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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Electric Bass Amp/cabinet
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Message started by Robert Hart on 04/19/20 at 17:15:46

Title: Electric Bass Amp/cabinet
Post by Robert Hart on 04/19/20 at 17:15:46

I’m thinking about putting together a tube amp/15” cabinet rig for a 5 string bass.
Can anyone recommend a high sensitivity driver for this application?
Is there a Decware design I should be looking at?
I’m looking at the Mooer BM 5 Watt head and a parts express 15” cabinet kit totaling $650

This will only need to be in my living room. It doesn’t need to get loud. It must go deep.

Title: Re: Electric Bass Amp/cabinet
Post by ZZuZZaXX on 04/19/20 at 18:58:43

This is just a side note. My cousin played bass back in the day and he played an Acoustic amp. It was loud and clean, but he always wanted to get the sound of Grand Funk's Mel Schacher who played West tube amps cranked up high with lots of tube distortion. Listion to Inside Looking Out on their first live album to see what I mean. Loud and big.

Title: Re: Electric Bass Amp/cabinet
Post by Brian on 06/09/20 at 23:38:41

I wonder if the "PRO-12 PA and DJ Ultraflex Loudspeaker" scaled up from 12 inch to 15 would play deep enough.
https://www.decware.com/newsite/Pro12.htm

The advertising says they have: "Low distortion, good tone, and incredible speed. They deliver a chest hit that you are sure to remember."

You could call Steve to ask if there is anything special to know about scaling this box; or perhaps he will see this forum entry.

Interesting project.
Brian

Title: Re: Electric Bass Amp/cabinet
Post by Brian on 06/09/20 at 23:43:12

Possibly you might ought to replace the horn tweeter of this speaker with a pair of 8" wide range cones to play the highs for a Bass guitar.

Brian

Title: Re: Electric Bass Amp/cabinet
Post by alper_yilmaz on 06/15/20 at 10:23:49

Robert,

I am a bass player and I have been through tons of gear over the course of years that I have been professionally playing.

What you need to look into as far as power of the system is what you would actually play. Is it a bedroom practice amp? Are you planning to record? Will you be jamming with a loud rock band? You would need to answer these questions first...

For any further information talkbass.com has tons of useful discussions; you might like to check their Forums.

For most bass applications, companies use drivers by Eminence these days. I am sure there are other manufacturers but Eminence is the one I am most familiar with. For instance, I endorse Bergantino amps and speakers which use Eminence drivers. I am not positive, yet companies like Epifani, Aguilar, etc. also use Eminence.

If you can stretch your budget a bit, Ampeg's PF-20T is a great 20-watt tube amp head which would give you some of that Motown touch back from the 60s. It is very similar an amp to Ampeg's B15 which is one of the industry standards in studio recording. It will get loud enough to give you some slam even in a semi-loud jam; and its transformer balanced line-out to your recording gear would give a very similar sound to a mic'ed amp.

Also, please note that the low-B on your bass can be quite demanding in terms of the bass response of your amp and cabinet (I am actually using a high C in my 5-string basses). You might really like a bit of headroom in your amp-cabinet combination...

Title: Re: Electric Bass Amp/cabinet
Post by alper_yilmaz on 06/17/20 at 09:13:46

In the meantime, in response to ZZuZZaXX's note, I would personally avoid any effect that is irreversible, including a drive, on bass recording. For a live session, it is a different story, of course, but at least one of the bass channels recorded should be kept clean so that you can process it to your liking at a later stage.

Particularly, if you are recording digitally, you can take that clean signal and send it back to any effect or amp and get all the effects. If you would like to mic your amp, you can also send the original signal back to the amp (using a technique called re-amping) and use your preferred mic and mic positioning.

I know I am diverting the topic a little bit (and sorry for that), but my recording chain includes two or three simultaneous channels:

1. Bass > REDDI (a 6N1P-based tube DI) > Millennia Media SS mic preamp > RME Fireface 800 (sound card and convertor) > ProTools or Logic (recording interface)

2. Bass > a tube bass compressor > Millennia Media SS mic preamp with tube gain stage and a bit of EQ > RME Fireface 800 (sound card and convertor) > ProTools or Logic (recording interface)

3. Bass > Bergantino Forte HP bass amp > 2 x Bergantino 1x12" speakers > a broadcast mic like EV RE20 or Shure SM7 > engineer's preferred mic preamp & convertor > engineer's preferred recording interface

These are all clean channels and I can always go back to the studio and re-process one of these channels (or a combination of them).

Sorry again, if I moved away from the OP's initial question too much... Just wanted to share...