Do Ampeg cabs give your bass a certain tone?

jamisonsalamand · #1 12-11-2011, 07:41 PM

I put Bartolini pickups and preamp into my Schecter, and played through my Ampeg Micro-VR head with quality studio headphones. It made an unbelievable difference in a good way, even more than I expected. The problem though is I went to practice with my band, and when playing through the Ampeg 210 cab, it sounded almost exactly the same playing through the cab as it did before the switch. I noodled around a lot with no one else playing too, and didn't hear the drastic difference I could while playing through headphones.

The room we practice in might have bad acoustics, but I don't know if that would be related to my issue. I also know quite well that solo tones and tones when playing with other people will never be the same and you can't crank the bass on everything, but I'm pretty sure that's not relevant either. Do I need a different cab to bring out my bass's tone? I was originally going to upgrade to a mesa head and run it through my current cab, but if this cab masks my bass's texture that much it would probably be better to upgrade the cab first.

IntrepidCellist · #2 12-11-2011, 07:46 PM

I've found that the Ampeg fridge cabs very much have their own sound, and it's not one I really enjoy all that much. I would expect you're running into something similar with the 210. But, all cabs have a "voice." It's a matter of finding one that you like.

MuzikMan · #3 12-11-2011, 07:46 PM

Your cab could certainly be negatively affecting your ability to get the tone in your head, but there is no guarantee that it's the cab. It could be the room. It could be a volume issue. It is harder to get good tone at a high volume. Also, I wouldn't say that signature tone is exclusive to Ampeg cabs; there are plenty of cabs that impart a "sound". FWIW there are also cabs that are designed to sound reasonably "flat". It sounds like that's what you want.

jamisonsalamand · #4 12-11-2011, 08:35 PM

Would a Mesa 212 cab be more in that direction? I'm trying to get towards that aggressive mid kind of sound that a MusicMan Bongo has, with the treble sort of melting in with the mids. My bass had taken a big step in that direction, until I put the head through the cab rather than headphones.

Ric Vice · #5 12-11-2011, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamisonsalamand

Would a Mesa 212 cab be more in that direction? I'm trying to get towards that aggressive mid kind of sound that a MusicMan Bongo has, with the treble sort of melting in with the mids. My bass had taken a big step in that direction, until I put the head through the cab rather than headphones.

Jamison Salamand,
I know this sounds very simplistic, but if you want the sound of a Music Man Bongo then I'd recommend that you save your pennies and eventually buy one. Trying to convert the Schecter into a MMB by adding Bartolini Pickups and a Pre Amp will take you into a more mellow sound than the Bongo has, so you're kind of running in the opposite direction tonally from the Bongo. Personally, I love the Bartolini pickups and pre amp on my Lakland 55-95 but there anything but aggressive in the midrange. If you look at your bass, amp, and cabinets as one integrated system then the first part of you signal chain isn't exactly what you are going for tonally. That said, a different cabinet could make some difference, GK cabinets come to mind, if you're into their sound. Mesa cabinets are great but cost more, however IMHO there worth the difference in price.

Ric

BassBob1 · #6 12-11-2011, 09:07 PM

A different cab will certainly give you a different sound. The thing is, your bass, amp, and cab are all part of the sonic equation. (strings and a few other things fit in too). So it's pretty easy to understand why your bass sounds different through headphones than it did through the cab. The thing is, you really can't make a bass sound like a different bass by switching cabs. The above recommendations for GK isn't a bad way to go but I'm pretty sure the ampeg svt 210 is heavily mid voiced like the 810e. You may want a cab with a tweeter/horn to get some of the sizzle the bongo and other MM basses produce.

soulman969 · #7 12-11-2011, 09:12 PM

I definitely suggest you audition a few 2x12" cabs to find one that you like with your bass. As Ric pointed out it's the first thing in your signal chain and you've already done what you want there. Now find a cab that matched with your bass and your head gives you what you want.

jamisonsalamand · #8 12-11-2011, 09:41 PM

Im not attempting to turn my schecter into a bongo as I know that's not possible, and I don't think want it to be that exact tone either. I'm comparing that to give a very general idea of the direction I'm heading. I know there is a good tone coming from the line out on my head and I want a cab that will more accurately produce it, rather than restrict it to one kind of voice

dukeisdog · #9 12-11-2011, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamisonsalamand

Would a Mesa 212 cab be more in that direction? I'm trying to get towards that aggressive mid kind of sound that a MusicMan Bongo has, with the treble sort of melting in with the mids. My bass had taken a big step in that direction, until I put the head through the cab rather than headphones.

Get the Mesa, you won't be disappointed. I was using an Ampeg 810e for some time, and it was a great cab, it just didn't have THAT tone. The Ampeg cabs are awesome but I find that they don't handle the low end very well.

I ended up buying a Mesa Powerhouse 412, and have not missed my Ampeg. The Mesa is better (IMO) in every way. Better tone, better construction, better tolex, easier to move, smaller, need I go on? I play a lot of heavy stuff, from metal to hard rock, and this Mesa is the cab for me. Perfect blend of lows, mids, and highs, and everyone (including me) LOVE this cab.

Edit: just FYI, I have my tweeter ALL the way off, and get that high end sizzle from my Spector Euro 5LX.

JimmyM · #10 12-11-2011, 11:37 PM

The reason it sounds different is because through headphones, you're getting the amp's entire frequency spectrum. Lows down to around 20 hz and highs up to 20 khz or thereabouts. The SVT 210AV, however, is voiced to sound like the SVT 810e, with a frequency range of something like 55 hz to 5 khz, cutting out some of the lows and highs that you heard when you ran direct out of the Micro VR with headphones.

Now why do they do that? Because it's what fans of the SVT 810e want. Most of us don't like the real high tweeter frequencies, and while we like fat bass, lows below 55-60 hz or thereabouts can create a muddy mix sometimes, so eliminating those super lows gives you the fat without the mud. So the 210AV is definitely given a particular unique voicing like the 810e, and it is what it is.

They have other cabs, though. The PF115he, the SVT 610HLF, the SVT 410HLF, and the Pro Neo series cabs all have voicings that would more closely resemble what you heard in the headphones. They all go way deeper in the lows (especially the 410HLF) and they all have tweeters. Just depends on what you're looking for.

And respect to dukeisdog and his love for Mesa, but there's not a thing in the world with Ampeg's quality of construction. Tone, hey, people can argue that all day, but I have a few new things Ampeg's made and I use a lot of newer rented Ampeg stuff on the road, and the quality's top notch IMHO.

svtb15 · #11 12-11-2011, 11:48 PM

All cabs will give your bass a certain tone.. all different...

billfitzmaurice · #12 12-12-2011, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamisonsalamand

I put Bartolini pickups and preamp into my Schecter, and played through my Ampeg Micro-VR head with quality studio headphones. It made an unbelievable difference in a good way, even more than I expected..

Headphones have flat response, most electric bass cabs don't. If you're looking for something closer to headphone sound you can only get it from a 3 way cab, woofer/midrange/tweeter, the Avatar 153 being one example.