Which do you prefer when recording bass? 10" or 15"

[trodden]

When it comes to recording bass and bass cabs... wondering what people's opinions are with speaker size.

Sure, there are a billion other variables in the equation of recording electric bass... but I'm curious about the speaker size aspect...

I've got a Genz Benz 4X10 that sounds really good and MAJORITY of the bass rigs I record involve an Ampeg 8X10.

So rarely do I get a cab with 15's... but the past few sessions I have.. and i'm thinking i'm digging the 10's better... but not sure why yet, or if its just been due to other aspects... like sloppy playing?

Interested.

[Snarl 12/8]

I used to play bass through a 15 and 12. I always recorded the 12. I never even tried the 15 because I was playing it biamped where only the lows were hitting the 15 but I was sending the full spectrum (not just the highs) to the 12. Now, I'm pretty sure, I'm mostly going to be recording the 12 in my new (old) Ampeg SB12 fliptop and the 12 in its ev extension speaker. Some day I'm going to try that 15 as the extendo though.

[jgimbel]

I've got two cabs I built - a 1x12 that I built two years ago as an extension cab for any smaller amps that come through here, and a 4x10 that I built as an extension cab for my silverface Bassman 50. Well what do you know, I like the 12" speaker better with the Bassman (which is a great amp for bass) than the 10"s. I switch between them a lot, but if I had to only have one, it'd be the 12". I thought 10" speakers would be better since I tend to record more vintagey bass sounds that don't have HUGE low end, but the 12" just sounds more natural and "right". I've never used a 15" though!

[Brett Siler]

Very generalized here but I like 10's for rock, punk hardcore, anything up beat or fast. They have a slight faster response to playing and more midrange. 15 for slower music like sludge, doom, dub, ect. Modern jazz (if mic'd at all, sometimes DI'd) for more old school sounding stuff 15's would work.

If I had to pick just one I would go with one I would go with a ported 2 or 4x10.

[markjazzbassist]

15" speakers here. i'm primarily a bassist, and unless i'm blending with a DI, gotta have that 15 to get all the low end. if you want the grind of a 10" speaker, go straight on to the cone, or off axis. you can get more bite that way.

[frans_13]

I have speakers here from 8" to 15" and often my Celestion loaded TraceElliot 15"s win. They have a throaty voice that fits rock/punk/etc. I got to add they outclass every 15" that ever came through the door... a lot of the 15" stuff out there is... errr.. you know...

There were a few 4x10"s here that had a nasty boom at their resonant frequency, roughly 70 or 80 Hz. So for my experience : 10" = more work.

I'd say, whatever the speaker size, if it works for the sound, who cares what size it is.

And your Avatar - I like Ladytron a lot!!!

[jnTracks]

i never have trouble getting more low end than i need out of 10"s. always end up shelving some off. 15"s is just more stuff i have to get rid of later.

note: that i tend to mix the kick drum with the lowest fundamental frequency with the bass guitar sitting above it. some people go the other way, maybe those folks have better luck with 15"s

and then 10" are always so much punchier live, again not lacking low end at all but with much more "note" than 15"s
so they get my endorsement for studio and stage.

also: i always record it but rarely do i need to use the DI track in the mix. the 10" carry it and sound more organic to me than a blended DI.

[Harry]

I like a mic on both...I never use a DI anymore. It never ends up making the mix. The 10" covers anything the DI might catch and the 15" covers the stuff that rattles the trunk!
Only problem is that the stuff I love the 15" for usually gets lost in mastering:(

but the 8s" on my SWR baby blue were my favorite for a long time though?


??? I don't think I'm helping here:)

[sessionsatstudiom]

I tend to mic the 10s more often. Gives both clarity and low end. The 15 is nice for the extra deep sounds but does not always give the definition I am looking for. The bass player in my band plays a 4 x 10 and a 15. he runs the 15 clean and the 4 10s distorted. In that situation I mic both and take a DI on both signals. Ends up sounding huge.

Mike

[vvv]

While we are talkin' 15", I gotta put a new 15" driver in my Musicman bottom - any reco's?

Is the 200w. Eminence aiight? (I'm using a HD130 head.)

[losthighway]

I almost always record bass through a 1x15 cabinet. It just seems to work. Once in a while I get a little too much low and then I roll it off with some eq. For some reason that always sounds better to me than having to add more in.

[trodden]

Cool. Sonic seems more of a "what you have is what you like" kind of thing.

I've never had issues with 10" not having enough lows... Hahaha.. Granted I used to play in a band with two bass players, tuned down to D both at one point running through two fridges each.... Yeah pretty ridiculous! But awesome...

Even with tens, I sometimes put a low cut way way down there, especially if it doesn't hit tape before ending up in the 'puter.

The only time I need the DI is when i want to reamp it. I've never never been able to make the DI track do anything for me, besides reamping! Some people can, I cannot. Typically, it's an re20 and an older CAD e100, both on the same speaker. Or if I'm at a place that has them, an 87 and re20 on same speak. I Combine them to one track, and keep the DI on another track just in case....

[joel hamilton]

We have the choice of almost every config around here... and if I use a cabinet/amp at all it is probably a little 25 watt tube amp I have through a single 15" EV.
it seems to always, always work for whatever I need it to do. I just tune the amp a bit and choose the mic and go. Usually a BLUE mouse, or a neumann BCM705 on bass cab for me unless I am just using a 409 or a 57 to grab growl.