Hey, so as the title suggests, I did a little cabinet shootout earlier today between my newly purchased Traynor TC-410, and a pair of Ampeg SVT210AV cabs. Both cabs were run through an Ampeg Micro-VR head. I had found that at big gigs, the pair of Ampeg cabs couldn't really handle the beefy low end I was looking for (I play mostly in a reggae band). Not sure if it was the head or the cabs which was the issue (if not both :crying:), so I took the head and my bass to a music store and started trying it with cabs. Anyways, ended up with the Traynor, which at 800w can take anything the head can throw at it! Decided to do a little demo to try and capture the differences, which I found were surprisingly stark IMHO.
Played 3 riffs through each cabinet set on my Rickenbacker 4003 all with some tonal and on-neck-location variations. All riffs are with both pickups on full. First riff is tone wide open, second riff is with tone rolled down 100%, third is with the tone knobs at about 30%. Mic'd both cabs up with a Shure sm57 and Blue Kickball. Not the greatest mics for the task, but all I had to try and capture the fullest range of tone.
Amp settings were kept identical for both, nor did I adjust the input volumes on my mixing console or tweak anything once tracked in Garageband. Did my best to get mic placement as similar as possible, but I'm no pro...
First three riffs are on the Traynor, second three on the Ampegs. Please forgive my questionable playing; I was more concerned with the tone of everything!
Crazy big difference & cool you like the Traynor. I think it sounds better here as well.
Might be a cool next step to try them both in a band setting and see which you prefer. Not saying it's the case here, but sometimes bedroom/basement settings don't translate all that well to a full band with volume.
the explode man
03-18-2013 02:04 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by zachoff
(Post 14050452)
Crazy big difference & cool you like the Traynor. I think it sounds better here as well.
Might be a cool next step to try them both in a band setting and see which you prefer. Not saying it's the case here, but sometimes bedroom/basement settings don't translate all that well to a full band with volume.
I'd just like to say that it's the case every time ever that when you work out an amazing tone on your own, it never effing works in a band mix. Trust me, I did some science on it.
Slowgypsy
03-18-2013 02:25 PM
NFN... but... the Traynor is a big, heavy duty cab. You're comparing this to (2) SVT210 cabs? Other than the facts that (1) they're both bass cabs, and (2) they're both have 4 x 10 in them... they couldn't be more different.
No wonder you heard a difference :smug:
Daniel Piper
03-18-2013 02:26 PM
Finding a tone that works in one place - but not when/where it matters. Aint that the truth.
While the cabs are as different as can be - still fun to listen to the differences aye. Thanks for taking the time to post this a/b!
sloppy_phil
03-18-2013 09:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by zachoff
(Post 14050452)
Crazy big difference & cool you like the Traynor. I think it sounds better here as well.
Might be a cool next step to try them both in a band setting and see which you prefer. Not saying it's the case here, but sometimes bedroom/basement settings don't translate all that well to a full band with volume.
Oh don't worry. I'm a professional musician; the SVT210AVs saw a *lot* of gigs before I made this decision! I can't wait to put the Traynor up against the band at a show (it was bought purely for gigging); I think it's gonna crush some mofos :D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slowgypsy
(Post 14050731)
NFN... but... the Traynor is a big, heavy duty cab. You're comparing this to (2) SVT210 cabs? Other than the facts that (1) they're both bass cabs, and (2) they're both have 4 x 10 in them... they couldn't be more different.
No wonder you heard a difference :smug:
Oh, yeah I know. You're definitely right! But, being a poor musician, these are the only cabs I have. I thought it would be a fun experiment, but I realize that it is of almost entirely no practical merit to anyone. Unless they are looking to upgrade from the Ampeg cab(s), I suppose...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Piper
(Post 14050736)
While the cabs are as different as can be - still fun to listen to the differences aye. Thanks for taking the time to post this a/b!
Thanks, man. Yeah, no problem. It was fun to do! In hindsight, I wish I had taken a moment to play a little better/do longer clips.... Alas, my guitar/bass lessons weren't gonna teach themselves this afternoon :crying:
