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Conference napalm::guitar

Title:GUITARnotes - Where Every Note has Emotion
Notice:Discussion of the finer stringed instruments
Moderator:KDX200::COOPER
Created:Thu Aug 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3280
Total number of notes:61432

858.0. "Advice From Bassists on Small Thiele Cabs ????" by AQUA::ROST (Now Sally is a happy girl) Fri Sep 23 1988 10:35

    
    Hi, I'm looking for some input from bassists out there who are using
    small Thiele aligned cabs with 15" speakers. 
    
    Last weekend I tried out a Duncan bass amp that came with a rather
    large single 15" cabinet that sounded *great*, not only with the
    Duncan head, but also my old Fender Bassman head.
    
    However, the cab was kind of pricey and a tad larger than I liked,
    so I trotted off to NEST in Stoneham, MA to look at a Sonic Thiele
    cab loaded with a 400W EVM Pro-Line, which fit my budget better
    and was smaller to boot.
    
    Anyway, on hearing it, it sounded like the Sonic/EV combination
    was *not* as good as the Duncan with its generic speaker, although
    I have heard raves about the Sonic/EV from numerous folks...
    
    So...question #1:
    
    Those of you using such setups, how much bass boost do you have
    to apply to get your sound?  With the Duncan, I had all the EQ flat
    and got a very *big* bottom, plenty of punch and no mud.  
    
    #2:
    
    Does the cab sound good at low volumes or do you have to really
    crank it to get it to sound good?  The guy at NEST complained that
    my problem was using a Bassman as a head, he said "It doesn't have
    enough power to drive that cabinet". ?????  I wasn't trying to fill
    the Centrum, I just wanted to hear the tone of the cab.
    
    #3:
    
    Does a single cab suffice for playing rock and roll or do you find
    yourself needing two or more???
    
    Any other comments appreciated.
    
    Thanks in advance!!!
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858.1nothing useful, just a commentRICKS::CALCAGNIFri Sep 23 1988 11:185
    Maybe the guy at NEST was right.  It's not the cabinet your having
    trouble pushing with the Bassman, its the 400w speaker.  What kind
    of speaker did the Duncan have?
    
    /rick
858.2The No-Name Name GameAQUA::ROSTNow Sally is a happy girlFri Sep 23 1988 11:3621
    
    In the words of the Duncan factory: "It is built to our own custom
    design parmameters", i.e. probably an Eminence.  They do offer EV,
    JBL as higher price options.
    
    Bottom line: Duncan cab is $660 list with generic speaker, dealer
    will go $400 for the floor demo.  NEST is $309.78 including tax
    for the Sonic/EV.  
    
    I also am planning to soon buy a 200 to 400 watt head, such as the
    Duncan, maybe a GK or AMP, the Bassman is really my "backup" amp.
    
    So I guess I'm asking if I put plenty of power into the driver will
    the sound get better???  I'm not sure I understand the rationale
    for this although the guy at NEST looked at me like I was from
    Mars when I asked him about it.  I.e. when running at the same (low)
    volume, the max power of the amp shouldn't be a factor....am I missing
    something???
    
    
858.3An aside - dealing with NESTNRPUR::DEATONNow in NROFri Sep 23 1988 12:1711
RE < Note 858.2 by AQUA::ROST "Now Sally is a happy girl" >

	I find when I go to NEST for ANYTHING, I have to pretty much know what I
want before I go, so as to curtail that feeling the store mgr always gives me - 
'you don't know beans of what you're talking about'.  It's true that there are 
few places that can give as good a deal on equipment, and they perform MOST of 
the driver repairs in eastern MA., but they can be quite irritating to deal 
with.

	Dan

858.4wake up the neighbors a mile awaySCOMAN::BOUCHARDFri Sep 23 1988 12:2221
           I run my basses through a 118sonic/400wattEV and a sonic
    210 cabinet, i drive the low end through a Gk400rb into the 18,
    and patch the direct out of the 400rb into a traynor ts50b and into
    the 210 cab to handle the high end.  the sound is incredible, low
    end that loosens fillings, and high end (especially when slapping
    or popping) that makes blink and twitch.  i started out by just
    runnin through the 18 but found that i was lacking some punch.
    so thats when i got the 10's.  i am very satisfied with my sound
    and quite frankly have not heard anything that i prefer more.
    i picked up the cabs at The Music Factory in manchester n.h.,
    the 118 was $385 and the 210 was $175.  from my experiences i've
    found that you just cant get "that" sound by runnin into 115 or
    118, you have to get speakers that can efficiently handle the 
    frequencys that you wish to reproduce.  before i had this set up
    i was runnin through 2 ampeg v4 cabs, 412's in each. i was very
    happy with my sound , but then i got a five string bass , and the
    12's couldnt handle a low A.  a GK through a sonic EV combo is the
    way to go in my book.
    
    
                                                  dan . . .
858.5EAW Does The TrickAQUA::ROSTCanned ham, that&#039;s for meFri Oct 21 1988 16:3414
    
    Just for the record, I picked up an EAW VB-125 cab used at Wurly's
    last night.  While it obviously had been on the road, it was real
    cheap plus it was loaded with an EVM which is a pretty gutsy driver.
    
    It sounded *much* better than the Sonic cab which had a nice new
    EVM in it.  I guess the extra volume of the cab (the EAW is about
    4 cu. ft, which is not huge but not small) makes a big difference.
    It is very punchy even with my little Bassman pushing it.  Can't
    wait to put some *real* power into it.  8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    Well, I'm happy, at least for today.  Thumpa thumpa.
    
    
858.6Update on EAW vs. SonicAQUA::ROSTMarshall rules but Fender controlsMon Dec 19 1988 10:0826
    
    A little bit more, in case anyone is contemplating a Thiele box...
    
    I played a gig last week and an old friend of mine opened up for
    my band using a GK 400RB and one of those 400w EV/Sonic cabs from
    NEST in Stoneham.  It did sound nice, particularly since he was
    using it for upright bass which can get boomy when amplified.
    
    Anyway, he was quite suprised with how much fatter a tone I got
    than he did using my EAW cabinet.  Having a chance to hear the two
    cabs in the same room convinced me I did the right thing (the fact
    that I saved $100 by buying used just iced the cake).  
    
    Bottom line...the Sonic/EV 15" rig is OK but if you need a real
    strong bottom octave, a larger cabinet is the way to go.  There's
    just no substitute for a large box...
    
    BTW: Another friend of mine designs speakers and I asked him about
    why my EAW cab is stuffed to the gills with fibreglass, while most
    cabs only have a small amount of it tacked to the sides.  He explained
    that the fibreglass does two things; first, it helps damp standing
    waves, thus reducing the chance of rattling the box, and secondly,
    if the entire cab is filled, it affects the acoustic properties
    of the enclosure, making it behave as if the cabinet were larger
    than it is!!!  Interestingly, most Thiele cabs I see have little
    or no fibreglass installed.
858.7Honey, I Shrunk The Bass CabAQUA::ROSTNeil Young and Jaco in Zydeco HellMon Oct 22 1990 10:5524
    Because I'm obsessive about keeping my gear small (come see me play
    some Sunday night in Cambridge and you'll see why) I just fired up a
    new cabinet...
    
    It's an EAW, not *that* EAW, this is *Eaton* Acoustic Works  8^)  8^)
    
    Dan built me a cab to the EV TL-806 plans and I finally went out and
    loaded it with a *real* speaker, an EVM-12L, a 200W 12".  I installed
    the tuning plug which tunes the cab flat to 130 hz, then it has a slow
    rolloff to about 60 Hz.  I just have to boost the low end a bit to
    flatten it out and it goes almost as low as a 15", in a box roughly 14"
    cubed.
    
    Loud, punchy, tight...all of that.  The only drawback is you can't get
    ear-shattering volumes, like with my 15" cab, but that is due to the
    fact that a 12" just doesn't move as much air (it's only about 1/3 the
    total cabinet volume, as well).  I have to use a volume setting about a
    notch higher then I would with the 15 to compensate.
    
    I would recommend to *anyone* who could use a small bass rig to check
    out this combination.  Your back will thank you 8^) 8^)  8^)
    
    
    							Brian
858.8Gotta Love Them Thiele CabsFSTTOO::GALLOBlues Before and AfterMon Oct 22 1990 11:0811
    
    Hmmm, 1x12....
    
    Nah, too small for me! :-)
    
    Seriously, Sorry! played outdoors yesterday and my 1-15 Eaton cab
    provided plenty of volume, something I'd never expect at an outdoor
    gig. Needless to say, I'm *very* pleased!
    
    -T
    
858.9The case I carry my cords around in is biggerMILKWY::JACQUESVote Yes on 3Mon Oct 22 1990 12:315
    I checked out a Mesa Boogie 1x15 cab in deisel finish. I can't see
    why you'd need anything smaller than that. The entire cab is only
    about 18" x 18" by 22". 
    
    Mark
858.10thanks, guys, for the timely plug...STLACT::EATONTue Oct 23 1990 11:286
    	Just in case anyone's looking...  I have two of these cabs (the 12"
    version) that I'm selling off right now.  See the for sale topic
    (2.?)...
    
    	Dan