WTF? Bass AMPS, WATTS and OHMS finally explained!
Hey Bass Squad. I have been wanting to do a video on this for quite a while. The whole business of buying a Bass Rig and pairing the right Cabs and Head together can get so complicated! So I have done my best to explain it to you guys as simply as possible after getting the question sent to me through my facebook page.
I hope you guys enjoy the lesson and found it helpful. Watch out for new videos coming soon.
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And thanks to Chedely and Zeke for the question for this video.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpk6CYQO8dODeP5yZyjt8eg
#WTF #Bass #AMPS #WATTS #OHMS #finally #explained
Originally posted by UCd4Cg_wic8JvzwHLP3QgiRA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEpRlRN1sNA
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i have a peavy 400 series bass head. what kind of cab setup should i go for ?
I'm now more confused.
this is like zaza
Thanks bro!!! ????
Why not just use the 410 for the small venue with the volume backed off, the 410 for the medium venue with more volume, and two 410’s for larger venues. FWIW, I acquired this 410 recently. The amp is 1000 W and is on back order till December ‘24. Hopefully that’s just a placeholder. I think the head you’re using is the 800W tube head. I’m not so sure on the tubes. Have you done a discussion on tube vs. solid state?
I have a MESA 8 10’s Bass cab that has the parallel out that you mentioned and I would usually put workingman’s 410s behind the Drummer . What a great thing that MESA has included in those old cabinets, I wonder if they still do.
Great explanation! Thanks
Most amps will just burn their power supply if you push them below rated impedance. They will not just shut down! Those protections are not as common and also less efective! Just simple NEVER go below rated impedance as you can actually burn it's power supply even at half volume!
ive been playing mark bass gear for ten years i have a 800 tube head plus two 8ohmn cabs always have daisy chained cabs,even mark bass suggest this in there manual,cheers
What’s the best Mark Bass head for a Mark Bass (2) 10 cab with a Mark Bass 15 on the bottom? Both ratted at 8ohm 400w each.
please, What does SHarp mean.?
I finally understood the 8/4 ohm cabs difference. I've watched several videos in a row from different creators and this one is only one that made sense. Thank you Clay!
Reeespect!
???? Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 ???? Introducción al mundo de amplificadores de bajo
– Explicación de la complejidad al comprar un equipo de bajo.
– Dos opciones al comprar un amplificador: combos prearmados o emparejar una cabeza y un gabinete por separado.
– Pros y contras de los combos, destacando la versatilidad frente al peso.
02:49 ???? Potencia, vatios y ohmios en amplificadores de bajo
– Diferencia entre la potencia en el cabezal del amplificador y la potencia en el gabinete.
– Explicación de los vatios y su relación con la capacidad de salida del amplificador.
– Introducción a la clasificación de ohmios y su importancia en la conexión de cabezales y gabinetes.
04:11 ⚡ Impedancia: Factor crucial en la configuración del amplificador
– Analogía de la impedancia como la resistencia en un grifo de agua.
– Advertencia sobre los riesgos de operar un amplificador por debajo de 4 ohmios.
– Peligros de no comprender y respetar la impedancia adecuada para el amplificador y los altavoces.
06:03 ???? Conexión de gabinetes en configuración paralela o en serie
– Elección entre gabinetes de 8 ohmios o 4 ohmios y su impacto en la impedancia total.
– Aclaración sobre no conectar gabinetes en serie para evitar la pérdida de potencia.
– Recomendación de conectar gabinetes en paralelo para mantener una impedancia segura y obtener la potencia total del amplificador.
08:36 ????️ Configuración personalizada del equipo de bajo
– Ejemplo personal del setup de Clay con un cabezal de 800 vatios y dos gabinetes de 8 ohmios.
– Desafío al emparejar gabinetes de diferentes potencias y cómo enfrentarlo.
– Solución ingeniosa con un dispositivo personalizado para equilibrar la distribución de potencia entre los gabinetes.
13:56 ???? Conclusiones y recomendaciones finales
– Recapitulación de los conceptos clave: potencia, impedancia y conexión de gabinetes.
– Consejo sobre la importancia de elegir cuidadosamente los gabinetes según las necesidades del músico.
– Invitación a plantear preguntas adicionales en los comentarios y referencia a otros videos relacionados.
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Another Clay here!
If you daisy chain the cab that is getting too much power would that work? I had bass rig I put together that consisted of a Peavy 18" sub cabinet, EV 15"x10" cab powered by Gallien Krueger 700rb. Ran a Fender Bassman 4×10 that I rigged to only use 2×10 and took out two speakers and the tweeter. Pretty awesome sounding but never got the chance to test the limit of the power before it was stolen. Any thoughts on the potential problems being set up this way
When you say that you are running the two speakers in parallel do you mean in two separate speakon sockets at the back of the amp , if you do a lot of amps only have one socket so what do you do then ? Sorry if I’m being thick lol
My Question that I have, I have the Peavey Mini Mega 1000WT Head, I'm about to purchase the Markbass MB58R 122 Energy 800wt 8 ohm and the MB58R 104 Pure 800wt 8 ohm. Can this setup work normally with the Mini Mega head?? Somebody told me it can. But not a professional, So I'm asking this question before purchasing.
I’ve been playing bass for decades and never understood this until this fantastic video! Thanks man!
"Impedance increaser"? – REactive Load Box.
What’s wrong with your eye?
Cant see the sense in having a 4×10 and a 2×10 running together. You would be better off using a 1×15 paired with the quad.
But hey thats just me… I guess.
I am not aware of any cabinet on the market currently, that has a series output, so this is sort of bad information
thanks for explaining
I am an electrical engineer and missed the math
my rig includes a 2/12 and a 2/10, both with a tweeter
two heads and a passive mixer to drive both amps and
control the balance between the two combined rigs
for sound changes after setup only the onboard EQ on my bass is used
some more combinations possible
first rig I built contained 19" gear:
Rack Tuner,
19" dual compressor,
active crossover
five band parametric EQ
stero power amp
the two mentioned cabinets
too heavy and less versatile compared to my current setup
thanks for your good work
So if in got this right lol.
I Run a Peavey Minimax 500 watt. To get 500 watt max power. I could use 2 8;ohm cabs . Rated to handle 500 watts or more?
This was great. When I was a kid playing bass back in the 70s, I used to beat my head against the wall after blowing up bass cabs.
I now have EV’s an old SWR basic 350. Burgundy face. It’s good down to two ohms, has a tube pre for warm sound, and you can find them for about 300 bucks all over the place. It’s a steal, grab one if you can. 450 watts at two ohms.
What if your amp say 2 × 400 watt @4 ohm parallel?
I have a Dark glass head and it has a 2 ohm setting. Can I run a 2.6 load? 8 and 4 ohm cabs?
Amp hid? Somebody hid your gear?
Can someone please tell me I have a Svt 610 Ohlf Impedance 4 Ohms Power 600 watts Rms 1200 Peak what is or would be the perfect match watt amp head that would go with the cabinet! Please help
Thanks! This is a good overview to follow if you use a stacked bass rig. If you don't want to deal with these issues, just use a combo amp.
I still don't get it lolol
This video is awesome, I've learned alot
Solid State amps can usually run at 4 ohms (the old Sunn Coliseum could run at 2 ohms, which will blow most amps out, but Sunn went out of business some years ago and they are hard to find now). I run a Mark Bass head that puts out probably 500 watts at 8 ohm, but I run another cabinet out of the second output. I have a 4×10 cab at 8 ohms, and a 1×15 cab at 8 ohms, so that running in parallel, total 4 ohms, which allows my amp to run at 4 ohms and puts out 800 watts. Tube amps with an output transformer may be able to handle a little more variance in the output impedance, but if I ran my Solid State amp into 2 ohms, I would likely toast my output transistors. I have yet to use 800 watts, as this would be very loud. My 4×10 is the same Mark Bass cabinet in your video, and my 1×15 is meant to handle 350 watts, so I could possibly blow it out if I went full throttle. And when you're pushing a cabinet to it's rated wattage, you may still overheat and blow out a speaker. If your speaker is making scratchy distortion, you can gently push on the speaker cone. If you hear scraping, you have blown your speaker. If it won't move at all, you've sent the speaker into total meltdown. If I so blow my 15, which is unlikely saying I have only played small venues and have more than enough power. I will probably replace it with a Neo 2X12 cabinet.
I have the little Mark 800 also with the Mark bass 210 & Mark bass 115. I’ve always Daisy chained them but now I’m wondering if I’m overworking the 115. I was also thinking of moving up to the 410. Any advice would be appreciated
Just so everyone knows, the section about impedance is incorrect in relation to series/parallel. Impedance is always lowered with adding more cabs. There is no brand that has "series" connections to tap into externally. E.g: 8+8 ohm =4ohm
*I guess that's why it has a disclaimer saying "check your manual"
What is the difference from a bass amp to a guitar amp? Can you use one for both, or are they really different?
In my case amp is 2 ohm stable and I have two 4ohm cabinets, which allows me to have more headroom and very huge sound on the stage, it's awesome
At 7:15 where you start to talk about daisy-chaining cabs with one cab plugged into the amp and the other cab plugged into the first cab, you are giving them the wrong information, which could result in damaging the amp. You are calling that daisy chain connection a "series" connection and it's not unless the first cab has both, a series output jack and a parallel output jack and you are specifically plugging into the series jack. Otherwise it's a parallel connection and the amp sees the ohms load exactly the same as if that second cab was plugged into the amp instead of daisy chained. . Industry standard connections are ALL parallel connections, not serial connections and have been for decades now. I have an old Sunn B202 cab that is a 212 cab and it actually has both a parallel out AND a series out connection out of the back. It is the only cab I've had that has the option of a series connector, and I bought my first cab in 1966.
If you daisy chain two 8Ω cabs up and they don't have a specific "serial output jack" that you're plugged into, that's a parallel connection and will put a 4Ω load on the amp. Not a problem if the amp's minimum ohms load is 4Ω. However, if you daisy chain two 4Ω cabs cabs together, that parallel connection drops the ohms load to 2Ω. If the amp has a 4Ω minimum load, then you are in real danger of damaging your amp or even turning it into a very expensive paper weight. You need to fix this part of your video. Otherwise someone will daisy chain two 4Ω cabs together thinking that the amp will be seeing an 8Ω load when it will in actuality see a 2Ω load which could cause interior electronics to melt.
The information at 7:10 is wrong. Daisy chaining is still parallel and doing so with two cabs of matched impedance (8+8) will total 4 ohms.
So I'll be fine if my bass head is 4 ohms and my cabinet is 8 ohms? Watts for the head is far less than Watts of the cabinet btw.
Hi! I have a GR Bass 212 Slim 4 Ohm 900W RMS (AES Standard) cabinet. Just for home playing! Sould I buy the 800W bass head, or for home use it would be enough the 350W bass head? Thanks a lot! 😉
EBS TD660 ….2-8 OHMS solution 😉