Looking for a good cab

[theotherguy]

Well, I've been playing guitar for a while now, and my band has started getting bigger and better gigs.

So far, I've just had a small 15W vox amp and pedal which have served me well thus far, but on-stage you cannot hear it at all, and even during practices I have to turn it all the way up to hear myself with the rest of the band.

So I've been thinking about getting a moderately powerful cab to plug my pedal and/or amp so that I can be better heard and monitored on stage, as well as being able to hear myself better during band practices.

I'm looking for something under $300, and with a power of at least 100 watts.

Any suggestions?

 

[Markdude]

Cabinets are passive. They don't generate power, they handle power. If a cab has a rating of 100 watts, that means the speakers in it can safely handle up to 100 watts of power. A head (or power amp) is what actually generates the power (and amplifies the signal), so if you can't hear yourself with the amp you've got now, a new cabinet isn't going to do much. If it's bigger, it may spread the sound out a bit more. And depending on what type of speakers are in it, it may be brighter and slightly more easily heard. But the bottom line is that if you're not getting enough volume out of your amp/head/rack, a new cabinet isn't going to help.

 

[Markdude]

BTW, if you're playing in reasonably nice venues (ie: not a local run-down bar), you may not really need to worry about buying new and bigger gear if you're happy with the tone you're getting. Any venue that's worth its salt should have a decent PA system, and any soundman worth his salt is going to mic all the instruments (and/or run the bass direct through the PA system). So if you're playing a decent gig and your amp is miked and you still can't hear yourself, talk to the soundman and tell him to turn your mic up in the monitors, or possibly invest in a nice pair of in-ear monitors (this can help to save protect your hearing as well).

 

[Fliko]

300$, and 100 watts? You'll just get a really shitty amp unless you get lucky and find a nice used one for that, but I doubt it.
Is the Vox a tube amp? Then it should be plenty loud.

And watts don't necessarily = loudness.
To get double the loudness of a 50 watt amp, you need to get a 500 watt amp for example. If you look on the internet see if you can find people who switched out speakers and see what effect they got, a more efficient speaker will make your amp plenty loud.

I'd suggest you save up for a 30 watt tube amp (or possibly a 60 watt DeVille Fender. Good tube amp for the price)

 

[Shift]

As markdude said, if you like the tone of your current amp just blast it through a PA by mic'ing it up. But I got a very good VOX head and cab for about 400 pounds (which is about 500-600 dollers?) second-hand boasting at around 100 watts, with a wide range of its effects and amp settings. Depends what you are looking for really.

 

[theotherguy]

Well crap, I didn't know any of this.

Heads are so expensive though... and I don't want another combo amp. Maybe I'll just buy a set of PA speakers.

 

[Fliko]

Well crap, I didn't know any of this.

Heads are so expensive though... and I don't want another combo amp. Maybe I'll just buy a set of PA speakers.

Aye, usually places that have gigs regularly have a PA system you can mic up on, and if they do all you need is your microphone of choice and a decent (sturdy) microphone stand. (Generally the choice of a microphone for micing a guitar amp is a Shure SM57).
Here's a thread that tells you a little bit about micing a guitar amp
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=229421

With an amp miced to a PA system, anything is loud enough, and like I said, if you search around on the internet for your amp and if people tried putting different speakers in it, maybe they found a speaker that is efficient with the GUITAR AMP (I fixed it), or you can go try different speakers. This will effect your tone a bit, but it can possibly make the amp MUCH MUCH louder.

You also need a preamp for the PA Speakers to work, they aren't too much though.

 

[Markdude]

Aye, usually places that have gigs regularly have a PA system you can mic up on, and if they do all you need is your microphone of choice and a decent (sturdy) microphone stand. (Generally the choice of a microphone for micing a guitar amp is a Shure SM57).
Here's a thread that tells you a little bit about micing a guitar amp
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=229421

With an amp miced to a PA system, anything is loud enough, and like I said, if you search around on the internet for your amp and if people tried putting different speakers in it, maybe they found a speaker that is efficient with the GUITAR AMP (I fixed it), or you can go try different speakers. This will effect your tone a bit, but it can possibly make the amp MUCH MUCH louder.

You also need a preamp for the PA Speakers to work, they aren't too much though.

I second this advice. If you buy an SM57 and a mic stand, you should be good to go. The Sennheiser E609 is a pretty good choice of mic as well. To be blunt, if you're playing gigs at places that are so ghetto they don't even have a PA, your band probably won't sound good no matter what kind of amp you have.

 

[Markdude]

Also, if you buy your own PA gear, just speakers isn't going to work. Aside from obviously having mics, you'll need a preamp and power amp (however, they're also commonly sold in heads, like guitar amps) or else your speakers aren't going to be amplifying anything.

Buying a small, cheap PA might be a good idea for band practices, but if you're looking to purchase a PA rig to bring to shows when the venue doesn't have one, you're probably not going to get very good results without spending a lot of dough. Not to mention that PA systems can be a huge pain in the ass to haul around.

My advice would be to start booking gigs at better venues, and to possibly invest in a cheap PA for practices, honestly. I know it's easier said than done, but a PA system is a must for venues that have rock bands.

 

[Shift]

Aye deffo try and get a PA for your practice room, for a start I dont know how you would practice vocals without a PA anyway lol, we got a PA and mixing desk for ourselves before we started practising at all.

 

[theotherguy]

Aye deffo try and get a PA for your practice room, for a start I dont know how you would practice vocals without a PA anyway lol, we got a PA and mixing desk for ourselves before we started practising at all.

We do vocals by routing his voice through headphones and the amp of our keyboardist. We usually can't hear him at all without putting on headphones. I sometimes use headphones, but it detracts from my timing because I can't hear the rest of the instruments with them on.