'New' Cab Day - Schroeder 21012L

[discreet]

[b]'New' Cab Day - Schroeder 21012L[/b][list]
[*]2 X 10" Neo Drivers
[*]1 X 12" Neo Driver mounted on angled baffle
[*]200W Tweeter with adjustable Attenuator
[*]1 X Speakon and 1 X 6.3mm Jack Inputs
[*]1000W RMS @ 4ohms
[*]49lb (22kg)
[*]23.5 X 23.5 X 16" (60 X 60 X 40 cm)
[/list]
As we know GAS stalks the land like... a great big stalking thing, and all are taken up in its grasp. So it's very tempting to consider only [i]new[/i] gear; and this is the basis of consumer capitalism - we must upgrade, upgrade, upgrade, because the thing we told you to buy before has become crappy and the thing we offer you now is that much better. If you don't have the new thing you will be ostracised by your peers and people will point and laugh at you in the street. Your children will go hungry, your wife will run off with a loss-adjuster from Croydon and your plonker will fall off with a resounding clang.

None of these things will happen of course (if they haven't happened already). The only mocking you will get is from gear nuts who are old enough to know better and/or gear nuts who have all the gear but no idea. Gear nuts!! And what is this forum if not a meeting place and a market place for 30,000+ gear nuts who play bass? Anyway, I digress. My current rig: G-B Streamliner 900, Zoom B1Xon and Hayman 4040 Bass. And the 21012L, of course. This is ostensibly a new cab day thread, but man cannot live by cab alone, so to a lesser extent it's about the ancillary gear too...



This is one of Jorg Schroeder's earlier 21012Ls - the currently-available offering has all the drivers mounted on a front baffle and he has somehow made this work in a cab only an inch or so bigger than this one, which itself is a marvel of space-saving design. The footprint is smaller than a 410 but a little bigger than a 212 - it's light too - I fitted a set of castors to it and it's a real doddle to move about. It came with a fitted, padded Roqsolid cover too, which is a nice touch. It is in very good condition indeed and though I suspect it could be as much as 10 years old it shows very little sign of wear and in use doesn't buzz, rattle, fart or make any kind of noise that it shouldn't; which brings us to the all-important 'tone' issue. So what does it actually sound like?

What it actually sounds like does of course depend to a large degree on which bass and which amp are used with it. I'm using a Hayman 4040 which is my go-to bass (at the moment it's my ONLY bass) and for a passive bass it's very powerful indeed and its two P-style split pickups provide a fair old roar when both employed. The Streamliner has been well-documented in this parish and elsewhere, so I'll just say that it's a very warm-sounding amp and a lot of grind can be had from the preamp section - but whatever gimmick G-B claim for the power section, the fact is it's a very hefty, big-sounding amp and has an incredible amount of volume and headroom on tap. The Zoom B1Xon helps with this: I have a patch or two set up with a compressor, bass drive and amp sim. To be specific, a dbx 160A, SansAmp and SVT. All are approximations of course, but get very close. I'll post a new effects day thread for the Zoom later.

So to the cab: I once had a Schroeder 1212L for a short time and liked it very much, particularly the low-mid hump, which gave a lovely growly punch in a live situation. I very stupidly sold it, and ever since have been yearning for another Schroeder. The 21012L doesn't have this mid-hump and is much more conventional in its delivery - [i]but[/i] this doesn't matter, because what it does have is the ability to transmit the sound of your bass and amp in a very musical way - this is not a hi-fi cab, it is not a transparent cab, and it [i]does[/i] colour your sound. If you like that sound there is nothing like it, and I do like that sound, very much. My Barefaced Big One was an excellent cab in every way, but was more like a studio monitor in that you got out what you put in. People like this. I liked it too - for a while, but I'm definitely a Schroeder man, no doubt about it!

So how can I describe it? When I got the 1212L it made me play fingerstyle, after nearly 40 years of pick-playing. Don't ask me why, that's just what happened. I continued to play fingerstyle using the Big One, but the moment I fired up the 21012L I realised I'd be going back to the pick. What this rig reminds me of is an Ampeg SVT and 810 on the go - massive power and headroom and that very clear, solid bottom end coupled with an almost piano-like mid twang and upper mid graininess that favours the attack of a pick. It has punch, clarity and masses of low end. You can use a Streamliner wound up loud with the Bass set at 12 o'clock without issue, and Streamliner owners know what that means! 'Seismic' is the word.

At rehearsal last night I was a very happy bunny indeed and could hear myself extremely well in the room. The guitarist spent a lot more time playing through his clean channel as he felt he no longer needed to provide so much grit or worry about his usual rhythm duties and went off on one with his new Roland Space Echo... This rig enables me to hold down a very solid framework with the drummer and I found myself playing our songs differently, more rhythmically but using far fewer notes. Tellingly, the band noticed what was happening and liked it a lot. Many times have I turned up with new gear, asked what the consensus was and been greeted with, 'uh... yeah... sounds great,' which roughly translated means 'I can't tell the difference'.

Bottom line is, the only gear to have changed the way I play was the Schroeder 1212L and now the Schroeder 21012L has done it again. This is a good thing for me - I think - whether it would be a good thing for you, I can't tell. I'm sure if I say, 'this one's a keeper', those who know me will chortle into their PG Tips because I've said it before. Well... balls - this one's a keeper, and what's more it's not currently flavour of the month or even a new or relatively modern cab. These were first seen around twelve years ago and have regularly gone in and out of fashion both here and on TalkBass in that time. And when they do appear second-hand, they can be got for a fraction of the price of other well-known 'boutique' brands which will provide broadly similar quality, but quite a different tone. You know who they are.

What I say is - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This isn't really a 'New' Cab Day as such, but it's certainly a 'Great' Cab Day. And I'm very pleased about that.

Edited August 18, 2015 by discreet

[JPJ]

The 21012 is indeed a great cab capable of filling even a large room with bass. I miss mine and on reflection should have kept it and got rid of the Golly instead (strong words indeed from an SWR fan boi). Happy new old cab day

[Lozz196]

Likewise, a foolhardy move was made by me selling my 21012. The 410 BMF I bought to replace it was rather nice though.

[bertbass]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I chortled into my PG Tips.[/font][/color]

[Marvin]

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1410974202' post='2555249']
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I chortled into my PG Tips.[/font][/color]
[/quote]

...I'm still chortling, pretty much all around the house.

[discreet]

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1410950574' post='2554909']
Happy new old cab day
[/quote]

Thank you! It is a happy day.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1410974202' post='2555249']
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I chortled into my PG Tips.[/font][/color]
[/quote]
[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1410978041' post='2555299']
...I'm still chortling, pretty much all around the house.
[/quote]

This chortling... it's a good thing.

[Ticktock]

If you chortle too hard you go blind.

Glad you found your rig....for now ;-p

[FuNkShUi]

Never played through a Schroeder.
With all the good reviews on them, i think ill make an effort to find one.
Glad its worked out for you though

[discreet]

[quote name='Ticktock' timestamp='1410987870' post='2555445']
Glad you found your rig....for now ;-p
[/quote]
[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1411050962' post='2555982']
Glad its worked out for you though
[/quote]

Thank you gentlemen... I'm hoping this is 'the one'.

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1411050962' post='2555982']
Never played through a Schroeder. With all the good reviews on them, i think ill make an effort to find one.
[/quote]

You really should. Everyone should. It might be just what you're looking for.

Edited September 18, 2014 by discreet