Which is more important, the amp or the cab ?

[essexbasscat]

As it says on the tin, which one gets more of your attention, the amp or the cab ?

Discuss........

[rOB]

for me, its the amp.

The amp really colours the sound going from the DI into the PA and the cabinet is really only onstage monitoring

If I didn't have always have PA support things might be different.

[MacDaddy]

Amp. If it has a DI you can still gig and have some control over the sound, and if it has a line out or phones out you can still practise at home.

Or just get a combo.

[gjones]

You can have the best amp in the world but if you've got a farting cheapo cab you'll still get a rotten sound. They are both important but if you're putting a low end amp (as long as it's got a decent amount of power) through a decent set of speakers you'll get a better sound than putting a high end amp through a set of cheap speakers that break up at volume.
In the 90's I had a horrible calsbro stingray combo which sounded totally awful through the nasty cardboard speakers it had but actually sounded surprisingly good when I put it through the 2x15 ohm speaker cab of a friend of mine. If money is an issue go for a decent set of speakers it's definitely money well spent.

Edited August 28, 2011 by gjones

[chris_b]

+1.

It is not ideal for either to be bad, but I’ll vote for a good cab. A good amp through a bad cab will just sound bad. A bad amp through a good cab at least has a chance of sounding ok.

[ThomBassmonkey]

If you have a good amp you'll sound good through a PA and if you're cab sharing at a gig then you'll be using an amp that you're used to. You also get bonuses of a decent EQ and channels if your head has them.

if you have a crap head, your good cab is polishing a turd. Not that it'll matter because every time you use another band's cab for speed you'll only be using your own cheap head and the DI from your cheap head will ruin the sound for the audience, whatever your cab sounds like.

[CPBassman]

In my experience you can have the best amp in the world but if you aint got enough cab for it to push then your faffed. Ive been through the small and light phase and am now happily entrenched in the 'big cab - big sound' world with all its pitfalls.

To answer the question I would argue that in order to get a big phat bass sound, you need a cab to match!! Its all balance really

I vote Cab!!

[chrismuzz]

Definately the cab! You can dial in most sounds on most heads but if your cab isn't up to scratch you're stuck

[witterth]

[quote name='chrismuzz' post='1354410' date='Aug 28 2011, 03:49 PM']Definately the cab! You can dial in most sounds on most heads but if your cab isn't up to scratch you're stuck[/quote]
cab + another.
if you dont feel good about what you hear, its pretty hard to play with any conviction. and thats the key to it all.

[chrismuzz]

Definately! If you don't like your tone it's very off-putting... Or maybe I'm a fussy git

[deepbass5]

Cab first, then amp to match its Spec.

[chrismuzz]

Even cosmetically the cab is more important, that's what everyone sees most of the time

[TimR]

I bought my cab before I bought my amp.

While both [i]can[/i] colour the sound a lot the cab cannot be adjusted (unless it has a tweeter level) so you are pretty much stuck with that colouration.

Amps [i]can[/i] be set fairly flat and while it's unusual to find one that is totally transparent you should be able to adjsut the EQ on [i]most[/i] of them to produce some sort of usable sound.

Edited August 28, 2011 by TimR

[Lozz196]

Cab.

Get a cab/cabs that don`t colour the sound of your amp - unless that`s what you`re after of course. My Barefaced cabs really emit the Ampeg-ness of my amp very nicely.

Must admit, I had the amp first, as love the Ampeg sound. Just needed cabs that I could lift due to back problems. Cab I had before was really great, but even at 52 lbs, was becoming a problem. Read stacks about how both the performance, and how Barefaced cabs didn`t colour the sound, so got a couple - and very pleased that I did.

So with my two cabs costing £830 (one was used, new would be £1100) to my amp at £350 -puts me in the "cab camp".

[Spike Vincent]

Tricky. If you're going through a PA then the cab doesn't really affect the sound (unless it's miked up,and who does that any more),but if you're not going through a PA then the cab becomes important.

[witterth]

[quote name='Spike Vincent' post='1354540' date='Aug 28 2011, 05:39 PM']Tricky. If you're going through a PA then the cab doesn't really affect the sound (unless it's miked up,and who does that any more),but if you're not going through a PA then the cab becomes important.[/quote]
Quote"if you dont feel good about what you hear, its pretty hard to play with any conviction. and thats the key to it all." Unquote
few venues have good monitors, and this "in ear" stuff is pretty much naff,at the moment.

IMO

[Spike Vincent]

[quote name='witterth' post='1354553' date='Aug 28 2011, 05:46 PM']Quote"if you dont feel good about what you hear, its pretty hard to play with any conviction. and thats the key to it all." Unquote
few venues have good monitors, and this "in ear" stuff is pretty much naff,at the moment.

IMO[/quote]
True enough,I think that applies equally to both amp and cab.

[mrtcat]

Speakers are the windows for your sound. If they're crap then your sound will be pretty poor. Use a Sansamp when you need a di for PA time if your amp can't cut it.

Cabs all the way for me.

[essexbasscat]

Majority opinion seems to be swinging towards cabs in this topic.

Reflected on this a for a bit. Anyone else noticed there seem to be more threads discussing the pros and cons of amps than threads discussing cabs ?

Just a thought......

[Spike Vincent]

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='1354750' date='Aug 28 2011, 09:12 PM']Majority opinion seems to be swinging towards cabs in this topic.

Reflected on this a for a bit. Anyone else noticed there seem to be more threads discussing the pros and cons of amps than threads discussing cabs ?

Just a thought......[/quote]


I suppose it's because there's more fiddly bits to play with on amps? I remain undecided,they're both important.

[TimR]

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='1354750' date='Aug 28 2011, 09:12 PM']Majority opinion seems to be swinging towards cabs in this topic.

Reflected on this a for a bit. Anyone else noticed there seem to be more threads discussing the pros and cons of amps than threads discussing cabs ?

Just a thought......[/quote]

I think people understand cabs less. They just go for a 4x10" or a 1x15" that will go with their choice of amp power. After all 10s are more punchy and 15s have more bottom don't they

[MrRatty]

PA has to be ignored otherwise the question becomes meaningless.

Imagine the best amp in the world playing though a 1 inch laptop speaker ... my mind says bad sound.

Imagine a weedy mobile phone amplifier driving your dream stack of speakers ... again bad sound.

So I think both are important.

[Billy Apple]

It's a catch 22 question, and no matter what you post it's both the right and the wrong answer. I reckon the best thing is to buy the best that you can afford at the time. I think with separates it's important to match the speaker with the amp, in both terms of magnet , ohms and watts. I've got a Matamp GT200 with 2x 212 Matamp cabs rated at 400 watts each. The standard driver is a Celestion neo (at 600 watts per cab), but I opted to have ferrite drivers fitted, giving a much warmer old school tone, Although these would not be the the choice of an Alembic playing slapper (speed of magnet movement due to mass or something?).

The whole cab weight thing is something that affects the over 40's (myself included) this is why I opted for 212 over a 412. In my youth I used to throw around a Marshall 412, but alas those days are long gone. Although the GT200 head weighs a f**cking ton.

Anyway, in answer to your question 'Which is more important, the amp or the cab?' Hmmm, I dunno, what kind of Bass ya got?

[JTUK]

I'd say amp.. although there are good and GOOD amps.

But a poor signal anywhere in the chain is going to hurt you.
I think a lot of sound problems start with the bass sound being poor..and then you find people pile money into the amp and cab..and it is a game of catch-up that you never really win.

[Thurbs]

For me...

Rock and pop gigs, I think it is all too easy to get sucked in ones own little world about worrying about the bass tone. Yes it is important, but IMHO most people just remember the vocal performance and maybe the lead guitar. I put all my thought in to buying a decent pre-amp and then the rest goes on the PA. And the comment about IEM's not really cutting it? Get yourself some moulded IEMs and be prepared to hear every mistake everyone makes now you are not completely defined by the mush and shriek of the backline. Moulded IEMs are as expensive as a cheap 200w amp and if you value your hearing and the performance of the whole band, they are invaluable.

Folk and Jazz, especially instrumentals, backline becomes more important, but then if you have a decent PA for above then this problem sort of solves it's self!