bass through sunn 4x12 guitar cab?

[year of the horse]

would that in any way ruin my speakers or sound like s**t?

[jaybird]

Yeah, playing bass through a guitar cab is a pretty good way to shred the speakers. Guitar speakers/cabs are just not designed to handle lower bass frequencies. You can probably do it at low/practice volume with no harm, but I wouldn't recommend trying it at band/stage volumes - unless you're in a very quiet band.

[dc10bass]

I play in a WHO tribute band called "LIVE THE WHO", said like "Long Live The Who".

In the clips below I play through;
(1) Sunn Coliseum Lead
(1) Sunn Coliseum Bass
(2) Sunn 412 cabs (Fender Issue)
(2) Sunn 118 cabs (early 70's Vega)

I have the Coliseum heads splitting the signal into HI/LOW.
HI going to the 412s and LOW going to the 118s.

Personally I like this set up and think the 412s sound good...
...just be careful that the 412 cab you use is rated properly and able to handle the power of a bass amp.

Curt
 
Promo Video - Clip 1 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyIDWTOl17w
 
Promo Video - Clip 2 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eihyuQs8jQ
 
Promo Video - Clip 3 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgbmTsVXHs

[EdBass]

As dc10bass posts, it depends on the drivers and which 412 cab you are using. I had no luck with a stock Sceptre cab with Sunn Transducers for bass use; "fart city" real fast.

[Happy Face]

I'd be cautious as well. I swapped out the stock 12s in mine years ago for that reason.

But, a few years back, I read a posting (on another board) by a fellow who had been gigging for 20 years with a Coliseum Bass head with two Coliseum 4x12 cabs with stock speakers. He reported no issues. Gotta admit I was a little surprised....   


 

[mckinnon audio]

   Hi there,I've used lots of guitar cabs,but only in biamped rigs.I cross them over around 125-150Hz,just to keep the real lows out of them.I found a 4 x 12" cuts real good,larger mids than a 4 x 10" so you might have to alter your eq settings a bit,good for classic rock.Mel

[LPB]

Bass tone can really vary a lot depending on what you're doing and what kind of sound you're going for, and like others have said, overall band volume is a big factor as well. Generally speaking, if you're trying to shake the ground and move a lot of air with your stage rig guitar speakers/cabs won't get the job done unless you are willing to haul a bunch of them.

[scotzoid]

I've been running my Sorado head thru a Sceptre 4x12 cab for years with no ill effects. in fact I like the tone better than the stock 2x15 that came with the head. Although I have to say that there's a good possibility that the 2-15 speakers were worked hard in the early days, & may be damaged in some way; interestingly the 2-15 cab has more top end sound, (note to Ed: the 2-15 seems more susceptible to "farting" as well in my case) but the 4-12 has a cleaner lower midrange tone that I love. You do have to be careful to not use an amp that's more powerful than what the cab was designed for.