I'm thinking of getting a 15" cabinet for my loud guitar and drums duo band. I was looking at 1x12 cabinets but I'm concerned I'll end up too mid-rangey. I boost the low end of my guitar considerably and don't want that to eat up too much headroom when when I'm turned up loud. I use a silverface Bassman for the amp.

Anyone done this before? Recommendations for a 1x15 speaker? Does a simple bass cab suffice? Anyone have one for sale?

This sounds unintuitive, but If you want to push lows, I think you might want to look at 10" speakers. They push the lows much more efficiently and further than 15s. I personally wouldn't use them alone for bass, since they tend to not push highs very well.

Honestly, I think the cabinet you use will have a tremendous influence on the lows (or lack thereof).

I have owned and liked the following 15" speakers for guitar:

Weber Chicago 15 (ceramic, paper dust cap) - think old school Jensen with a lot more low end.
Weber California 15 (ceramic, paper dust cap) - think JBL without the harsh highs and a tighter low end.
ElectroVoice EVM15L - loud, a little aggressive - (the Mesa Diesel 15 bass cabinets sound surprisingly decent with a guitar amp).

The EV is the brightest and flattest response of those 3.

I have an 8-ohm WGS 15" EV clone that has been reconed with a real EVM-15B cone that I'm not using at the moment (a little more low and a little less high than the L). Would be willing to sell that if it suits you.

But since you are using a Bassman, you might want a 4-ohm cabinet to get the maximum efficiency out of the amp. An 8-ohm cabinet won't hurt it though. Those were designed to tolerate a 100% impedance mismatch.

I've got a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb, it's a Twin with a 15" instead of the two 12"s. They originally came with a JBL, but mine came to me with an Altec, I believe it's a 421A. It projects like a motherfucker and the low end is big and clear, but not disproportionately so. I also often play guitar through my bass amp, a Traynor YBA 4 combo with the original 15" speaker, and it sounds just fine, but through the Vibrosonic with the Altec it's a totally different story. That set up just blasts. I'm sure it has plenty to do with the amp, but the Altec seems to be able to handle just about anything and is very articulate. When my amp guy looked it over he was like "this speaker weighs a ton, it's overkill for the amp". Well...I wouldn't want it any other way.

So maybe even try an open back or rear ported 15" cabinet just for the hell of it. And if clear lows are what you're after, go with something designed to handle a shitload of power. I've always been intrigued by the 15" Peavey Scorpion and Black Widow speakers. I've never used them myself on guitar, but I've heard great things.

I've liked the Eminence Big Ben for these cases. I think it's a good middle ground between guitar and bass frequency wise, as I generally don't like full on bass speakers for guitar unless doing a Kyuss thing as a goof.

Tom Wanderer wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:30 am I've got a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb, it's a Twin with a 15" instead of the two 12"s.

These are cool amps. I think they were originally marketed to Pedal Steel players. With the right speaker they can sound great, and can even handle quiet bass duty for recording.

I've got an Eminence 1518 in a ported cab that does lots of double duty in the studio.
https://www.eminence.com/speakers/speak ... egend_1518

For bass duty it's often paired with a YBA or and old GK head.
For guitar its gets used with all kinds of things, but usually a low wattage amp, wide open. Usually a 5E3 clone or modded Valve Jr.

The cabinet is nothing special, and I've never had an issue with too much or too little bass. But of course, YMMV.

Kniferide wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:50 am

Tom Wanderer wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:30 am I've got a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb, it's a Twin with a 15" instead of the two 12"s.

These are cool amps. I think they were originally marketed to Pedal Steel players. With the right speaker they can sound great, and can even handle quiet bass duty for recording.

Thanks! I love mine for guitar. It's a 72, so it's got a master volume, but not the UL circuit. I've heard about the pedal steel thing and it makes sense, clean headroom up the ass. Sounds *fantastic* with my Chuck Collins perc at a low setting. Bass makes the baffle vibrate a little, unfortunately, unless it's turned WAY down, but for recording I like bass through my 79 pro reverb. Or, honestly, even through a champ turned to 3 or 4 with an overdrive or fuzz. You wouldn't think it, but that's a great bass sound. I did most of my last record that way.

bishopdante wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 11:00 pm a lot of the early Wem guitar combos from the '60s used a 15 inch driver.

The Fender Pro variants also did.

Dr Tony Balls wrote:

bishopdante wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 11:00 pm a lot of the early Wem guitar combos from the '60s used a 15 inch driver.

The Fender Pro variants also did.

Add Ampeg Gemini VI to the list although that was more multi-purpose I believe. Mine sounds amazing even w/ a random crappy old Soundtech PA speaker that's been in there since I bought it. I keep thinking I should replace it? but it sounds great, I need to knock that nonsense off and trust my ears more than my own innate gear snobbery.