Bill Fitzmaurice

While it's loaded with a 15 bass extension is as much a property of the cab size as the driver size, and that's a very small cab. It might work, but I'd make sure of it before trying to gig with it.

Love mine. Oh wait, you said Bugera? Never mind.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1480777010' post='3187066'] Cheers mate, but it still seems from your post that a 100 watt valve amp and a 100 watt SS amp, played through the same cab, would produce vastly different DB levels. [/quote]With DSP processing the SS will deliver the same dB levels, at far less cost, size and weight than valves.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1480713976' post='3186733'] You seem well versed in amp and cab technology so perhaps you can explain to me the difference between valve watts and solid state watts? [/quote]A watt is a watt, 1 joule per second. What makes valve and SS amps different is how they process the signal. At the limits of their output capability valves naturally compress the signal, SS does not. 6dB of compression can subjectively sound the same as a 4x increase in power output. That's why they sound different. You can use processing with SS to emulate what valves do. That's what TC does with their RH 450 and RH 750 amps, which they falsely rated in output based not on how they measured, but how they were perceived. They were rather famously outed for having their thumb on the scale, and while they never quite admitted to the deed, they did put up this: http://service.tcgroup.tc/media/tc-electronic-power-rating-and-active-power-management.pdf

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1480689792' post='3186454'] But they are pretty meaningless figures to the layman.[/quote]True, but if you're here you're not a layman, you're a bassplayer, probably semi-professional, if not a full fledged professional. That makes your gear tools of your trade, tools which you should have a pretty good understanding of. There's no shortage of resources that you can use to improve upon that understanding.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1480679113' post='3186310'] I think most cab makers give an SPL @ 1watt @ 1m figure. It would be nice if they gave this to us with the source frequency or type of noise (pink/white) ...[/quote]That would constitute truth in advertising, which is an oxymoron of the first degree. Many manufacturers quote sensitivity either in the midrange or at the highest point, which isn't Kosher. Ampeg is one manufacturer that posts accurate sensitivity figures. Since the physics that apply to Ampeg apply to everyone it's a pretty safe assumption that any manufacturer making sensitivity claims substantially different from Ampeg for the same driver configuration are yanking your chain.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1480159626' post='3182070'] I had a marshall JCM800 50w head into a 2x12 cab, if turned up loud enough to get the power amp section into the sweet spot it was way too loud for 1000+ person theatre/concert venue let alone a pub [/quote]The same is true of a Vox AC30. That's why the 6dB lower sensitivity of a 1x12 is better, although even that will take heads off if it's an EVM 12L.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1480081710' post='3181525'] But there are some genres where playing with anything other than a full stack behind you, just doesn't look right[/quote]For those there's this:

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1480067439' post='3181376'] Dummy loads are for guitarists who want to make the power amp valves in their amp work hard without producing ear-splitting volume. [/quote]Of course they'll do so while using a full stack, whereas they would accomplish the same effect using a sensible 50w 1x12 combo, giving an entirely new meaning to the term 'dummy load'.

[quote name='redbandit599' timestamp='1480028973' post='3181219'] Is it possible to plug something in that would give that full 350w 2ohm goodness into just one cab? [/quote]Use a 2 ohm cab. It won't make any difference, though.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1478896193' post='3172612'] By "suitable" I meant "as good as it ever was". Twincam said that he was not equipped for woodworking [/quote]If 'as good as it ever was' is rubbish it's not a worthwhile goal IMO. It shouldn't be all that hard to find a mate that can cut a 15 inch circle of plywood with an 11 inch hole in it.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1478887503' post='3172518'] perhaps they'd sell you a suitable replacement. [/quote]I doubt there is a 'suitable replacement'. The cab size was probably dictated by the marketing department, based on customer wishes for the cab to be as small as possible for portability, yet loaded with a fifteen, under the mistaken assumption that bigger is always better. The dichotomy is that where low frequency output is concerned bigger is usually better, but that applies to the cab size as well as the driver size. I agree that it's too small for a fifteen, and for best results should be re-configured to house a twelve.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1478796611' post='3171730'] I saw SikTh a couple of years ago, where James Leach was running these with what I think was a GK head. It sounded superb, far better than I thought it would when I saw what he had on stage. [/quote]If you heard them at all. Chances are what you heard was the PA.

This is one of those cases where the drivers used is known, so you can make valid comparisons. The 115 uses the Eminence Kappa 115. It displaces 343cc. The 410 uses Beta 10s. They displace 102cc each, for a total of 408cc. The Kappa 15 does have a lower frequency range than the Beta 10, but when you go lower in frequency the displacement requirement for equal output increases. If the 115 was going to be a good match with the 410 it would need considerably more displacement, not less. A 115 along with a 210 would make far more sense. As to the Beta 10 and Kappa 15 specifically, both are low end drivers, frankly not worthy of being used in cabs in the price range of Orange. There are many cabs with better drivers that sell for less. [quote]I have in the past ran an Ashdown 4x10 and 1x15, this sounded good but obviously I had the issue of the 1x15 being louder[/quote]Not that I doubt your experience, but it would be the exception to the rule, as the average 115 has less displacement and lower sensitivity than the average 410. The Orange example is hardly an isolated example. .

Ampeg uses proprietary OEM drivers, mainly sourced from Eminence. An 8 ohm cab cannot be rewired to 4 ohms. If your friend thinks that's possible don't let him touch your cab with a proverbial ten foot pole.

Without reverse engineering the cab and then using a speaker modeling program to determine compatible drivers it's impossible to render anything other than a purely subjective opinion. In other words, a guess, which you'll no doubt receive in droves, most of which will have no more validity than if you were to put a list of drivers on the wall and toss a dart at it...whilst blindfolded.

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1477044139' post='3159410'] If your point is that one can't be an engineer unless one has a B.Sc. I disagree. Cambridge has a fine engineering department and doesn't award any science degrees. [/quote]+1. Perhaps it's different in the UK, but in the US no degree is required to be an engineer. Where FOH engineers are concerned BS degrees are as common as a BA in bass playing.

[b] [size=4]Full Definition of [i]engineer[/i][/size][/b] [list=1] [*][i]1[/i] : a member of a military group devoted to [url="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/engineering"]engineering[/url] work [*][i]2[/i] [i]obsolete[/i] : a crafty schemer : [url="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plotter"]plotter[/url] [*][i]3[/i] [i]a[/i] : a designer or builder of [url="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/engines"]engines[/url][i]b[/i] : a person who is trained in or follows as a profession a branch of engineering[i]c[/i] : a person who carries through an enterprise by skillful or artful contrivance [*][i]4[/i] : a person who runs or supervises an [url="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/engine"]engine[/url] or an apparatus [/list] In this case the apparatus is the sound gear, so the term is correctly applied. In the US the guy running the board is commonly referred to as the FOH (front of house) engineer. I've worked with FOH engineers who were brilliant, and those who were total clods, and this was with first tier national and international touring acts. One of the worst I ever encountered worked for Ringo and his all-stars; he somehow managed to make Greg Lake sound really bad. Not surprisingly to me most of the best with respect to having the bass sound like the bass were themselves bass players.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1476649585' post='3156030'] The Eminence Beta 12 does have that presence peak which sounds good for bass, but having played guitar through them I feel like they're still missing something that I can hear with Celestions or similar guitar speakers. [/quote]It's not what they're missing, it's what they have: excursion. A Beta 12 has 4.4mm xmax, a typical guitar speaker has 1mm or less. That allows a guitar speaker to go into compression and break-up mode at low power levels, the exact opposite of what you want a bass driver to do.

[quote name='Kyron' timestamp='1476570362' post='3155377'] Is there a modern speaker/cab that can provide the clarity and sharp response from the Vintage 30 fitted to my ENGL combo, but is designed to withstand bass frequencies? [/quote]Yes, one that uses bass drivers plus midrange drivers or one that uses bass drivers low-passed and guitar drivers in a separate compartment, high-passed. As for the latter that would probably require a custom build, I'm not aware of anyone who currently makes one. Another option is to put a guitar combo atop a regular bass rig. Since you'd have two amps that opens up all sorts of possibilities, including getting Chris Squire's signature tone the same way that he did.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1475695365' post='3148093'] Other than being optimistically priced, is the concept a sound one for guitar use? And do the shaped bits and cutouts do much that a simple angled perspex screen wouldn't? [/quote]It would work, but it's far more complicated than necessary. A simple vertical slat in front of the cone would work, as would a donut. But a foam donut wouldn't work all that well, as too much sound would pass right through it. I'd use plywood. Both work on the principle of diffraction, explained here in section 1-5. http://www.jblpro.com/pub/manuals/pssdm_1.pdf

Just use a well designed cab that doesn't beam and you won't need one. That's pretty much impossible with guitar, as any twelve is going to beam the highs, but not so difficult with bass.

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1475449443' post='3146060'] Two Faital Pro's would probably out perform 4 Fanes [/quote]That's not the case, as two 8PR200 have 325cc Vd, four Fane have 470cc Vd.

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1475237660' post='3144278'] My question is, rather than going to the time (which I have little of) and effort of retuning the cab for optimum ported performance, could I take out the crossover and tweeter, patch the cutouts for the port and the tweeter, add some stuffing to the cab and use it as a sealed cab? [/quote]If you seal it you'll lose about 4dB of sensitivity below 100Hz, and 12dB of maximum SPL at 50Hz, which is huge. If you don't use the tweeter you should pull the crossover. If it's not currently lined with damping material it should be.

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1474752146' post='3140319'] There's no cab extension out on the combo amp [/quote]Add a jack to the back of the speaker cab wired parallel with the drivers.