Cab input from the BassChat Community.

[okusman]

I, like many of you people, have spent too much money on impulse purchases. We've walked into a shop skint(ish) and walked out poorer, (but initially happy),. In the space of 10 minutes of overplaying and noodling in a shop surrounded by strangers we've convinced ourself, (or been convinced by others), that the cab/amp/bass on trial is what is missing in our lives. Quite often we've played a few gigs and thought, "hmmmm, I'm not so sure about my purchase"....and thus we have the BassChat Marketplace!!! I digress...

With money in my pocket, and playing regular gigs, i have found myself without a cab for weeks now, and although i know what i like in terms of sound, i feel a touch cautious to spend and regret once again. " Go and try X and shop Y", I hear you say. "Make a decision with your ears, not through brand snobery etc...." and you are correct. i would however still appreciate your experience of products and input in to this commundrum.

Bass: Sandberg Marlowe DK 4. Mainly set Bridge P/U heavy, with a busy style. I love a bit of Jaco honk, and have a lovely Status-necked Jazz for some gigs i do. There's a couple of slapped lines that i regularly play, but like most of us the meat and drink is performed with a couple of callous-ridden digits some where near the bridge. My 'sound' is mid heavy.

My amp is a Genz Shuttle 9.0 which I love. 

Most of my gigs are with a FOH engineer and a decent PA into which I DI, so a new cab is mostly about my own monitoring sound.

I want one, probably two cabs. I have just moved on an EBS Neo210. I was happy with its size and weight, and 90% with its tone, but found it a bit harsh at the top end. Previously I had a Bergatino HD210 which I found 'sterile' and exposed the inconsistencies of my technique. Before that,  I was an Eden 2x10XLT man. 

I am currently borrowing some TC RS210s, and I really like their tone, (I'm sure someone will tell me why?) and certainly like the vertical stack option. At 6ft 4, with a single (even angled) cab in the usual 4ft behind your backside position, I sometimes struggle to pick out 'my' tone. To be honest, Im tempted to throw £1k at some TCs, but what do YOU think. I tried the EICH 1210, and its top end options were excellent...but its just quite big! I'd rather go with two smaller cabs.

The choice should not be too heavy or big. 

I'd like cabs to be vertically orientated to allow me to hear myself easier.

I'm never going to go IEM.

GIVE ME YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE AND IDEAS. 

 

Thanks

 

 

[TheGreek]

Tried Vanderkleys? I was very impressed with the MNT 112 cab I had - one of the things I regret selling..

[Jimrs2k2]

Easy,  a greenboy fearless 12 or 15.

Solid as a rock and extremely versatile, also you can use the as a wedge for monitoring. 

[la bam]

Ive had the following cabs - but bare in mind these were mostly all used with different amps and experience level:

Trace Commando 12 - starter bass amp, not great and was heavy. 

Ashdown MAG 4x10 - very middly, not warm, big and heavy, but loud if needed.

Ashdown mini 4x8 & 4x15 - only used for one practice before band split. It was let down by the underpowered superfly i was using with them, so never got chance to gig.

Line 6 LD300 - ok all rounder combo, nothing special.

Mark Bass T210P - Great cab. Very well built, very light (one hand lift) and very powerful and loud. Really impressed. Had good punch.

Genz Benz Contour - combo. Really weak, not loud, had a baked in thin chorus like sound.

Ashdown ABM115 combo evo2 & ABM 210 - Very good kit, had that ashdown tone, not particularly loud, but sound carried well. I find Ashdown cabs are difficult to put your own bass tone into (or get out of).

Barefaced Supercompact G3 - excellent cab. unbelievably lightweight. good tone. suitable for a lot of gigs, but does get lost on stage in a larger environment. Id suggest the double 12 or x2 SCs if youre thinking of one.

Mark Bass 610 ported - lovely cab. amazingly lightweight for a 610 (34kg) easy to move about and great rock tone. switchable horn, endless power, punch and volume. Works great on any stage, area and even at an outdoor festival i only had the amp on half.

[chris_b]

How can you love the Genz when you have these issues with your sound? EBS harsh top end, Berg sounds sterile. I'd say this amp must have something to do with these problems. I used an Aguilar TH500 with my Bergs and the sound was full and warm. A lot of top players use EBS cabs and get a great sound. The other thing is that cabs of this quality will expose any "issues" with your playing, because they are clearer and every note will stand out. That's part of what makes them what makes them great cabs.

IMO whatever cab you get you have to replace that amp as well with something better.

[jrixn1]

I hear things a lot better when they are in front of me pointing at ears than when they are behind me pointing at (as you say) backside.  What is your PA - do you have access to try out using a powered speaker?  I sold my bass amp (also a Shuttle) and cabs, and now just use a modern powered PA speaker, in front of me on the floor in the 45° monitoring position.  

If it's too sterile, use a pre-amp, overdrive, or cab sim.  It makes it very easy and relatively cheap to experiment and tweak - unlike buying/selling cabs which generally have a baked-in/signature sound (it might be a very good baked-in sound, of course - the point being though that it's something you have no control over).

 

[Cuzzie]

I too have a Marlowe DK bass, set to bridge favouring (It is one of the best basses out there hands down).

My cab is a Barefaced Supertwin and it’s bloody genius which someone else alluded too.

Talking of a sterile sound, I love my Two Notes LeBass pre-amp pedal and it pairs very very nicely with the DK, the pick ups seem to be the right voice and output to let it shine and allow manipulation to your sound.

Good luck with the search

Edited July 19, 2018 by Cuzzie

[FinnDave]

I use Barefaced Super Compact (1 x 12) or Super Twin (2 x 12) with Ashdown Rootmaster 800 heads. The Super Twin is the older of the two (serial #001) and to be honest, had I bought the Super Compact first, I wouldn't have bothered with the bigger cab. The smaller one is easily enough for pub gigs, anything larger and the bass goes DI anyway, so the cab is just a stage monitor. I think it is only sentiment that is stopping me from selling the 2 x 12, I've used it once this year and it was more than I needed on stage.  I play Fender, Gibson & Alembic basses through these rigs.

Edited July 19, 2018 by FinnDave

[Paddy515]

Eden David range cabs - used  MiA models - D210 MBX - kickbacked -   all I could ever need.

 

Edited July 19, 2018 by Paddy515

[okusman]

Eden was my go to cab, but they are heavy and bulky.

[TPJ]

14 hours ago, Jimrs2k2 said:

Easy,  a greenboy fearless 12 or 15.

Solid as a rock and extremely versatile, also you can use the as a wedge for monitoring. 

+1

Tricky Audio build really nice stuff too. One F112 with that Genz will cover a lot of ground.

[okusman]

Thanks for all input so far.

The issue is around the quality and style of HF reproduction.

Im after smooth and clean HF. Another thread talked about clanky and harsh HF from some brands; which is not what I’m after.

I know it’s personal taste/room or stage dependent, but just after your experience in this area. I’ve play thousands of gigs, to dozens, hundreds and thousand of people, but it still doesn’t mean I know what everyone else has in terms of experience.

 

Mark

Edited July 19, 2018 by okusman

[Cuzzie]

I will champion Barefaced, but better still ring them up, send them an email and have a discussion what you want and they will help with a cab which will suit you.

Better still if you can get down to Brighton, you can take your stuff and play them, via arrangement of course

[Jimrs2k2]

The one thing you won't get with a F112 / F115 clanky mid and hf.

The cross overs and speakers use are seriously good.

If you don't mind some DIY the the fearful plans are free or let's not forget the basschat speaker, it's actually very good.

Jim.

[WinterMute]

Barefaced all the way for me, despite having sold my Big Twin earlier this year, I think their range is brilliant. 

I used a lot of modelled tones onstage and the BT just ate it up, the Big Baby is a magnificent little all-rounder, very similar to the FRFR, worth a look.

[Sparky Mark]

I am no way as experienced as you (thousands of gigs; wow!) but I know that I want colour to come from my fingers/pick/strings/bass/pedals and amplifier. I want my cab to simply make it all audible and as loud as I want. As long as the rest of the chain is correct I've never had a problem with any cab ( other than some won't go loud enough) and Bergantino ceramics stand head and shoulders above all the others I have owned. Put sterile or harsh into them and guess what, that's what comes out loud and clear.

Edited July 20, 2018 by Sparky Mark

[T-Bay]

6 hours ago, WinterMute said:

Barefaced all the way for me, despite having sold my Big Twin earlier this year, I think their range is brilliant. 

I used a lot of modelled tones onstage and the BT just ate it up, the Big Baby is a magnificent little all-rounder, very similar to the FRFR, worth a look.

And me, a combination of compact and midget with a decent amp to drive them will live with any setup I have been near and then some. For anything more it would be DI’ed anyway.

[Delberthot]

On 19/07/2018 at 01:43, jrixn1 said:

I hear things a lot better when they are in front of me pointing at ears than when they are behind me pointing at (as you say) backside. 

 

After years of having cabs pointing at the back of my legs or overkill dual 4x10" setups to get the volume near ear level and hating my sound, not getting enough top end and being too loud on stage, despite not actually being able to hear myself clearly I went for the cab on a stick approach

I have a Gallien Krueger amp as experience has told me that I always go back to them as it gives me the sound I want. The barefaced One10 is purely because it's loud, light and has a top hat mount to put it on a speaker stand. Overall I love the sound. I can be as loud as I need to be on stage, I can hear myself clearly, the bottom end rumble isn't overpowering everything and it all fits in a cajon bag

[Opticaleye]

If you're after a smooth and clean HF response the Genzler Bass Arrays are the smoothest I've tried. Great cabs.

[JPJ]

So you have a decent PA and an engineer to run it? If that was me, I’d seriously consider decent in-ears instead of a cab that I’m not really going to hear. Or as someone else mentioned, an additional monitor just for bass duties pointed at your face (as opposed to your derrière). Added benefit is less gear to hump and your back will love you for it too.

[EBS_freak]

Sound like a case of modeller and FRFR to me. It makes sense - you can get a FRFR that can point at your head like a wedge... and any tonal inaccuracies that you don't like, you can tweak out at the model. EQ, more grit/less grit, etc...etc... Modellers are so good now, it's a route that you'd be foolish to not look into. With an amp and cab, you have preset sounds backed in... that are very difficult to remove or influence. As you've experienced, the EBS has quite a hyped top end - thats largely due to their use of the Selenium tweeter and the crossover point that EBS implement. I actually think it's sound very, very musical, especially with the EBS amps. Maybe the problem in the top end lies with the amp and not the cabinet?

I use a Kemper but generally only use it for one sound - but the profile that I am using on it is perfect for what I am looking for.

I'm intrigued as to why you are against inears. If you run a decent set of inears - and I'm not talking Shure 215s, then there's a whole revelation waiting for you. I've spent as much on my inears as my powered Kemper and remote - and it's by far the best sound I've had on stage ever. Massive lows, incredible detail... and the added benefit of not going more deaf after every gig.