Celestion Vintage 30's for bass?

[shibby2407]

Hey,

I play bass in a band but I am, and have always been, a guitarist. I bet there's a bunch of players out there who can relate to that. I'm trying to perfect a simple set-up for both guitar and bass.

I play small shows at the moment so I like to keep my set-up as simple as possible. I currently use;

Short scale Fender Mustang reissue w/flat wounds,
Old Fender Bassman 135 head,
Orange PPC410 electric guitar cab,
mic'd with AKG D112.

I like quite a simple wooden bass sound. I have my eye on a cornford 4x12 with celestion v30's.

sooo... what are peoples opinions on v30's for bass? not good i'm guessing? my main concerns are; low bass response, invading the guitarists frequency and just generally sounding sh*t.

[Mr. Foxen]

I use speakers similar to V30s for bass, but not for the bassy part, I have a rig set up bassy and a rig set up guitary. They'll sound pretty guitar, you'll do ok playing bass with acoustic or clean guitar through them, if you aren't trying to get loads of low end space, but that's about it, and a V30 loaded 4x12 is a big heavy lug when a Barefaced Compact and a bit more power will do loads more for you.

[Lozz196]

A band I did a tour with used Marshall guitar cabs for the bass. No real thudding low-end, but as a bass sound that sat in the mix, not bad. But I agree with Mr Foxens comments that a 412 not designed for bass will make life more awkward than necessary, when you can get bass designed cabs that are lighter, and that will out perform it. And, going by Cornford quality, I reckon a 412 will be rather pricey too.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='shibby2407' timestamp='1347137098' post='1797398']
I have my eye on a cornford 4x12 with celestion v30's.
[/quote]Their lack of bass output is why one had to use two of them back in the day, or today for that matter. Why guitar'd players think they need two when an AC30 with two v30s can kill small animals at 50 meters one can one only wonder.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Bill Fitzmaurice

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1347148409' post='1797514']
Their lack of bass output is why one had to use two of them back in the day, or today for that matter. Why guitar'd players think they need two when an AC30 with two v30s can kill small animals at 50 meters one can one only wonder.
[/quote]

They wish they were bassists, but aren't smart enough how to figure making bottom end.

[Bassman Steve]

Did I not read somewhere that Hendrix actually used Marshall bass 4x12's? Maybe you need to turn your idea on its head and look at bass 4x12 territory.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1347171389' post='1797569']
Did I not read somewhere that Hendrix actually used Marshall bass 4x12's? Maybe you need to turn your idea on its head and look at bass 4x12 territory.
[/quote]The original stack was intended for bassists so that they could keep up with 2x12 guitar amps. That notion lasted perhaps a week before guitar players started using them. There was no real bass 4x12 versus guitar version early on though, as the drivers were the same. True electric bass drivers were still a decade away.