So what’s the perfect cab combination?

[JPJ]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

To the OP, were you looking for advice or simply interested what other people were using (or would like use)?

I was hoping to stimulate just the type of debate we're having. In my forty years of dabbling in bass, loudspeaker performance is one of the biggest changes I've witnessed yet we're still basically repeating the same formula. I always feel I learn a lot from threads like this, so please keep the debate going.  

[Downunderwonder]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

 

I also find it weird that the bassists who benefit the most from spending time and money agonising over esoteric amps and cabs are those playing in pub band with vocal-only PA systems, to punters who are mostly too drunk to notice.

What's weird about it? Everyone is having a good time. Job done. Punters occasionally do notice a good bass tone also.

 

The big challenge is in the transition from vocal to full PA in venues that may not be any bigger than before. Then you're really up against it to put rig tone into the PA. It doesn't mean it can't be done or shouldn't be done. It's not even all that difficult to do but try telling that to the average sound guy.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

3 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Exactly and I feel the same way. But there are quite a few who do chase the spectre of FRFR. I tried running my bass, via a channel strip/preamp, through my PA, which is pretty clean and powerful (IFohhn). It sounded fat, smooth and rather characterless. I prefer the sound of it through my bass amp and cabs.

+1. I alternately chuckle and roll my eyes when I see blokes saying how when they try an amp for the first time, be it on stage, at home or in a store, that they automatically put the EQ knobs at 12:00, because they want flat response, when the reality is that they've probably never heard truly flat response in their life. 🙄

 

Quote

that is my attitude to reading music

Sir Paul, or is it Lord Paul now, still doesn't read music, and yet somehow he gets by. Neither did over 90% of the top musicians going back to the 1950s. I've worked with school trained musicians who could sight read, and their chops were as lifeless as ten year old flatwounds. IME you've either got music in your blood from birth or you don't.

[MacDaddy]

24 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

 

 

Sir Paul, or is it Lord Paul now, still doesn't read music, and yet somehow he gets by. Neither did over 90% of the top musicians going back to the 1950s. I've worked with school trained musicians who could sight read, and their chops were as lifeless as ten year old flatwounds. IME you've either got music in your blood from birth or you don't.

 

I've never known anyone fail to get a gig for no other reason than they could read music.

 

[BassmanPaul]

I never learned to read music. In 1962 when I bought my first bass, I worked on a potato farm for the summer to get it, I was cramming to pass my GCEs. That done it was Engineer school and job pressures. There just wasn't time for everything. Anyhow I ended up in one of the top bands in Liverpool at the time.  Still my second favourite band I ever played in. LOL

[Lozz196]

Tell all @BassmanPaul, one of the top bands in Liverpool at that time?

[Ed_S]

On 07/06/2022 at 13:03, JPJ said:

I once saw a guy playing bass in a pub band in Hull and he used the full TE stack of 1x18, 4x10, + Brightbox. Fortunately he was a tasty player as he certainly cut through the mix 🤣

 

I once saw Oliver/Dawson Saxon at The Trades in Rotherham. My mate's band were supporting and their bassist sounded great with an Orange OBC410/115 stack and his AD200 just ticking over. Dawson had two Ampeg SVT something-pro heads going at full chatter through a pair of matching 810s. Even with my pro-plugs in it was punishing on the ears in such a small venue, and it was hitting me in the chest so damn hard that it felt like some sort of arrhythmia kicking in. I lasted maybe a couple of songs before I had to admit defeat and walk out. There's a lot to be said for staying venue-appropriate.

 

I think modular vertical 3x12 is my favourite configuration and the most I'll ever require on stage. A 1x12 for when that's all I need, a 2x12 for when I need a bit more, and both of them together for special occasions. In reality, though, my absolute favourite cab is the one that I don't have to bring, move around or take home again - the one that belongs to the headliner or the venue that I can just plug into for 45 mins and then offer thanks and/or a pint in rental. I'll tolerate and make-do with a lot where that cab is concerned! 🙂 

[BassmanPaul]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Tell all @BassmanPaul, one of the top bands in Liverpool at that time?

Earl Preston's Reflections. I left the band late 1968 due to having to work outside the city. Met my wife in that band an June 06 1968. The name Earl Preston was his stage name real name George Spruce. He was a MerseyBeat personality.

Edited June 8, 2022 by BassmanPaul