Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

yeah Hiwatt made 4x15's i think....Bob i was listening to the original instrumental studio cut of "you keep me hangin' on" by the Supremes earlier....

Jamerson can rest in peace knowing that no other bassist will ever be able to play what he played on that song. Well at least no one will be able to play it quite so well!!

I wish Bob, I sold my Marshalls and my Orange 4x15 a long time ago. Beasts to move but sounded great.

I saw a used Marrshal 4x15 rercently with a $999 price tag. Now if I could just find me eone of those old Acoustic Bass Reflex cabs I'd be happy ....

As for cone area, you're a little light on the comaprisions

4x15 - 15" - 856 sq/cm each - 3424 sq/cm total
4x12 - 12" - 520 sq/cm each - 2080 sq/cm total
4x10 - 10" - 366 sq/cm each - 1464 sq/cm total
8x10 - 10' - 366 sq/cm each - 2928 sq/cm total

These surface areas were lifted from the Eminance site.

Sunn made a 4x15 that was awesome sounding ...

Sunn also made a 6x15 as well, not sure if it was a custom job, but I saw Yes and Chris Squire had a pair of these monsters !!!!

Bob, I'm sure you're right about the tone controls on Ampegs; in fact I think most amps you have to live with a while to get the best out of them. After saying that, I used the SVT preamp (SVP?) for 2 or 3 years solid, but that was obviously a somewhat different beast than an all tube SVT. One of the things I really don't like about tube amps though (although there are other things I do like)is that, in my experience at least, the tone changes as the evening wears on. That used to drive me mad. I know it's supposed to get better, but it was the fact that it changed at all that I didn't like. I think in essence I'm just a solid state kind of guy; I'll be happy to be proved wrong though. Ironically my favourite recorded sounds are using a Marshall JMP1 preamp, which I love.

Cab-wise I like 4x10s but tend to find that a decent single 15 has most of the benefits and few of the drawbacks, especially where my back is concerned! I loved my old Trace Mark 1 4x10, but it just got too much of a pain to cart around. As I said, I don't play loud so these days find a single 15 sufficient for most of the gigs I use the Ricks for, even when backlining; the Alembic and Warwick require a little extra as I'm going for a different sound. I did have a Marshall Superbass and 4x12 for a while; liked the amp (for the Ricks anyway)but didn't like the cab. But I don't think I drove it hard enough, possibly one of the problems I have with bigger tube amps, which I feel tend to sound better when they're roaring a bit. I'd be intrigued to try your amp Jim; that might be a great compromise. I must admit that in my Marshall years I never got the Superbass past half volume either, and I know many people consider them fairly underpowered in a full band situation, although I competed fine with 2 hotrodded full Marshall stacks (using a 2x15 cab).

BTW Owen I think the Trace 1x15 combos sound great; I actually prefer them to the separates (mainly due to the shallower cab I think, which appears to tighten the bottom end somewhat).

I know Chris Squire used a 6x12 cab ... I played in a band back then where a guitarist used one of those 6x12 cabs big full sound ... back then I used a 4x12 Sunn cab with upgraded speakers ... cerwyn Vega speakers if I remember correctly ... then I used an Acoustic folded horn cab with a crossover into a 1x15 for highs ... by the time I put the head on it it was 7 feet tall ... these days I am into 10's and I mike it with a sm57 into a 6000 watt PA ... can you hear me now???

Your'e right Jim but the difference is only a little more than one ten" speaker. I never liked those big Acoustic cabs, sounded very muffled to me and were long throw like PA cabs I think.

Acoustic made a couple of different versions, the one I have in mind had a pair of 15's mounted top and botttom facing out, and down, and the second pair was matched up in an isobarik mount in the central portion of the cabinet.

The sound levels out of this thing were amazing. Acoustic used to mount a "Warning High SPL Levels Present" on the back of the cabinet.

I'm with you these days Jeff, mike up and a DI into the PA and save your back !!!

I meant the single 18" cabs, 301's? I've never seen a 4 X15 in my life. The early SVT heads had a similar warning on them, something like: warning high sound pressure levels can cause irreversible loss of hearing acuity. huh?

I'll try dig out the model number, there are still a few of these things floating around.

Acoustic 408

I used to have a rig with 2 of those and a 370 head. It hurt....

That's a serious piece of hardware ..... !!

Hey Jeffrey, I bet that thing must scare the jazzers.

If only it were mine! Imagine four of those, two on each side of the drummer, now that would be scary!