Accugroove Users

[sneha1965]

Is there anybody who has A/B'd the Whappo Jr. to the Bill Dickens? I'm curious to know what the tone difference's are. I have read many good things about the Whappo Jr. but have not heard as much about the Dickens. There is also a significant price difference between the two.

[otto B]

I tested the one that Bass Emporium has for sale and that can is awsome. It has some serious lows and nice tone. I just sold my El Whappo that was a amazing cab too.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by sneha1965

Is there anybody who has A/B'd the Whappo Jr. to the Bill Dickens? I'm curious to know what the tone difference's are. I have read many good things about the Whappo Jr. but have not heard as much about the Dickens. There is also a significant price difference between the two.

From the reviews I've read and also the Bass Player review a while back, it is even darker and bigger in the low end than the El Whappo. That would not be a good thing IMO.

It seems the Whappo Jr. (which I really like) has a deeply voiced 12 and then a more mid voiced 12. The Dickens seems to be a three way (versus four way) cab with two identical deeply voiced 12's. From my experience with other Accugroove cabs, that little 5" mid driver does not have the ooomph to carry all the upper midrange without some help from another upper midrange source (e.g., without help from that more mid voiced 12 in the Whappo Jr.).

[ElMon]

I actually have to disagree with the above. I owned an ElWhappo and got to gig with a Dickens cab using the same head (Aguilar DB750), and to me the ElWhappo had a LOT more low-end spread and was overall louder volume-wise, but yet the Dickens had a tighter low-mid presence, similar to the Whappo Jr. I personally prefer the Whappo Jr, and if I had to choose I'd go with the Dickens cab over the El Whappo for an overall tighter sound on stage. YMMV>

[sneha1965]

Sorry, I'm a little confused with this. Would that be the Whappo Jr or the Dickens? There is another thread on the El Whappo, but I am referring to the Whappo Jr. or Dickens cab.

Originally Posted by ElMon

I personally prefer the Whappo Jr, and if I had to choose I'd go with the Dickens cab over the El Whappo for an overall tighter sound on stage.

[ElMon]

Ah, my bad. I was going off of KJung's post there. I haven't A/B'ed the Whappo Jr to the Dickens cab, but I imagine they are very similar in tone, with possibly more lowend extension in the Dickens cab. Going from memory, my Whappo Jr with my DB750 is a much tighter and brighter tone.

[Bassorama57]

I actually have - shocking that you'd ask - Atlanta Bass Gallery when I was down there on a business trip. I actually own the Dickens - and I would recommend you talk to the AG guys themselves if you want their recommendations, but:
- The Whappo has a more traditional sound, for a full-range cab, the primary physical difference being the larger woofer and small mid range driver. Because of that, it's got a "larger, rounder" sound I'd say - more like what you'd wished your traditional 15" cab would sound like.
- The Dickens is, to quote Accugroove themselves, "for finger-funk." The two 12"s are very beefy, but the larger midrange helps bring those out. It does seem to be a power monger, as I run mine with a Mesa V-12 and it seems like I have to push the volume up to about 10 o'clock to get it to "wake up." (By comparison, if I did that with the Mesa 4x10, an 8 ohm box, my ears would start to bleed). I'd say the Dickens sounds more like what you wished your 4x10 sounded like - definitely has the low end, but it's quick and not as "bloomy" (not that the Whappo is 'bloomy' like an old Ampeg 15"). I use mine with a cover band that does EWF/Tower of Power stuff with a large horn section and it does quite well and is a nice one cab solution - too much if anything as the real output goes through the FOH subs.

And, although you didn't ask, I also have a Tri115, which has a very nice old school sound, but with the smallish midrange, gives you the upper harmonics that get cut off in traditional single driver boxes like a B-15. I'm not sure if that's still available anymore or not though.

---------update-------
Had started the reply before the other posters chimed in. Yep, the Dickens is a "little darker" but as noted, a lot less "bloom" and or/less "round" sounding. Depends on what you're trying to do. True, it's really a "3-way" vice the Whappo's "4-way" but the noteable difference is the 8" mid vice the Whappo's 6" mid. Crossovers are different, etc., and as noted, it's much more of a power vampire than the Whappo. It does excell at making your "Rocco Prestia wanna be" right hand action come through crisp and defined. Additionally, there's absolutely no issues on the bottom end, low B comes through as clearly as the A does.

[sneha1965]

Nice review Bassorama. I'm looking for an old school sound so are you recommending the El Whappo for old school tone over both the Whappo Jr. and Dickens?

Originally Posted by Bassorama57

I actually have - shocking that you'd ask - Atlanta Bass Gallery when I was down there on a business trip. I actually own the Dickens - and I would recommend you talk to the AG guys themselves if you want their recommendations, but:
- The Whappo has a more traditional sound, for a full-range cab, the primary physical difference being the larger woofer and small mid range driver. Because of that, it's got a "larger, rounder" sound I'd say - more like what you'd wished your traditional 15" cab would sound like.
- The Dickens is, to quote Accugroove themselves, "for finger-funk." The two 12"s are very beefy, but the larger midrange helps bring those out. It does seem to be a power monger, as I run mine with a Mesa V-12 and it seems like I have to push the volume up to about 10 o'clock to get it to "wake up." (By comparison, if I did that with the Mesa 4x10, an 8 ohm box, my ears would start to bleed). I'd say the Dickens sounds more like what you wished your 4x10 sounded like - definitely has the low end, but it's quick and not as "bloomy" (not that the Whappo is 'bloomy' like an old Ampeg 15"). I use mine with a cover band that does EWF/Tower of Power stuff with a large horn section and it does quite well and is a nice one cab solution - too much if anything as the real output goes through the FOH subs.

And, although you didn't ask, I also have a Tri115, which has a very nice old school sound, but with the smallish midrange, gives you the upper harmonics that get cut off in traditional single driver boxes like a B-15. I'm not sure if that's still available anymore or not though.

---------update-------
Had started the reply before the other posters chimed in. Yep, the Dickens is a "little darker" but as noted, a lot less "bloom" and or/less "round" sounding. Depends on what you're trying to do. True, it's really a "3-way" vice the Whappo's "4-way" but the noteable difference is the 8" mid vice the Whappo's 6" mid. Crossovers are different, etc., and as noted, it's much more of a power vampire than the Whappo. It does excell at making your "Rocco Prestia wanna be" right hand action come through crisp and defined. Additionally, there's absolutely no issues on the bottom end, low B comes through as clearly as the A does.