Can you play bass through just a 2x10?

[Steve G]

Yes, its time for naive wannabe bassist question of the day

Just bought a 2x10 cab to go with my crate powerblock amp for the odd bass gig. It will replace my 12" eminence loaded home made speaker cab which could double as a home for rabbits and small rodents.

Suddenly having a queasy feeling, can you play with just a 2x10? Im thinking great for portability and compactness, but for a start wont it look a little weird on the floor on its own?

At least i thought i knew where i stood with guitar..

[Tim Armstrong]

Yep, although if your band is really rocking, you might benefit from running a line out to the PA system to supplement it! I've played a few hundred gigs with a 2x10!

Cheers, Tim

[Steve G]

Tim, I had a feeling Id seen you post about 2x10's before. Thanks for that, I feel better now!
I still get the feeling Im going to look like Ive got a hi-fi speaker behind me, but its probably inexperience bassplayer syndrome again.

[martini]

I've started taking my Ampeg 210 out more and more.
No probs with headroom and as Tim has already suggested, the Bass goes through the rig for bigger shows.

[Steve G]

Do you just set the cab on the floor, or on top of something? Do you put it on its end?

[Old Cane]

I've been using a 210 for over 20 years. I was carrying a 118 for about the first 5 years but I always played with drummers that had so much low end monitor sound going on it just became a stand for the 210. Now I have a 210 combo. I almost always set the cabinet vertically and the head on top. Sometimes on the floor/stage, sometimes in a chair or on a table. The bombo I just set on the floor. It makes a nice stool now that I'm old.

[Tim Armstrong]

I generally put it on its side, in fact I moved the feet from the bottom to one of the sides. Kinda handy, actually, as the new orientation puts one of the recessed handles on top, much easier to lift!

Cheers, Tim

[Bluesbob]

Here's my "club rig".


I like playing it like this. Small footprint, OK for bars, especially with Madison Knight 300-watters at 4 ohms total impedance and 400 watts from the Eden. Been asked to turn down many times!

[guitarzan13]

Yup....2 10's will get the job done.

[4mal]

not everywhere but in a lot of cases a 2x10 on a stand or a 2x10 on end will do fine. Trick is to get away from it so it isn't just blowing past your knees. Your issues in being heard, hearing yourself will be the powerblock...

[FirstBassman]

A 2x10 is fine for bass. I use an Avatar 2x10.

But isn't the Crate Power Block a guitar head?

[aunchaki]

I use a GK BackLine 2x10 cab and a CRATE PowerBlock as my bass head. Sounds great to me! I've also run it through a PA out of the PowerBlock.

[Vince a]

I do it all the time . . .



. . . although just last weekend I used two 2x10 cabs . . . I liked it better!

[Tim Armstrong]

Originally Posted by FirstBassman

A 2x10 is fine for bass. I use an Avatar 2x10.

But isn't the Crate Power Block a guitar head?

Yeah, but it makes a better bass amp!

Cheers, Tim

[FirstBassman]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

Yeah, but it makes a better bass amp!

Interesting, thanks.

Kinda like back in the day when guitar players preferred to play through Bassmans and bass players played through Showmans.

[marshman]

I've never been quite willing to play anything but the smallest gigs with just my 2x10, though I can attest to the importance of positioning. I set my 2x10 combo (200 watts) behind me on a crate, and run a line to a 4x10 cab on the opposite side of the drumkit. For some reason, I can barely hear the cab that's behind me, but the 4x10 across the stage sounds fine. Lesson: Find something taller to put the combo on--or with an angle (though I hear myself just fine).

[4mal]

Part of the secret is getting away from the cab.

The other piece is having enough headroom - 100 watts isn't going to cut it for me. 200 watts from 4 KT-88's in my YBA-200 is barely adequate and that includes the 50 seat rooms ... Running out of power with the GK 1001 is not very likely ... My old Bag End 2x10 could get too loud for most stages I've been on given enough clean power. I've always preferred to spread the sound around stage a bit though so running a cab each side at lower levels has been a better plan for me...

Obviously the amount of speaker covereage you need and the amount of power you need varies dratically by musical setting. I don't consider that the setting's I've been in the last few years were real loud though. With the Crackertones the rhythm player/lead singer had a Deluxe and a hollow body Gretsch - feed back city if you aren't careful on small stages. The lead player used a Princetone Reverb with a JBL 10 - so no stack's to compete with. There the GK & a 2x10, 1x12 setup was adequate, not runnng at it's limits for sure but - in the reliability zone. I could have done that gig with a smaller rig but - I would have been pushing it hard all the time - and that is a great way to fund some repair guy's kid's college fund. Gearing up a bit is a good plan for the long term of you're going to be a bassist...

[Paul in Colorado]

I've done it, but I feel that it sounds better with a 1 x 15" under it. I'm playing a festival in Western Colorado next month and I'll probably just bring the 2 x 10" because of logistics. The PA rig has great subs, so there will be no problem with low end in the audience. If I need more on stage, I'll get it in the monitor.

[mudbean]

I dunno, when I first got my GK 1001RBII head a couple years ago I started with a 4x10 cab. I loved the midrange tone I got, but it just didn't seem ... big enough I guess is the best way to describe it. So, I replaced the 4x10 with an SWR Son of Bertha - 15 with a horn (the smallest 15 cab I've ever seen). That has given me more of the "big" I was looking for, but I do struggle with the mid range. I dial it in eventually, but it's a bit of work (every room is different, of course). Maybe I'll add a 2x10 on top of the 15 ... but, that just defeats the idea of less to haul, which I want, too. Ah, me. There are always pros & cons.

mud

[Steve G]

Thanks for all the responses. looks like I'm going to get on with this setup. Don't do a lot of bass gigs and then they're fairly low volume and low pressure.

Daren't mention its a Hartke transporter, they seem to be universally disliked. Aah well, should be fine for a novice like me.

[FirstBassman]

Originally Posted by Steve G

Daren't mention its a Hartke transporter, they seem to be universally disliked. Aah well, should be fine for a novice like me.

Well, I don't know if they're "universally disliked."

The thing about the Transporter cabs is that they have the aluminum cone drivers. Not all Harkes do, my Hartke combo doesn't. But that is kind of what they are famous (infamous) for.

Some people like 'em, some don't.

Personally I wouldn't want to use them. The sound (I'm told - I've never played through one) is "trebly" and more geared toward the mids and highs. Possibly better suited for slap and other "trebly" styles.

I prefer a more deeper and warmer tone.

[mudbean]

I played through a Hartke 2115 Combo (15 aluminum w/2000 amp section) from 1994 'til I got my GK two years ago. By a conservative estimate, that Hartke saw me through over 500 gigs.



I agree that it sounded ... metallic, sort of. Certainly not warm. And, only 200 watts - not enough to fill a medium sized bar/club. I drove it hard, wasn't difficult to make it fart out.

I'm way happier with the 1001RBII pushing 700W! Never runs out of headroom, and I've gotten LOUD with it. A week after I got the Son of Bertha cab we did an outdoor beer garden gig that was packed and got rowdy at the end (sure ain't nothin' like a hundred drunk cuties shakin' it to Satisfaction at maximum volume at 2 a.m.!) - I smelled smoke and looked down to see the cab fuming a bit!! I contemplated returning the cab, but played it the next night, and it never happened again. Two years and over a hundred gigs later it's still fine. Good cab, that SWR!

mud

[Steve G]

SWR get great reviews here. Maybe if I progress beyond about 3 bass gigs a year Ill look into one. Good to know Hartke arent as bad as I thought. I think Im probably not discerning enough to know whether its a alu driver or made of tin foil anyway!

[Bluesbob]

My Goliath III Jr. 2X10 (pictured above) started to smoke at a rehearsal and then caught fire (one speaker), which is the reason behind the switch to the Madison Knight speakers at 4 ohms. I was using the Eden WT-400 (also in the picture) and a BDDI for drive. Not sure about the QC of the new "IV" series, but I have never smoked my practice rig Fender-era Son of Bertha, even using a Behringer 4500 that clips contantly. I'm using a 4-ohm Schroeder 4X10L now as my main gigging cab, but I never had a problem with my 8-ohm "SWR Engineering" Goliath III 4X10.

[FirstBassman]

Originally Posted by Steve G

Good to know Hartke arent as bad as I thought.

Uh, this guy used them during the Cream reunion shows.
Can't be too bad.

[djdeacon]

Originally Posted by Steve G

Do you just set the cab on the floor, or on top of something? Do you put it on its end?

You're almost always better to sit the cab directly on the floor, because then it acoustically couples with the room (especially if the stage is a hollow plywood box!) If it's sitting on something, you lose a few db's.

I've used a single 15" Thiele cab to gig with for, jeez, 28 years. Those Eden rigs are slick (I got a chance to gig thru one in February), but I'm waaaaaaayyy too cheap...

[mudbean]

Y'know, I used to stubbornly adhere to the silly notion that 2 tens alone is not enough ... well, I take that back! I recently acquired a G-K Goldline 2x10 and it has bottom for days. I am now running it alone.

mud

[91xlntS-3]

From my experience with Hartke cabs, you won't get a lot of low end from that 2x10 transporter. My first bass rig consisted of a Hartke HA2000 head (200 watts @ 4 ohms), the 2x10 Transporter on top of a 1x15 Transporter cab. It was a nice and relatively compact rig, but lacked in the "punch" department. I ended up buying a transporter 4x10 cab and that made all the difference!

You'll find the 2x10 TP is only about 11" deep (if memory serves) and all the other cabs are 15" or deeper. Don't know why they don't make the 2x10 the same depth, I think it would fill out the sound more and be better all around.

You'll just have to give it a try and see if it works for you, that's what matters anyway...

[franchelB]

Because of my compact car, I MUST use a 2X10 cabinet.

Oh yeah, my 2X10 is an Eden XLT and I use a Hartke 3500 head. The sound covers up the venue nicely. If I want more sound, we run a direct out into the P.A.

[4mal]

that Hartke - if it's an early one - is an under rated head IMO. Post Samson I understand there were issues. Mine was from the mid 90's and never gave me a lick of trouble. Maybe not for everyone but it's uber clean tone was really nice.

[Wally]

I have a little cab...FEnder OB Deluxe 2X10...with ?Eminence? cast frame 10's with a huge voice coils. I believe it was built to supplement other bass speakers because it has 'daisy chain' jacks; but it can kick butt on its own. I can plug anything into it....Ampeg SVT if necessary...and not worry about the handling capacity.

[mudbean]

Originally Posted by mudbean

Y'know, I used to stubbornly adhere to the silly notion that 2 tens alone is not enough ... well, I take that back! I recently acquired a G-K Goldline 2x10 and it has bottom for days. I am now running it alone.

mud

OOPS! Played an outdoor job at a local resort - low volume, but I guess I got a little carried away at some point, blew out a speaker (I was driving it with a GK 1001RBII, maybe a bit much). So, there you go. I love the tone of this cab, though. Maybe I'll add another.

mud

[Old Cane]

I'm really thinking about the Markbass with the 2-6s. If that's really enough to rehearse with then I have a couple of 210 cabs for playing a job with. Looks like I'm back to playing bass unless I want to start my own band and open my own bar. If I was that stupid I'd just play drums.