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Using a PA speaker as a bass cab - it's awful!


kwmlondon
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Morning All,

I'm away from home at the moment, staying with my folks for a few weeks and I've got my bass with me. Rather than bring my cab (a cheap but good GK CX210) I thought I'd plug my amp (Little Mark III) into one of my dad's PA speaker - a Peavey Eurosys 15" thing. It's fine, I'm just using it for practise and it does the job but... IT SOUNDS TERRIBLE! I can't believe something that big has such a crap tone and how good my GK cab is by comparison. You could certainly gig with it, but it just seems to have an unpleasant low end and makes the bass sound rubbish . Anyway - just thought I'd share...

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1 hour ago, Beedster said:

There are PA cabs that work with bass, and those that don't. It's not just about the cab, it's about the bass tone you're after also. 

Indeed. This is fine for practise and has saved me the hassle of transporting my cab but it's been very interesting to try. The Peavey HiSys is, after all, a 30 year old cab though still has a BW in it. 

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On 30/09/2020 at 08:16, kwmlondon said:

I thought I'd plug my amp (Little Mark III) into one of my dad's PA speaker - a Peavey Eurosys 15" thing.

 

23 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

The Peavey HiSys is, after all, a 30 year old cab though still has a BW in it. 

I'm a bit confused now as to which one you've tried? The Eurosys stuff was pretty naff IIRC, whereas the Hisys range was a big improvement - as you say BW speakers etc. I've used the Hisys 2 as a bass cab a few times when I had to and found it okay, especially with the horn in it's 'flat' setting.

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1 hour ago, Dan Dare said:

Given that a PA cab of sufficient quality, not to mention size, to reproduce bass properly costs as much as a decent bass cab 

My RCF 732-A (a £600 powered PA speaker) is better than and cost half as much as the Barefaced & Genz Benz rig it replaced 😊

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My double bass has gone through many a set of PA speakers with no issues. Obviously it helps if the sound guy knows what they are doing. I had one amp head fail around 2010 where I had the same predicament with a bass guitar. A good DI box is usually the answer and will certainly get your tone sounding closer to where you want it.

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6 hours ago, casapete said:

 

I'm a bit confused now as to which one you've tried? The Eurosys stuff was pretty naff IIRC, whereas the Hisys range was a big improvement - as you say BW speakers etc. I've used the Hisys 2 as a bass cab a few times when I had to and found it okay, especially with the horn in it's 'flat' setting.

Sorry, looked again and it's HiSys... I'll take a pic. 

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Here you go. It's hard to describe what's wrong with it, it's just lacking in richness. It makes my bass sound unpleasant and makes me not want to play it. It's amazing that a £260 GK 2x10 sounds so much nicer, though it's about 30 years younger so the technology's moved on. 

IMG_2888.JPG

IMG_2889.JPG

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On 30/09/2020 at 10:25, kwmlondon said:

Indeed. This is fine for practise and has saved me the hassle of transporting my cab but it's been very interesting to try. The Peavey HiSys is, after all, a 30 year old cab though still has a BW in it. 

I think Brian Wilson needs to get out more....

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Maybe your bass sounds awful through your amp, but your GK cab's voicing compensates to make it sound good. If that was the case,  the Peavey cab is just being "honest". It's a shame there's no headphone out on the amp to test it. Have you tried running the amp's line out into an interface/desk?

I've got one bass that sounds great through a DI box. I've got another that needs plenty of EQ from an amp and/or cab to sound great. Neither is better or worse than the other - just different ways to achieve a good sound.

Edited by MartinB
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