Worst Bass Cab You Have Played Through?

[Johnny Fingers]

Sunn 4/12 that I used once in a pinch. All four speakers got pecked out. Had a chalk on a blackboard sound.

 

[MARVIN MECKLER]

Markbass Classic 152 2x15.

Absolutely the most sterile inefficient lifeless hard-to-hear cab I've ever played through.

We did a couple gigs in St. Louis and brought our amps, but not our cabs.

As a side note, if I could only have one cab, it'd be a 2x15. My favorite configuration since the early 80's.

So I thought, "No problem!!!" and since 2x15 cabs had been passé for decades and not often seen in the wild anymore after decades of the 4x10 + 1x15 fad, I was eagerly looking forward to playing the 2x15.

When we got there, I thought "Great!" since the Markbass was hidden behind a backdrop and its cosmetics were, well, uh, let's just say, um uh, horrid.

Then, I plugged into it.

Oh man. Indistinct, farty, boomy, no mids, just devoid of any flavor or oomph of any kind. Very hard to hear any articulation, and very hard to play progressive metal through as I was "fighting" the cab all night. If you've been in a similar situation, you know the feeling.

The next night's gig I plugged into a beat old 80s Hartke 4x10 (not even an XL but a Transporter) with a 1x15 homemade plywood and MDF spray-painted cab under it. It absolutely BLEW AWAY the Markbass and actually sounded so good I almost bought an old-school Hartke aluminum 4x10 afterward.

From then on, we specified "NO MARKBASS" at all gigs bwaaaaahaahaaahahaaahaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Ampeg SVT-410HLF, very early 2000s SLM. Worst sounding bass cab I've ever played. Boomy/muddy in the lows, extremely weak mids.

I also had lots of issues with a late 90s (also SLM) V4BH. The most serious problem was an oscillation that caused a high pitched ringing through the speakers with some cabs. I remember my tech said the amp looked like it had been built by drunks...

I know lots of people complained when Ampeg moved production overseas (and rightly so, they did have some issues for a while) but in my experience the SLM era was THE worst in Ampeg's history.

The Ampeg 810 "fridge" is also one of my least favorite cabs, but that's just a matter of personal taste. It's nowhere near as bad as that SLM era 410HLF.

 

[Krakmann]

Salud!

Maybe a Peavy TNT 15 and other 15 combo I cannot remember the model of. In general, the worst cabs I've played were 15", although I've played some fantastic 15" amps, too.

 

[SpiderBass1965]

Mesa PH410 and Mesa Road Ready PH610 didn't work for me.
The PH1000 and PH412 were both great and kept them.

 

[MARVIN MECKLER]

Mesa PH410 and Mesa Road Ready PH610 didn't work for me.
The PH1000 and PH412 were both great and kept them.

The PH810 from the old Mesa/BOOGIE were amazing cabs as well.

 

[SpiderBass1965]

The PH810 from the old Mesa/BOOGIE were amazing cabs as well.

I've tried the old and they were great but very heavy. I have never tried the PH810. I ended up with a couple of Ampeg 810's. An 810-E / 810-AV. They are both great too.

 

[EvilJ]

Any Peavey from the late 80's into the 90's.

 

[Chickenwheels]

Fun read.

 

[dune]

Trace Elliot BLX-80. They should have called it the mud box. It's a combo amp rather than just a speaker, but OMG it was awful. If it has to be only a speaker, then it would be the Peavey 1810.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Hartke VX215. Can’t turn off the tweeter, and can’t find anything inspiring from those Chinese 15’s. A big ole’ box of rubbish.

 

[MARVIN MECKLER]

Hartke VX215. Can’t turn off the tweeter, and can’t find anything inspiring from those Chinese 15’s. A big ole’ box of rubbish.

You can ALWAYS turn off the tweeter.

And you should. Always.

 

[mattie13]

rumble 40 combo. sounded like dogpoopie

 

[MARVIN MECKLER]

A Washburn bass. It was terrible

Washburn made cabs?

 

[FullumMusic]

The Year: Sometime in the 1990s
The Place: Your guitarist-friend's parent's house
The Promise: "You don't have to bring an amp. We have a spare amp you can play through!"
The Amp:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Bruiser Stone]

You can ALWAYS turn off the tweeter.

And you should. Always.

It’s got to be worth the effort. Doesn’t apply to this sad thing.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Phil Jones Micro 7 : no bass, it’s more of a guitar amp than a bass amp.

And almost everything from Hartke with aluminum woofers : although I turn down the mids with the EQ, my fragile ears start bleeding rather quickly.

 

[2saddleslab]

Mid-1970s Fender 4-12 Pyramid baffle (or whatever they said it was) cab.

Not to mention a real PITA to transport.

 

[ezstep]

Worst? Not the manufacturer's fault, but a Hartke 1x15 under a Harke 4x10. It was the provided backline at an outdoor festival. Turned out that the 15 didn't work at all and was just for show. And, to make it worse, only three of the four 10's actually worked. Some backline!

Worst of any that did work properly - Ampeg fridge. Also provided backline, three different occasions. Couldn't get the low end in and couldn't get the honkiness out. I just turned down the volume and made it work. But I will say that I cannot guarantee that the cabs were working properly.

 

[rtslinger]

I played a show I was told I did not need my rig because everyone was going to be able to use the first bands bass amp
I said okay cool. Got to the hall and the bass player was running a CARVIN R600 and a 4*10 cabinet which I couldn't make the name till I got near the stage Seismic never heard of it, was hoping for the best. It was the worst breaking up and farting at every note not to mention the cabinet buzzed. I had to eq the head with no bass or low mids to even play through it.