The Lightweight Cabs Thread

[warwickhunt]

I have to confess that for a lightweight one man lift then the 2x15 Barefaced cab (soz don't remember the name) will take some beating and there are any amount of decent (2nd hand) amps doing the rounds that will give you the punky tone; in fact GK are renowned for ROCK but I've used them in more 'Grungy' bands and they are mint!

I haven't once mentioned the Aggie DB112's and a Thunderfunk as that really wouldn't [i]accurately[/i] match your requirements!

[Mr.T]

Hi ToneRanger,

How about removing the Trace amp from the combo and running it as a seperate head unit?
Then just replace the cabs for something lighter.... if you must!

[Tone Ranger]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='827586' date='May 4 2010, 03:56 PM']For that tone, Orange Bass Terror all the way. Damn loud and brilliant amps. Will dirt up nicely as well.

Cabs, hmmm. The SP212 they do is great and tiny, but also fairly expensive. Im not sure what they are like to gig but I tested one in a room at Orange HQ...fairly high volume, and it sounded massive.

One chap on here pairs the BT with a TC RS212 cab. That amp will do 500w into a 8 or 4 ohm load which is good news. The TC RS212 is fairly compact, loud and can do a smooth tone all the way to old school grind. Nice tweeter too.[/quote]

I must admit the Orange does take my fancy and if they are as good as people (yourself included) say then I'm leaning that way. I've been told that the guys at Rooz Studios in Old St in London have got a couple of BT's and the SP212 cabs so i'll get them to drag one out for when I next go there.

As for cabs, i quite like the idea of trying a Barefaced Compact 1x15, i currently tend to use the Trace combo on it's own and just drag out the extra cab when I want more grunt or I want to show off (sad eh? even at my age), I could sell the combo and keep the Trace extension cab for then.

I also have an 8 ohm Celestion neoprene-thingy 15 incher sitting in a cheap PA cab which could be brought into play, the Cab is CRAP, i used it for a gig once and it just flapped about like Muddy Mudskipper!! I'm sure the cabs fault not the speaker but I could try that in the extension cab to lighten that.

Thanks for the advice (this goes for all the replies ;o)

Cheers

Tone

[Musicman20]

[quote name='Tone Ranger' post='830470' date='May 7 2010, 11:06 AM']I must admit the Orange does take my fancy and if they are as good as people (yourself included) say then I'm leaning that way. I've been told that the guys at Rooz Studios in Old St in London have got a couple of BT's and the SP212 cabs so i'll get them to drag one out for when I next go there.

As for cabs, i quite like the idea of trying a Barefaced Compact 1x15, i currently tend to use the Trace combo on it's own and just drag out the extra cab when I want more grunt or I want to show off (sad eh? even at my age), I could sell the combo and keep the Trace extension cab for then.

I also have an 8 ohm Celestion neoprene-thingy 15 incher sitting in a cheap PA cab which could be brought into play, the Cab is CRAP, i used it for a gig once and it just flapped about like Muddy Mudskipper!! I'm sure the cabs fault not the speaker but I could try that in the extension cab to lighten that.

Thanks for the advice (this goes for all the replies ;o)

Cheers

Tone[/quote]

No worries.

As always, make sure you test. No matter what everyone recommends you may not like it!

[stingrayPete1977]

I have a Genz-Benz shuttle 6.0 with a neo 2x12 + Tweeter Cabinet, 600W using the 4ohms cab.It handles low B's a treat and up until buying this one I always have had a 15" in the setup as I find all 10's no matter how many even 8 at a time does not give enough bottom end.The 2 x 12"s give enough lows yet can handle even the toppiest of tops especially with the adjustable tweeter helping out.I take the Head in its man bag to practice and use their ashdown 4x10 which is 8 ohm so it drops to 375watt which is more than enough for a rehersal room! I have a 1x10 that a mate built for me for home practice too.Here is the bit where all the Mark bass fans get in a strop (usually the ones that have not heard any genz gear at all)It sounds better! (In my opinion )I recentley purchased a pre EB Stingray and the guy had a Mark bass rig,The stingray sounded awesome through it so I paid up and left. Once I got home I set up my very similar Genz-Benz rig and no doubt about it the ray sounded even better! More Clarity ,more lows, more highs more punch.Also I have been to Bass day in manchester twice now and all them people slapping away through Mark bass rigs does my head in!

In all cases though anyone serious about not lugging all there heavy stuff about should go and see Mark at Bass Direct in Leamington spa and try out all his setups, See his site to see what variations you can try all in one place! But he will tell you himself how many of the Genz-Benz rigs he has sold to very happy customers. Whatever you make you choose you will fall in love with gigging again and the versatile ways you can use the lightweight cabs and heads, Maybe a controvertial lightweight head thread might get things going a bit ?

[fingerz]

If anyone's interested I'm selling an Epifani 410UL cab, here's the link:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=90445"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=90445[/url]



Cheers

[Wylie]

Finally got my lightweight rig together. The amp is a Hartke 2500, which I bought locally for about the same price you'd pay an online outlet. The cab is a Schroeder mini 12 light, which I bought direct from Jorg Schroeder (http://www.schroedercabinets.com/mini12+.htm).

The Hartke weighs about 25 lbs. and puts 175 watts into the 8-ohm 20-lb. cab. Adding a speaker would give me 250 watts. The Hartke is loud, EQ, preamps (tube emulation and solid state), and compression all are effective, and it's built like a tank.

The speaker is fantastic. I dealt with Schroeder directly, which I [u]highly[/u] recommend anyone doing. I could not be happier with the speaker, the price, and Schroeder's expertise and courtesy. At medium to high volume, the speaker is incredibly punchy and deep, controlled, and penetrating.

Now I carry speaker and amp in each hand (amp has handle on side, speaker has recessed handle); getting all in and out of the car is a breeze, setup is five minutes. Total cost was about $750.

Cheers--

Ted

Edited June 11, 2010 by tedgilley

[charlie_bass]

I've used a GK MB150e with a GK MBX112 extension cab for all gigs and rehearsals until recently. This includes playing a Warwick Corvette $$ five string and a Steinberger UEB. Fitted the bill in terms of size and weight and has always sounded great but, it was just too "small a sound" for bigger gigs. So, I've taken the plunge and just taken delivery of the following:

- MARKBASS F1 (500 watts into 4ohms)
- MARKBASS 210P Traveller * 2 (8ohms + 8ohms = 4ohms)

Absolutely fabulous, just the sound/presence required to be heard and to hear well on stage when playing in a big band. Also the 2x10s are less than 30lbs each and the F1 comes in under six lbs (and fits in my gig bag too) !! Nice speakon to speakon connections (optional as 1/4" jacks can be used too). The build quality is excellent and I also love the cool yellow cones and decals. Total cost about £1,500 (multiple suppliers). NB: the twin 210s fit together well in a vertical configuration and the F1 fits neatly on the top. This way you can have a back-line which sort of fits the human model rather than having loads of sound blasted around your knees.

Issues ? None yet but I'll miss the stereo chorus on the GK a bit - perhaps you really can't have everything !?

I'm keeping the MB150e for rehearsals and small gigs and for use with the Steinberger but I've sold the MBX 112 already.

Charlie

Edited June 28, 2010 by charlie_bass

[machinehead]

[quote name='charlie_bass' post='879900' date='Jun 28 2010, 02:24 PM']I've used a GK MB150e with a GK MBX112 extension cab for all gigs and rehearsals until recently. This includes playing a Warwick Corvette $$ five string and a Steinberger UEB. Fitted the bill in terms of size and weight and has always sounded great but, it was just too "small a sound" for bigger gigs. So, I've taken the plunge and just taken delivery of the following:

- MARKBASS F1 (500 watts into 4ohms)
- MARKBASS 210P Traveller * 2 (8ohms + 8ohms = 4ohms)

Absolutely fabulous, just the sound/presence required to be heard and to hear well on stage when playing in a big band. Also the 2x10s are less than 30lbs each and the F1 comes in under six lbs (and fits in my gig bag too) !! Nice speakon to speakon connections (optional as 1/4" jacks can be used too). The build quality is excellent and I also love the cool yellow cones and decals. Total cost about £1,500 (multiple suppliers). NB: the twin 210s fit together well in a vertical configuration and the F1 fits neatly on the top. This way you can have a back-line which sort of fits the human model rather than having loads of sound blasted around your knees.

Issues ? None yet but I'll miss the stereo chorus on the GK a bit - perhaps you really can't have everything !?

I'm keeping the MB150e for rehearsals and small gigs and for use with the Steinberger but I've sold the MBX 112 already.

Charlie[/quote]

That's a great and very flexible rig charlie. I had the same except with a little mark II. Try stacking the cabs on their sides, in a 4 high configuration. Gives a small footprint and gets the top speaker up to your ear height.

Frank

[GremlinAndy]

[quote name='thumperbob 2002' post='591530' date='Sep 6 2009, 05:41 PM']Heres my 1212L and 1515L schroeder rig- Marshall Amp is hardly lightweight but my Markbass does great with either cab- just not both of them as they go to 2 ohms- 4 ohms each

[attachment=32313:schroeder_rig_1.jpg]

[attachment=32314:Schroeder_rig_2.jpg]

Best sound ever- and I can carry each cab at once!!

Bob[/quote]


The other day I used my 2 1515L's stacked on their side, to create as close to a vertical stack as Schro's allow do, with their 2nd angled speaker, and they were truly astounding for the rock music I was playing (Thumb bass through a Sans Amp for the grind.) The sound was awesome and I had more room for volume than you can even imagine. For dirty rock they were better than my 2x 21012L's which have more clear top end (The 1515L's have no tweeter in them but for the rock stuff, they sounded great)

I personally reccommend Schroeder (I also own an Epi 310, and 212, which are FANTASTIC cabs, but for volume, size and weight, the Schro's win easily (It's hard to imagine they contain *2* 15's because they aren't any bigger than most 1x15's and are smaller than some compact 15's)) But you should try them out before you buy. As has been stated on here often, your preferred tone is very personal thing.

[Kevin Dean]

[quote name='charlie_bass' post='879900' date='Jun 28 2010, 02:24 PM']I've used a GK MB150e with a GK MBX112 extension cab for all gigs and rehearsals until recently. This includes playing a Warwick Corvette $$ five string and a Steinberger UEB. Fitted the bill in terms of size and weight and has always sounded great but, it was just too "small a sound" for bigger gigs. So, I've taken the plunge and just taken delivery of the following:

- MARKBASS F1 (500 watts into 4ohms)
- MARKBASS 210P Traveller * 2 (8ohms + 8ohms = 4ohms)

Absolutely fabulous, just the sound/presence required to be heard and to hear well on stage when playing in a big band. Also the 2x10s are less than 30lbs each and the F1 comes in under six lbs (and fits in my gig bag too) !! Nice speakon to speakon connections (optional as 1/4" jacks can be used too). The build quality is excellent and I also love the cool yellow cones and decals. Total cost about £1,500 (multiple suppliers). NB: the twin 210s fit together well in a vertical configuration and the F1 fits neatly on the top. This way you can have a back-line which sort of fits the human model rather than having loads of sound blasted around your knees.

Issues ? None yet but I'll miss the stereo chorus on the GK a bit - perhaps you really can't have everything !?

I'm keeping the MB150e for rehearsals and small gigs and for use with the Steinberger but I've sold the MBX 112 already.

Charlie[/quote]
I,m about to buy a rig for use in a pub rock band i was very keen on the GK rig you had ,do you think this would be OK for Pubs? Or go for the type of rig you now have ?

[Muzz]

[quote name='GremlinAndy' post='920713' date='Aug 10 2010, 03:07 PM']The other day I used my 2 1515L's stacked on their side, to create as close to a vertical stack as Schro's allow do, with their 2nd angled speaker, and they were truly astounding for the rock music I was playing (Thumb bass through a Sans Amp for the grind.) The sound was awesome and I had more room for volume than you can even imagine. For dirty rock they were better than my 2x 21012L's which have more clear top end (The 1515L's have no tweeter in them but for the rock stuff, they sounded great)

I personally reccommend Schroeder (I also own an Epi 310, and 212, which are FANTASTIC cabs, but for volume, size and weight, the Schro's win easily (It's hard to imagine they contain *2* 15's because they aren't any bigger than most 1x15's and are smaller than some compact 15's)) But you should try them out before you buy. As has been stated on here often, your preferred tone is very personal thing.[/quote]

Oh my Lord - [i]2[/i] x 1515Ls? I thought I had enough headroom to kill small animals with one...are they 8 ohm or 4? What are you driving them with?

+about a zillion on their rock credentials, size, and weight - I even had the guitarist offering to carry mine from the van at the last gig...

[GremlinAndy]

[quote name='Muzz' post='934154' date='Aug 23 2010, 08:45 PM']Oh my Lord - [i]2[/i] x 1515Ls? I thoughtI had enough headroom to kill small animals with one...are they 8 ohm or 4? What are you driving them with?

+about a zillion on their rock credentials, size, and weight - I even had the guitarist offering to carry mine from the van at the last gig...[/quote]



They are 4 ohm each. I use a powersoft Digam 3002 which gives 1500 watt at 2ohm each side. (I also have 2x 21012L's too, and they are awesome. But right now I'm preferring the older school (no tweeter) sound of the 15s.)

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Muzz' post='934154' date='Aug 23 2010, 08:45 PM']+about a zillion on their rock credentials, size, and weight - I even had the guitarist offering to carry mine from the van at the last gig...[/quote]

The one time my guitarist picked up my 1212L he nearly smacked himself in the face with it. Everybody who picks it up puts it down again and then picks it up again, as if to make sure they weren't imagining it the first time.

[fatback]

Just had a practice, then a gig, with the new Midget (no tweeter) + EA Doubler. Outstanding!

I haven't used amp or cab paired with anything else, so I don't know which is contributing what to the happiness, but here's a rundown anyhow:

Used only with my old Yamaha bb400s fretless. No double bass tried in anger yet. The gig was a medium pub with a big square space. Pretty full. The music is country/rock with a medium-loud drummer, electric guitar and amplified acoustic.

Weight - Doubler, approx 2.5 pounds. Midget 12kg. Unreal. First time ever got to a gig in a taxi. One trip to the stage. Not quite in the tin whistle players' league, but oh my, it feels great after Trace.

Loudness: Very very. I couldn't get the rig over 1/3 in my house cos everything was rattling. For practice and gig, master at 12 o'clock. The gain controls are linear on the Doubler, so there was that much to go again. Can't imagine needing to go any louder in a pub situation than I was doing, never mind cranking it up.

Sound: Superb. First the Doubler - I was afraid it might be too hifi. I normally rely on a DHA VT-1 to grit everything up a bit. After the practice, I didn't even bring it to the gig. No need at all. The sound wasn't a bit hifi; it was warm, and when I dug in had all the grit I needed, without distortion. Cut clean through, no bother. The EQ was flat apart from -1 or -2 db in the mids.

I don't know whether it was the cab, the amp or the combination, but the overall sound was very accurate but very musical. Nothing clinical at all. Perfectly good for rock.

What about the bottom? Tons and tons. With no boom at all. I couldn't believe how tight the bottom end was. I can;t stand boominess, and there wasn't a hint. at the practice, i tried for a dubby kind of sound by rolling off the highs and cranking up the bass eq, and the Midget sounded huge with no farting. Now that astonished me. Sounded as deep and satisfying as any 15".

About the Midget, people have said that when you crank it up it gets loud by getting angry. I know exactly what they mean. Now, i was a bit worried that angry might mean barky, but it didn't. It kept a very musical quality. Interestingly, the Midget definitely improved over the first three hours of playing. A little mellower, even more pleasing.

So: Super light weight. Very very loud. Beautiful lows (and notice I didn't say 'for a 1X12'). And a bit of grit and character, none of your smoothy-pants thing at all.

Add a BF Compact to this and I can only imagine the rig from heaven. Mind you, beware - the Midget comes as standard with only one speakon, and quite a few amps, including the EA amps, have only one output. Pretty limiting for an 8ohm cab, especially if you want to sell it on. I know Alex's dislike of daisy chaining, but in the real world, that's what we often have to do. I asked for a second speakon. If you get a BF cab, do the same

Having said that, huge congrats to Alex on an absolutely outstanding cabinet.

That's it.

Edited September 5, 2010 by fatback

[urb]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='851173' date='May 29 2010, 03:05 PM']I have a Genz-Benz shuttle 6.0 with a neo 2x12 + Tweeter Cabinet, 600W using the 4ohms cab.It handles low B's a treat and up until buying this one I always have had a 15" in the setup as I find all 10's no matter how many even 8 at a time does not give enough bottom end.The 2 x 12"s give enough lows yet can handle even the toppiest of tops especially with the adjustable tweeter helping out.I take the Head in its man bag to practice and use their ashdown 4x10 which is 8 ohm so it drops to 375watt which is more than enough for a rehersal room! I have a 1x10 that a mate built for me for home practice too.Here is the bit where all the Mark bass fans get in a strop (usually the ones that have not heard any genz gear at all)It sounds better! (In my opinion )I recentley purchased a pre EB Stingray and the guy had a Mark bass rig,The stingray sounded awesome through it so I paid up and left. Once I got home I set up my very similar Genz-Benz rig and no doubt about it the ray sounded even better! More Clarity ,more lows, more highs more punch.Also I have been to Bass day in manchester twice now and all them people slapping away through Mark bass rigs does my head in!

In all cases though anyone serious about not lugging all there heavy stuff about should go and see Mark at Bass Direct in Leamington spa and try out all his setups, See his site to see what variations you can try all in one place! But he will tell you himself how many of the Genz-Benz rigs he has sold to very happy customers. Whatever you make you choose you will fall in love with gigging again and the versatile ways you can use the lightweight cabs and heads, Maybe a controvertial lightweight head thread might get things going a bit ?[/quote]

+1

Just had my first all-Genz Benz gig on Sunday using my Shuttle 9 with a 1x12 Neo - I was obviously aware of the danger of over powering the speaker but to be honest it was so loud with the main volume at 10 o'clock that I was told to turn down anyway! I was so impressed with the single 12 - I was feeling the lows hit me in the midrift (I had the amp up off the floor on a stand) and the punch from the thing was amazing, really clear and clean but with warmth in the mids, snao in the highs and really punchy in the middle - I'm honestly digging it more than my Epifani 210 which I love but sounds a bit woolly in comparison - the GB stuff is hi-fi but with warmth and deep punchy lows - I didn't think I'd get such grunt from a single 12" and it's very light to carry in and out of the gig too... it's really a perfect match for my Sei Single Cut.

I second your comments on Mark Bass slappers too - to my ears these amps have a very generic sound and really shape the way a bass sounds, to make it sound like 'the mark bass sound' - I'm sure this can be avoided but it's almost getting to the point now where I can hear a Mark Bass rig a mile off! Nice gear but not my cup of Earl Grey at all...

Cheers

Mike

[51m0n]

[quote name='urb' post='986662' date='Oct 13 2010, 10:08 AM']I second your comments on Mark Bass slappers too - to my ears these amps have a very generic sound and really shape the way a bass sounds, to make it sound like 'the mark bass sound' - I'm sure this can be avoided but it's almost getting to the point now where I can hear a Mark Bass rig a mile off! Nice gear but not my cup of Earl Grey at all...

Cheers

Mike[/quote]

Really? I agree the cabs are definitely 'voiced' but I find the LMII based amps to be really good at not overly colouring the sound of the bass (to be fair they are 'warm', but not wooly at all).

Of course a lot of people do tend to just reach over and use the filters and so they are adding a predetermined voicing there as well, maybe thats a lot to do with it too!

[GriffJamerson]

i love the look on the accugroove cabs!!! wish i could afford one!!!

[Faithless]

Hey folks,

For some time I've been looking into varies lightweight amps, and here's the problem..

I want a really lightweight combo (head and cab separately), and, while situation with heads is more than ok, I struggle to find really light 1x10 cabs - by light I mean no more than 10kgs..

Ibanez Promethean combo is just brilliant in this case (its 1x10 cab weighs about 9,5kg), head's also light (2,9kg??), but are there any others cabinets that are light?
of course, 1x12 would be nicer, but I do really doubt that it exists, less than 10kg thing.. so 1x10 is ok.

any ideas?


easy
faith

[Alien]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='936661' date='Aug 26 2010, 01:07 AM']The one time my guitarist picked up my 1212L he nearly smacked himself in the face with it.[/quote]

Did this myself the first time I picked up one of Dood's Tech 4x10's. I still reckon they're full of helium.

A

[redstriper]

I use [url="http://www.flitecabs.com/bass/"]these[/url].
Very light, well made with a great sound - highly recommended.

[Alien]

[quote name='Faithless' post='991078' date='Oct 17 2010, 01:32 PM']of course, 1x12 would be nicer, but I do really doubt that it exists, less than 10kg thing.. so 1x10 is ok.[/quote]

[url="http://barefacedbass.com/index.php?page=midget"]http://barefacedbass.com/index.php?page=midget[/url]

Made by Alex Claber from these very forums.

A

[Dubs]

[quote name='Alien' post='991541' date='Oct 17 2010, 08:10 PM'][url="http://barefacedbass.com/index.php?page=midget"]http://barefacedbass.com/index.php?page=midget[/url]

Made by Alex Claber from these very forums.

A[/quote]

I thought he'd distanced himself from BC?

[Faithless]

Flite cabs are nice - is there a dealer in Europe?, and, Barefaced - way too expensive for me..

[redstriper]

[quote name='Faithless' post='992006' date='Oct 18 2010, 10:17 AM']Flite cabs are nice - is there a dealer in Europe?, and, Barefaced - way too expensive for me..[/quote]
Flite cabs are the lightest available anywhere AFAIK.
There is no European dealer, which is mental.
I know people have imported them with no problems and very fast delivery.
Mine were bought used and they do come up on ebay occasionally - I paid about £175 for each of mine.
I have two 15s, one with a neo driver that weighs about 10kg and the other with a ceramic driver that weighs about 12kg.
It's rare that I need both at a gig and the sound is massive with my LM2.