It’s a safe assumption to say that pretty much any bass amplifier can accommodate a 4-string bass guitar without a problem. Big or small power, big driver or not, if the amp is marketed as a “bass amplifier,” it universally should project a 4-string bass with no issues.
But can the same be said when you tune below the low-E into low-B territory, such as with a 5-string?
Sometimes not.
There is such a thing as a cabinet “bottoming out” in a bad way when you tune down to the low-B range.
For example, on older 4×10 cabinets, the design of those wasn’t built to accommodate the low frequency response of the low-B. Once you go below a 42Hz E-string, it’s “shake, rattle and roll,” and not in a good way. Conversely, older 15-inch drivers usually can handle low-B, so if you were forced into the situation of having to play with an old amp setup and routinely hit the low-B string, purposely seeking out a cabinet with one or two 15-inch drivers would suit much better compared to an older 4×10.
What about newer bass cabinet designs?
Given the fact 5-string-and-greater bass guitars are so common these days, pretty much all new off-the-shelf bass cabs should project low-B without any issues, with should being the keyword there, because you won’t know if that B will project unless you try it first.
Can lower-wattage newer amps project that B, even with the appropriate newer cabinet designs that reinforce lower frequencies?
This is where you, the reader, can weigh in your opinion by posting a comment below.
Some lower-wattage (as in under-200-watt) amps can project a good-and-loud low-B properly, while others simply can’t get that frequency heard even if you crank them to 11.
You tell us – is the requirement for big power to project a low-B a thing of the past, or is it still required?
4 strings are good enough for Sir Paul & my GK cabinet has no trouble shaking the Earth, i’m good
4 strings Here
My AER Amp TWO has absolutely ZERO issues handling that Low B on all my 5-strings, active or passive ones alike. My Fav Axe right now is my KR Guitars URSA-5 with Q-tuner Gen 1 pickups. MASSIVE sound!
Sir Paul doesn’t play rock and metal, only pop.
I play all kinds of music in the studio and for live sessions, and Rock and metal in my own band on my two custom-built 5 strings, and would never go back to a 4-string bass.
I used to use Trace Elliot amps, but when the company was taken over, ans they were being manufactured outside the UK, something got lost along the way tonally.
Now I play Ashdown, British built, and the best of the lot.
I bought a low – powered Ashdown practice amp, and it handles a low B, sometimes even downtuned low Bb almost as well as my 500W rig.
I’ve tried literally dozens of amps by other manufacturers, and even Ashdown’s made in China budget range out perform them every time.
There are 2 distinct issues here: whether a cab can HANDLE the fundamental frequency of a low B, versus whether it can REPRODUCE it.
If a cab can HANDLE it, it doesn’t sound ugly, nor does the ear miss it.
The brain extrapolates the existence of the fundamental, just as it extrapolates continuity in the field of vision in the area of the fovea (blind spot).
The output of the bass viol at the fundamental of low E is astonishingly low, yet the brain has no problem at all inventing it from the contextual clues provided by harmonics of the note.
In fact, a good 5-string cab’s actual output AT THE FUNDAMENTAL of a low B may be horrible regardless of the figures.
That cab rating in dB that you see when someone plays an open B reflects the amplitude of the ENTIRE note, largely its overtones.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that cabs that are famed for good sound often don’t even pump out much fundamental for a low E.
You’ll be hard pressed to find any cabinet that can reproduce the fundamental of the low B, or even a D. Most of them have a big roll off around 40-50hz and what you’re hearing is primarily overtones.
You must have studied under James Patterson, PhD. I worked for him in the 1990’s. You’re describing the BOSE principle. You hear the 2nd and 4th order harmonics; and your brain creates the apparent fundamental. By using 48 dB filtering at 80 Hz, we’ve produced music where harmonic frequencies are different than the fundamentals. Subjects are usually surprised when the hear the composition with the fundamentals added. You’re basically hearing a different piece of music.
I got an 18″ and 2×10″ Carvin Combo cabinet back in 92 with a Peavy 400W amp. I later got a Peavey Tour 700W. I really do think that the 18″ Peavey Black Widow Speaker I put in there in 1997 works very well and produces the B without any problems. That cabinet has been with me and its the only one I use. It weighs a ton, but its worth it. AbeTheBass
My Peavey MKIII wit the BX 15 handles it no trouble.
One of the best B’s I’ve ever heard is out of my Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2-12T combo. It’s a balancing game of the speaker being able to produce the overtones, and the power section being able to handle those big low frequencies which are harder to amplify.
I have been gigging my Genz Benz Shuttle 6 along with my 4ohm Epifani UL410 for 4 years using my go to 5 which is a Roscoe Century V… Talking about a sweet sounding B, umm umm Good!
tc electronic RH450 with tc electronic 2×10 – no problem with low B.
1 Man 1 Amp = Mesa Boogie Scout.
My “Peg” and Peavey crank with no blanks 🙂
I play 5 strings only and I use a 1968 Ampeg B-15T Portaflex Fliptop, 100W. It definity handles the low B no matter how hard you hit it! I’ve tried some of the new 110 60W cabs and they don’t handle the low B. I use another Ampeg 112B and it does a good job too. Also just picked up a Acoustic B20 which uses a 12″ and it does a great job!
My SWR Redhead handles the low end pretty well, of course it’s mainly used as a monitor since I run through the PA. My goliath III really handles low B with no problem……
I use a TecAmp Black Jag 900, and an Epifani UL 902C head, paired with a TecAmp M210, 4 ohm cab, and an epifani UL 410 S2, 4ohm cab, and the low B poses no problem at all to either rig.
Dr. Bass 2×12′ 4Ohm cab @1000rms with Yorkville Bassmaster 800 does the job regardless of want low B is plugged in it.
Bass is and always will be about headroom, which means cabs and amps should have the capability of reproducing the fundamentals of the dynamic range of the bass, with enough power in reserve. As an example; my cab and head combinations ALL give me a minimum of 800 to 900 watts. I very rarely ever need to draw anywhere near the max, BUT the tone when things are powered this way, is ridiculously great. My basses – Ken Smith 5 & 6, Fodera 5 and & fretless, ND 5 electric upright. Bottom line – keep enough power in reserve, especially if you slap or tap…..
My GK and Markbass gear, even with my beloved 4×8″ cab, loves the low B string. As loud and balanced as the rest of the strings.
I have been using a USA produced SVT 4X10 HLF cab and a 1984 GK 800RB. The setup works well with my two carvin 5 strings. I have an LB75 and an SB5000 and both sound excellent until you go pounding on the Low b! A previous comment about the fundamentals rings true. You tend to hear a great deal of overtones and not the actual B itself. The cabs and amps that I’ve found that can not only handle the low b but allow it to ring clearly are the Epifani rigs. Their cabs and amps seem to have a clarity in the Low B range that others dont. Dont know why however perhaps they were simply designed for it. I love em…cant afford em, but love em still….
EBS Reidmar and Phil Jones cabs user here..no problem with the low B.
I’m running a Kustom Groove 600HD amp into two Kustom Deep End cabs. One 4×10; the other a 1×15. No problem at all with the low B. In fact, I use a Line 6 Bass Pod Pro to produce sub freqs and these cabs love it!
I use extended range basses only. Low B has a lot to do with physics: Bigger speaker surface area – better sound. More watts = more headroom = bigger sound. Longer scale length bass ~ 35″ or longer = bigger sound. My best bass cab: AccuGroove El Whappo does it all. Takes my Modulus Graphite 35″ scale all the way down to a drop tune low A. Awesome! I usually use my SWR SM900 bass amp with the El Whappo. Great sound. Works equally well with my 34″ scale low B Alembic basses. Tone to die for.
5’s exclusively, I use a 1st year GK 800RB (I think it’s an 84) and an SVT HLF 4×10 cab. Cab and amp sound EPIC with the low B!
There is also an aspect of fundamental frequencies I would say from about low A-flat down to the low B that I personally find missing in some of the modern amp/cabinets. When playing sustained notes, whether in jazz or ballads, the cabinet/amp combo should be able to deliver the warm low bass component without sounding ‘digital’.
In the day of the conversion from LPs to the first CDs, sound purists (and myself to a certain degree) felt that we lost some of the natural warmth of not just bass, but cymbals, and some orchestral instruments.
I think of some of the old 1960s/70s folded horn designs from Acoustic, where we weren’t just hearing, but also feeling and perceiving the fundamental frequency of the bass notes.
I love the growl of a fretless bass when playing those low D or D-flats, where the note just grows for about a second, and not only does the fundamental get strong, but the rich sweet overtones of the round wound string against the fret board takes off. The 15″ JBL 2245 in my bass cabinet gives that sweet low fundamental that lets you feel an analog warmth that I’m still missing in the 4×10 cabs I’ve been sampling out there.
I’m still looking for that one amp/cabinet combo that will let me perceive, feel, and hear the entire range of fundamentals in a balanced way (and weigh less than 45 pounds…OK – reality check…)…
BTW – the old GK 800RB (and most other pre/power bass amps of the era) was/were not designed for low B reproduction, but as someone mentioned earlier, there is a certain sound-shape that the old 800RB’s could produce that isn’t easy to find in newer amps. Still, it just has a hard time (to my ear) producing fundamental much below 40Hz. Note that some of the GK Backline series have a switch to shape the EQ for 4- or 5-string bass. Tweaking some of the RLC circuits in the 800RB might open up the low end a little – that would be and AWESOME little tweak (anyone have any suggestions?).
Maybe plucking the open B string at the 12 fret gives the most fundamental B with the least harmonic overtones since the natural greatest displacement of the string is at the 12 fret on an open string. in case it helps
Always low B, Sometimes lower. Eden cabs have always produced a nice clear tone. BUT the band tunes to dropped C. SO I decided to tune the whole bass up. Works great. SO I decided to try taking it even lower which works out to F#, but since I tune up its a G so it goes G,C,F. I think the Edens probably produce the note as well as any, and better than most. But it does take a bit of power cuz those waves are really long. But it sounds good to me. So far….hehe
I have an Ampeg SVT 410HLF… This is the ONLY off-the-shelf cab I know about or have come across that is spec’d to handle all the way down to 28Hz. Low b fundamental frequency is around 31Hz.
The Ampeg SVT 410HLF -3db point is like 48Hz. Not even an E.
Of course folks preference for svt voicing is a whole different thing.
Check out Acme Low B cabinets for much better low frequency extension with 10″ drivers. Probably save $ and your back too.
I use a Trace Elliot Series 6 GP12 Bass preamp, that drives a Crest V-450 power amp. Bi Amped. I run a BBE Sonic Maximizer and a Boss Compressor Limiter in the effects loop. Lows are run through a 1960’s Fender Bassman 2X15 verticle cabinet loaded with RCF 15″ speakers. Highs are run through a tilt top 4X12 cab loaded with Celestian, Marshall MG-12’s. Low cab is 4 ohms, high cab is 8 ohms The Crest amp puts out 225 watts at 4 ohms and 150 watts at 8 ohms, so it doesn’t get treble heavy. Yeah, it’ll handle a low B.
ISO recommendations for a lighterweight combo amp that will handle both upright bass AND 5-string electric for bar gigs.
I love my SWR, but @ 98lbs….it’s too heavy to lug up and down 3 flights of stairs.