Why not a PA Cab?

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

So my recent dilemma has sparked me to ask this very question of my fellow bassists. My situation stemmed from wanting a cheap, used cabinet to put in our storage facility/rehearsal room that I wouldn't care about getting stolen if such a thing were to happen. That was when I spied two 2x15 cabinets for sale on Craigslist, but after a few weeks of trying to contact these people they have not gotten back to me, not even to tell me if the item was available or not....this event led me to 2x15 cab fever.

Since it's not going anywhere, it's sort of my excuse to get a giant cab for practice. The upside is I NEVER have to carry it (unless I wanted to for a gig) so aside from the initial haul to the storage facility, I never have to worry about backaches from this thing. But this brings me to my final question...If a decent PA cabinet is essentially the same as a bass cab, why don't we use them? (like say, this one here: Invalid Link Removed)

Since I work for Best Buy I get a discount on musical instrument stuff, so I was just wondering why more people didn't use PA cabinets for speaker cabs. I know most of these PA ones are sealed instead of ported, but are there any other bassists out there who use these as regular gigging/practice cabs?

 

[DeepBass9]

Cats have been using some of the Carvin powered pa cabs for bass and loving them. Guess it'll depend on the cab, and what you're willing to/expecting to get for a your sound. Freq. response and power handling will factor in...

 

[Stanley Design]

Depends on the cab, but a 215 PA cab is going to be HELL to move. I rented a pair of Yamaha's once for a month as a "tester" to see if I wanted to buy them, I took them back because they were not going to be moved I could tell right away. I almost bought them just because I didn't want to lug them back to the store.

 

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

So generally its the weight and unfriendly portability features that steer most players away from them...not necessarily tone huh?

Sounds like it'll be fine for my situation...but my band guys are gonna hate me when I wanna use it with my tube head at a gig lol

 

[Stumbo]

Here's a link you may want to check out: Using a full range cab (Carvin LS1503)

 

[M0ses]

They have different tuning frequencies. Which turns your sound into mud. No definition.

Like a 30" B string Just kidding don't pay attention to that last bit. Please don't yell at me short scale fans....it was a joke.

 

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

Here's a link you may want to check out: Using a full range cab (Carvin LS1503)

Thanks for the link dude =)

As far as tonal issues...I think I forgot to mention that I was going to change out the speakers with some eminence speakers in the future.

The rig that I DO have is a Sansamp RBI -> Behringer Europower 1500 -> Avatar 2x10s right now. So I saw a few comments on the link Stumbo posted about people using it with "bass heads" and having issues due to not having speakon outs on the bass heads, which wont be an issue for me.

 

[groooooove]

this is why i wouldent use the one in the link you provided-

Frequency Response: 46Hz - 18kHz

 

[Stumbo]

Thanks for the link dude =)

As far as tonal issues...I think I forgot to mention that I was going to change out the speakers with some eminence speakers in the future.

Before replacing the speakers, maybe you could measure the internal volume of the cab, get one of TB's cab/speaker gurus to recommend the appropriate speaker and port size. Then make sure the insulation is good and install a new port.

IMO, for all that effort, I'd just look for a decent bass cab.

 

[Stumbo]

Carvin 4x10, $150 [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[JimmyM]

this is why i wouldent use the one in the link you provided-

Frequency Response: 46Hz - 18kHz

you'd be surprised how many beloved bass cabs don't go any lower than that. and you'd be surprised at how many of them are considerably higher on the lows. and you'd also be surprised how many soundmen roll off the lows from 60 hz and below because they're making mud against the bass drum.

 

[IntrepidCellist]

you'd be surprised how many beloved bass cabs don't go any lower than that. and you'd be surprised at how many of them are considerably higher on the lows. and you'd also be surprised how many soundmen roll off the lows from 60 hz and below because they're making mud against the bass drum.

Yeah, I usually roll off the ultra-lows on my rig anyways, gives me more clout in the lower midrange and reduces frequency loading that brings on the dreaded live-sound-mud.

 

[MikeGee]

I was given an old JBL 15 inch PA cab a while ago. It's about 35lbs. My father needed a cab as he had nothing and no funds sooo..... I took his head and plugged into the pa cab. It was loud and bassy. With a bit more projection then the 15inch cabs I am used to under $450. I think it's cool. I mean if I take my pedal and plug right into the snake that leads to the pa system and those speakers are projecting my sound. Why not?

 

[Never_grew_up]

Why not this:
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Or this:
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[MNAirHead]

Iv'e run PA cabs many times..

Periodically they''ll have to be retuned

Really depends on the cabinet.

 

[JHorstmann]

PA Cab isn't quite the same. Obviously you'd have to read the specs on each. Just generally PA cabs go a little higher, and bass cabs go a little lower. For a practice space it shouldn't be a problem at all, but your ultimate tone will generally come out of a bass cab- gotta read the specs though because there are some PA's and PA users that would beg to prove me wrong, and they will! Just play for you what is sounding best!

 

[julio.gamiz]

The bottom cap in this pic
Invalid Link Removed is an Electro-Voice 18" sub. Works perfect, really well defined lows. Don't worry about the 46 Hz thing, same thing with this cab and no troubles whatsoever on my low B.

 

[JimmyM]

PA Cab isn't quite the same. Obviously you'd have to read the specs on each. Just generally PA cabs go a little higher, and bass cabs go a little lower. For a practice space it shouldn't be a problem at all, but your ultimate tone will generally come out of a bass cab- gotta read the specs though because there are some PA's and PA users that would beg to prove me wrong, and they will! Just play for you what is sounding best!

this is true. while i wouldn't balk at 45 hz, i would balk at 100 hz, which a lot of midline pa cabs do since they're designed to work with subs. but if you add a sub and cross it over right, they're good to go.

 

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

Carvin 4x10, $150 [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

LOL! I actually emailed that guy, but I looked at some reviews for those cabs and they said they were atrocious. That's just word of mouth though...the pics didn't look so good either though, I'm not sure how much "use" it really went through.

Why not this:
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Or this:
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Well on both of these replies, I was kind of leaning more towards a 2x15's cab. I've always dug major low-end and low-mids for a bass rig, and since I don't have to truck this one around...I figure it's a good reason to take one off somebody's hands who doesn't want to carry theirs around. Not to mention changing out the speakers for a 2x15's will be cheaper than a 4x10's.

 

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

I mean if I take my pedal and plug right into the snake that leads to the pa system and those speakers are projecting my sound. Why not?

EXACTLY lol...

Without trying to be rude, I did want to ask where everyone thought their sound was going to end up coming out of at a larger show....which is probably PA cabs. I know some of you guys have monster rigs that can carry just fine, but at most big shows (or places with finicky Sound guys), PA support is sometimes required. So I figured if I was going through that anyways, I might as well use that for practice or possibly for a gig with a tube head if I felt the need to.

I thank you guys for the input, as far as adding a port on for a sealed cab...would that be to prevent damage to different woofers types or would it just be for tonal preference (ported = more low end / sealed = tighter low end)? A lot of the 2x15's and older 8x10s i see are all sealed...including the classic ampeg 8x10 stack. So would this just boil down to preference?