Bass Amps... What configuration with my Rics?

[cassius987]

Can you make a trip to Springfield, MO's Guitar Center? Before I moved to Denver I went with my 4003FL and played through each cab in their floor inventory at least once... over the course of 4 hours... I finally settled on a Markbass 1x15+T. The 4x10s were all a bit too clean to my ears but also nice. Point of the story is, they were cool about it because I let them know my intentions up front, and it was pretty clear I was going to buy something at the end of the day.

I now play what I have actually wanted for years, a 15''+6.5'' setup. I have some recordings of it from the last show I played that I hope share soon. It is amazing.

I think most players should be able to get by on a 15'' or a pair of 10'' speakers until they find something they LOVE. Don't do too much gear swapping if you don't have to, it's a good way to lose money.

[cjj]

OK, on the issue of sound pressure vs. speaker watt rating, well, there are all sorts of facturs that come into play. One is the efficiency of the speaker. Brand A's 200 watt 4x10 might be a lot louder than Brand B's. This starts getting into really esoteric technical stuff that I don't completely understand, because it really doesn't make any difference in the real world, unless you are trying to get the optimum sound level per watt.

Now, as far as safety of running speakers that are lower than the output of your amp, well, it's perfectly safe as long as you pay attention. DO NOT try turning your amp up all the way or you WILL blow the speakers. If the speakers can handle the full output (or more), you just can't hurt 'em, so you can be as dumb as you like. In general, you'll start hearing distortion form the speakers (from physically hitting the limits of travel) before you hit the blow up level. If so, turn stuff down. If you really NEED to crank it all the way, make sure you've got speakers that can handle it.

Personally, I use a 1500 watt amp, a Carvin DCM1540L. It's actually a two channel 750W/per channel (but you can bridge it to be single at 1500W). I bi-amp and use one channel for high and the other for low. The low goes to a pair of Ampeg 1x15, and the high into a pair of Ampeg 2x10s. Now, a lot of times I just run a single 1x15 and a single 2x10. Yeah, can blow 'em up, in fact I can blow out the whole package with 2 of each too, but I just make sure I keep it down to a reasonable level. The extra output capability means that I can use the amp as a PA as well into a whole slew of different speakers if needed...

[66Atlas]

Forget about watts....Just buy an amp that goes to 11 and you'll aways be louder.

[cjj]

Actually, I usually run my Carvin at around 17. But it goes all the way to ∞

[cheyenne]

I've done the big rig, component rig, multiple amp/multiple cab thing to death. Right now I have a GK MB115 I'm really happy with. Its a strong 200 watts into a single 15. If I find myself needing more someday, I think I'll just get another MB 115 and run them together using a A/B/Y box.

You could get another Ampeg rocket combo and do the same thing with the stereo output on your 4003's.

[RobRick]

I use an Ampeg B100R as well, and that is my rig of choice for ANY gig. You cannot beat the tone.

Having said that, try the new Ampeg PF350 or PF500 heads and cabs, supposed to be pretty good. They get mixed reviews, though, whereas the B100R is almost universally acclaimed as a KILLER amp.

[larsongs]

I am tired of lugging heavy Gear that takes a Truck or Van to haul around & breaks my back loading, unloading, setting up, tearing down, loading up, unloading & setting up again once I get home!

I recently got a GK MB210. 350 watts @ 8ohms & 500 watts @ 4ohms. It has 2 x 10" Neodimeum Speakers & weighs 35 lbs.! It is small enough to throw in the back seat of an average Car. Streetprice $499.00! With the 2 x 10's it is rated 350 watts @ 8ohms. For some reason it's the only Bass Amp in the MB series that has an external Speaker Out. I was planning on adding the MB115 15" external Cabinet which would then rate it 500 watts @ 8ohms using the 2 x 10's & the 1 x 15" external Cabinet. After playing it for awhile I don't know that I need it as it is pretty powerful as is. It also also has an Output to the Board if I need more power for bigger situations.

I play a Hofner, Fender P Bass & Ernie Ball Musicman Sterling Bass thru it & it sounds great. I haven't tried a Ric thru it yet but hope to real soon when I find the right Fire Glo 4003!

You might check one out if you can find one,

Glenn

[Low End Lover]

Once again, thanks for all the input. I have heard a lot of different configurations and even played through a few of them and I really have come to conclusion the Genz Benz head is what I want to try. In the examples I have heard, it is very transparent, but can be tweaked to do a lot of different things. Also, it has a solid state FET and a tube channel so you can pick and choose there. I know amps are a very personal thing and we can all argue the virtues of what we use, but if you are curious about it here's a link to a good review. Only bummer is no Ric content, but it's Ed Friedland and he's a good guy and straight shooter IMO:

http://www.youtube.com/user/BassGuitarM ... Th69K9ezaU

In the meantime, any chance I get I will try out any amp I can, but with 2 jobs right now, I have next to no extra time and have been researching this for a number of months, so I am feeling good about giving it a shot.

LEL (Jason)

[antipodean]

Yet another idea - I lobbed in a Schroeder mini 12 two weeks ago as the extension cab for my GK MB200. It has one 12" plus a hf horn. 8 Ohms and good for 500 watts RMS. After my GK decided it needed a service, I used it with my ancient AC50 and V63 at a small jazz gig on the weekend and it sounded superb. I played a little guitar through it as well and it handled the high frequencies with aplomb. This would be a great unit to use with one of the plethora of excellent compact heads from the likes of GK and Markbass - it may look a little silly underneath a vintage SVT.... Might be perfect with a Genz-Benz...

Sadly they have been superseded by the mini 12+ but are still available as a special order for around $450....

[larsongs]

I am tired of lugging heavy Gear that takes a Truck or Van to haul around & breaks my back loading, unloading, setting up, tearing down, loading up, unloading & setting up again once I get home!

I recently got a GK MB210. 350 watts @ 8ohms & 500 watts @ 4ohms. It has 2 x 10" Neodimeum Speakers & weighs 35 lbs.! It is small enough to throw in the back seat of an average Car. Streetprice $499.00! With the 2 x 10's it is rated 350 watts @ 8ohms. For some reason it's the only Bass Amp in the MB series that has an external Speaker Out. I was planning on adding the MB115 15" external Cabinet which would then rate it 500 watts @ 8ohms using the 2 x 10's & the 1 x 15" external Cabinet. After playing it for awhile I don't know that I need it as it is pretty powerful as is. It also also has an Output to the Board if I need more power for bigger situations.

I play a Hofner, Fender P Bass & Ernie Ball Musicman Sterling Bass thru it & it sounds great. I haven't tried a Ric thru it yet but hope to real soon when I find the right Fire Glo 4003!

You might check one out if you can find one,

Glenn

I gotta add a couple things. I have a Fender Bassman Amp which is great except it is fairly big & weighs 100lbs. Tired of lugging it around.

I played just about every kind of Rig imaginable. Expensive Ampegs, Genz Benz, Mark Bass, Ashdown, etc.... Real expensive, mid, & inexpensive. After it was all done. Took a few home & didn't like them all that much for one reason or another. The GK I mention above finally won out. It met almost all my criteria. So far I am quite pleased.

Good luck,

Glenn

[Tron55]

bassman 300 pro does the job for me

[mhalstead]

CJ, or anyone else, and apologies for a slight thread derail. I do actually have a question regarding speaker power ratings and amp matching.

I’m looking at some gear changes myself and trying to make some old Hartke gear I have work with some potential new Hartke gear purchases.

I like the Hartke 5210 – It’s a 2x10 combo, 8 Ohm Cab, amp output is 500w at 4 Ohms, 350 Watts at 8 Ohms (2 x 10-inch, 16 Ohm, 250 watt Hydrive hybrid conebass transducers)

It can be used with an extension cab. I was thinking of my Hartke 1x15 which is rated at 200W, 8 Ohms.

Hope you can see my problem. How “safe” to use the 200w rated 15” speaker in parallel with the 500w rated 2x10, with an amp capable of 500W at 4 Ohm’s? Am I theoretically drawing approx 250w through each cabinet? If so, I’m not so concerned, i'd never be running them that hard.

I'm going to assume that both Hartke cabs have a nominal impedence of 8 ohms, e.g that the two 16 ohm speakers in cab 1 are wired in parrallel. If so, plugging them both in to the amp will give you a combined impedence of 4 ohms, and the amp will produce approximatly 500 Watts of output. This power will be distributed roughly evenly between the two cabs, so each cab will dissipate approximatly 250 Watts. Consequenently the 1X15 is slightly overpowered at maximum undistorted output, but no so much that I would worry about it.

H

[Fretjob]

How “safe” to use the 200w rated 15” speaker in parallel with the 500w rated 2x10, with an amp capable of 500W at 4 Ohm’s? Am I theoretically drawing approx 250w through each cabinet? If so, I’m not so concerned, i'd never be running them that hard.

Consequently the 1X15 is slightly overpowered at maximum undistorted output, but no so much that I would worry about it.

H

Thank you for the reply, my attention has now wandered to the MarkBass CMP 102p, same principle applies so thanks for the confirmation.

[petersland]

Why not try the TC Electronic Bass gear.
I use the RH450 head, 2 x 210's and a 212.
I have no more amp GAS