Delberthot Posted December 27, 2010 Share Posted December 27, 2010 (edited) I know that there were a few people interested in hearing what these were like recently so I'm going to give my review of it so far. There were a few things that drew me to this cab: The first one being the weight. its 20kg which is 1kg heavier than the Schroeder 1212L I used to have but then that's coming in at 4x the price The construction: Marine ply, tolex covering and a heavy duty metal grill The speaker: being a user and fan of Trace Elliot in the past I've always loved Celestion drivers (although recently I've used a lot of Eminence ones) but this was the first neodymium one I'd tried. The Price: More expensive than the Ashdown 15" cab but that's made of MDF and 27kg. The final one is that its made and designed in the UK. Hooray for Blighty - we can design and build a marine ply, lightweight cab with a quality driver for less than £250. £237 to be exact. [u][b]First impressions[/b][/u] Competely ignoring the weather which caused this cab to arrive 4 weeks after it should have, or should I say I went and collected it despite the fact that the roads were clear and they were sitting drinking coffee, I was both impressed and disappointed. The cab is very light. I can lift it out of the car and carry it some distance to the gig in one hand whilst carrying something else in the other. The steel grill is thick and very reminiscent of the old Trace Elliot ones. [u][b]First use [/b][/u] It was clear from the start that this is designed to give an old school rock tone. Its not even remotely clear and hifi-like. What you get is a wonderfully dirty sound that would complement a dirty old valve amp. I'm using mine with a Gallien Krueger 700RB II which is a very growly amp and it absolutely loves this cab. Another major contendor IMO would be the Orange Terror Bass. So to reiterate, those with Alembics or other high end gear looking for a clear tone just stop reading cos this one ain't for you alright? [u][b]Active, Passive & the low B[/b][/u] My main bass at the minute is a passive Epiphone Thunderbird with an EMG HZ35 at the bridge and a Wilkinson soapbar at the neck. It is also fitted with a Hipshot Supertone bridge and Rotosound flatwound strings. My other bass is an active Ibanez SRX505 5 string. If you are the type of player who likes to use a lot of low end boost on your active bass then you're going to need a second cab to get it loud enough without it farting out but then that's going to be the case with the vast majority, if not all compact 15"s on the market Its going to easily handle the B string on a passive 5ver but and active one is going to have the cone pushing very hard, perhaps too hard to cope. I use quite a nasally, burpy tone on my Thunderbird and can crank it loud enough to use it as a monitor and loud enough for small to medium pub gigs. I played the Ibanez using the active setting on my amp and with the bass frequency boosted. It didn't like it. When I use the Thunderbird, the speaker doesn't move that much, in fact you have to look hard to see it move at all but with the Ibanez running a lot of low end boost its flappy central and approaching distortion. I wouldn't be comfortable using this for a loud pub gig without a PA with the 5 string. I don't think it could amplify that low B loud enough without distorting or worse. Again, this would be common for most compact 15"s [u][b]Conclusion[/b][/u] This cab is capable of going very loud but not if you use a lot of bass boost on your active bass, especially if you favour the lower end of the B string. there's a very nice dirty sound to this cab and I love it. It gives a very good impression of a cab distorting when, in fact, it isn't. Its simply the choice of driver used to create a lovely rock tone. I love this cab and the tone it gives but it isn't for everyone. I use a lot of muting and staccato notes to get my punchy tone but I can imagine that someone who doesn't could find this cab slow and flabby. If I did a lot more rock dates than I do then I'd be going for the NX810 8x10". 1600 watts and the same weight as my Trace 1528 2x15" of 45kg. That's 19kg or roughly the weight of this cab lighter than an Ampeg 810e which comes in at 64kg. If you're looking for any more info or help then feel free to PM me Its going to be the end of February before I am going to be able to do a review using it as a standalone at a rock gig so I'll report back then. Edited October 13, 2011 by Delberthot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 Well. after 4 months use I thought I'd report back on how I'm getting on with this. I still love it just as much as I did when I did my initial review. Still using the Thunderbird which has a pair of EMG 35 HZs now but with the same set of Rotosound flats and Gallien 700RB II. When I did my original review, I had just finished a gig using an Ibanez SRX 5 string tuned a semitone down and it was loud as hell, hence my description of how careful you'd need to be if you like a lot of low, rumbly bass if you have an active 5 string. I've now used this cab for several gigs with the rock band as well as loads with the wedding/function band and its been rock solid every time. Every gig with the rock band so far has been without PA support and its performed magnificantly and nowhere near approaching a level where it would be distorting. Even with the OC-2 running, the sound is flawless and you can only hear the dirty madness that this pedal produces. The finish is holding up well: I had roqsolid make me a cover for it after sending them the dimensions so it never goes anywhere without that. There's only one thing I don't like and that is that the speakon cable doesn't click into position but that may be because its a combi jack socket but then again the one on my Schroeder didn't either After 4 months I'm still contemplating a second one for larger gigs but haven't really needed it so far so haven't taken the plunge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmshaw37 Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Thanks for these mate, very in depth! Have you tried the 810 btw? Is it the typical old school fridge sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted April 24, 2011 Author Share Posted April 24, 2011 Unfortunately I don't know who does Laney round my way so I had to but it online without trying it out from Digital Village. If its anything like the 15" then the 8x10" will be a belter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted October 9, 2011 Author Share Posted October 9, 2011 A quick update after last night's gig. After a last minute alteration of Seymour Duncan Stack for Single Coil P bass pickup and a set of 50 gauge Roto flats I went off to gig. I wasn't expecting blistering top end from a single coil precision with heavy flats but I was surprised how much it actually cut through and how much bottom end there was. In fact the bottom end was astounding. So much bass rumbling away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I stupidly sold this and have since bought another one. I noticed on the box that these are now made in China but look and perform exactly the same. I'm in the process of breaking this new one in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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