What's my load? (heh)

[Lefty Largo]

Hi,
New here. I have a first generation SWR Jr. Goliath 2X10. I usually use it, or a Bergantino 1X12, for upright bass. My head is Trace-Elliot ELF (in my experience, works great for upright). I'm doing a reunion gig with 80's rock bandmates. It's quite hilarious to find from era recordings used to relearn material that the guy on the tape is kicking your ass you try to re-learn stuff, and it's you. Such is the price of having an acoustic bass mistress for so many years. But I digress...

The Goliath is first generation, not a 2 or a 3. There is no ohm load designation on it. I've read the Goliath 2's can be 4 or 8ohm, but no idea what this cabinet is. Sorry to beat around the bush.....I want to run a '65 Precision through both of them with the ELF. The ELF is 2ohm minimum. The Bergantino is 8ohms. I tried them together and it sounded great. What is the ohm load if the first gen Goliath is 4 or 8 ohms with the 8ohm Bergantino?? I don't want to blow anything up or scare the kids. Thanks!

 

[agedhorse]

The Elf is 2 ohms rated??? I don’t think so.

 

[GrowlProwler]

Welcome to TB!

8 ohms + 8 ohms would be a 4 ohm load. 8 ohms + 4 ohms would be 2.67 ohms. Either way, if your amp boasts a 2 ohm minimum, you are good to go.

 

[Lefty Largo]

The Elf is 2 ohms minimum???

Yes

 

[TOGNA]

Yes

 

[Lefty Largo]

View attachment 7227940

 

[Lefty Largo]

I stand corrected. The ELF is 4ohm.

 

[TOGNA]

Can you see a product number on the SWR? Or how about a well-lit pic of the rear panel?

 

[DWBass]

Unless you found a rare one, most of the Goliath Jr's were 8ohm cabs.

 

[agedhorse]

And this is why designers put so much effort into protection circuits, and why lesser quality amps fail.

 

[monsterthompson]

And this is why designers put so much effort into protection circuits, and why lesser quality amps fail.

If only 2 and 4 didn’t look so similar.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Yes

No

 

[HolmeBass]

Welcome to TB!

8 ohms + 8 ohms would be a 4 ohm load. 8 ohms + 4 ohms would be 2.67 ohms. Either way, if your amp boasts a 2 ohm minimum, you are good to go.

Look at the photo @agedhorse posted - clearly shows Elf as 4 ohm minimum load.

 

[HolmeBass]

Plug a 1/4” speaker cable into the Goliath. On the open end of the cable, use a multi-meter to measure the DC resistance by placing one probe on the tip of the jack, and the other on the sleeve.

If the resistance is above 4 ohms - like 6 to 7 - it is 8 ohm nominal impedance and your Elf is safe.

If the resistance is below 4 ohms, it is a 4 ohm nominal impedance cabinet and you could run into issues with the Elf shutting down in protection mode, or outright just getting fried.

 

[newfuture]

Yep, either measure it with a DMM (as described above), or peek into the back of the cabinet through the bass port. You might get lucky and see what the rating is on the individual speakers and the wiring scheme. IIRC, My old Goliath II had 8 ohm individual drivers wired series parallel for an 8 ohm load.