How to properly connect your Guitar Cab? | Colin Scott | Thomann
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- Опубликовано: 15 июл 2024
- What are Ohms? What is Resistance? What does serial or parallel mean? If you ever asked yourself one or all of these questions you came to the right place. Colin Scott and Kris explain how to properly connect your amp to your guitar cabinet.
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Interesting bits and pieces:
0:00 Intro playing
0:22 Introduction
2:01 Talking | Ohms, Resistance & Impedance
5:39 How amp outputs work
10:48 Connecting two speakers to one amp in series
11:40 Parallel connection of two speakers to the same amp
12:42 Maths behind connection in series
13:36 Maths behind parallel connection
14:42 why you shoud not just connect two 8 ohm speakers to your two 8 ohm amp outputs
15:51 Why it's not a good idea to plug in two speakers with different ohms to two outputs?
16:10 Conclusion
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Once tried my Fender bassman (4ohm, 100+ watt) on a vintage 2x12 hiwatt cabb (16 ohm) with 2 greenbacks (which are only 25watt each), Was the best sound ever! Also used the amp for years on a 8 ohm cab. The output transformer is still going strong :)
Yes, that's because most Fender tube combos are way less sensitive to mismatching impedances. You shouldn't try the same thing with Marshalls though. haha! I'm speaking from personal experience...
//cheers, Kris
Very informative. Worth mentioning too - before you start playing around - speaker cable is not the same as your guitar instrument cable, even though they have the same mono connector plug.. I didn't know this till recently and wondered why things weren't working.. Luckily I was playing around with a solid state amp :)
Wow so for the last 35 years I've just been crazy lucky and never blown anything up. I have so many 3ft curly cables I just grab one out the box and plug it in. I must label them.
I have an old Laney 4x12 bass cab that I plugged my Laney head into set at 16 ohms. Guitar sounded like crap through it and just assumed it was because of it being a bass cab. Later realized that the cab was 8 ohms, which is unusual because I'm used to 4x12s being 16 ohms. Then I changed the output on my amp to match the cab. Sounds awesome now.
Great stuff! Very informative, thank you :)
Great Colin ... that's what I always pondered about ...
Realy good explained! 😊
That was one hell of a TATA! I'd say Kris's bewilderment mirrors mine quite accurately. :)
Great explanation.
That's very useful. Tell us about the correct "cables" to use for amp to speaker and what different cable types and lenghts could make or break an amp. Thanks.
Great video thx guys :D
Great information
Thank you 🙏🏽
Great info
Very good info, I like visual aids lol, Thanks guys.
ALL THE GAIN!
NO MIDS !!!! // Guillaume
SLAAAAAYYYYYYYEEEEEERRRRRR!!!!!
Colin is hands down the best teacher in the universe when it comes down to guitars, pedals and amps!
He is also SUPER handsome and funny.
//Andy
Colin always real good in his explanation! Good post! Kris! Greetings from Hollywood California.
This is great stuff!! If I plug in a 16 ohm mono cab and an 8 ohm mono cab does that come out to 6 ohms mono? If so, should I set my amp heads switch to 4 ohms and not 8 ohms? Thanks guys.
Starting to make sense.always find a manual.
Still trying to figure out how to hook up my 2 8ohm 15"bw cabinets to my 2ch 4ohm peavy 8.5.
Colin explains everything way better than anyone else.Thanks
Thank you! A few open questions I would like to get!
- Amp 2 Ohm Output total. I connect a 4 Ohm cab in first output. Is this now 2 Ohm loading or 4 Ohm loading the cab?
- What if I connect to the second output instead of the first?
- How to connect a 6 Ohm cab into a 2 Ohm head?
- What happens to amps that deliver like 3.2 Ohm?
- If speakers wired in series and first blow, the chain is broken and no sound comes out?
Hi,
I'm assuming many of these questions are either hypothetical or are more applicable to car/hifi speakers instead of guitars.
To my knowledge guitar amplifiers and speakers don't generally deal with 2 or 6 ohm speakers, and certainly not 3.2 ohms, these aren't standard values in the industry.
2 Ohms is low impedance and generally associated with solid state amplification (valve amplifiers having higher impedance outputs are far more commonly 8 to 16 ohms). Solid State amplification is far less concerned about load matching as they don't have output transformers and will usually operate safely without a load attached, however connecting loads that are too high will drastically reduce the amount of power the amplifier can turn into sound. (Using a 16 ohm speaker with a 2 ohm SS amp would be significantly less efficient than with a 2 ohm speaker, reducing the effective volume from the amp.)
-If an amplifier had a 2 Ohm total output, but had two outputs (as I think your first question suggests) and you connected a single 4 ohm cabinet, then the 2 Ohm amp output would see the 4 Ohms of the cabinet. Connecting two 4 ohm cabinets to each output (assuming parallel wiring in the amp) would have the 2 ohm amp output seeing a total of 2 Ohms from the cabinets.
- You should be able to use either output with equal results, unless specifically labelled otherwise. You may come across some amplifiers that label a specific output as the one that should be used 'first'. In that case do as the amplifier says, this output needs to see a load.
- I would advise to only connect amps and cabs with matching loads.
- Again, this must be a specialist case outside of guitar context or a hypothetical question. If not, what equipment do you have that outputs 3.2 Ohms?
- Terminology is perhaps important here: A 'blown' speaker could mean that the cone is damaged, this wouldn't affect the circuit as the voice coil would be intact. The second speaker could still make sound in the case of cone damage.
If the voice coil of a speaker burns out or becomes damaged (by having too much power pushed through it for example) then that would break the circuit, you'd get no sound, and the amplifier wouldn't see a load. Attempting to operate the amplifier in this fashion would be dangerous for a valve amplifier.
@@ScienceofLoud Many thanks. A 3.2 Ohm does come from some acoustic SS heads. A 6 Ohm cab is one from Sunn with 6 speakers. Regarding series: OK. Regarding first or second output if not otherwise noted: OK.
Ampeg bass amps are designed to run at 2 ohms. Standard for the industry. Those 300 watt bass cabs all run at 2 ohms. You can run many speakers to get a 2 ohm load and that's a plus. I ran 4 speaker cabs at a total impedance of 2 ohms for years using my Ampeg SVT Classic 300 watt tube amp.
@@PeterDad60 that's great for you. But what about 3.2 Ohm Amp into 6 Ohm cab?
Beauty
Just out of curiosity I have an oddball question. My crusty well travelled and battered Kustom dart 10fx has a 4 ohm speaker rated 15W but the output for a cabinet is labelled 8 ohm. Any ideas why?
Great! Sorry for my ignorance, I have a question…, do you know if i can connect a MARSHALL CODE212-E (cabinet) or a Marshall MX212R-E (cabinet) with the BC108 vox cabinet to unlock the 50 watts of my vox MV50 Clean head amp?
BC 108 : one speaker , unit total impedance 8ohms
Marshall: two speakers, unit total impedance 8ohms
If you had one cab at 8 ohms could you hook it up to the 8ohm output. Or does it need teo 16ohm cabs
Colin is a great bloke. Really love his videos.... Can I plug an amp direct from its headphone jack into an audio interface or do I just have to attach a cab and mic it up and send the mic through the audio interface.
Yes Colin is an awesome dude! :)
About your question: it depends on your amp. Please check the users manual. It has to say, if it activates a load as soon as you connect a headphone. Some amps do that, some don't. Also, if it's a solid state head, then you don't have to worry about the load. If it's a tube head, it's very important to know that.
//cheers, Kris
Thanks Allan!
To reinforce what Kris said: Don't assume it's safe to use only your headphone output. If you have a valve amplifier you require a load connected to the speaker output to operate the amp at all times. So keep the cabinet connected, unless the amp has an internal reactive load.
If it's a solid state amp then you have much less to worry about regarding loads, but still be cautious.
All of that said, you may find the best tonal results come from sticking a microphone in front of a cabinet anyway.
Kris, Colin thanks for the advice. What's your thoughts on those amp/cabinet coffins, they sound like a good idea. Just don't want to be deafening my neighbours. Lol
Finally this makes sense for me ... Obviously, it have to come from country of Whisky :D
Whats your favourite whisky Colin? For me probably Laphroaig
Laphroaig is a very good choice.
Recently I've been enjoying wee drams of Talisker and Highland Park.
@@ScienceofLoud Thats some realy good choices. I think I have HP at hand and lately I finnished bottle of Talisker. You have some great taste (In whisky and of course in guitars also).
I have a question why my jcm 800 Lead series studio as 2x16 ohm entry if you cant connect 2x16ohm cab on it, because you need to connect them on 2x8ohm entry ?
hi, great vid, i have a marshall 8100 and on the back it says" 100watts RMS/4ohms" im lost! i want to use a 4x12 cab. i have a 4x12 marshall cab with 4 -AX-75 16 ohm speakers in it.i can rewire it but need just a littler help to connect it right/ matching, theres no ohm switch on the head btw or cab, thanks
I bought the HB G212 with mono 8ohm/stereo 16ohm inputs, and I've 2 head, one is 8ohm and the other 16ohm. Can I link them together at the same time in the cabinet if I switch it in stereo mode? Or the stereo works only with a single head with more than 1 channel? If someone have some video to share here, I will look at them too. Thank you in advance!
My 4ohm output vintage Fender is described as having a flexible impedence of 4ohms. I've read forums that say that I can go to an 8ohm load without a problem. Is this true?
I want to plug in a 1x12 and a 4x12 to the same amp both amps are 16 ohm does that work
Hi i have The Boss Katana Artist MKII Combo with 8 ohms and 16 ohms A and 16 ohms B im getting The Marshall MX412AR 4×12 Angled cab that has a 16 ohms input so would it be safe to use my 8 ohms output on my Artist MKII to connect to the 16 ohms cab which is 240 watts
Hi. I have the orange tiny terror combo and a 16ohm external speaker with a single input Jack. I would like to use this cab with the orange’s built in speaker. Currently, the amp’s speaker’s already using the 16ohm output. What are my options for using both with the cab i own. Thank you!
Most 4-12 cabs are wired series parallel, that and inconsistency in the drivers themselves changes the tonality of each one. This is why should to mic each Woofer to find one (or blend of them) in the cab that sounds best to your ears for recording, as each one will have a slightly different sound depending on where it is in the circuit.
Sea Ice Guitars Rules the end of the rainbow with his pot of gold hardware!??
I find that the idea of two circuits in the same cabinet disturbing, but two separate 2x12s won't be mixing phase inside the box. Two 32 ohm cabinets are actually looking good for my purpose. not recommended for all you normal folks. 🤔
hoboroadie 8-12 cabs then?🤣My back hurts just thinking about those monsters
so my speakers measure at 15ohm should i use the 16ohm or 8ohm out.
what i plug 8 ohm valvestate into 16 ohm 4x12?
Will it damage my fender (8ohm) Princeton amp if I plug it into a 4x12 Marshall1960 cabinet that's 16ohms in mono ??????
Always Leave the Smoke inside the Transformer 🗯
If I run two 4x12" cabs, one 16ohm and one 8ohm parallel with my amp head set @ 4ohms I am I ok?
*how to set up a full marshall stack like 2 cabs (a and b) with 1 head???*
I cant seem to find anything on how to properly hook up a full stack
The manual of my Engl Invader also says:"An 8-ohm cabinet connected to one of the 4-ohm jacks in combination with a 16-ohm cabinet connected to one of the 8-ohm jacks. Summary: 8Z + 16Z -> connected to 4-ohm + 8-ohm output".
So why is it in the manual when it's unsafe?
im so glad i paid attention in physics class in highschool
I know this video wasn't about the amp's power output but I needed to know one thing that's more or less related with the video's theme: if you have a 120W tube head with two paralel speaker output jacks and you only connect one cab, the output is going to be 120W, right? But what if you connect two cabs, one to each output jack? Are you going to have 60W in each jack or you'll have 120W in both? The amp in question is a Bugera 6262 Infinium bought from you guys. Thanks in advance. : )
Hey, the maximum output of the amp is 120W. Parallel speakers setup will split that 120W
//Andy
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses - Just as I suspected. Thanks, Andy. : )
I have one cab which has two heads attached. Both properly hooked up to their respective Ohm inputs. I never use both heads at the same time. But would using them both together damage the cab speakers?
Hi, this is an interesting question which I would need more specific information to answer correctly. Can you tell me what cabinet and amps you have and how you are connecting them?
Your cabinet must have multiple speaker connections in order for you to have two amps connected at once, but likely these connections are simply accessing different ways of wiring the speakers which would likely cause some issue if you tried to feed signal to each at the same time.
Ok so my brain is collapsing now but I have one question. Can I hook up my line 6 Pod 2.0 to a 2×12 cabinet? Would be awesome if someone knows about this and can help me. ^^
Over my head
👏👏👏👏👏👏🏴
so...if using only 1 - 4x12 Marshall cab with one Marshall DSL 100 head as example i should use 16 ohms in back of head into 16 ohms cab input - 1 speaker cable ... correct ?
Exactly! If the cab wants 16 Ohms, connect it with the head's 16 Ohm output. And yes, you have to use a speaker cable for that. :) //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses Thanks... i currently was connecting 8 ohms to 8 ohms using two speaker cabels one in each 8 ohm input of the Amp to the speaker on stereo... so using one cable 16ohms from amp to 16 ohms in Cab on mono is better...will it improve the sound also ? thanks again
Or ... hire an Electrical Engineer and have her be the smart one. Electricity is crazy. Great video! This made me 75% less confused than before.
Thanks a lot! Yes, it's a slightly confusing subject. To be fair, I think it's enough to know the basics and follow those few important rules. That's all I did in the last 23 years of playing guitars. haha!
//cheers, Kris
So, to avoid problems, buy a combo !
i guess but who doesnt want more power
@@dantheredeemed my electricity bill
If we wanted to avoid problems, we wouldn’t be musicians.
Ok I’m confused ...lol
Having 2 cabs in series (daisy chain) at 8ohm ‘s ... I should have my switch in back of tube amp head at 16 ohms??? And not 8ohm’s???
Yes. Daisy chain 2 8ohm cabs plugs into the 16 ohm output on amp.
I don't think this I'd correct. Apparently daisy chaining 2 cans I'd parralell. So from head vto cab a. Cab a to cab b. With both 8 ohm cans gives you 4 ohms
a friend of mine not knowing what the hell he was doing bought a marshall cab and head and used a regular guitar cable to connect from the amp speaker out to the cab.....then his fire extinguisher almost came in handy
I think my head is gonna explode
Then you should check if it's connected at the right impedance. // Guillaume
Yall get all that? Lol
Collin is wrong about the speakers in series. Both will have the exact same signal, because both will get the exact same current driven through it. They might influence each others behaviour but that will affect both speakers the in same way because they get the same current and thus they’ll sound the same (as long as they’re identicall).
Electro mechanical technician here. Can confirm.
Thanks for the correction. This highlights the importance of doing appropriate research, which on this instance I appear to have overlooked this fact.
@@ScienceofLoud Can you please clarify, what is this research thing of which you speak?
//Andy
When connecting an 16 ohm and an 8 ohm cab in parallel you get 5.33… ohm right? Wouldn’t you be “safe” with both connecting them to 4 ohms output? I mean are cabs like really precisely the value they tell you they are? Some old speakers sometimes have an ohm value, that are not in the power of two, like 5 or 6 ohms for example.
You might find this useful but be careful! blog.hughes-and-kettner.com/ohm-cooking-101-understanding-amps-speakers-and-impedance/
But I'm a Manowar fan - i gotta blow my speakers!
so can i connect two 8 ohms cabs in series starting from the 16 ohms output? HEEEEAAAAALPP
dont tell me show me 2x12 -4x12-2x12 2x2x12
first
18 minutes????? Seriously????
get. to. the. point.
4:53 "Impotence" This guy is staring too much info lol
Nice to see you dont have a haircut that looks like a 5 year old did it, anymore.