Do you multiple cabs from the same company, what do you have & why?

[joel406]

Mesa Boogie. I tried all the new Subway line. I loved the D-800+. So, I keep 2 on hand. For cabs I have a pair of Subway 212s. And a pair of Subway 410s. I also have a custom built Epifani UL 901. I was a GK junkie for decades, but their new line was terrible. So, I tried Mesa. Now I'm good.

[Ed_S]

I owned multiple Ashdown cabs back in the day, but that was because I was experimenting with different speaker sizes before I knew better. It wasn't brand loyalty - it was just all you could buy in local shops.

 

These days I own multiple Barefaced cabs based on the progression...

 

Super 12 - Bought because everybody said it was the one cab to do pretty much any gig. It was. It still is.

G2 Midget - Bought because it's half a Super 12 and sometimes that's all you need. Also vertical 3x12 potential.

One10 #1 - Received as a birthday gift.

One10 #2 - Bought to make a pair with the first one so it was any use to me.

Two10 - Bought to give me the same sound as the pair of One10s in a one-hand-carry format. Also vertical 4x10 potential.

 

I don't know whether it's brand loyalty as such - more just that they engineer light cabs that perform well and look acceptable in a utilitarian kind of way, and if something goes wrong they sort it out.

[gjones]

I've bought 3 barefaced cabs over the years. I initially bought a second generation Compact, then due to financial issues had to sell it. Once I was out of my financial downturn I bought another Compact which I still have. I also bought a Super Compact, as I thought that it would be an improvement on the original but soon realised that it just didn't have the output of the original 15 inch speaker version and sold it recently. 

 

 

Edited Friday at 09:46 by gjones

[Bernmeister]

I would class myself as being brand loyal. 
I’ve owned Swr bass cabs, for the last 25 + years.

At one point I used to own 4 x 2x10 goliath juniors, but now I’m down to two.

Just love the bottom end punch & the famous Swr sizzle at the top end.

 It’s a sound that I’m used to, especially when playing live, the sound just cuts through. 

Used to own their amps too, but these have been moved on. 

[PaulWarning]

I picked up a pair of Fender V2's designed to go together 2 x 8 and a 1 x 10 off ebay, nano drivers so only 13 kg each and sound good, can't see me changing them

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I went for simplicity & low weight in my previous band so gigged with a single Schroeder 1212L. My current band already owned an Ashdown stack when I joined, so I use their cabs, an ABM210 & an ABM115, with my own Ashdown ABM600 Evo iv which I bought as their existing evo ii had a few quirks.

[gazhowe]

I have two Bergantino cabs, an AE410 and an NXT212. I don't need multiple rigs but I've been so impressed with Bergantino since buying the AE410 then a B|Amp I bought a NXT212 when they came out as I was curious about trying a 212.
 

I'd happily gig with either cab but the NXT212 is my part of my gig rig. Since I've started using iem's (with backline) for gigs and a Boss WAZA Air for home practice I can't envisage a situation where I'd need two cabs again, although it's currently nice to have them  

[tubbybloke68]

[tubbybloke68]

1 hour ago, tubbybloke68 said:

I very rarely need to use both, but it’s a very nice luxury to have when I do decide to take both.

[snorkie635]

Eden 4x10 and 1x18 with Aguilar DB751 for louder

 

Euphonic Audio 12" x2 with i-amp 800 or Aguilar TH700 for quieter

 

Line 6 Studio 10 for "Shhhhhhhhh!"

[BassmanPaul]

Just popped in to reiterate that a 1x15 is a terrible pairing with a 4x10. The 1x15 will not handle the power that that the 4x10 would cruise with and the 4x10 will be able to produce more lows than a single 15. 

[SimonK]

48 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said:

Just popped in to reiterate that a 1x15 is a terrible pairing with a 4x10. The 1x15 will not handle the power that that the 4x10 would cruise with and the 4x10 will be able to produce more lows than a single 15. 

 

...and yet the combination sounds so good!

[BassmanPaul]

48 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

...and yet the combination sounds so good!

I've not found that to be so. A pair of good 4x10s produce more lows than any 15 + 4x10.

[Beedster]

On 04/03/2025 at 08:19, jazzyvee said:

Are you brand loyal?

My first dive into bass cabs was Mesa Powerhouse. I ended up with a 4x10, 2x10 and 1x15 of which the most used was the 4x10. 

Sold those and replaced them with Barefaced due to better low end performance, weight saving and as i found out, my ears heard better sound quality.

BTII,

BBII,

DUBSTER 2,

LF800.

Initially i was looking at the first dubster after speaking to BF and they were going to loan me one to try out but the bassie from UB40 was still using it on loan. So i later got a BTII..

Main cab is still the BTII, then BBII singularly or  in combination with Dubster if not in the PA on an outdoor reggae gig. LF800 so far has only used with my EUB and schertler Unico.

So i guess i'm brand loyal and could see me adding a One10T at some point.

 

Mesa Diesel 1x15, 2x12 and 106 (essentialy the top half of a 1516). Awesome cabs and yes, I'm very brand loyal 👍

[SimonK]

9 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

I've not found that to be so. A pair of good 4x10s produce more lows than any 15 + 4x10.

 

So I've gone down the route of 4 or six (occassionally eight) 10s for quite a few years, and then got my hands on a 15 about a year ago and had forgotten the different tone you get from it - so over the last few months I've used the combination in the picture below which to me sounds pretty good (albeit the amp isn't close to full volume). Oh and they are both Trace Elliots just without the badges as I don't like them being sideways! Also the 2103x (top cab) has been specifically voiced to complement a 15 cab - so maybe this is cheating?

 

[NancyJohnson]

I have a pair of Darkglass 1x12s.

 

Why?  Small, lightweight, capable.  Can double up to make a 2x12.  

 

It's really just unnecessary (for me) to go bigger.

 

No brand loyalty whatsoever.

[BigRedX]

14 hours ago, SimonK said:

...and yet the combination sounds so good!

 

How so? You can't define the sound of any cab from the number and diameter of the drivers it contains.

 

Every cab sounds different. That has always been my experience when I have owned cabs with the same driver configuration made by different companies. If they didn't sound different there would be not point in having multiple manufacturers all offering supposed similar cabs. And it wasn't surprising that my similar cabs sounded different. They had different internal volumes. The porting was different. They had different brands of driver, probably with different specifications, inside. The only thing that was the same was that they had the same number and size of drivers. 

 

So why are we so hung up on the driver configuration when it says almost nothing about the sound and performance of the cab?

[Beedster]

1 minute ago, BigRedX said:

 

How so? You can't define the sound of any cab from the number and diameter of the drivers it contains.

 

Every cab sounds different. That has always been my experience when I have owned cabs with the same driver configuration made by different companies. If they didn't sound different there would be not point in having multiple manufacturers all offering supposed similar cabs. And it wasn't surprising that my similar cabs sounded different. They had different internal volumes. The porting was different. They had different brands of driver, probably with different specifications, inside. The only thing that was the same was that they had the same number and size of drivers. 

 

So why are we so hung up on the driver configuration when it says almost nothing about the sound and performance of the cab?

 

Indeed, the old quantity versus quality debate rears its head again.

 

I was gigging recently through my Ashdown Drophead, which has a lot of tubes and a lovely fat and full tone through the 15" cab, exactly the sound I was looking for. A fellow bassist - who I know really well and who's a lovely guy - came up and said something along the lines, "Your bass sounds really dull, muddy, and boomy". We all have a sound in our head and we all have different ways of achieving it, and as is the case with basses, no matter which model/configuration we use, we often end up getting close to that sound, one person playing a PJB cab with 4x5" speakers can make it sound more like a 15" cab than another player actually using a 15" cab. The science and numbers are really helpful guides, but they're far from the whole story

[thodrik]

I have a couple of Mesa cabs, a 1x15 Scout and a 6x10 Powerhouse. 

Nobody needs a 6x10. It is just silly, unnecessary and impractical for gigging (too heavy and too loud). I bought it as a bargain 'bucket list' purchase for my garage studio. 

 

the 1x15 Walkabout Scout combo has done about 60% of my gigs since 2009. Great workhorse cab, though the design is a bit cumbersome and dated now (a modern 1x12 will go louder and lower and be much lighter). 

I used to have multiple Trace Elliot cabs, I had a Peavey era 2x10 and 1x15 to use as my 'big amp' set up. Good but not great cabs, I sold the 2x10 and still use the 1x15 occasionally. To be fair the 1x15 is still in perfect working order despite being on tour multiple times so I must admit the build quality is really good if nothing else.

I really don't change set ups much. I have bought one cabinet since 2009 and it was the 6x10.

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, thodrik said:

Nobody needs a 6x10. It is just silly, unnecessary and impractical for gigging (too heavy and too loud)

 

Mouth meet soap, now off you go and do the necessary. This is Basschat, not Sensibledecisionchat, have you not read the T&Cs? 

[SimonK]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

So why are we so hung up on the driver configuration when it says almost nothing about the sound and performance of the cab?

 

...coz this is an internet forum and we have to talk about something!

 

Thus said the least helpful advice I find on this forum is "what cab (or speaker size/combination) should I use" as I agree - you need to plug them in and play them rather than obsessing about specs. Amps, pedals and basses, however, seem more able to be described using words.

Edited 3 hours ago by SimonK

[thodrik]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

 

Mouth meet soap, now off you go and do the necessary. This is Basschat, not Sensibledecisionchat, have you not read the T&Cs? 

I did, right after I committed to buying a 6x10 cabinet on the Basschat marketplace and started to wonder how I would transport it from Blackpool to the Orkney Islands. 

[police squad]

28 minutes ago, thodrik said:

I did, right after I committed to buying a 6x10 cabinet on the Basschat marketplace and started to wonder how I would transport it from Blackpool to the Orkney Islands. 

this will be after, you've 'licked road clean, wit tongue'🤣

 

[dclaassen]

3 hours ago, Beedster said:

 

Indeed, the old quantity versus quality debate rears its head again.

 

I was gigging recently through my Ashdown Drophead, which has a lot of tubes and a lovely fat and full tone through the 15" cab, exactly the sound I was looking for. A fellow bassist - who I know really well and who's a lovely guy - came up and said something along the lines, "Your bass sounds really dull, muddy, and boomy". We all have a sound in our head and we all have different ways of achieving it, and as is the case with basses, no matter which model/configuration we use, we often end up getting close to that sound, one person playing a PJB cab with 4x5" speakers can make it sound more like a 15" cab than another player actually using a 15" cab. The science and numbers are really helpful guides, but they're far from the whole story

….tone is in your fingers….ducks