2X10 and 4X10 cabs are underrated (for guitarists)

[Golem]

A long while back I heard a friend's Marshall 4X10 cabinet and was floored by the sound and reasonable size. I finally grabbed a 2X10 this weekend. It's a modded Carvin bass extension cab with 16 ohm 75 watt Eminence Legends that the modder wired up in parallel. In other words it is 8 ohms and capable of handing 150 watts. It sounds great. I'm sure there's good reasons that 12" speakers became dominant, I just don't know what they are. 10" is a great format when used in a 2X10 or 4X10. I'll probably still see if I can grab a compact 4X10 someday. I always wonder if there's a bass or PA speaker with that format out there that I need to be looking for.

 

[Hugh Manitee]

You may want to checkout Barefaced cabinets.

They started out making bass cabs, but also make a 2x10 for guitar ("Usurper") that looks pretty cool.

Barefaced Audio Loudspeakers

Barefaced bass, pro audio and guitar loudspeaker cabinets designed and built in England since 2008. Advanced lightweight stage performance speakers for musicians. Bass Cabs with tone and power, guitar cabs with presence and punch, and studio quality pro audio for live use.

barefacedaudio.com

 

[Golem]

I'll look for them used. Stagecraft and Mills customs are both local businesses I'd probably go to for 4X10s if I decided to buy new as they're both top notch, wouldn't require shipping, and are local.

 

[Benny]

I had Weber build a 4x10 at 8 ohms with DT10 speakers for me a while back - it’s in a pine, tweed bassman sized cab (no chassis cut out). It sounds great, looks great, easy one-hand carry. The open back/pine/speaker combination is pretty cool with my JTM45, but really comes into its own with a Milkman Amp 100 as a easily portable, scalable rig.

 

[beckstriad]

I have a Komet 4x10 cabinet that sounds absolutely incredible. Agree with the assessment that it’s much lighter than even a 2x12.

 

[Vondragonnoggin]

I picked up a 4x10 cab this year for $180. Birch ply covered with tight knit carpet, nice grill, and insulated, with vintage Celestion G10L-35’s. It was built some twenty years ago but appears brand new. Came with a leather cover too.

I like it paired up with my 2x12 with V Types on a couple amps that have multiple cab jacks. Both 4x10 and 2x12 are 8 ohm cabs.

Cabs sound great together.

If I could find a 1965a for a decent price, I might think about another 4x10.

 

[tiktok]

A long while back I heard a friend's Marshall 4X10 cabinet and was floored by the sound and reasonable size. I finally grabbed a 2X10 this weekend. It's a modded Carvin bass extension cab with Eminence Legends that the modder wired up parallel. 8 ohms and capable of handing 150 watts. It sounds great. I'm sure there's good reasons that 12" speakers became dominant, I just don't know what they are. 10" is a great format when use in a 2X10 or 4X10. I'll probably still see if I can grab a compact 4X10 someday. I always wonder if there's a bass or PA speaker with that format out there that I need to be looking for.

12's sound different from 10's, but there was also this idea that 10's lack bass response, while 18's lack high end, or something.

It seems to me that having more speakers, of any size, yields a more complex sound, so I'd prefer to have a 2x10 over a 1x12, but one speaker is cheaper than two, so 1x12 is more popular from a cost standpoint.

I also discovered Marshall 4x10's a while back, and to me those are massively underrated--super light, slightly smaller so they have a greater chance of fitting in my modern compact trunk, and the complex sound of four speakers.

 

[PremiumPlus]

I love 10s. I've got a couple of small Z combos with a single 10 that sound great, a 2x10, and I just finished restoring a 70's Super Reverb that sounds huge. I had a Marshall 4x10 that I sold, and it sounded terrific too. I've got a couple of 2x10 cabs too. 10" speakers are highly underrated.

 

[YYZ]

What about 3x10

 

[natmiss]

All of my favorite amps though the many years I've been playing have had 2 or 4 10 inch speakers. Currently I'm using a Fender '68 Vibrolux and my #1 amp Allen Old Flame 2x10. I prefer 4x10 amps. I've had two Super Reverbs and an Allen 4x10. Unfortunately they're too big and loud for today's gigging environment in this area.

 

[Daytona57]

I recently, snapped up a Fender Bassman 4x10 410H, 300W, bass cab, 68 lbs, on casters for $200.00, to use with guitar.

I have it paired with a Fender Pro Jr IV Tweed and with a MXR 10 band EQ, to cut bass and accentuate mids, and it is a very good choice.

It very clear and articulate, for crunch, distortion and fuzz and cuts well in a band mix. It is exceptional, for slide with sustain without a compressor.

There is not much info, on the net for this cab, I can confirm that the Fender Bassman 4x10 410H, is a great cab for guitar.

 

[RGB]

The 1965s are my favorite guitar cab...close second is the Boogie theile 1x12.

 

[SolidGuitar]

Word. I had a Marshall 1965 4x10 in the early 00s. I loved it. From what I remember (hey, it was 20 years ago) it sounded really tight and cutting. I'd like to have it back!

 

[joshofsorts]

Those Marshall 4x10s are great, I used one for a couple of years with a vintage Traynor YBA-1 or blackface Fender Bassman head. Really easy to pack around, even in my little '68 VW Bug I had in college. After that I used a Fender Super Reverb RI for 10+ years. 4x10s really fill a room. One of my favorite things about the 4x configuration is that it is much easier to play with controlled feedback than a 1x config (in my experience). I currently have a 1x12 combo, but still fantasize about picking up a 4x10 cab; although, I am not sure how soon I will be playing out again.

 

[Yoda]

I’m joining the 2x10 club soon. I found a 1966 Magnavox music console on the side of the road and I harvested a pair of 10” CTS Alnico speakers from it.

 

[QuickDraw]

I love my marshall 1965b cab, ive been wanting a matching A cab, just because, but in reality the more and more i play this rig the less i feel the desire to add anything else. also pictured is my ampeg 2x10 svt cab which is really perfect for my needs.

 

[Endr_rpm]

I currently have a pair of Classic 30s AND a 210 Delta Blues. I find the DB on its own has more bass than the single C30s, but lacks the high end of the G12H30s I have in the C30s. I put a fender 10" in the DB to try and get more high end out of it, but Im still experimenting.

It seems to me that you can get more power handlign out of a 12" on its own, where 10" speakers are generally used in multiples. So yeah, agree with an above poster that cost, weight, and cab size all play a roll. The Ampeg 810 in its original form needed two cabinets to keep up with a cranked 300 Watt SVT, but the sheer NUMBER of speakers compensated for thier lower power handlign and relatively high freq bass roll off (100Hz or so) when combined with the 4x 210 sealed chambers of the cabinet.

 

[SR65LE#31]

I have a Dr. Z 4x10 cab in surf green. It’s somewhat heavy for my aging back but boy-oh-boy, when I have room to crank it up, it is glorious! The 10’s have a punch and immediacy that is addicting and the quad of speakers has this swirly thing going on, once you get back about twenty feet, that is so great. It needs room and decibels but it’s the bomb.

 

[LaXu]

I’ve got a Bluetone 4x10 with 10" Greenbacks. Love the cab, it’s made of paulownia and is so light I can lift it with one hand if needed. Sounds great too, the lower sensitivity of the Greenbacks helps keep volume down and there’s plenty of low end on it, just not the excessive, muddy kind.

 

[btjguitarman]

I had a Maz Jr 210 combo for a while and played a ton through a buddy's Dr Z convertible 210, which I maintain is one of the two best cabinets I've ever played in my life (the other being a Suhr PT100 212). That Z 210 is an incredible cab.