Guitards use 12s.
So we went to 15s and now 10s. If we used 12s, people might think we were guitards.
So we went to 15s and now 10s. If we used 12s, people might think we were guitards.
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Why are there few 12" loaded bass cabs?
- Thread starter Matthias
- Start date
Interesting. When this thread started I don't think cabs such as the various Aguilar 1-12 or the Bergantino 1-12's existed. Now the question seems silly.
This is an interesting statement that gets repeated often on TB. I would like to see someone prove it.
For listen to clips of Fearful cabs. They are based on 12" and 15" speakers. The cabinets were specifically designed to sound identical regardless of driver size.
1.) Tradition: Years and years of there being only 10 and 15 inch speakers have conditioned bass players to think those are the best options. I thought the idea of 12" speakers was crazy until I had to build a new rig and found that they are a great middle ground between 10s and 15s, and that a Neo 12" cab can be super light. To my mind a 12" speaker was for guitar players not bass players, but I broke myself of that.
2.) Lack of Information: Sadly, a lot of club/bar bassists are primarily guitarists that don't know much about actual bass gear. They take their antique worship for old instruments and inefficient amps and then apply it to bass playing. They don't know that a 5lbs head and two 35lbs cabs are as loud as a 200lbs Ampeg SVT tube head and fridge cab.
3.) MI stores are lazy: Even more so when it comes to bass. Your big box stores are going to carry what is the most recognizable and mom 'n pop stores have to manage their floor space carefully. GC and SA reinforce points 1 and 2 in the search for profits, and small shops will stick with what they know unless they are a boutique shop, in which case all they may have are 12" cabs.
EDIT: HA! I didn't realize how ancient this thread was. In 2000 12" cabs were super rare. What's funny is I still stand behind my points. In some ways bass amplification has completely changed, yet some people still hold on to their old ideas and apathy towards the bass player market.
2.) Lack of Information: Sadly, a lot of club/bar bassists are primarily guitarists that don't know much about actual bass gear. They take their antique worship for old instruments and inefficient amps and then apply it to bass playing. They don't know that a 5lbs head and two 35lbs cabs are as loud as a 200lbs Ampeg SVT tube head and fridge cab.
3.) MI stores are lazy: Even more so when it comes to bass. Your big box stores are going to carry what is the most recognizable and mom 'n pop stores have to manage their floor space carefully. GC and SA reinforce points 1 and 2 in the search for profits, and small shops will stick with what they know unless they are a boutique shop, in which case all they may have are 12" cabs.
EDIT: HA! I didn't realize how ancient this thread was. In 2000 12" cabs were super rare. What's funny is I still stand behind my points. In some ways bass amplification has completely changed, yet some people still hold on to their old ideas and apathy towards the bass player market.
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What _would_ speaker size tell you about tone?
Would you postulate that bigger == deeper?
IME - any range of tone I've heard from a "big" speaker I've also heard through headphones -- including too much bass.
If I can get the same tone from a 15mm diaphragm as I get from a 15" cone, that tells me size is no predictor of tone.
SPL, of course, is a completely different question.
And to answer the 15-year-old original question, my 4x12 GK Neo cab works just fine thank you...
Nothing, actually. I just find it interesting that so often TBers make these bold claims in absolute terms without offering any proof.
The only thing your comments prove to me is that you do a fairly good imitation of a parrot. Strangely, I get an entirely different experience when listening to music through headphones as when I hear the same music through a large P.A. System, but that's just my opinion, as your findings are your opinion. Neither of our opinions prove anything about the differences between speaker sizes. OK, I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers, so back on topic...
Take a Peavey Scorpion 10". then take a 10" from an Acme cab and tell me they sound anything alike.
Since "10's have a sound/tone", how could this happen ?
Clearly you have some nonstandard definition of 'tone' that conflates SPL with spectral distribution.
Which is OK, but it's a little misleading to say "tone" when you mean "full experience."
noun
1.
any sound considered with reference to its quality, pitch, strength,source, etc.:
shrill tones.
2.
quality or character of sound.
Does this answer any of your questions? Barefaced Bass - Why nominal diameter tells you nothing about tone
edit: posting again in this thread after six years. It's like meeting an old friend
edit: posting again in this thread after six years. It's like meeting an old friend
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How would that be "kidding" if it is purposed that speaker size has an inherent sound?
I was wondering why the first page they are talking about SWR like it is still around, and why has none of the usual members spoke up yet.
15 years later and we still can not agree about speaker size.
So lets poor a glass of Scotch and fire up a cigar and end this debate.
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15's sound like this......10's sound like that......is no longer true for newer designed cabs. I thought that belonged in the Musical Myths thread.
It's a new landscape. Heck, there are 5's placed in cutting edge designed cabs that go "deeper" and are "faster" than either. (Whatever deeper and faster are.)
It's a new landscape. Heck, there are 5's placed in cutting edge designed cabs that go "deeper" and are "faster" than either. (Whatever deeper and faster are.)
