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Post subject: Hey, Fender! How loud can we play bass on this thing?
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 9:47 pm
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I always thought bass amps had big speakers so they wouldn't blow.
BUT now I see all kinds of bass combos with 8" speakers, e.g. the Rumble.
SO it must be possible to play fairly loud
without smoking/ripping/nuking/tearing an 8" speaker.
How loud can I play bass on my Mustang 1, and Mustang 2?

Now if you tell me "not very, at all", then
please explain how those little 8" bassthing amps work!
Thank you.


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Post subject: Re: Hey, Fender! How loud can we play bass on this thing?
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:02 am
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Whether a speaker can work well/safely with bass frequencies doesn't really depend on the size of the speaker. It's more to do with whether the cone can cope with (ie is designed to work with) the comparatively large physical movement inherent in the bass notes. Plus the wiring being capable of carrying the necessary current, etc. A small speaker can do that just as well as a large speaker.

Yes, a big speaker will probably be able to do it louder than a small speaker (all other things being equal - there are are many more parameters apart from size that determine a speaker's loudness). That's probably explains why people think small speakers "can't cope" with bass and will blow up - the small speaker they're using just probably isn't designed to deal with that sort of signal, and if they turn up the volume then such a speaker may be damaged. But it's not inherently the case that all small speakers are bad at bass.

As for the Mustang - start quiet, turn it up gradually and as long as the sound doesn't disort, you should be in safe territory. Or buy a Fender Bronco, which is Fender's bass-specific DSP amp.


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Post subject: Re: Hey, Fender! How loud can we play bass on this thing?
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 6:50 am
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Scott knows what he's talking about.

I would add that you can dial a basic preset without effects (studio preamp if you have it or basic twin as a second choice) with no effects.
Put amp emulation volume to max, and master volume at 1 and start increasing master volume untill you hear subtle knocking and/or clipping with open bass string. At that point just lower a bit your bass volume control and you should be fine, at least for home practice.


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Post subject: Re: Hey, Fender! How loud can we play bass on this thing?
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:25 pm
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Thanks, guys. That's what I was doing, and generally using some compression. But I was looking for a sort of "red line" guidance. Sounds like the knocking/clipping distortion is that red line. Thanks.

There are a few bass presets that people uploaded to the Media Library, evidently bassists ARE using the Mustangs for bass practice.

Is it that the 8" speakers that they use in those little bass amps really have a surround that is inherently capable of greater excursion, i.e. they actually use a different construction from say the 8" in the Mustang I?

I have a Gorilla GB-30 bass amp, solid state of the art ;-), somewhere between a vintage desideratum and "a real POS" (depending on whether you're buying or selling). It does surprisingly well as a practice bass amp, yet its 8" sure seems like a garden variety 8" "woofer".


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