Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Is a 2x10 350 watt bass combo amp loud enough for practice and gigs? Note: We're talking loud music here...competing with double bass and a Mesa stack.

Absolutely, as long as it is quality gear and not some Chinese knockoff amp with Radio Shack speakers. These things rip:
http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... =BX250-210

No way. 10's just can't deliver no matter how good they are against 12's or 15's. Unless you roll off all the bass. But I guess the best way to find out is to try it.

TheJohnny7Band wrote:Absolutely, as long as it is quality gear and not some Chinese knockoff amp with Radio Shack speakers. These things rip:
http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... =BX250-210

that's a sweet looking rig. micro-amps seem to be getting popular. I've been seeing more and more of those lunch-box sized amps in stores,

like the VOX
http://www.voxamps.com/us/modernclassic/lilnighttrain/

and Carvin's
http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... roduct=V3M

Was gonna try one out last month, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

cheers,
chris

Kruliosis wrote:Is a 2x10 350 watt bass combo amp loud enough for practice and gigs? Note: We're talking loud music here...competing with double bass and a Mesa stack.

When I run my stack our bassist brings his 8x10 Hartke and a Hartke head I think its like 500 watts.

When i run a half stack he gets by with a 4x10 cab.

When I run one of my combos he will bring a 2x10 cab.

He uses the same head for all of them.

Honestly if you are playing loud against a Mesa Stack I think you need more paper(speakers) than 2x10, but thats just my opinion.

Kruliosis wrote:Is a 2x10 350 watt bass combo amp loud enough for practice and gigs? Note: We're talking loud music here...competing with double bass and a Mesa stack.

I use a Peavey BAM. It's great for practice at 350W and jumps to 500W on top of my 810.

IMO no matter how many 10 inch speakers you have they just don't give you the same bottom end that one 15 inch speaker puts out. If it's a question of pure volume then sure a bunch of tens might be loud enough, but as a matter of taste I don't like or maybe better put, I don't "feel" the bottom with 10's. Give me a good 15 inch speaker for bass any day. Perhaps if you're a guitar player plaing bass then maybe 10's sound better to you. I understand that. You'll probably play higher notes on the neck than I do. But when you play say an open E string on bass thru 10's where's the bottom? I guess it all boils down to how you play and what you want it to sound like. I play deep and I want people to FEEL the bottom. Just what I prefer I guess...

Eric, our bassist, won't hear of anything less than 15's .
( he also feels that 18's have no sonic advantage over the 15's for our application )

" We ( bass and drums ) are moving mass amounts of air. "
He told me one day as we discussed changing our our bass system monitors.

He's been playing since before the Vietnam war.

I see no reason to argue with him.

I think a micro would be cool as an amp as long as it feeds the bass PA into those four 15's.

fisherman bob wrote:IMO no matter how many 10 inch speakers you have they just don't give you the same bottom end that one 15 inch speaker puts out. If it's a question of pure volume then sure a bunch of tens might be loud enough, but as a matter of taste I don't like or maybe better put, I don't "feel" the bottom with 10's. Give me a good 15 inch speaker for bass any day. Perhaps if you're a guitar player plaing bass then maybe 10's sound better to you. I understand that. You'll probably play higher notes on the neck than I do. But when you play say an open E string on bass thru 10's where's the bottom? I guess it all boils down to how you play and what you want it to sound like. I play deep and I want people to FEEL the bottom. Just what I prefer I guess...

I Can't argue with any thing this guy says when it comes to a great bass sound.
I still can't believe he brought in a fifty million pound carp by just singing "Another one bites the dust".

GlenJ wrote:I still can't believe he brought in a fifty million pound carp by just singing "Another one bites the dust".

maybe they were flying carp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Bf0Whv ... re=related

fisherman bob wrote:IMO no matter how many 10 inch speakers you have they just don't give you the same bottom end that one 15 inch speaker puts out. If it's a question of pure volume then sure a bunch of tens might be loud enough, but as a matter of taste I don't like or maybe better put, I don't "feel" the bottom with 10's. Give me a good 15 inch speaker for bass any day. Perhaps if you're a guitar player plaing bass then maybe 10's sound better to you. I understand that. You'll probably play higher notes on the neck than I do. But when you play say an open E string on bass thru 10's where's the bottom? I guess it all boils down to how you play and what you want it to sound like. I play deep and I want people to FEEL the bottom. Just what I prefer I guess...

Yep it just depends on what you want. 210 cabs can be very loud (130db) and portable but most are tuned to around 60hz so if you need really big bottom or play a 5 string they wont give you much down to the low B. 15s are usually tuned to around 45 Hz and 18s around 36Hz so the more massive bottom you want, the larger cabs you need. This guys rig has some serious bottom:
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/bass/bass8602.html

For bass I've got a 200 watt Working Man SWR with a 2x10 cabinet but it also has a 15" cabinet as well. I've found that I need it all and to keep with a guitarist blowing through a stack of anything good I might need more.

Talbot

Hmmm, this kinda sucks cause I really like the amp. It's a Hartke. Those speakers are designed for clarity and bottom end. I know they'll cut through the mix for sure. Aluminum/paper cones sound brilliant!

I prefer a sharp sound on my bass, but I love a good punchy low end too. My Warwick is really good for all kinds of tones.

Good thing is the amp has an extension on it, so I can get a 15 later...or maybe the band will let me combine it with the 15 I'm using at practice already.

I've noticed that Hartke mostly usies 10's on most of their cabs. I was looking at the new Ampeg 15 combos, but there's far too many complaints about them rattling and not working after a year...cause they're made in China these days. I'm thinking my Juice Box bass overdrive will help give it that beasty sound(the Hartke).

I'm not playing my bass like a guitar either. I've been pretty consistent on the bass for the past 10 years. For me, it's about being percussive with the drummer and staying in key with the guitarist. I keep the bottom end flowing. We're tuned down pretty low too...not Death Metal low. I think they had me tuned to C?

Playing Metal AND drop tuning to "C" ??? Yes, you will need a large 15 cab that is tuned pretty low. Maybe 40Hz at least. The 210s will add lots of punch and definition but drop tuning requires a really big fat bottom end don't you think?

This looks like it is tuned pretty low and might be a good match for your 210 combo. Time to go shopping?
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-HAR-115BXL-LIST

absolutetly not!even at 600 watts you`ll have problems especially if you`re playing indoors.playing outside the drums lose alot of volume but indoors they become canons.you`ll have to go at the very least with 1000 watts.you don`t want to push it `cos then it`ll distort.it`s the old saying better to have it (power) and not need it than to need it and not have.the only way you can get away with 300 watts is if your being miked.