How about your thoughts about combos 100 watts and under into which you plug your 4 or 5 string Barker? I suspect many of us have two "families" of rigs, one for the Real Deal and one for home, practice, small venues, church, that sort of thing. We may have selected the latter for size, weight and portability qualities as well as sound. What did you compromise?

I'll press the launch button with these:

I play 4-string Barkers exclusively. I am not necessarily a Fender loyalist or purist, I just happen to have two:

Fender BXR 60. 1x15 speaker. I use this in church, where it lives.

Positives:
Reasonably portable (I have it on lovely red casters).
Way adequate power.
I wish the eq were a little wider but I have it where I like it and I guess that's what really matters.

Negatives:
I do not play through the system, but if I did, this one wouldn't be there on account of no XLR out.
I think the sound could be a weentsy bit better. I've traded Joel Barker out of his Ashdown and I'll try it in this venue but it won't fit in this study because it's 180 watts.


Fender Bassman 20. This is a tube beauty made only 1982-3. It's a very hefty sound for 18 watts, 1x15.

Positives:
I like the warmth and intimacy of the sound of this.
I've had it a long time--maybe 20 years--and it's like an old friend.

Negatives:
I don't like moving it about. I installed a telescopic handle and wheel set on it, which helps a little, but it is still heavy and awkward. I keep it at home, wheeled into a closet.

Since I own a few crude hand tools and know where I can get some pallet wood, I could endeavor to make a smaller, lighter enclosure but then it could never be seen on Antiques Roadshow, right?

Lee

Okay, I'll play ... :smug:

I use two very small (<100 watt) combo's with the B-1, as well as my other basses at times. The first is a Hartke Kickback 12, which is actually 120 watts but IMO is an over-rated 120 watts.

Pro's are that the amp is quite portable at 42 pounds, it has a decent EQ and a pretty good balanced XLR out. Cons are mostly that it's a Hartke, which means it's a kinda plain vanilla sort of amp. Don't get me wrong, I like plain vanilla a lot and as a matter of fact my main "big rig" head is a Hartke, but many guys prefer more features. The Kickback series of amps don't do "features" .... :rolleyes:

My other very small combo is a Peavey MicroBass. This is the amp I use for my practice time at home and occasionally for very small coffee house type gigs or quiet nights at friends homes. Pros are the amazing portability (it only weights maybe 15 pounds, feels like even less than that) and general cleanliness of the signal. Cons are, well, 20 watts maximum. But with the Barker even the B string (I have a fretless 5) is sweet and pure sounding.

The day I got the B-1 I plugged it into my MicroBass at home and I started playing a little. My wife popped her head into my rehearsal room and said "That bass sounds great, but why is it so loud?". And that was through my little MicroBass set at about 1/4 volume :eek:

Amazing low end on these basses ... :cool:

I'm afraid I can't contribute to this thread in the normal way but I can tell you my LEAST favorite small amp. As a matter of fact the worst choice of gear I have ever made.

It is a Behringer Ultrabass 600. A compact, yet too heavy bundle of sterile, brittle, liveless, digital bass technology.
Its loaded with features. Unfortunately none of them help.

The shape funtion is well, shapeless. The bass isn't enough. The midrange honks like a canada goose on PCP and the high end sets my teeth to grinding. And my favorite feature: The patented "dynamizer" An automatic limiter circuit designed to take all the fun out of playing. But the amp doesn't distort, I will say that. Too bad. If it would it might help the sound.

There, I feel better. Anybody wanna buy a nice practice amp?

Joel:hmm:

Joel, somewhere around here I have a nameplate from a Seidelhuber water heater. Changing that out might take your blood pressure down significantly.
But what I want to know is, how do you really feel about that amp? I mean, we're all friends here, quit apologizing on its behalf! ;)
Lee

Although this is more than 100 watts, I've been very well pleased with my SWR Working Pro 12. I previously used the SWR Workingman's 12, which is 100 watts. It worked very well, and I would recommend it, but when I saw the Working Pro 12, I felt it would be much more versatile than the Workingman 12, and it had many additional features. The Working Pro's cabinet configuration allows it to be tilted back, which I really like. It has 200 watts; uses a 12' speaker along with an adjustable crossover network for the tweeter, it weighs in at 44 lbs., and has an XLR out. It delivers a very nice tone, and produces a lot of volume for its size. It also fits very nicely in the front (or rear) passenger seat of my car.

I also have an Ibanez Sound Waves 20 watt amp. It uses an eight inch speaker, with a tweeter. It has a lot of features, including a CD input, a 4 band EQ, and a headphone out, which works well for practice. I use it for practice, accompanying acoustic guitars on duo and trio gigs, and I've used it on live radio broadcasts. It's very small and compact, and weighs in around 19 lbs. I've had it about 2 years now, and I really like it. I also have a Mesa Boogie Walkabout Scout, but its 300 watts...that's another thread, maybe.

The SWR is the one tilted on the left, the Ibanez is on the right. The images are not to scale, as the Ibanez is much smaller than the SWR...which is a very easy amp to handle. Leo

I have a 50 watt 70's silver face Bassman thru a Aero case cabinet stoked with a 15" (1960s) Altec D-140 that rocks the small venues..both in tone and volumn.

I have a 50 watt 70's silver face Bassman thru a Aero case cabinet stoked with a 15" (1960s) Altec D-140 that rocks the small venues..both in tone and volumn.

"never trust a naked busdriver"..Jack Douglas

My Barker (#77) goes through a Gallien-Krueger MB150E Microbass combo. It is a FABULOUS amp, rated at 150W (sorry, Lee, I know that's a little over your specified cut-off for this thread). I've used it in a 400 seat church without a problem. The amp has a chorus effect built-in that I don't use much; if I had to do it over again, I'd get the MB150S.

Joe

My Barker (#77) goes through a Gallien-Krueger MB150E Microbass combo. It is a FABULOUS amp, rated at 150W (sorry, Lee, I know that's a little over your specified cut-off for this thread). I've used it in a 400 seat church without a problem. The amp has a chorus effect built-in that I don't use much; if I had to do it over again, I'd get the MB150S.

I had an MB years ago when they first came out. Wish still had one...


Joel:bassist:

My Barker (#77) goes through a Gallien-Krueger MB150E Microbass combo. It is a FABULOUS amp, rated at 150W (sorry, Lee, I know that's a little over your specified cut-off for this thread).

Joe

Joe, for you I'd change the thread to 160 watts.
No, come to think of it, 155.

Maybe 152. That's my last offer.

;)
Lee

I have to echo everyone's praises of the GK MB150 combos. I have the version with the chorus as well. Even though I never use the chorus effect, it's not bad, and would probably sound nice for exposed fretless a la Jaco. My GK combo and 400-watt head have been trusty companions for many many years.

I bought a Behringer ACX450 acoustic amp for my B-2 prototype, in hopes of replicating the sound of an upright acoustic bass so I could play with a bluegrass band. It's got 45 watts and two channels.

http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/fit,400by400/quality,85/brand,zzounds/ACX450_front-9b254f35a2229cd1b67d5d67c6d4c2ae.jpg

I put Barker mutes on my B-2 and turned all 5 bands of the graphic EQ to zero........

The result? Pretty close, but it still doesn't replicate the thump of an upright bass.

No biggie......the Behringer only set me back $180.00. It's good for practicing and only weighs 21 lbs.

If I want to get with a hard-core bluegrass band, I'm just going to have to spring for an upright double bass (I favor Shens because I can afford them and I also think they have a good sound). I can always put a Fishman pickup on it for larger bluegrass venues.

I bought a Behringer ACX450 acoustic amp for my B-2 prototype, in hopes of replicating the sound of an upright acoustic bass so I could play with a bluegrass band. It's got 45 watts and two channels.

http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/fit,400by400/quality,85/brand,zzounds/ACX450_front-9b254f35a2229cd1b67d5d67c6d4c2ae.jpg

I put Barker mutes on my B-2 and turned all 5 bands of the graphic EQ to zero........

The result? Pretty close, but it still doesn't replicate the thump of an upright bass.

No biggie......the Behringer only set me back $180.00. It's good for practicing and only weighs 21 lbs.

If I want to get with a hard-core bluegrass band, I'm just going to have to spring for an upright double bass (I favor Shens because I can afford them and I also think they have a good sound). I can always put a Fishman pickup on it for larger bluegrass venues.

I wouldn't give up yet on the B-2 filling your upright impersonation requirements. I'm willing to bet it's more the amp.
You will probably be much happier with something capable of a warmer sound right out of the gate.
Berhinger just doesn't make something that has those characteristices IMHO.

I had to do similiar EQ-ing gymnastics with my behringer ultrabass and an external EQ pedal just so I wouldn't lose the will to live everytime I fired it up.

I finally decided that life was too short and now I bring my rig into the house to practice with until I can afford a suitable practice amp worthy of my Barker.

JKT :D

i've been playing my barker thru an SWR Baby Blue combo.
it's from the SWR pro series with a tube preamp, parametric eq, aural enhancer. it's 120 watts, one 10" speaker, XLR out, and a passive/active input selection.
sounds great and i can control the sound and have plenty of headroom for medium-sized gigs.
oh, btw...it weighs 29 lbs.
rob

This is the first reference I've heard to the Baby Blue, Rob. Is that still being made, since SWR was sold?
I just bought a li'l Workingman's 12 (with blown speaker) and am going to tart it up with a new one and see what happens. It appears to my ears, at volumes and frequencies where the driver doesn't make embarrassing noises, to have a fairly flat flatness. So far.
Anybody have a favorite 12" driver they'd recommend? I'm toying with an Eminence Neo 12 that Dave at Avatar speakers sells.

Kindly,
Lee

can't say that i like it as i haven't tried it, but the design intrigues me:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=290-409

later, ron

Thanks for that URL, Ron. I poked around a bit more on their site and found this:


http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Product_ID=172760&gemail=1&CFID=4837355&CFTOKEN=89708321

and got the price emailed to me: $79.99 each, slightly less in larger lots. That it's made for "bass guitar" (remember those?) gives me some comfort.

BTW, loved the video of you and your scrub-adorned group. Is that your Barker hybrid you're wailing on?

Kindly,

Lee

Then there's this one...

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=290-416&vReviewShow=1&vReviewRand=8662671#reviews

Kindly,

Lee

I've been curious about these, having heard a lot of good things. I picked this one up recently and have been tarting it up for use in church. I have been noodling with it for about a week in the test room at the shop and couldn't get a sound I liked (Brio fretted 4). I went to the store and bought a pillow for $4.88 and stuffed the stuffing into the cab and made a spiffy plastic plate to cover the previous reflex hole.

It was a great improvement, in the laboratory setting. Now that I have rehearsed with it once, I'm not so sure. I'm still playing with the Aural Enhancer and EQ.

I'm also showing off my little vinyl bag for stuffing the cord into. The IEC cord is attached to the box with a cable clip so it is never really separate. The bag is easier than coiling the cord and velcroing it up. I was searching for a longer IEC cord and found a 10' one at Parts Express and noticed that they have #18 cords with a right angle female end, ground lug on top.



"My real name is Gizmo but they often call me Mr. Earl...."

Well, the stuffing was an improvement, but there was too much. I removed about half of it, and left the port open, and am now pretty satisfied with the sound of the machine.

This whole experiment was easy and well worth the effort. The pillow cost $4.88. I see now that Parts Express has Acousta Stuf for $9.75 a pound. I don't know if it's the same product, but it appears to be.

Most bass combos have the bass reflex port coming out the front. This one is in the back.

Anybody have any observations about that?

All this effort, and now finally I have my feet feeling fuzzy from the floor vibes and I'm a happy Brio bassist.

Life is good.

But there remains one unanswered question (ok, maybe more, but I could think of only this one):

What would Ron Yoder do?

<snip>
Most bass combos have the bass reflex port coming out the front. This one is in the back.

Anybody have any observations about that? </snip>

yes, i had a peavey cab like that once. it made a 'sphere' of sound; didn't project as well. put yours near a wall, that should help.


<snip>

But there remains one unanswered question (ok, maybe more, but I could think of only this one):

What would Ron Yoder do?


he would spend crazy stupid amounts of money churning cabs. i am currently running a schroeder 1212r ( yoder's schroeder ) with an acoustic image head. i am looking about for another cab to make a 'stack'. i am happy for the moment...but the feeling is sure to pass. later, ron

My Barker (#77) goes through a Gallien-Krueger MB150E Microbass combo. It is a FABULOUS amp, rated at 150W (sorry, Lee, I know that's a little over your specified cut-off for this thread).

IIRC, the MB150 actually runs only 90W through the internal speaker (you need to add the external speaker to get the full 150W output). So it does meet Lee's original criteria ...

RE: small amp used for Barker --

For rehearsals and intimate semi-acoustic gigs, I run my Barker through 2 Vox T-60s (reissues). I'm quite pleased with the tonal quality, considering these amps are solid state. My touring rig, however, is an Ampeg SVT and MY OHHHHH MY can that Barker beauty shimmy and shake!! Sweet, sweet low-end bliss. That Lee Barker created one truly beautiful monster of sound. Hmmmm... Perhaps I'll name my next cat after him (whoa, that implicates me as some loony cat lady -- or so say my ferrets). ;} -A

Yeah, it had to go. Not an easy decision. This is the one I mentioned when this thread was started.

So in researching this thing for the listing, I found out there were only about 550 of them made.

It's currently listed:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110178736040&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=001

I hope it goes to a good home.

This is the first reference I've heard to the Baby Blue, Rob. Is that still being made, since SWR was sold?
Kindly,
Lee

Lee,
it's available through SWR pro series.
it now comes with one 10" speaker instead of two 8".
rob