Best all-rounder bass cab for recording?

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LupineSound
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Best all-rounder bass cab for recording?

Post by LupineSound » Thu May 08, 2014 7:16 am

I'm looking to get a bass cab for the studio to have available for clients. Is there any certain model you guys have found to be exceptionally good for recording? I'm imagining a single 15" would be preferable to a 4x10, but not sure...

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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Thu May 08, 2014 12:06 pm

15" is the way to go. I have a late 60's Traynor 1x15 that I love. It's nothing special and I'm sure there are lots of versions of the same thing out there.

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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Thu May 08, 2014 12:29 pm

double post
Last edited by A.David.MacKinnon on Thu May 08, 2014 12:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by Randyman... » Thu May 08, 2014 12:36 pm

Agreed - Single driver to avoid comb-filtering - Mainly talking 15". I have a 90's Ampeg B3-15" that I like for this (not a tube B15 unfortunately, but a solid state "B3" model with a subtle "Drive" control - mics up well).

Another cool trick is to "Mult" the bass signal to a GUITAR AMP and mic that on its own track for the mid/high "dirt/drive/harmonics" to get the bass to speak well on smaller speakers, and either use the mic'd 15" or a DI for the low-end (depending on what kind of low end you're looking for). Parallel Amp Sims are always fun on Bass, too IMO...

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Post by nobody, really » Thu May 08, 2014 2:01 pm

Can't go wrong with a good old Ampeg SVT15E.

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Post by floid » Thu May 08, 2014 2:14 pm

i use a peavy artist vt quite a bit. it's got a solid state preamp, tube power section, pushing 120 watts into a 15" black widow. the channels are blendable, which makes it easy to find the right balance between girth and clarity.
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Post by losthighway » Thu May 08, 2014 2:28 pm

Good to see some more 15" speaker love around here. I often hear people saying they can't get a bright bass sound out of a 15 and I think that's crazy. They seem to be understood to be "muddy" and "slow". I've had to ask people to turn treble down playing through my Sun 2x15 loaded with Eminence speakers.

I also agree that 1x15 is even more ideal. I had an SWR on indefinite loan for a while that I used to record different heads through. I'm thinking of getting an Avatar 1x15 and having everyone who's flexible record through it. A lot more fun than picking which of the 8 ten inch speakers to put a mic on, and how to keep the sounds coming out of the guy's fridge sized cabinet from bleeding out of the bass cave and into the live room.

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Post by kslight » Thu May 08, 2014 4:20 pm

It really depends on what kind of sound you are looking to get out of bass.

I personally am not a huge fan of the 15" speaker (its all about the 18", really), but I would definitely prefer it to a setup that involves extra BS like a tweeter/horn?.and its certainly always been usable, its just not my favorite.

For me I like a 10" or 12" speaker, but then I like dirtier/rockin' bass sounds if I'm going to mic it. If I wanted extreme lows I'd be taking a DI.

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Post by JWL » Thu May 08, 2014 9:53 pm

My all time favorite bass recording rig is a Bag End 15" speaker mic'd up with an RE20.

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Post by roscoenyc » Sat May 10, 2014 8:46 am

15" JBL D-130 is my favorite for electric bass and pedal steel.

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Post by vvv » Sat May 10, 2014 5:02 pm

Hmmm.

I like a good 12" combined with DI.

And by good, I mean I even like my Marlboro bass amp, what is worth total about US$25.

15's are just too much for my bedio.

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Post by cgarges » Wed May 14, 2014 12:15 pm

We have a '72 Ampeg B15N for the classic stuff and an Orange PPC 4x12 with Celestions in it for the louder stuff at Old House. Seems like the Orange can take a nice, loud bass signal without folding. It'll pair well with a number of amps, including a '78 JMP and an Orange AD-30, and of course, bassists are welcome to bring their own, but it gets the most use with the Traynor TS50B that we have. It's not that loud, but it's got an absurdly cool fuzz bass sound.

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Post by LowG » Wed May 14, 2014 1:40 pm

If you're considering modern-manufactured cabinets, do not make any assumptions correlating tone and speaker size. There have been lots of advances in speaker manufacturing/design, especially for bass cabs. For older designs, the size/tone correlations (myths?) are a bit more "established", but blanket statements still don't always apply to every cab (15's sound this way, 10's sound that way, etc.) even then.

And if you happen to like a cab that uses a mid driver or a tweeter, just approach it as you would any other sound source that radiates from multiple places (saxophone, piano, etc): find a nice spot for the mic that captures it.

All that said, I second the Bag End recommendation. Their S15D is a pretty great cab.

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Post by mrpicholas » Wed May 14, 2014 3:52 pm

To add to what was just said about new small designs...

The Genz-Benz Shuttle Cabs (I use the single 10") provide an impressive and tight low end in an improbably small and light box. The combination of mic on the cab with the balanced DI out of the lightweight head is usually perfect for recording. They're discontinued now, but can be had all over the place. The head and cabinet together weigh just 18 lbs.

http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=detail&mid= ... 610&cid=95

I still have my BIG amp, but it never gets used any more for gigs or recordings as I've come to prefer the sound of the little one.

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Post by comfortstarr » Fri May 16, 2014 12:37 pm

I've played through and recorded through many different. I'd vote Aguilar GS 112. I used to have much 15" love. But this cab is phenomenal if you ask me--and you sorta did, indirectly... anyways. I'd vote for something like this if I could only have one and wanted to use it many different ways.

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