Do you use the horn in your 2x10 cab?

[Govan]

I'm building a 2x10 cab and I can't decide if I should put the x-over,Lpad and horn in it. The Emi. bp102's I'm using project the high end pretty well and it was suggested that at the volumes that I play at the horn wont make much difference.But I'm thinking someone else,in a studio situation may find it more diverse w/ the horn.

[Granny Gremlin]

I may not be representative of the majority, but definately no.  For a million reasons.  That gets escalated to a "F*@! no" for studio use.

If you need more high end, pick a more appropriate pair of 10s (or even one more subbish 10 and 1 more guitarish 10 - they don't have to match). 

[Govan]

I dig what you're saying,personally I was going to go w/ the 3010lf's that go even lower...I'm all about a deep full sound,I just wondered because most of my favorite bass players on major concert stages use cabs w/ horns in them, I was curious if they were using them,I usually don't see a mic on the horn...is it just to benefit the players on the stage?

[Granny Gremlin]

Don't let the stage pics fool you - a lot of players don't use the horn (the horn is there since just about every cab available today has one, but disabled/bypassed much of the time).

A 10" speaker is easily capable of reproducing all the high end a bass player would need (remember: guitards just use 12s), though modern bass cabs tend to use modern drivers that are more like subwoofers than traditional instrument speakers, so their response either drops off or gets all nonlinear/peak and dipppy above 500-1000Hz depending on the model.  There are some exceptions.

[Govan]

Yes,my 4x10 cab without a horn does just fine...I have heard people say they just dial the horn off.

[slinkp]

I don't have a 2x10 currently - rather I have a 1x10 that sits on top of a 1x12.  I usually turn off the horn on the 12 and turn down the tweeter on the 10 until I like what I hear.  That seems to be not quite all the way off, but somewhere down from 12:00.

It also depends on the bass. When I'm playing a brighter bass, I turn the horn down more.  If the high treble from the pickup is already a bit muted, I don't mind having a little tweeter mixed in.  It basically matches whether I like the bass recorded direct too.   My usual LPB-1 sounds good to my ears both direct to tape, and through a cabinet with a bit of tweeter turned on.  Back when my main bass was a maple Ibanez with active Alembic electronics, I didn't like my direct sound much, nor did  like playing through tweeters (I didn't have a cab with tweeters back then).  I was forever asking FOH engineers to turn down the treble on the direct signal (or begging for a mic instead of a DI, but I rarely got one).

[Govan]

Good info,thank you!

[Highlander]

There's some little horn thing in my Ashdown but what it sounds like without it I have no idea...?

[Aussie Mark]

Horn?  Heck no - it's a bass cab.

[Pilgrim]

My rig is a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.2 into a 12" and a 2x10"  set of Shuttle cabs. I'm mostly a flats player so high end isn't really a big part of my sound, but I keep the treble setting on each cab at about 25% and there's plenty of high end. My ear tells me that quality 10" speakers are plenty capable of reproducing as much high end as a bass player needs.

[rahock]

I use a 2x12 Avatar cab with a horn. It has neo Eminance speakers which are not real high and crisp, but great on the low end. Like Pilgrim, my horn is set at about 25% and that provides just enough of a crisp edge when I want it.
Prior to getting a cabinet with a horn I was a very anti-horn guy ,but I've learned to appreciate their value  when paired with a strictly low end speaker. I like it in my situation. However, if you have a speaker that delivers a decent amount of upper end there is really no need for a tweeter.
Rick

[66Atlas]

I have a little Ampeg portaflex 2x10 in my office with a horn.  I've monkey-ed around with a little and settled on liking the -6db setting.  I have no idea what that means in terms of percentage of operation, but to be honest I couldn't tell a huge difference between that and "off" 

[gearHed289]

I don't use a horn in any of my cabs. My combo has one, but I keep it turned off. Sometimes when backline is provided, there will be like a SWR or Eden cab. Then I will add a little touch of horn because they seem to be designed to where you pretty much have to if you want a full range tone.

[Govan]

Thanks all,I agree it is going to be a BASS cab and it should produce low end,that is my preferred tone as well but it sounds like in some instances a little hf could dial in a sound for different basses,amps or even different songs.I think I'll add it to the cab,it will have an Lpad so it can be dialed off.

[Granny Gremlin]

OK, BUT:

- crossovers are evil (and not even a necessary one here) especially when they're right smack dab in the midrange

-  most horns used in bass cabs are cheap piezos which sound bad and have insane dispertion characteristics (don't mate well with the woofers). If you do this try a dome type or a compression horn ($$), bullet horns can be OK, or, best of all, a small cone based driver (not a tweeter per se necessarily, but something like a 3-5" cone) - dome or cone will give the best match to the woofers as regards dispertion pattern and will 'integrate' better (and you can get nice ones for pretty cheap because they're all out of fashion). ... just don't use a damn piezo horn.  Here is a mid-high fill cab I made to sit between my amp head (it's the same size) and 1x15 bass cab to use as a full range PA at small coffee house gigs, Jamaican sound system style (2x5" midranges and 2x domes - for bass you'd just need the 5" - the domes are crossed over around 10K):






-  before you cut a hole for the tweeter consider this:  the highest note you can play on a bass is gong to be G at the 24th fret, right, which is G6 = approx 1568Hz, with some harmonics on that you'd need to reproduce up to just over 6kHz max.  There are 10" drivers that can do that.  I have a 15" EV that does 20-4K (this is a bit rare and considerred extended range) and I still roll off the highs a bit despite spending much if not most of my time well up the neck (around or even above the 12th fret).