Has anyone gone from lightweight back to heavy?

[AndyTravis]

In my quest for all things 80's I've started to look at Trace Gear.

In the late 90's I had a procession of Combos by TE and then was very excited and ultimately disappointed by their resurgence under Peavey in the mid 2000's.

I've currently got a delightfully compact, light and loud Ashdown rig, and I've been using their gear since about 2011 (this is my 3rd rig of theirs).

So why do I feel the lure of the Green badge?

Someone please tell me I'm being ridiculous and it's not the way forward at all...

Edited December 20, 2016 by AndyTravis

[karlfer]

You are being ridiculous and it's not the way forward .

As somebody said, nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

[Merton]

I have.

My main Ashdown rig is an ABM 500 EVO - around 17kg - and an Ashdown VS212 which is a ceramic loaded heavy thing. But not as heavy as my old Trace V-Type combo, which was about 7/8 of the Sun's mass.

It's ace. But I would like a lighter cab haha

[Merton]

PS - much as I love the RM head (it's really quite stupendous), the ABM is something else entirely and quite sublime.

[molan]

I was at my amp tech recently and he was working on a Trace head.

He showed me the quality of components and design - all very basic and he wasn't impressed.

I think his comment was something like a "catastrophic failure waiting to happen"!

To be fair, he's a real perfectionist and it takes a lot to impress him, lol

[AndyTravis]

Yeah. Think I'm being silly.

Might keep an eye out for a cheap Trace Cab and have the best of both, I'll use it as a sideboard for the main...

[Cat Burrito]

My Ampeg rig is much heavier than the little Orange SP rig I had for a few years. I thought that it'd be lighter but I just like the Ampeg sound. I wish I had roadies sometimes!

[markstuk]

I'm umming and aahing between my RH750 and Glockenklang Blue Rock .... I think the Glock has the edge in heft, but I can't run either at anything near full chat as the drummer falls off his stool... :-)

In terms of heavy cabs.. No way ever again...

[FinnDave]

My #1 gig rig is an Ashdown ABM 500 evo II into a Barefaced Super Twin, but for the last 4 months it hasn't left the house as I have been using my Ashdown Touring 330 1x15 combo instead, which weighs about double the main rig, but sounds so good it gets used everywhere.

[markstuk]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1482265886' post='3199127']
My #1 gig rig is an Ashdown ABM 500 evo II into a Barefaced Super Twin, but for the last 4 months it hasn't left the house as I have been using my Ashdown Touring 330 1x15 combo instead, which weighs about double the main rig, but sounds so good it gets used everywhere.
[/quote]

P bass man :-)

[FinnDave]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1482266096' post='3199129']
P bass man :-)
[/quote]

Got that one right!

[Damonjames]

I think we are on the verge of a slight shift. I think tube pre with transformer power stage heads are going to be to the weapon of choice for the next few years (look at the drooling over the Hand Box amps). I agree at a certain something lacking with class D heads, and am in the process of trying to negotiate my amp situations at the moment.
Now I'm not saying that going and humping about a peavey TNT 15" combo is a clever idea, but if you are getting all warm and fuzzy about trace Elliott, then go for it. Hey yourself a trace head, but get yourself a decent lightweight cab.
It is cool to rock up with an amp in a handbag, but in reality we can all manage a 10kg head.

I for one would love to hear a trace head through a neo 212 cab. They were highly regarded back in the day, I'd love to see how they stack up now!

[timhiggins]

I dont get on with the lightweight stuff and am back to my ABM500 too, although i do like the Eden WT stuff

[LennyP]

[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1482268133' post='3199151']
I think we are on the verge of a slight shift. I think tube pre with transformer power stage heads are going to be to the weapon of choice for the next few years (look at the drooling over the Hand Box amps). I agree at a certain something lacking with class D heads, and am in the process of trying to negotiate my amp situations at the moment.
Now I'm not saying that going and humping about a peavey TNT 15" combo is a clever idea, but if you are getting all warm and fuzzy about trace Elliott, then go for it. Hey yourself a trace head, but get yourself a decent lightweight cab.
It is cool to rock up with an amp in a handbag, but in reality we can all manage a 10kg head.

I for one would love to hear a trace head through a neo 212 cab. They were highly regarded back in the day, I'd love to see how they stack up now!
[/quote]

I know what you mean. In my own experience, I've struggled to get a P Bass to sound good through Genz, Markbass, Gk and even EBS neo cabs. Plugged into a Peavey TNT 115 2weeks ago and there was the sound I wanted.
Bet rig I had was two Ampeg SVT 210he with an Ashdown head. Thinking about heading that way again.

[PaulWarning]

I have actually done this, sort of, I got a Fender Rumble V3 500, after I decided I couldn't lug my TE combo around but felt strangely unimpressed, bit too clinical is the best way to describe it, plus after the Trace, the EQ section was woeful, so I got hold of first a TE series 6 head and them even better a SMX head (easy one hand lift at 12Kg), which I use with my Rumble as just a Cab, (16Kg) also if my ageing Trace does give up the ghost mid gig I've got back up, happy, so far.

[goblin]

I was running an Aguilar TH500 with neo 112 Hartke cabs, then a Barefaced. I now run a Mesa M-Pulse 600 with a pair of Powerhouse cabs - so I've gone from super light to super heavy, and the Mesa wins for sound, clarity, punch, lows, level etc hands down.

[Damonjames]

Prepare yourselves for the class D sell off boys and girls

[gillento]

As for amps, I have gone back to MOSFET powered amps (Mesa Walkabout, Ashdown ABM).
My cabs are neo loaded.

[Lozz196]

I`ve gone from using my Aguilar Tonehammer 500 to my Aguilar AG500. It`s not that heavy, ok a lot heavier and bigger - in it`s rack case - than the TH, but the sound just has more bigness to it.

[drake]

I did with cabs, never had lightweight heads though. Now back to a 610 - Ashdown. No balls in them flimsy cabs and speakers

[radiophonic]

I dunno. I tried a Mark Bass 2 x 12 setup and it was just just too HiFi for me - like plugging straight into a desk - and too much money. I've no idea if the sound was primarily down to the preamp, power stage or the cabs though. Every time I've recorded in the last 25 years, I've moaned that the bass sounds wrong DI'd and I need a proper mic'd cab, so I went for Hartke at a much lower cost it it sounds great for the band I'm in. Very heavy head though! Now I'm gigging regularly, I can definitely see the upside of light-weight gear and I don't know how much sonic difference there would be with the whole band blasting away. If I had the money I'd definitely be considering the lightweight option and I'd be amazed if folk without a crew would want to go back. Obviously, if you can click your fingers and someone else moves your cab half a mile across town, then it's a different decision. Negotiating city centre parking restrictions with a pair of cabs and a class A/B head plus two basses and pedals is not the fun part of the evening.

As to the OP and TE gear. I used to have one of the 4 x 10 cabs and it was very heavy, but surprisingly well balanced. The enclosure was very deep, so when you picked it up with the handles, it remained horizontal. I wouldn't want to carry it long distances, but when lugging gear up flights of stairs and in and out of vans, I had more aggro with my practice room combo. Personally, I never got on with the sound of them though.

Edited December 21, 2016 by radiophonic

[la bam]

Yes. I've gone from all in one combos (te commando 12) (Line 6 300) and genz Benz 500 ending up with a mark bass lm3 and 2x10 cab.

Now gone back to an Ashdown evoii 15 combo and 2x10 ext cab.

With the quality of heavy rigs out there its a no brainer. That rig in mint condition cost me around £300, and makes any of the others I've had sound like toy amps.

[Lozz196]

Must admit an Ashdown ABM Evo amp-head is on my shopping list. I love the ABM cabs too, but they`re just a bit too heavy for me.

[Low End Bee]

I like the idea of a massive amp and cabs pumping out a big sound. As long as someone else carries them of course.
I can see whjy the touring pros have them but if you're playing mid and smaller sized venues going DI with just a little amp volume on stage as a monitor enhancement I wonder what difference it would make?
Serious question. I'm willing to be won over.

[Muzz]

Having used Class D stuff possibly more widely than a lot of folk on here (I make it ten or eleven different heads, IIRC), I've now got two heads, a Magellan and a Walkabout, which I use for different bands, both with either two or three Berg 112s.

I'd had a run of rehearsals with the 'proper rock band', for which I use the Walkabout (it just suits the band sound) and I was thinking 'Ooooo, the heft...', etc. Then I gigged at the weekend with the function band at a big Xmas do, where the band leader forgot the big mixer, so I wasn't FOH, and I had the Magellan with me...and that did it, too: huuuuge.

The newer Class D stuff is much, erm, 'heftier' than a lot of the first gen stuff - FWIW, I thought the TH500 I had was the weediest of the Class D heads by some distance, I'm not surprised people see a difference when they move from one of them back to Class A/B - the B&O ICE 800w power stage is a helluva thing.

As far as cabs are concerned, well, in a world of roadies I'd have an 810 just for the sheer look/hell of it, but in the real world, there's no reason for anything over 50lbs a pop these days - those 1/2" marine ply dinosaurs are just that.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Muzz