PA cab for bass amp

[Boodang]

So, I've just bought a LD Systems Icoa 15a to use as my bass cab. 15", ported with a coaxial horn, 300watt rms amp, 2 xlr combo channels and eq presets.

My preamp is a pedalboard so the front end is sorted and the sound from the pedals I just want to amplify, so an active pa speaker seems ideal. It's early days but so far it sounds good; fairly neutral with a slight bass emphasis from the ports.

Ive had many rigs in the past, including Trace Elliot and SWR, but I can't see that a dedicated bass guitar amp/cab is going to be any better than this and would cost considerably more (the icoa was £400).

Does anyone else use pa cabs instead of bass rigs?

[jrixn1]

I switched about five years ago.  I've used RCF, QSC, and Yamaha powered speakers, which were all great, but have settled now on an FBT ProMaxx 112A.  Like you say, the speaker itself is transparent and you get the tone from your pedalboard.  I would never go back to a traditional head/cab.

[acidbass]

PA speakers are designed to throw the sound a lot further than a traditional bass cab. Standing 2ft away from it won't be an accurate representation of tone.

[Dad3353]

10 minutes ago, acidbass said:

PA speakers are designed to throw the sound a lot further than a traditional bass cab. Standing 2ft away from it won't be an accurate representation of tone.

 

Standing 2' away from almost any bass cab won't be an accurate representation of tone. 

[DTB]

I tried all sorts of set ups in the past which were mainly driven by the need Not to lug around too much gear. 
ultimately the best sound I ever got was through a Trace Elliot 4x10 cab with hf powered by proper bass amp head. 
The pa speaker option sounded ok but I always preferred the tight and fast sound of the 4x10. It was always the cab that made the most difference to the feel I think, and nothing got that great punch and clarity of the 4x10. It is hard putting it into words but back to back testing at a couple of venues really showed the difference. 
If I had to put a rig together now it would be the little tube amp preamp I use now, together with a class ab power amp of around 600 watt and 2 2x10 cabs, one each side of the stage. 
Like I say I tried all sorts of rigs in search of tone and then portability. 
If pa speakers or full range or whatever were best for bass then why would we have manufacturers spending lots on developing bass cabs etc etc, I’m not saying the op is wrong, and the rig they have may well sound better than anything I’ve ever plugged in to but from my own fairly extensive experience I’d go bass cab everytime even if nothing else in the signal chain was meant for bass. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by DTB

[casapete]

In the past I’ve used a PA cab on gigs - a Peavey Hisys 2. It sounded fine, to these ears anyway.

 

In reply to the OP, is anyone relying on a stage monitor to hear their bass effectively using a 

PA cab?

 

[Paul S]

7 hours ago, Boodang said:

 

Does anyone else use pa cabs instead of bass rigs?

 

Yes.  My band uses a pair of RCF EVOX 8 for pa and I go straight into that.  For home/situations where I need my own back line I have an RCF 732-A.  Never sounded better.

[casapete]

Completely forgot that on smallish gigs I use my electro acoustic straight into a small

PA - Yamaha 512 mixer amp and a pair of old Bose 802’s. Love it.

Edited February 18, 2023 by casapete

[Bleat]

I have an old Q-Max ( who?) pa cab with a 15", 6", and horn. It only has about 200 watt power handling but the sound quality is excellent. Sadly its not really up to being heard in a loud rock band. Its spending most its time as a coffee table at the moment.

 

[Boodang]

6 hours ago, acidbass said:

PA speakers are designed to throw the sound a lot further than a traditional bass cab. Standing 2ft away from it won't be an accurate representation of tone.

I also get that issue with traditional bass cabs, even my little SWR baby blue. The best solution so far, and what I'm doing with the pa cab, is to put on a stand at head height.

[Boodang]

5 hours ago, DTB said:

I tried all sorts of set ups in the past which were mainly driven by the need Not to lug around too much gear. 
ultimately the best sound I ever got was through a Trace Elliot 4x10 cab with hf powered by proper bass amp head. 
The pa speaker option sounded ok but I always preferred the tight and fast sound of the 4x10. It was always the cab that made the most difference to the feel I think, and nothing got that great punch and clarity of the 4x10. It is hard putting it into words but back to back testing at a couple of venues really showed the difference. 
If I had to put a rig together now it would be the little tube amp preamp I use now, together with a class ab power amp of around 600 watt and 2 2x10 cabs, one each side of the stage. 
Like I say I tried all sorts of rigs in search of tone and then portability. 
If pa speakers or full range or whatever were best for bass then why would we have manufacturers spending lots on developing bass cabs etc etc, I’m not saying the op is wrong, and the rig they have may well sound better than anything I’ve ever plugged in to but from my own fairly extensive experience I’d go bass cab everytime even if nothing else in the signal chain was meant for bass. 

Always got a good sound from a TE 4x10, but always good back ache as well! Now I'm playing mostly EUB or fretless the ported 15 works better and the Icoa does it well, and lighter!

[casapete]

1 hour ago, Bleat said:

I have an old Q-Max ( who?) pa cab with a 15", 6", and horn. It only has about 200 watt power handling but the sound quality is excellent. Sadly its not really up to being heard in a loud rock band. Its spending most its time as a coffee table at the moment.

 

IIRC Qmax stuff was made by UK loudspeaker manufacturer McKenzie. Quite reasonable

quality PA cabs back in the day.

 

Right, as you were.....

[Bleat]

9 minutes ago, casapete said:

IIRC Qmax stuff was made by UK loudspeaker manufacturer McKenzie. Quite reasonable

quality PA cabs back in the day.

 

Right, as you were.....

 

Good info, thanks. It is a very good sounding cab, though I will most likely be giving it away at some point!

 

[BigRedX]

For one band we have ditched the backline completely and just use the PA foldback for on stage and FoH for the audience. It has resulted in a much better overall sound both for the band and the audience. Having had a discussion with the synth player about it, we'll probably be on IEMs before the end of the year.

 

For the other band I play in I have an RCF745 powered cab which I use for rehearsals and for the occasional gig where the quality of the foldback is unknown or where we have been asked to supply backline for the other bands (I have a couple of generic bass amp patches on my Helix for them to use). However most of the time we are playing reasonably big venues with excellent FoH and foldback systems, so I rarely have to take the RCF to gigs.

[DTB]

I forgot my current studio set up is Tube Preamp straight into mixer then power amp and Mordaunt Short Hifi speakers or Genelec monitors. 
fine for studio volume. 

[Owen]

9 hours ago, casapete said:

Completely forgot that on smallish gigs I use my electro acoustic straight into a small

PA - Yamaha 512 mixer amp and a pair of old Bose 802’s. Love it.

I used to gig a Boogie D180 through a Bose 802. I enjoyed it. 

[Frank Blank]

I use a QSC K12.2 via a HX Stomp and the guitarist in our duo plays through a QSC K10.2 just plugged straight in.

[WinterMute]

20 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

I use a QSC K12.2 via a HX Stomp and the guitarist in our duo plays through a QSC K10.2 just plugged straight in.

Yup, that was my rig for a while now have the Quad Cortex into the K12.2, it's absolutely perfect for rehearsals and the like, I've even taken to recording it for a bit of room.

 

The RCF and FBT variants are equally good, and anything with a decent sub is going to move serious air.

[Owen]

I am using a Sadowsky pedal into QSC K10.2 and unless I wanted to fight with a drummer I would not carry anything else.

[Nebadon2000]

I did Sound for my Original Band [not a soundman; so did my homework/research]; I could never get Bass Tone I was content with, only acceptable through PA

 

We used IEM's/wireless and I could get CD/Studio Quality mix; helped keep us super tight and Singer loved it.

 

We had 2 Powered Mackie 15" with Horns and 18"  EV Powered Sub.

 

So after a few Gigs I used my SWR Head into 4x10 Goliath Cabinet and put in middle of 2 Mackie's and lowered xover on Sub to 60hz and below and only went to board for IEM

Finally Satisfaction not just bass but whole mix out of FOH.

 

But with Last Band I played with [Cover] we did a Local Festival and my Bass tone from FOH by Sound team was best I ever heard it along with great tone from powered monitor in front of me.

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by Nebadon2000

[JoeEvans]

21 hours ago, Owen said:

I am using a Sadowsky pedal into QSC K10.2 and unless I wanted to fight with a drummer I would not carry anything else.

What would you recommend carrying for a fight with a drummer? Always good to be prepared. One of those tranquilliser dart guns that vets use could be handy, I'd have thought.

[Boodang]

58 minutes ago, JoeEvans said:

What would you recommend carrying for a fight with a drummer? Always good to be prepared. One of those tranquilliser dart guns that vets use could be handy, I'd have thought.

Bare in mind that one of the drumming fundamentals is throwing sharpened drum sticks at recalcitrant band members!

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, JoeEvans said:

What would you recommend carrying for a fight with a drummer? Always good to be prepared. One of those tranquilliser dart guns that vets use could be handy, I'd have thought.

 

Arrange for the fight to be in a remote and secluded place that the drummer doesn't know, and give them a map showing them how to get there. After all, it's always best to avoid a fight if you can. If you value the drummer, put a tracker on their phone. If not, some hikers may discover the body in a year or two.