two ? in one

[Munjibunga]

Yup.

I have to admit that sometimes the "will this make my rig louder" threads annoy me, but that is my problem, not the poster's. They are new and have the same questions I had when I was new. You get a feel for what matters and what doesn't. That being said, even then you can be blind to the affect of things that do matter, even after a couple of decades of playing, if you are not steeped in it. I've been playing since 1998 and I think I have some blind spots.

Although I've played a lot and have gotten pretty good at playing the bass, my "cheapskate" roots have caused me to not delve into a lot of subtleties. A simple example: I've replaced strings four times, though I own six basses. Two times were to get a sound or look. That is, black tapewounds on my five string fretless, and flatwounds on my acoustic electric. The other two were to replace broken strings - and I got whatever was on sale.

I'll bet that those last seven words make a lot of guys around here cringe. Yeah, when people get into "which strings" discussions, I just shake my head because I don't think, at the end of the day, there is that much difference compared to everything else thrown into the mix.

But I think my opinion is based on gross ignorance. If I spent a few weeks comparing lots of different strings I'd probably feel differently, but since I replace my strings only after breaking one, I'm playing mostly with "aged" strings. So testing that is a bit more of a challenge, time wise. And I'm too cheap to replace my strings every six months.
I'm not real picky about strings. I know my favorites are Thomastik Infelds (PowerBass and Jazz Flats) and my least favorite are Rotosounds. I'm fine with everything between those and most of my basses have something else on them.
The OP has a valid question, especially for someone who has not been doing this all that long, and some day he'll feel about it the way I do, but with his own personal twist, as everyone here has.

 

[Robroy]

Not to hijack the thread but...

Robroy - you know there can be a happy medium between changing your strings once every 18 years and once every six months. I can tell you, unequivocally, that strings can make a huge difference in your sound. If nothing else the many types of strings have very different sounds, then there's different materials and different brands. Anyway, don't let cheap get too much in the way of you developing, or finding, your sound.

The only band I'm still in is lead by a music store owner. Because we keep everything in the van, I don't even use any of my basses to gig any more. I'm always playing something different. This may change some day, but with the exception of the two flat wound setups, I don't bother trying to get my tone out of my strings. It's just too much of a hassle. It's a lot easier to turn a knob than constantly change strings trying to find just the "right" sound. I just don't have the time. Between building my garage, clearing 25 acres of fallen trees, grading my 1/4 mile long driveway, mowing my 6 acre lawn every week, washing the cars, blah, blah, blah, the last thing I want to do is get wrapped around getting just the "right" string sound on all my basses. I'm forced to treat them like tires. i.e. I replace them when they are about to pop - or after.

I'm not saying it wouldn't make a difference. My last set of Bridgestone Potenza RE 71R tires on my FR-S made it feel like a slot car, but they were almost bald at 9,000 miles. My new set of Hankooks should get 35,000 miles but it drives like a 57 Buick. I'll ramp up the tire pressure to get some of the fun factor back, but that's all I'll do. I've had 92,000 miles of drifting in that thing and I've sort of had my fill. i.e. if I was 20 and still living at home with tons of free time on my hands I'd probably be swapping out strings with every paycheck, but then, as I learned with the settings in my Boss GT6B, what sounds great in my practice room may suck with the band. Same with strings. Sometimes all that work is all for naught.

So, I got lazy in my old age. As long as they are not broken, they're fine. I use the electronics to fix it. A turn of the knob here and there and I'm good.

Now, if this were my day job, well, I'd feel COMPLETELY different about it.

 

[reggie hall]

I don't know much about the science or electronics around this stuff, but I've been through countless amps and combos - looking for a loud, punchy, and articulate sound that will cut through any mix and I've finally stumbled upon my holy grail. I have a Carvin BX700 head (which is one of the most versatile heads available, IMO), and at first was using it with a Bergantino NV610. It was awesome, but when I bought my new car I needed something smaller. And lighter is always nice too. I took a gamble and ordered myself 2 Carvin 1X15MBEs. At $195 each, these can't be beat. They give me all the volume and sound I ever wanted. Couldn't recommend them highly enough. And I should add that I originally wanted to go with a 1x15 - 2x10 setup cuz I wanted the higher end punch, but got these because they stacked perfectly. I get all the crispness out of them that I could ever want. No regrets. I love my rig.

115MBE Micro Bass Extension Cabinet

How I's the low end on these

 

[Korladis]

Yup.

I have to admit that sometimes the "will this make my rig louder" threads annoy me, but that is my problem, not the poster's. They are new and have the same questions I had when I was new. You get a feel for what matters and what doesn't. That being said, even then you can be blind to the affect of things that do matter, even after a couple of decades of playing, if you are not steeped in it. I've been playing since 1998 and I think I have some blind spots.

Although I've played a lot and have gotten pretty good at playing the bass, my "cheapskate" roots have caused me to not delve into a lot of subtleties. A simple example: I've replaced strings four times, though I own six basses. Two times were to get a sound or look. That is, black tapewounds on my five string fretless, and flatwounds on my acoustic electric. The other two were to replace broken strings - and I got whatever was on sale.

I'll bet that those last seven words make a lot of guys around here cringe. Yeah, when people get into "which strings" discussions, I just shake my head because I don't think, at the end of the day, there is that much difference compared to everything else thrown into the mix.

But I think my opinion is based on gross ignorance. If I spent a few weeks comparing lots of different strings I'd probably feel differently, but since I replace my strings only after breaking one, I'm playing mostly with "aged" strings. So testing that is a bit more of a challenge, time wise. And I'm too cheap to replace my strings every six months.

The OP has a valid question, especially for someone who has not been doing this all that long, and some day he'll feel about it the way I do, but with his own personal twist, as everyone here has.

Strings make a big difference to me. Even through all the amp overdrive and a non-transparent cab.

I've generally stuck to the same ones after finding out which ones I like relatively early in my bass playing. I discovered early on that I hate GHS Bass Boomers (due to the name being accurate... all boom when I tried them, with no definition), tried steel strings, but didn't like them so went back to the tried and true D'Addario nickel rounds.

If you use flats, there's less reason to change strings, for sure, since they don't really wear out like rounds.

Admittedly, when I was a teenager and had very limited money, for guitar, which I'd taken up a bit as well, I just bought the cheapest strings possible (Peaveys at the closest shop), which would break all the time. Bass strings I'd replace much less often, sometimes as little as once a year, as I'd buy a bit nicer ones. Also despite being a very heavy handed player at times, I've only once broken a bass string through playing.

I've had 15s in the past, as singles and 2x15 cabs, but I think a 410 is about as all purpose for volume and tone as I have ever needed. Granted my needs may be different, but I've played hundreds of gigs from small bars to big outdoor and have found my single Hartke 410XL has handled all of it with all the tone variation and volume I have ever needed gig to gig. Seems like for me the 15 can't quite get the high end to cut through the mix and keep the soundguy from hollerin " there just too much bottom end in your tone to mix right". But that's just me and mine. Good luck and I hope since it's blind online purchasing your doing it works out the way you want.

Eh, I don't like 410s much. I find that what cuts through isn't high end, which often gets masked by cymbals, but midrange, which many 15"s have in abundance. I use overdrive so nothing over 4k or 5k is really useful to me.

Oooh. if I could do it again, I might try a pair of svt 15E's and throw my old Hartke head on it. Those cabs sound REALLY good and a pair should get you through most anything.

It's a very nice cab. Much better in a band context than the specs would suggest.

Compact cabs and budget cabs and particularly budget compact 210 115 cabs are not a fair comparison to pro 410.

All things more or less equal, which it never is, there is general acceptance, except on TB, a 210 is roughly equivalent in output to a 115.

Tens for highs and fifteens for lows is a nonsense for full range cabs.

Have a read of the vertical believer titled thread. Very many satisfied customers of the vertically stacked 210 pair.

Exactly.

 

[Joe Nerve]

How I's the low end on these

I wish I could tell you that, but I can't as I honestly don't know how , and have never tested it's limits. I'm not one of those guys that goes for bone crushing deep end, so if I say it has plenty of bottom and someone goes for that, well...

I can say this though. I DO notice when my sound is lacking in bottom, thickness, or whatever you want to call it - and I never felt lacking. Never once felt that my setup couldn't give me what I wanted, and when I had pretty much the same setup in GK (only 2x10s and a 15 as opposed to 2x15s) it absolutely did NOT deliver, regarding low end. I got mids and highs and couldn't coax any convincing low end or thump out that setup whatsoever. I returned it after a week.

I think I could safely say if your expectations are realistic for 2x15s, you will not be disappointed. I play with some pretty loud bands, and it hasn't yet let me down. The drummer in one of those bands, who's been around a while and gets a lot of respect, hates when I'm playing out of any rig other than my own.

 

[Nev375]

The spec you are looking for is called sensitivity. The bigger the number, the louder the cab.

Speaker size has little to do with it.

The majority of 2x10s can handle more power than the majority of 115s though. Watts are relatively cheap.
So you might consider a pair of 210s stacked vertical and get the sound up by your ears and get the dispersion benefits too.

 

[reggie hall]

I wish I could tell you that, but I can't as I honestly don't know how , and have never tested it's limits. I'm not one of those guys that goes for bone crushing deep end, so if I say it has plenty of bottom and someone goes for that, well...

I can say this though. I DO notice when my sound is lacking in bottom, thickness, or whatever you want to call it - and I never felt lacking. Never once felt that my setup couldn't give me what I wanted, and when I had pretty much the same setup in GK (only 2x10s and a 15 as opposed to 2x15s) it absolutely did NOT deliver, regarding low end. I got mids and highs and couldn't coax any convincing low end or thump out that setup whatsoever. I returned it after a week.

I think I could safely say if your expectations are realistic for 2x15s, you will not be disappointed. I play with some pretty loud bands, and it hasn't yet let me down. The drummer in one of those bands, who's been around a while and gets a lot of respect, hates when I'm playing out of any rig other than my own.

I have a 610 cab already just need something a lil more portable, and u mentioned the carvin on sale so I'm curious on them now

 

[BogeyBass]

2x10 and 1x15 would not be louder and be a phasing mess.

if you notice the 2x10 is 96db and the 1x15 is 98db

every time you double the speaker drivers you gain 3db

so double the 210 to 410 = 99dB
double the 15 to 2x15 = 101dB

the matching set of drivers in a 4x10 package would be best option
not a mismatched phasing mess

otherwise as mentioned a stacked
2x15 or 2x12 would have high sensitivity and bring things up to ear level giving a louder perceived level. and benefit being vertical which gives better horizontal dispersion. meaning when you walk to either side you can hear it still. that's where band members are and audience.

the downfall of horizontal speakers like a typical 4x10 is vertical dispersion and most band members and audience are not laying on the floor or hanging from the ceilings. and If they are then get
their numbers lol

 

[BadExample]

most band members and audience are not laying on the floor or hanging from the ceilings

Hapens more often than you might think, late at night with an open bar.

 

[murphy]

The better quality speaker cab you can get
the longer you will keep it
Happier you will be with your sound
Less frustration you will encounter
212
410
215

 

[dbase]

I had the 2x10 + 1x15 but it wasn't exactly louder just had a more full bottom. The 15 was slow and muddy but the 10's made up for that. Eventually traded the 15 for another 2x10 which gave me more punch.