Going back to school ? Old school style

[spacey]

Anyone dumped that ultra light combo/ set up to go back to that old school stack ?
Missed the thunderous rapture of the valve/ transistor head 4x10 + 1x15".
Decided something are worth carrying.
Interested in your stories.

What did you go back to for a gigging rig ?

[JTUK]

I have 2 main combos.
The DB750 into DB212 and DB210 and this sound awesome to me.
I'll carry that to the number 1 gig but my lightweight gig is a TH500
into 2 Berg AE112's. The latter is more than decent but the DB rig
is another league, IMO...
I guess it depends on your gig, but no one can convince me that lightweight
matches up or not that I have heard. I understand the object of the lightweight
rig and I subscribe to it myself at times, but for the most discerning rig, out comes
the heavyweights...

[Bassman Steve]

Never took up with this new-fangled lightweight malarkey. Walkabout Scout is as light as I want to go.

[Lozz196]

Nope, my back is worth more to me. If I had roadies, sure, I`d have a full-on Aguilar set-up, but I can`t carry that kind of gear without making my back worse.

[Truckstop]

Current rig is Peavey Max 700 and Hughes & Kettner 4x10. Fed up with class D amps and lightweight cabs not really being able to hit the sweet spot. They 'sound' loud without actually being loud if you know what I mean?

I'm not saying volume's everything; but even at low volumes my Peavey Max sounds better than the TC Electronic and GK class D amps I've owned.

Unfortunately the 4x10 is a little TOO heavy! For sale on this forum.

Truckstop

[wateroftyne]

I've ditched tweeters and Neo, but I haven't given up 'lightweight', unless we're talking about tone, which is heavyweight :-)

[spacey]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1417720959' post='2623489']
Current rig is Peavey Max 700 and Hughes & Kettner 4x10. Fed up with class D amps and lightweight cabs not really being able to hit the sweet spot. They 'sound' loud without actually being loud if you know what I mean?

I'm not saying volume's everything; but even at low volumes my Peavey Max sounds better than the TC Electronic and GK class D amps I've owned.

Unfortunately the 4x10 is a little TOO heavy! For sale on this forum.

Truckstop
[/quote]

Same here, had a BC500 combo, loud yes, but just no warmth in the sound, back to the Firebass 700 and 4x10.
The other thing is most with combos tend to have an expansion cab as well and it's still two trips to the car.

[Sean]

A few years ago I had a crisis and bought a Markbass LMK but now I'm the proud owner of a Mesa 400+ and an MJW Taranis 200. Big valve monsters. Anything else is like alcohol-free wine. I've tried loads of lightweight amps searching for the holy grail and the answer for my back but there's absolutely no substitute for big trannies delivering loads of current. Someone I work with asked me this week if 200 watts was enough for my new amp and I said that it would be more than enough for anyone at any venue. They replied by saying their bassist had a 500 watt amp that wasn't loud enough for a large venue that their band had played recently. Poor them. I've never had that issue because I've got limitless heft.

[Sean]

"I'm so passionate about bass but I'm determined to drive down the number of trips to the car I make when I'm gigging to get my kit to the stage."

You know who you are.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Sean

[stingrayPete1977]

I rarely use my amp as the only FOH sound and I never mic my cabs, always pre EQ Di so I'm not that bothered really, A Stingray straight into the desk always sounds great imo

[ratman]

I don't miss any of my big old heavy gear. Apart from the weight issue, in comparison with what I have now it all sounded rubbish. That's the clincher for me.

[No lust in Jazz]

No - I don't miss a heavy rig, currently its a Jule valve preamp the into desk, on stage monitoring via Walkabout 12; if I want to get sexy I put the Walkabout into a Berg NV115 at 2.66 ohms all of which sits on the back seat of a Golf.

Edit: Added detail

Edited December 5, 2014 by No lust in Jazz

[Pow_22]

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1417717848' post='2623451']
Never took up with this new-fangled lightweight malarkey. Walkabout Scout is as light as I want to go.
[/quote]

This. Im defo a valve guy but have tried the Orange Bass Terror (really liked it), TC RH450 (awful), Aguillar TH 500 (ok). None of them copped the valve tone and feel despite claims to the conterary (the TC valvetone thingy sounded less valve like than my Ashdown Spyder!)

For me i just NEED a big 'F off' valve amp

[Salt on your Bass?]

I've gone light on my cabs with Neo drivers, albeit its still 22kg, but I like like what they do and how the cab performs. Amp wise, I went through a few Class Ds and accidentally fell back into a heavy weight hybrid that then made me realise I was missing a bit.

Now gone all valve (400w) whilst I'm only just the right side of youth to manage it. So my preferred rig is now a Laney Nexus and Barefaced Big twin, and my lightweight carry on the train is a walkabout cause that carries far more authority in a drop tuning than orange, genz, tc, or anything else I've tried with my current set up.

Great to have options though so heavy weight becomes a choice rather than a core fact of bassing.

[JapanAxe]

Very happy with lightweight cabs and my micro head, but also 'regressed' and got a traditional tranny head (with full valve front end) a while back. For sound, I wouldn't say I like one better than the other - they are different, and suit different gigs.

EDIT: That's the Ampeg I'm talking about btw, and it's only 16kg. The Selmer is just for fun.

Edited December 5, 2014 by JapanAxe

[chris_b]

My 2p.

While I'm glad the OP has found a rig that suits his needs some of us didn't get the choice when we made the switch. For me it was a choice between cutting the weight or give up gigging. Simple as that.

I was there when 4x12 stacks were the norm and moving my Ampeg 2x15 cab on my own was never any fun. But I can say that in the last 10 years the gear I've used has been better designed, better built and has sounded whole levels of magnitude better than [i]most[/i] of the stuff that was around back then.

The shoot out at the recent bass bash between 3 tube amps and about 5 D class amps didn't change my mind.

If my back hadn't given out I'd probably have carried on using my Mesa Boogie rig for a year or two longer but I'm really glad that I own the gear I have now and IMO I'm sounding better than I ever did. For me there's nothing second class about good lightweight gear.

So I guess my answer to Spacey is no, even if I could I would never go back.

[Bassman Steve]

Get doing Happy Jack's work-out and you can buy a big rig again.

[gadgie]

Gee all this talk of big heavy rigs is making me consider chopping in my PJB stuff and getting BIG stuff.

[Bassman Steve]

It's all horses for courses really. I have a hefty rig I love the sound of and am able to cart it around. If I had no choice but to change then I would - it's a no brainer.

Ironically though, thanks to the laws of physics (and some casters), moving my flightcased rig is probably easier than carrying a lightweight cab so I have no intention of changing as yet.

[Paul S]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1417717498' post='2623446']
but no one can convince me that lightweight
matches up or not that I have heard.
[/quote]

Have you ever considered Barefaced cabs, at all?.........

Just my 2 bobs worth.



Like chris_b I don't have the choice so old school is out of the question. I imagine if my back had remained in good nick I would still be using my old Trace Elliot rig as I *really* liked it - turn up anywhere, push in the pre-set, let the 18" cab flap my trousers around. But having been forced down the road of light gear I probably wouldn't turn back even if I could as there is something quite liberating about 'portability without sacrificing sound'.

[JTUK]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1417784960' post='2623987']
Have you ever considered Barefaced cabs, at all?.........

[/quote]
I get the joke, but following the 210 thread had me in stitches, I can't take them seriously.

[Bassman Steve]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1417784960' post='2623987'] Have you ever considered Barefaced cabs, at all?......... [/quote]

I have tried to be open to the charms of them and engaged Alex in discussions on here about the science behind them - why a smaller speaker can give the 'same' result as a larger speaker. I have, since then, tried a 2x12 (my original thought had been a 2x15 + a Dubster) and I was quite underwhelmed. I accept others like them but there's something rather emperor's new clothes about them (to me).

I have concluded (probably due to the limits of my hearing) that a 12" speaker just doesn't sound the same as a 15" (which is the sound I like). You can show me all the scientific proof you want but you won't change that opinion.

I realise that I am probably wrong but my ignorance is bliss to me.

[Paul S]

Of course. We all like what we like etc etc and nowhere is it quite so varied than in the entirely subjective qualities of 'tone'. But I was actually just having a playful dig at JTUK rather than adding anything sensible to the discussion.

[0175westwood29]

In recent years I've gone from a mark bass lmt, to the swr headlite, but have to say every time I plugged into something like an svt or orange it made me long for tubes, tried to cure that with a terror bass, and tbh it really did work till I got a proper look at the ctm amps.

Always had big cabs however, trace 1153, ampeg 610, orange 115 and 410 and now my ashdown 810

[EssentialTension]

I played through a Marshall 100watt valve head and two 4x12"s stacked at a rehearsal room recently. I didn't particularly like the sound. I certainly wouldn't buy or use for gigging.