Yes I think that's what he should use ! And everyone for that matter .In that case a cabinet by Clair Bros that has seriously stood the test of time, would be my absolute first choice for bass guitar out of a PA speaker.
Beware the mighty S4:
View attachment 889864
Yup that will go plenty low.
As for punch it's a good plan to either clench you teeth hard when striking notes or keep them safely apart.X
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I'm looking for an all around rig. Loud enough close in for a loud jam session. Louder than that, run it through the PA.
Golower, bass guitar speakers in a 4x10 are not subs, as they are usually set up to run full range, sometimes with the assistance of a tweeter for the top end. Tuning frequency varies depending on cab design and how the drivers respond in that particular cab. This is why cabs should be designed to suit the driver, not just dropping any driver in. This is also where many commercial cabs fall short.
Thanks for the discussion folks, I really appreciate the sounding board.
Golower, bass guitar speakers in a 4x10 are not subs, as they are usually set up to run full range, sometimes with the assistance of a tweeter for the top end. Tuning frequency varies depending on cab design and how the drivers respond in that particular cab. This is why cabs should be designed to suit the driver, not just dropping any driver in. This is also where many commercial cabs fall short.
Thanks for the discussion folks, I really appreciate the sounding board.
That S4 cab looks incredible, but a bit impractical for anyone who does not own a truck with a forklift. That said, it would be great to crank it up to see what it can do.
I have played gigs with a classic rock band just using a Powered PA cab as my amp. Sometimes with a Sansamp programmable bass DI and sometimes just plugged straight into the speaker. I have done this with Yamaha DXR10s and 12s and also a DBR12. Worked fine as long as you don't need to be real loud. On almost all those gigs the bass was not in the PA.
if it sounds good use it. I use a powered 15" pa speaker with a SansAmp VT deluxe for small gigs and it's great. I've used JBL and Community PA cabs in the past with a head and had no issues, all sounded good.
Sorry I have only read the first page and I'm really impressed about the negativity of using pa cabs for bass.
I did use them and never had a problem. It's like any other bass cab, if it's a bad speaker it will sound crap, of it's good it'll sound good. Same thing with bass cab.
Actually till now I only used pa speakers, active pa speakers for bass and bought my now rig (Tc electronic bh550 + PJB c4) cause I wanted a bass rig. And guess what, I have chosen my amp and cab because of their clean tone, most likely a good PA system.
And a 12" Mackey active can handle that low B without stress.
I did use them and never had a problem. It's like any other bass cab, if it's a bad speaker it will sound crap, of it's good it'll sound good. Same thing with bass cab.
Actually till now I only used pa speakers, active pa speakers for bass and bought my now rig (Tc electronic bh550 + PJB c4) cause I wanted a bass rig. And guess what, I have chosen my amp and cab because of their clean tone, most likely a good PA system.
And a 12" Mackey active can handle that low B without stress.
It can handle it by not distorting, but it's not going to do justice to reproducing a 30 hz note. What you'll be hearing is a clear 60 hz note. The active cabinet is probably wisely high-passed somewhere near its tuning point to protect the driver from damage and to prevent distortion.
I have to chime in because I just did this with a v1 Mackie thump I have that I use to amplify electronic drums. First, this speaker is MUCH maligned for being a crappy speaker. I spent some quality time with it, and I sent my VT bass pedal into an Art tube pre, then into the Thump (which has xlr in only, hence the art).
It sounded awful at first, as it didn't handle the true bass well at all. Using the built-in eq, I turned the bass down to about a quarter, and used the semi-parametric mid control to bump up close to 100hz. I then rolled off some highs. My current rig is a aguilar th350 and two ampeg svt210s, and I would say it sounds a little "sweeter" or less harsh and is a little louder (the thump while rated much higher is actually only 200w rms). The thump is super punchy set like this, and truly doesn't sound like it's lacking bass at all (even though I turned the bass almost off). I imagine it could easily be used to monitor bass at a gig, and it even is made to sit on it's side like a monitor. Now, if you used a newer, better pa speaker, I would think it could do a pretty dang good job. You're not going to get a lot below a 100hz (made to be used with a sub), but I'm not sure it's necessary for most bass players to get that, especially if you have pa support. The Thump is 350.00, and I'm not sure a bass amp at that cost could do better, to be honest (and the new thump has more power than mine, too). And if you spent 500.00, it would be even better. At any rate, I don't think it's a dumb way to go at all, but I would get something with good eq, and there are a lot of reasonably priced powered pa speaks that are better than the thumps now, so I'd check those out too.
I do have one slightly negative thought though, which is that I might be a little biased toward the PA speaker because I have other uses for a PA cab that don't involve bass, which increases the value for me. I don't know if you have that, so maybe a devoted bass rig would make more sense?
It sounded awful at first, as it didn't handle the true bass well at all. Using the built-in eq, I turned the bass down to about a quarter, and used the semi-parametric mid control to bump up close to 100hz. I then rolled off some highs. My current rig is a aguilar th350 and two ampeg svt210s, and I would say it sounds a little "sweeter" or less harsh and is a little louder (the thump while rated much higher is actually only 200w rms). The thump is super punchy set like this, and truly doesn't sound like it's lacking bass at all (even though I turned the bass almost off). I imagine it could easily be used to monitor bass at a gig, and it even is made to sit on it's side like a monitor. Now, if you used a newer, better pa speaker, I would think it could do a pretty dang good job. You're not going to get a lot below a 100hz (made to be used with a sub), but I'm not sure it's necessary for most bass players to get that, especially if you have pa support. The Thump is 350.00, and I'm not sure a bass amp at that cost could do better, to be honest (and the new thump has more power than mine, too). And if you spent 500.00, it would be even better. At any rate, I don't think it's a dumb way to go at all, but I would get something with good eq, and there are a lot of reasonably priced powered pa speaks that are better than the thumps now, so I'd check those out too.
I do have one slightly negative thought though, which is that I might be a little biased toward the PA speaker because I have other uses for a PA cab that don't involve bass, which increases the value for me. I don't know if you have that, so maybe a devoted bass rig would make more sense?
Did you have a look at frequency charts for bass cabs? Few go below 40hz and at -10db. Sorry but a pa cab can go that low and can handle it with the same authority.
Also, did you reproduce a low B through out a Frequency spectrum analyzer? I did, and guess what, the octave (second harmonic) which is 60hz is more pronounced then the fundamental which is 30hz. What you really hear in a bass cab when you hit that low b is 60hz.
What I also hear is nearly all bass cabs are coloured and voiced for bass. A pa speaker tends to be flat. Try to hear a bass through studio monitors and than you will change your thoughts about how a bass sounds. That doesn't mean a pa speaker is not good for bass, I can even say it's better if you look for a clean sound, but most of bass player don't. And this is where distortion comes in, like sansamo, tube drives pedals...etc.
Ric5
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I do, and I have used those for bass. They worked just fine. I've also done the opposite, and used bass cabs for PA. My old "Bergantino PA" got a lot of use, and it's now the practice room PA for one of my bands. I'm using powered enclosures for PA (QSC) and I am running a gig tonight with nothing but powered enclosures for both PA and monitors. The monitors are all powered bass cabs (Phil Jones, Bergantino and Barefaced).
Yes.. I remember the photo with the setup on the trailer and you all using the Berg cabs for the PA.. that was pretty slick!
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different drum, same tune. Very few bass cabs can produce 30hz in significant enough amount to be heard with the rest. More often those rigs get high passed to get rid of the evil murky rumble.
Do us all a favour and play some sinewaves. 60hz sounds like a low B. 30hz sounds like a low B after a night on the whiskey, a mere whisper. If you push it the distortion comes in as overtones.
It could work but it won't sound well. Once I was too lazy to bring my amp up three flights of stairs and I just plugged into the PA and it worked, but not the best tone. Just get a bass amp unless you don't care about efficiency or tone. This brings me back to a thread a long time ago that I wrote; I sold a 115 combo bass amp to some kid and then he told me he was going to use it for vocals...
