NCD (and amp, sort of) Fender Rumble 210 cab.

[Marvin]

Well, I did it.

It's been 2 years since I last played in a band (to be honest the last gig I did was disappointedly bad, hey ho) and after that one split up I sold my amp and cab. I had no intention of buying any more. But you just can't can you. We may be in the midst of a pandemic but we've got to be hopeful we can recapture some of the way we used to live. SO, in a spike of optimism I bought an amp from a fellow Basschatter some time back (Peavey MiniMax) and today a Fender Rumble 210 arrived, in the hope one day they'll be gigged... in the meantime I can attempt a few jams with my son who's learning guitar.

I've been mulling over what cab to buy for months. I wanted to get something second hand however, living in the sticks most cabs were several hundred miles away and that's simply impracticable. It's a shame really, especially as there have been some Genz Benz cabs come up and I always wanted one, but it can't be helped.  Several new cabs caught my interest. Markbass 151 Blackline, Markbass TRP 102, Ashdown RM 210t or the 115t, Ashdown 408 and the Fender Rumble 210.

I chose the Rumble because I've owned Rumble Combos before and always liked them. I've had the Rumble V2 and V2 combos, and they've been great. So the Rumble brand is a known quantity to me, and when you're buying without trying that makes a difference. I did seriously think of getting a MarkBass cab, but from what I've read about them I'd really want to try one before committing. There are smaller cabs, but this one is still quite compact. It's also not very heavy, 17kg or 39lb. Matched with a 500w modern compact head, it'll cope with the gigs I'd be doing.

For the last 18months if I've played my bass I've had to use headphones through my Zoom B1on. It makes quite a difference hearing your bass in an actual room again. Paired with the MiniMax it sounds really good. I've been playing around with it for a while and there are quite a varied number of tones you can get out of it. Turn the tweeter off, tweak the knobs only a little and you've quite a nice vintage sort of tone. Turn the tweeter on and you can go more modern. And then there's all the ones in between.

The tweeter impressed me more than I thought it would. It's not brittle (not to my ears). There is that bit of a gap between where the 10's high end starts to roll off and the tweeter starts to make itself known, but it's not in a bad way, neither is it harsh. I prefer the tweeter at -6db on the switch on the back of the cab. It's good with the tweeter full off, but with just that bit of tweeter it gives it more bite. It hasn't taken me long to find the tone I like out of this set up. Obviously when you play in a band that tone might be useless but...

This is all pretty much entry level gear, but as has been said so many times on Basschat, I wish entry level gear of this quality was around 20-30 years ago. My last set up (amp and cab) was more expensive than this. Sure it would probably hold up longer played at high volume but there's not a lot in it to be honest.

There is only one thing that I wish I could do now, get in a band situation. I'm sure it'll perform well. I remember the first time time I took the Rumble V3 combo to a band practice I bored everyone senseless by constantly say 'Hell, this thing sounds good'.

ELECTRONICS

Wattage: 350 Watts @8ohms

HARDWARE

Cabinet Material: Lightweight Plywood

Amplifier Covering: Black Textured Vinyl

Grille Cloth: Silver

Handle: Recessed Side-Mounted Steel Bar (2)

SPEAKERS: Two - 10" Eminence® Ceramic Magnet & Compression driver horn with attenuator switch

MEASUREMENTS:  Amp Weight: 39 lbs. (17.7kg)

Amp Height: 23" (58.42 cm)

Amp Width: 19" (48.3 cm)

Amp Depth: 14" (35.56 cm)

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Marvin