What affects the sound more the head or the cab?

[chadds]

I think the color of your shirt matters most.

 

[JimmyM]

Hmmm...we change our shirts for pretty much every set. Maybe we should pick a color and stick to it.

 

[Olde Axeman]

I think the bass of choice is also a factor. I routinely use either a Fender Jazz or a Gibson SG bass, which are vastly different from each other, for small nightclub venues. I will typically bring an Acoustic B200H head and use either a G-K 2x10 or a Peavey 1x15 cab. I'm convinced (and the band agrees) that with optimal EQ'ing the Fender Jazz sounds much better through the G-K 2x10 and the SG sounds better through the 1x15. Reverse them and the tonal quality is greatly degraded for both rigs.

I agree that the whole axe/head/cab thing is complicated and sometimes it's just serendipity when you get a killer tone. I don't think it's the sort of thing you can put together from paper specs and be assured of a good result.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Amp and cab form a system. The first thing is to identify your needs and resources. Then you can ask other players to recommend good combinations that fit that checklist.

Things to consider:

What's your budget? Good heads vary in price from about $300 to $2000 and up, depending on whether you're buying new or used, and whether you want tube of solid-state.

What sort of tone do you like? There's a real yin/yang thing, where a bright, grindy cab tends to sound better (for most people's tastes) with a smoother head, and vice versa.

You need a good power/efficiency match. If you want to keep up with a loud drummer, a 200 watt head needs a large, efficient cab or cabs with lots of cone area. An 800 watt amp will work fine on the same gig with a compact cab that has lower efficiency, but higher power handling.

Then there's impedance matching. A pair of 4-ohm 4x10's will sound very loud and full, almost regardless of brand. But relatively few heads can drive a 2-ohm load, and these days most of them are expensive all-tube heads, or older SS "lead sleds".

Finally, there's transportation. Do you have your own wheels? If so, how big is your car/truck, how strong is your back and how helpful are your bandmates?. If you've got the means to get it to the gig, a beat-up used 2x15 or an 8x10 can be a cheap way to get really loud with great tone, and open up your amp choices. Even a 30 year old G-K 400RB will get pretty loud and punchy through a cab like that. At the other extreme, I have a specialty 1x12 that uses a high-powered driver to get almost as loud as a 4x10. It's an easy one-hand carry, and I could carry it in a Smart Car. But it cost about a grand, and needs at least 500 watts at 4 ohms to reach full volume.


Sent from my iPad using TalkBass

 

[TuneIn]

The Cab matters most.
"Garbage in = Garbage out", "you get what you pay for", "you can't polish a turd" - there's a reason people say theese things
get your musician friends you trust to go with you and listen when you try out cabs, and try a lot of different ones so you can make an informed decision

 

[sharkbait130]

I guess I have to go with the cab too. Any amp and bass through a crap cab isn't going to sound good. Also , you can get louder with a good cab and just by increasing the number of speakers you are using.(IE a good amp will be a lot louder using an 8 10 cab than it will be with a 2 10 cab.) A good head will improve the sound too but I don't think as much as a good cab. I have a Peavey Mark 6 head , an Ampeg SVT classic head , a Peavey 2 15 cab and an Ampeg 8 10 cab. Both heads sound better through the 8 10 cab. (one point for the cab.) Through the 2 15 cab , the SVT head sounds better. (One point for the head.) Both heads can be pushed harder through the 8 10 cab.(Two points for the cab.) Both heads can be heard farther away and are more clear sounding through the 8 10 cab. (three points for the cab.) Every cab I have ever owned sounds better with the SVT pushing it. (Two points for the head.) So by a margin of three to two , the cab wins. Your mileage of course may vary.

 

[JimmyM]

Well there you go. Math doesn't lie.

 

[gradim]

The cab, can't explain why, but it's what my hears tell-me

 

[Gaolee]

I only count to four. On occasion two or three. Rarely five. I don't speak math. It might be lying, but who can tell?

Oh, wait, the math is two and three. There you have it. It's true.

 

[dmac1961]

They both are important, but I believe the cab is more so. Take the ubiquitous Ampeg SVT, arguably the standard for bass amplification. You can pair the head with a variety of cabs and achieve a variety of results, but none matching up to the performance of an 810. Then pair the 810 with a variety of heads, the 810 will make whatever head you plug into it shine. In my experience anyways.

 

[Stealth Fighter]

Whichever one is the crappiest = rule of the weak link.

+1000

Just a newb learning, but… cab design. A crappy sounding cab can make any head sound bad.
fnord!

And a crappy sounding head can make any cab sound bad.

 

[JimmyM]

I find that to be less true with the crappy head than the crappy cab, but I'm not a big fan of playing out of crap anything, so I'm not going to argue too hard.

 

[carl h.]

Most of the suck comes from the crappy player, so if you're looking to invest in your sound, take as many lessons as you can with GOOD teachers.

and suck cabs sound like A$$ no matter how good a sound they are getting fed. Balance your rig with your abilities, but give the edge to your cab if something can get a bit more money thrown at it.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Which is more important, the music or the lyrics. They're both important. I used to think it was the music but if you want people to listen to your song, you gotta have good lyrics that say something that connects with people. But the music makes the song, giving it power and emotion. The speaker cabinet sings, the amp provides the music. They perform, hand in hand.

 

[carl h.]

If you aren't sold a mismatched rig on the first place, a cab seldom blows an amp because it was too loud.

 

[Korladis]

Which is more important, the music or the lyrics. They're both important. I used to think it was the music but if you want people to listen to your song, you gotta have good lyrics that say something that connects with people. But the music makes the song, giving it power and emotion. The speaker cabinet sings, the amp provides the music. They perform, hand in hand.

As a fan of Bongripper, I disagree about the lyrics.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Small niche markets will always be able to generate revenue, some to surprising degrees. Bongripper, surf, and other instrumental offerings aside, very few will sell in the millions. A lot of very talented people fail to make it because of a lack of material that connects in a profitable way. The quality of the music is something else. Fluff pop with the same music and different lyrics sells. A lot of great music doesn't.

 

[sissy kathy]

Just a newb learning, but… cab design. A crappy sounding cab can make any head sound bad.
fnord!

HA! Just noticed you avatar. Good one.

 

[Korladis]

Small niche markets will always be able to generate revenue, some to surprising degrees. Bongripper, surf, and other instrumental offerings aside, very few will sell in the millions. A lot of very talented people fail to make it because of a lack of material that connects in a profitable way. The quality of the music is something else. Fluff pop with the same music and different lyrics sells. A lot of great music doesn't.

Few of anything sells in the millions, at least compared to the number of people doing any given genre.

 

[Foz]

I find that to be less true with the crappy head than the crappy cab, but I'm not a big fan of playing out of crap anything, so I'm not going to argue too hard.

Crappy is as crappy does [do?].