Which cabs sound better for a Fender Precision?

[bobyoung53]

The size of the of the speakers in a cab doesn't actually tell you anything about how the cab sounds: an Acme 210 cab will sound literally nothing at all like a Markbass 210 cab.

Do you have any particular cabs in mind?

Years ago you could hear the difference between 10's, 12's and 15's when they were all made basically the same or at least i could but those days are long over, the design of the speaker and the cab has a lot more to do with the way they sound than does the diameter nowadays. When i was a kid I collected speakers and could tell the difference all the way from a 4" speaker up to a 15, course i was hooking them up to my old radios and had no cabinet half the time, but the bigger the speaker the lower it would go and the bassier it sounded, the resonance of the speaker determined how deep they could go for one thing and the bigger it was the lower the resonance usually was. I went to a jam a few months ago and used an amp with all kind of bottom, I thought it was a 15 until I asked the owner of the amp and it was a 210 combo, now maybe the acoustics in the room had something to do with it but I was amazed at how deep the thing sounded.

 

[bobyoung53]

See this opinion is music style/genre based. There is great music where the P sits above the low end. The bass drum or B3 can be lower. That slot is where punch can steer the band. It’s a great thing. In other forms of music the P can sound anemic because the bass is needed to provide not only lower frequencies but lower notes.

If a P bass sounds anemic there is a problem somewhere and I doubt it's with the bass itself.

 

[chadds]

If a P bass sounds anemic there is a problem somewhere and I doubt it's with the bass itself.

This turns into a near battle here if one says anything not fanboy about P basses. I’m sorry but a P isn’t always appropriate. If it was why did the master creator Leo make the J, the Music Man or G&Ls that span a wider and or different frequency spectrum? A decent upright goes lower than a P. Why did Ken Smith say he designed a bass to sound live like a Fender sounds recorded?

In all respect the Ps are perfect basses. I love them. Deep low end? No. I played a ‘57 maple neck, gold pickguard, two tone sunburst in 1969/70 through numerous tube heads and 2 2x15 cabs. We had to scrape by with Sunn 2000s and such.

The choice of a bass is determined for me by the type of music and what is it’s role in that group or recording session. If it’s a Chris Squire/Les Claypool thing then it requires a different approach than a Motown hit. An artist’s bass selection can be based on does he do his eq at the amp to compensate for the bass or does he use relatively transparent amplification and rely on the bass’s extensive eq.

Music is fun.

 

[dukeorock]

Well, tone is derived from frequency response, but yes, "best" is definitely subjective, although if you narrow the parameters enough you can get reasonably factual.

These threads always strike me as "what's my favorite color" type questions. You really just have to experience a bunch of cabs for yourself and decide what you like and what you don't.

That should be the main takeaway. We can get good advice here on a forum. Might help streamline our shopping a bit, but in the end there’s no real shortcut. No one can hear the ideal sound in your head better than you.

But it’s also kind of an argument for why the speaker size=tone myth is worth debunking. You need to try as many types of cabs as possible, with an open mind or you can wind up with a “I tried a Markbass 210 and liked it, so when an Acme 210 came up for sale I grabbed it because, you know, 10’s...”

I go by my ears. I have played countless 10’s always meh. You can feel the bottom w larger speakers.

Try more cabs! Have an open mind. You really never know. If your goal is to confirm an existing bias, you’ll accomplish that. But, if your goal is to honestly try everything with an open mind, you may be surprised at what you find

 

[bobyoung53]

This turns into a near battle here if one says anything not fanboy about P basses. I’m sorry but a P isn’t always appropriate. If it was why did the master creator Leo make the J, the Music Man or G&Ls that span a wider and or different frequency spectrum? A decent upright goes lower than a P. Why did Ken Smith say he designed a bass to sound live like a Fender sounds recorded?

In all respect the Ps are perfect basses. I love them. Deep low end? No. I played a ‘57 maple neck, gold pickguard, two tone sunburst in 1969/70 through numerous tube heads and 2 2x15 cabs. We had to scrape by with Sunn 2000s and such.

The choice of a bass is determined for me by the type of music and what is it’s role in that group or recording session. If it’s a Chris Squire/Les Claypool thing then it requires a different approach than a Motown hit. An artist’s bass selection can be based on does he do his eq at the amp to compensate for the bass or does he use relatively transparent amplification and rely on the bass’s extensive eq.

Music is fun.

I used to play my P bass with flatwounds through a Marshall Major head with 2 Sunn 2000S cabs with D-140's, now that combination shook every place I played, one bartender used to call us The Big Wind, i think I got plenty of deep low end out of it. I also have many basses, the only one'
's that go deeper are my two Gibsons, those two reach down to earthquake tones if I want it but is it practical? Not for me. I think P basses are just about perfect, do I always use them? No but with La Bella flats on them they go plenty deep enough for me and I can get a recording P tone live with them. I stand by my statement.

 

[chadds]

I used to play my P bass with flatwounds through a Marshall Major head with 2 Sunn 2000S cabs with D-140's, now that combination shook every place I played, one bartender used to call us The Big Wind, i think I got plenty of deep low end out of it. I also have many basses, the only one'
's that go deeper are my two Gibsons, those two reach down to earthquake tones if I want it but is it practical? Not for me. I think P basses are just about perfect, do I always use them? No but with La Bella flats on them they go plenty deep enough for me and I can get a recording P tone live with them. I stand by my statement.

I’m certainly not arguing. I’ve loved a Major through a flatback SVT (all they had then).
For my gigs when playing say in a blues band with everything up above the drummer, guitar, guitar, vocals, harp the fullness of big bass is essential.
My G&L L1000 has way more bottom than a P.
Your touch your gear works. My touch my gear. Love Fenders. Really love ‘51s.

Know what? I’m sure you sound great out there. I know my producers, fans and fellows never complain about too much low end.

 

[bobyoung53]

I’m certainly not arguing. I’ve loved a Major through a flatback SVT (all they had then).
For my gigs when playing say in a blues band with everything up above the drummer, guitar, guitar, vocals, harp the fullness of big bass is essential.
My G&L L1000 has way more bottom than a P.
Your touch your gear works. My touch my gear. Love Fenders. Really love ‘51s.

Know what? I’m sure you sound great out there. I know my producers, fans and fellows never complain about too much low end.

I have an EB-2 that can sound almost subliminal but of course it's ridiculous, I dial the bottom off that one, sold the Marshall head for 150.00 in 1976 I use two flat backs now, great sound. Now sure how we started talking about bottom though, a P bass has a lot of low mids also that give it presence which to me is just as important as bottom, but it is still very hard to get a bad sound out of a P bass.

 

[Omega Monkey]

BRB, going out to buy a cab with a 15" tweeter and 1" woofer because those exist because size makes no difference.

 

[GreyBeard]

If I were designing a bass guitar cabinet, the 1st guitar I would play through it would be a p-bass. Let's face it, if it doesn't sound good with a p-bass, it is back to the drawing board.