Why are guitar cabs 12 inch and bass cabs 10 inch?

I don't know, no idea, so I'm just gonna guess:

Maybe guitars naturally need low end help, so they get a 12" speaker?

Maybe bass naturally needs a tamer low end and tighter response, so they get a 10" speaker?
 
Just generalizing..
4-10's have more surface area than an 18 (wrong.. make that 15
Add the relative depth of these cabs need for the range they work in -even for 4-10's the bass is deeper then the guit cabs..
I.e.. A 4-12 bass cab would be a frickin beast cart around..?

I always thought the silliest config'?.. was those early bi-amped rigs back about 15 20 years ago -the highs went to the 4-10 ..and the poor little 15 got the subs :o
 
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i would find it hard to believe that professionals would sacrifice tonality and quality and power because it would add 30 pounds to your rig.. especially compared to the standard 8x10
 
All that plus, a 10" bass speaker is not the same thing as a 10" guitar speaker, or a 12" guitar speaker. Magnets are bigger, voice coils are bigger, resonant freqs are lower, throw is longer.
 
right... the 15 was mentioned in humor, the concept of 1 15 makes sense... but the original question is what should be talked about (if anything) :P

Okay crayzee. :facepalm:

You asked a question, I answered it. It was no more or less stupid than your original question.
If you read the thread, there are plenty of off-topic responses. Excuse me for trying to help. :D
 
first ..... on this board threads are a conversation and like any conversation there are side comments made. That's ok here at HR and I would not personally be as interested in threads that had the human element removed ..... so basically people can come in and say what they want to a large degree and the OP is free to ignore what he wants to ignore.

That's just how it is here and, IMO, is more fun and interesting than robotic questions and answers with no human dialog so you're just gonna have to roll with that ...... sorry.
I understand your point but it's just not that way here and isn't going to be.

As for the question ...... let's not forget that there are guitarists that prefer 10's and I'm one of them. A Super Reverb with 4x10s or my Ampeg VT-40 with 4x10's or my Hot Rod deVille with 4x10's are all long time amps that I've chosen to be my main amps for years at a time.
Over here in Fl. I almost always have to use small amps but even then I use a single 10 when possible.
My Mark V only comes with a 12 though and my Blue Angel and my Marshall and a buncha my other amps just come with 12's so I'm ok with them but if I had a choice they'd be 2x10's.

As for cabs ..... as a bass player I can tell you that for a long time I used 4 12's and a friend of mine back then used them too and I think they're the best compromise of all. There are 2x12 and 4x12 bass cabs but they've never really caught on. I don't know why really.
12's are almost as fast as 10's with more low end thump but not slow and mushy like 15's.

For guitars I think Greg has it right ...... even with 4x12's I hear a lotta guitarists have a thin dinky sound so I think there's something inherent about guitars where they need some help.

But I think there's also a matter of ....... ummm ... tradition for lack of a better word.
Musicians generally like things to stay the same.

It actually has taken quite a while for 10's to take over the bass market.
When I was young it was ALL 2x15's and you still see them today and lots of 1x15's.
The 8x10 (SVT) kinda started the change and it's obvious why it could overcome the perception that bass had to go thru 15's .... even though people weren't used to the idea that 10's could carry bass ..... the 8x10 was so damned big that people would accept it.
Once you've done that ...... then the idea of cutting it in half so you not have to haul a refrigerator around became an obvious evolution also.
And since 10's CAN carry low end well and they're so much tighter than a 15 they took over the market.
So I think there were some actual reasons for bass cabs to change to the now common 4x10.

But I don't see any similar needs driving such a change in guitar cabs. 12's sound good .... the cabs aren't too big to schlep around and they look good.
Unless there is a driving reason .... musical things tend to stay the same and there isn't any really compelling reason to change up guitar cabs as there was for bass.
I truly think a lot of it is just tradition driven and unless there's a compelling reason ..... they don't change.










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first ..... on this board threads are a conversation and like any conversation there are side comments made. That's ok here at HR and I would not personally be as interested in threads that had the human element removed ..... so basically people can come in and say what they want to a large degree and the OP is free to ignore what he wants to ignore.

That's just how it is here and, IMO, is more fun and interesting than robotic questions and answers with no human dialog so you're just gonna have to roll with that ...... sorry.
I understand your point but it's just not that way here and isn't going to be.

As for the question ...... let's not forget that there are guitarists that prefer 10's and I'm one of them. A Super Reverb with 4x10s or my Ampeg VT-40 with 4x10's or my Hot Rod deVille with 4x10's are all long time amps that I've chosen to be my main amps for years at a time.
Over here in Fl. I almost always have to use small amps but even then I use a single 10 when possible.
My Mark V only comes with a 12 though and my Blue Angel and my Marshall and a buncha my other amps just come with 12's so I'm ok with them but if I had a choice they'd be 2x10's.

As for cabs ..... as a bass player I can tell you that for a long time I used 4 12's and a friend of mine back then used them too and I think they're the best compromise of all. There are 2x12 and 4x12 bass cabs but they've never really caught on. I don't know why really.
12's are almost as fast as 10's with more low end thump but not slow and mushy like 15's.

For guitars I think Greg has it right ...... even with 4x12's I hear a lotta guitarists have a thin dinky sound so I think there's something inherent about guitars where they need some help.

But I think there's also a matter of ....... ummm ... tradition for lack of a better word.
Musicians generally like things to stay the same.

It actually has taken quite a while for 10's to take over the bass market.
When I was young it was ALL 2x15's and you still see them today and lots of 1x15's.
The 8x10 (SVT) kinda started the change and it's obvious why it could overcome the perception that bass had to go thru 15's .... even though people weren't used to the idea that 10's could carry bass ..... the 8x10 was so damned big that people would accept it.
Once you've done that ...... then the idea of cutting it in half so you not have to haul a refrigerator around became an obvious evolution also.
And since 10's CAN carry low end well and they're so much tighter than a 15 they took over the market.
So I think there were some actual reasons for bass cabs to change to the now common 4x10.

But I don't see any similar needs driving such a change in guitar cabs. 12's sound good .... the cabs aren't too big to schlep around and they look good.
Unless there is a driving reason .... musical things tend to stay the same and there isn't any really compelling reason to change up guitar cabs as there was for bass.
I truly think a lot of it is just tradition driven and unless there's a compelling reason ..... they don't change.










.

And then came.....THE KLOPS!
 
Shit, I should have bought a Klops instead of that 2x12. If I give Joey a call, d'you think he'd do me a trade in? I totally forgot about them when I was researching my purchase. Lame.
 
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