chris_b

Not actually a problem though. You're recommending MM and the other guy is recommending BSSM. I'd recommend the Crusaders with the fantastic Wilton Felder on bass. A range of opinions is exactly what the OP was asking for.

For the last 20 years Keb Mo has used the best bass players. Great songs, intelligent bass lines, and while you're at it check out Bonnie Raitt. See Delbert McClinton for great bass grooves. Any Eric Clapton gig featuring Nathan East or Dave Bronze. Tower Of Power for Rocco Prestia, bass extraordinaire. Any Stax record you can find.

Mate, bands spent decades touring the world with 300 watt SVT's running 810 cabs connected with 1/4" jacks. Speakons might be the better option of the two but when speakons were invented it didn't instantly make 1/4" jacks bad or dangerous to use. For your application and many other bass players 1/4" jacks are just as good.

IME the sound you get out of these cabs is what you put in. The sound of your bass, amp and EQ will come out at the other end with amazing clarity with enough volume to easily fill the room. I have to own up, I'm not a great player, just traditional finger style player, trying to play all styles from Reggae to Rock and everything in between. I have 2 Super Compacts and can make them either sound vintage or modern-ish. With my TH500 they sound full, round and meaty. When I use my AG700 and the sound is full, fat and punchy. The SC's are the first cabs I've owned in 20 years that haven't had tweeters. In the year I've been using them I haven't missed the tweeter at all. I use my SC's as the backline in a jam night so I get to hear all styles and types of players, from 60's Soul to manic twang-sters and the SC's cover it all nicely. I've only done 1 gig with my Two10 and One10 (310) and the AG700 and that just sounded like my bass. It was a little tighter and punchier than the SC's but happily sounded like I was using a much bigger rig. I am seriously considering a second Two10.

+1 It's about 15 years since I switched to Speakon leads but 1/4" jack plugs always worked well in the past and will be fine to use today.

Mesa Boogie rates the 400+ at 500 watts. I'm not sure mine was putting out anything like that! With big valve amps I'm not sure there is anything usable above 200 watts. Why isn't Ampeg's SVT in the list?

Email Alex at Barefaced. If he can't put a smile on your face a mile wide and save your back at the same time you should be playing a flute.

My Gramma (2 or 3 lbs) is 5 or 6 years old and still in perfect condition. I use it on most gigs and still keep it in the original (now very gaffered) cardboard box.

If you're clipping it could be that you need a more powerful amp and the cabs aren't the problem at all. Have you just started using a new bass? For instance MM Sting Ray's have very hot signals which could cause clipping. You could replace all your cabs but could also add a third 210 and run the amp at 2.67 ohms. Lots of options, depending on what the problem really is. If you like the sound of your amp then don't expect that sound to remain when you've changed the speakers. It could easily be better, could be worse, but it will be different. Just don't get hung up on the 2 4 ohm cab thing. 2 good 8 ohm cabs could easily out perform 2 not so good 4 ohm cabs and the best cab for you could be just one 4 ohm cab. My 2p. . . . if you want light and powerful cabs start by checking out Barefaced. IMO they are in the top 3 cabs being made at the moment.

No the best option for any player is the best sounding cabs at the right volume. To carry on with the car analogies: you don't see all the Aston Martins driving about down the High Street at 90mph because that's what they can do. They all drive at the same speed as my old Volvo. If you have a 2 ohm amp you can buy 2 4 ohm cabs but that isn't going to be noticeably different to the volume out of 2 8 ohm cabs, because the limiting factor is the level your band plays at. If a 4 ohm amp is loud enough for your gigs then a 2 ohm amp wouldn't be running any louder. At a fixed volume more speakers is going to sound much better but the ohms won't be making that difference. The 2 ohms will be letting you choose different cabs.

But no one should be using their amp at "full volume". IME you'll get a better tone if you are running at a volume where the amp can handle the transient peaks, ie you need headroom for the low notes and loud bits. You don't red-line the revs in your car every time you drive anywhere and, for better tone, you should be doing the equivalent with your amp. My take on ohms is that if your amp can handle lower figures the benefit is flexibility, not tone or volume, ie you can choose a different config of cabs without having to worry about overheating your amp. With a 500 watt amp a 4 ohm cab should be the same volume as an 8 ohm cab on a gig, because you'll be running both at the volume you need for the balance. The benefit of an 8 ohm cab is you can get a serious improvement in your tone and volume by adding another cab full of speakers not because the amp can give you an extra 100 watts when running at lower ohms. There are several amps out there (Mesa D800) where the 4 and 2 ohm watts ratings are the same. 2 ohms is about flexibility.

Call Alex and ask the question. Surely the Super Midget (18"x17"x11" or 45x42x28) will fit in your boot?

Excellent job. I'm getting told off much faster now!

I believe Duncan Designed are made under licence (probably in the Far East) to a lower price point and SD's are made by the "real" SD guys in the US to a different and higher price point. There ought to be a discernible difference with the SD's having the "better" sound or else SD's business model isn't up to scratch. If you have the pickups sitting around then I'd be using them. It's a reversible mod so if you invest the time you probably gain a much better sounding bass. If not put it all back and sell the pickups.

I've used Aguilar, Thunderfunk, TC, Markbass and GB amps and they have all been ok.

When I play at home I'm practising songs, working on a technique or running through arrangements. The one thing I'm not doing is trying to get a "good" sound. So I just use my regular gigging amp, which these days is 700 watts. There is a Gain, Master and dB cut button on the amp and a volume control on the bass itself. I also isolate the cab from the floor. Just in case.

On the gig last night I used my BF Three10. That's the One10 with the new-to-me Two10 under it. Maybe I could have used the Two10 on its own but these days the bands I play with are too loud to let me get away with the One10 on its own. I just feel more comfortable playing a loud 5 string with a lot of low mids through as many speakers as I can. So the Three10 worked very well. I got a lot of compliments on my sound and swapped phone numbers with a drummer and a sax player. . . . both band leaders.

That covers bands draw from a large pool of songwriters is their strength. How could it be that Joe Bloggs, a postman from somewhere is going to write a dozen songs that are all better than Sting or Jim Webb could write? He wouldn't be a postman for long if he could. So it isn't ridiculous but a fact of life that semi pro originals bands are not going to be writing at the same level as seasoned pro songwriters. Every songwriter is up against the competition. Every song is in judged against every other song that has so far been written and the preferences of the listener. If you write a hit, the hardest job you face is writing the next one. If you can't convince anyone by the strength of your writing then you probably don't deserve their time.

In that case just buy another BB2 and run 1, 2 or 3.

Exactly. Tonight I'm part of an evening of Rock, Blues, Reggae, Ska with a bit of World Music thrown in for good measure. Two front men, about 80% originals and a great audience. There will be some busking, a few c*ck-ups and a lot of fun. This is going to be good.

In the last year or two I had only gigged with my Lull P and the Sadowsky J. I decided to keep those and sell everything else. Easy decision really. I miss a couple of the basses that went, but they were no use to me sitting in the cases.

Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Ronnie Wood, Tim Bogert. Not very interesting? Seriously?

I'd go back to any Cream gig between August and October 1966. For that brief period of a couple of months they were the best band the world has ever seen. Possibly to the Blue Triangle in Ealing Broadway. Then I wouldn't have far to walk home.

The Genzler MG350 and a BF One10 would make a great sound in a very small package.

But the point is you don't want to fill out the sound. That's not how it's done. Listen to any record and the levels don't go up or down during solos. Quiet sections aren't quiet. The arrangement will change so that less is played but the level remains the same. No one plugs in a pedal to fill the sound out on a record, so why do it on a gig? If the OP's sound is thin during the solos then it will be thin in the rest of the song and the racket the guitarist is making is covering it up. Sort the band's sound out (maybe add some natural authority to the bass tone) and the guitar can play or not and the band sound will be good.