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Who here rocks a single 15?
- Thread starter Jason Hollar
- Start date
There's a lot of love for the Mesa SW 115, check comments in the club: Official Mesa Boogie Subway Series Club
I'm glad you kept that Walkabout setup - It's definitely one of the nicest combo setups I've ever seen...
Oh yes - I’m following the current Mesa threads with great interest!
I built a TL606 in the mid 80's and it is a nice sounding cabinet (have used the EV driver as well as the Celestion 3015). I also have an EV B115M which I played yesterday.
Both of these cabinets sound very nice but as others have said, they can only play so loud and go so deep.
Also, when they breakup, it's more like all at once as opposed to mild distortion followed by break up.
Not good for a rock band assuming clear and headroom.
Wonderful, but heavy, for low volume work.
I have not tried any of the newer stuff like GB, Mesa, etc. but I think that multiple drivers are necessary to move enough air.
Both of these cabinets sound very nice but as others have said, they can only play so loud and go so deep.
Also, when they breakup, it's more like all at once as opposed to mild distortion followed by break up.
Not good for a rock band assuming clear and headroom.
Wonderful, but heavy, for low volume work.
I have not tried any of the newer stuff like GB, Mesa, etc. but I think that multiple drivers are necessary to move enough air.
You’re kind of cheating with the Scout cabs - lol - single 15 plus a fancy built-in, down-firing, booty-shaking mechanism!
I rock a single 15 more than anything else these days:
At the risk of hijacking the thread let me just say that these two objectives tend to be mutually exclusive in the typical live gig setting. The reality is the bass is always in competition with the drums, guitars, keys and other instruments for frequency bands. If you have your bass putting out sound that is taking up all the frequency bands from the ultra low through the mids and into the high end, then there isn't much room for anybody else. Unless your name is Les Claypool, this isn't going to sit well with your bandmates.
The way to get every instrument to "cut through the mix" and be heard clearly and cleanly as individual voices compromises need to be made. Usually this means that the kick drum get the lowest frequencies (40-60 Hz) while the electric bass gets the space just above it (70-140 Hz). This means the bass doesn't get the "huge boom" you might want but the overall band sound is a higher priority.
There are exceptions, depending on the music genre. Some types of jazz or reggae and even country in some cases, might give the electric bass a lot more low end and tone down the low end of the drums.
But the overall rule is: you can't get something for nothing. If you try to make every instrument sound as huge as possible, all by itself, then when they're all put together in the mix, the entire sound will turn to garbage.
Check one out - you won't regret it!!!
Do you play the SW15 much with the mighty Sreamliner?
You probably have commented on this, and I've probably read it, but memory is not what it once was
Same for me! I love this little amp. I use it exclusively for playing live. And the built in effects are great.
It’s a restored 1963. Something very special about this particular one.
40 years of 15s, but not any more. 12s & 10s sound so much punchier (to me).
Do you play the SW15 much with the mighty Sreamliner?
You probably have commented on this, and I've probably read it, but memory is not what it once was
I heard that, lol... I owned my pair of SW115s before I bought my D800, and during that time, I only used the Streamliner 900 with one or both SW115s... Since getting the D800, I go back and forth between it and the Streamliner thru the SW115s - both are different flavors of awesomeness... The Streamliner gives an awesome old school tube sound thru one SW115, but can get a little boomy thru a pair of them... I usually default to the D800 if I'm using more than one cab...
The D800 kills it thru one or both SW115s but is a bit more articulate than the Streamliner, yet warmer than a Carbine - and using the Deep switch thru a single SW115 is pretty awesome...
Very cool - I'd LOVE to have a functional B15N - what a killer sound!!! Yours is gorgeous...
I know I'm a bit silly but I do own a Heritage B-15N and had the opportunity to buy an Ampeg SVT II non Pro. So I use it with the 15" cab. Useless to say only at low volume...
