doing for ages: Mount the casters on the rear of the cab. It'll stand flush on the ground and when you topple it over, you can roll it around.
Click to expand...

Back in the early 90's (?) I bought a 1x15 LabSeries with that set up. Stand it upright (tall) and the pop up casters made it easy to move. When you got to where you wanted to be, you lay it on its "side" where the rubber feet were located. You could remove the caster if they rattled.
 
#18
micguy said:
That'll take all the fun out of it....
Click to expand...
Can
micguy said:
A 42 Hz wavelength (your low E) has a wavelength of 27 FEET. Whether your cabinet is on the floor or a couple inches off of it makes no difference acoustically. The only downside to casters is the potential for rattles.
Click to expand...
iiipopes said:
Starting some years ago, I started fitting casters to my larger cabinets to save my back. Quite the contrary to "feeling" the bass, I found that the de-coupling lessened standing waves and the woof at particular pitches that the cabinets had before in certain rooms, resulting in a more even tone. Yes, it took my ears awhile to get used to it, but the back felt relief immediately after the first gig! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

That makes total sense..
 
#19
brianrost said:
It definitely reduces the coupling to the floor the higher the cab is raised. Casters aren't high enough to make a difference to my ears. When I used a combo on an amp stand about three feet off the floor it was quite noticeable, but the upside was I could hear the upper mids and highs much better.
Click to expand...

The reduction or change in acoustic coupling or boundary coupling with casters is tiny because the additional height is insignificant compared with the coupling wavelength range.

What does make a difference is the position of the cabinet influencing the midrange content and extension that the ear hears. This is very significant.
 
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