Need a small lightweight cab under £500 HELP!!

[willyf87]

At the moment I have a Mag 300 watt amp with a 1x15 and a 2x10 cab, sounds good nice and loud but as I don't drive and this lives at a rehearsal space getting it to gigs and back is not an option plus it's frigging heavy!! If I play around London one or two of the guys will probably drive but my rig will take up the whole car lol. I want to keep the head if possible and I'd keep one of the cabs just in case but I need to find a great loud but light speaker that can be used through my head on it's own and still make a loud noise!! I realise that most venues now have dedicated engineers and DI'ing the amp whilst it's on stage is an option I would be using as well, but just want something than can hold it's own.

I was looking at the hydrive 115c combo just to carry around to a gig and mic up but not sure how good they would really be.

Anyone got any suggestions?

[fatback]

Check out the Barefaced cabs, and drop Alex a message - he'll give you plenty info. Sounds like the Midget or Compact would be just the ticket.

[Lozz196]

I swapped an amp with Clarky earlier this week, and whilst at his checked out his Markbass gear. Ridiculously light. Def worth a look.

[wateroftyne]

Barefaced Compact - if you're after loud and light, it's perfect.

If you want to go smaller, I've heard great things about the Barefaced Midget but I have no experience with it.

[fatback]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1066656' date='Dec 22 2010, 12:16 PM']Barefaced Compact - if you're after loud and light, it's perfect.

If you want to go smaller, I've heard great things about the Barefaced Midget but I have no experience with it.[/quote]

Midget is fab. I've not run out of oomph with it yet. No wool, and as much bass as I could want. Ultra light.

[lemmywinks]

A Schroeder 1212l will do the job, there's not many small, light one cab solutions if you play in a loud band with a heavy-handed drummer but my 1212r has always been more than enough.

A Compact will also be worth a look, quite a few people on here use one on it's own

Size is a big consideration for me, not just for transport but also for home storage


A friend of mine gigs regularly with the Markbass 2x10 wedge combo, he loves it and it's replaced his big rig. That also will be worth trying as you'd have no head to cart around

[bigjohn]

I use a 1212L - tis a mighty fine beast and an easy one arm lift.

With a lightweight head in a rucksack I could walk about with it on one arm and a bass on another.

Also makes a fine seat on public transport.

[willyf87]

yeah been checking out the barefaced series, looks good just worried that an 8 ohm cab through a 300w into 4 ohm head won't be loud enough, may contact him and find out, it's gotta hang with 2 guitarists and a drummer and don't really want to spend more than £500, the schroeder looks good but can I get them in England, with all the import tax etc would end up costing a bomb!!

[fatback]

[quote name='willyf87' post='1066736' date='Dec 22 2010, 01:10 PM']yeah been checking out the barefaced series, looks good just worried that an 8 ohm cab through a 300w into 4 ohm head won't be loud enough, may contact him and find out, it's gotta hang with 2 guitarists and a drummer and don't really want to spend more than £500, the schroeder looks good but can I get them in England, with all the import tax etc would end up costing a bomb!![/quote]

That's a thought. Maybe you need a 4 ohm cab. My 8ohm Midget is driven by a 550 into 4.

[willyf87]

Exactly what I'm thinking LOL!! Which was why I was thinking about getting the hartke hydrive 115c as it's 250w except I can't add an extension cabinet if I need more power.

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='willyf87' post='1066736' date='Dec 22 2010, 01:10 PM']yeah been checking out the barefaced series, looks good just worried that an 8 ohm cab through a 300w into 4 ohm head won't be loud enough, may contact him and find out, it's gotta hang with 2 guitarists and a drummer and don't really want to spend more than £500, the schroeder looks good but can I get them in England, with all the import tax etc would end up costing a bomb!![/quote]


The Schroeders are 4ohm (and hella loud) and can be bought from SHX music:
[url="http://www.shxmusic.com/"]http://www.shxmusic.com/[/url]

Alternatively just wait until one comes up for sale on here, they appear quite often and go for about £350+

Shaun at SHX also sells the covers too which are handy

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='willyf87' post='1066736' date='Dec 22 2010, 01:10 PM']yeah been checking out the barefaced series, looks good just worried that an 8 ohm cab through a 300w into 4 ohm head won't be loud enough, may contact him and find out, it's gotta hang with 2 guitarists and a drummer and don't really want to spend more than £500, the schroeder looks good but can I get them in England, with all the import tax etc would end up costing a bomb!![/quote]
It's a fair point, but I've come to realise that, in the real world, there's not that much in the 4/8ohm thing. The Compact is so sensitive, it doesn't take a lot to make it to roar.

[willyf87]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1066809' date='Dec 22 2010, 02:16 PM']The Schroeders are 4ohm (and hella loud) and can be bought from SHX music:
[url="http://www.shxmusic.com/"]http://www.shxmusic.com/[/url]

Alternatively just wait until one comes up for sale on here, they appear quite often and go for about £350+

Shaun at SHX also sells the covers too which are handy[/quote]

fancy selling yours!!!!! Haha, hmm £500 on there and it would do all I need really, very tempting......does it handle all the lows well etc...

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1066676' date='Dec 22 2010, 12:28 PM']A Schroeder 1212l will do the job, there's not many small, light one cab solutions if you play in a loud band with a heavy-handed drummer but my 1212r has always been more than enough.[/quote]

The 1212l really intrigues me... it's quite an odd design with the dual woofer folded baffle, it's like a really stubby 'half-tapped' horn with a great big compression chamber. I'd be very interested in a frequency plot from the cab, see how flat they play. And what woofers are loaded into the modern ones?

Anyway, to the OP, for a more conventional small/lightweight cab design it's very hard to look beyond the Midget, if the tone suits you. It will have quite an aggressive mid-range which will help cut in the mix but is probably what people would describe as a 'modern' sound. With the internal bracing and large slot ports they are probably one of the best-engineered cabs available, and for a 1x12 it's about as loud as you're going to get. Plus it weighs half what the Schroeder weighs. I wouldn't be concerned about it being 8 ohm as opposed to 4, because it's such a sensitive driver.

Edited December 22, 2010 by LawrenceH

[Muzz]

I'm running a Schroeder 1515L, which is the same size (bar about an inch) as the 1212L, if 15s are more your thang. It's indeed hella loud - the sensitivity of these things is 104db - and kicks it out in good style. Not a deeeeep dub cab, but it's monstrous output makes up for that. It's a 40lb one-hand carry, with, as mentioned above, the amp in a rucksack and bass in t'other. I've even had guitarists volunteering to carry it from the van...

Oh, and the drivers are Celestion Greens...

Edited December 22, 2010 by Muzz

[MOSCOWBASS]

Barefaced Midget T is brill, did a 500 seat venue, no pa support with shuttle9. massive bottom C's on 5 string, no farting. On the back of this I sold my Epi ul410 and ordered a Compact to beef up the Midget in big gigs, but I think I'll be doing most gigs with Midget only. It was a close call on ordering a second midget as it is so good, but I weakened and thought the Compact will give even more big bottom.......we'll see!

[Hamster]

[quote name='MOSCOWBASS' post='1067244' date='Dec 22 2010, 09:35 PM']Barefaced Midget T is brill, did a 500 seat venue, no pa support with shuttle9. massive bottom C's on 5 string, no farting. On the back of this I sold my Epi ul410 and ordered a Compact to beef up the Midget in big gigs, but I think I'll be doing most gigs with Midget only. It was a close call on ordering a second midget as it is so good, but I weakened and thought the Compact will give even more big bottom.......we'll see![/quote]

Alex brought a couple of the Midgets to last years bass bash - an unbelievable amount of sound and bottom end for something so small and light.

[pantherairsoft]

I recently picked up an EA Wizzy 10. It's very light. Compact, and fits in a special EA backpack so you can carry it with bass in hand to a gig.

Handles a low B well. Tilt back option. Comes in under your budget.

Perfect:)

[willyf87]

thanks for the help guys, been emailing Alex at barefaced about his cabs. Also really liking the look of the schroeder cab as well.

Still wondering about the hydrive 115c though, this any good?

Also the promethean amps look cool, but I have a feeling that wouldn't cut through 2 guitarists and a drummer in a pretty loud band lol.

[gafbass02]

Another vote for the midget t here I carry mine around town every week and it's very very loud

[benh]

A big +1 for the Compact, I run a Shuttle 6.0 through mine (350W @8Ohms) and I've never had it past 1/3 on the master volume - even in 600 seater, high ceilinged working mens clubs. Uber sensitive cabs, I love mine!

[warwickhunt]

Reading your OP a few times it seems that weight isn't the main consideration because you've highlighted that it's the ability to get the cab into someone's car! I don't envisage that you are going to be taking whichever cab you get on public transport (not whilst carrying your bass and a MAG head), if you are then you should really be looking at one of the new uber compact combos; Promethian etc. However, if the cab choice is a reduced dimension to fit in a friends car then start looking at cabs that are small enough to use as a standalone without factoring in bringing a second cab. I'm not trying to correct your own post but simply trying to clarify some of the thinking.

As others have said don't get hung up on 4/8ohm, the efficiency is probably more important and don't forget that the sound coming out of the cab will make itself heard on stage if it has a mid-bias, some mid scooped cabs sound great in isolation and in certain band settings but up against 2 guitarists the colouration/tone of the cab design may make a difference. I've now tried a couple of the Barefaced cabs and the Schroeders (or earlier Tech Soundsystem which are the same design) and they achieve a particular/different tonal slant by different means.

[willyf87]

[/quote] Reading your OP a few times it seems that weight isn't the main consideration because you've highlighted that it's the ability to get the cab into someone's car! I don't envisage that you are going to be taking whichever cab you get on public transport (not whilst carrying your bass and a MAG head), if you are then you should really be looking at one of the new uber compact combos; Promethian etc. [quote\]

All I know is moving the head and 2 30KG cabs into a car with the bands gear isn't an option, I more than likely won't be using public transport to move the amp, if that were to happen I would probably just end up taking the head and seeing if I can use someone's cabs, depends on the situation. I would much prefer to be using my head with one cab to save space and weight, but could couple the 2x10 ashdown with a small powerful cab if I really really had to for bigger gigs, most venues now have really powerful PA's and would only really need to use the amp to monitor my own sound on the stage, but obviously just in case would be nice to be powerful enough without using full PA support.

[quote\] As others have said don't get hung up on 4/8ohm, the efficiency is probably more important and don't forget that the sound coming out of the cab will make itself heard on stage if it has a mid-bias, some mid scooped cabs sound great in isolation and in certain band settings but up against 2 guitarists the colouration/tone of the cab design may make a difference. [quote\]

I never realised efficiency of the cab alone would be enough to make me sound loud lol, I always thought to get loud it was better to take the amp to maximum potential with all the speakers it could take!! so it is nice to know that I small cab could be all I need.

Alex from barefaced has recommended a Midget or a Compact swaying more towards midget, I'm just still worried that my amp isn't powerful enough to run the speaker loud, but as said before at most gigs it could be rigged through the PA and for others could couple with a 2x10...it's just decisions decisions really!!

Edited December 23, 2010 by willyf87

[willyf87]

sorry couldn't get the quotes to work properly!!

[warwickhunt]

I've owned 2x10 cabs that with the same amp at the same volume/gain setting, have been demonstrably louder than some 4x10, 1x15, 2x15... not ALL 4x10, 1x15, 2x15 mind you because that is the whole point of cab efficiency they are all different! My particular example of a 2x10 was down to the efficiency of the cab (not 4ohm v 8ohm) and the design which meant that you got more out of what your amp delivered and the perceived sound was plenty loud.

There's plenty science out there to confound the humble bassist trying to sort out a rig!