Okay TB: Re-start my cab GAS

[Bard2dbone]

Hey guys.

I haven't worried about bass amps for a while because I don't gig asnymore. And I just started playing with a band again, but still have my SWR Redhead and Triad rig from back in the day.

But every once in a while I think "What would I replace this with?"

The head woulod be a Little Mark Tube or Little Mark III.

But what about the cabs?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...They'd have to be lighter my SWR rig. But that's not so hard. They'd have to carry a believable low B string. And they'd have to be able to keep up with two guitarists with tube amps and a loud drummer.

Oh crap. I've just asked for the impossible hypothetical perfect cab, the 'light, low, and loud' cab that everybody wants and nobody has because it doesn't exist.

Or does it? It's been a few years since I looked for cabs. Maybe someone invented it.

So tell me: What is the best cab for 'light, low, and loud' nowadays?

[dhomer]

Bass cab Beano.. get a fEARful, no more GAS

fEARful™ enclosures for bass/drums/keys

[B-string]

For production cabs 212s and 412s. G-K, Genz Benz, Epifini and Avatar come to mind for great sound and "light weight" (less than a 215 cab by far).

[S.B.]

I pair Mark Bass II with Avatar Neo 410 really like the sound. I hear great things about the Fearful cabs.

[Mr. Foxen]

Originally Posted by Bard2dbone

Hey guys.

I haven't worried about bass amps for a while because I don't gig asnymore. And I just started playing with a band again, but still have my SWR Redhead and Triad rig from back in the day.

But every once in a while I think "What would I replace this with?"

The head woulod be a Little Mark Tube or Little Mark III.

But what about the cabs?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...They'd have to be lighter my SWR rig. But that's not so hard. They'd have to carry a believable low B string. And they'd have to be able to keep up with two guitarists with tube amps and a loud drummer.

Oh crap. I've just asked for the impossible hypothetical perfect cab, the 'light, low, and loud' cab that everybody wants and nobody has because it doesn't exist.

Or does it? It's been a few years since I looked for cabs. Maybe someone invented it.

So tell me: What is the best cab for 'light, low, and loud' nowadays?

Think you can have light, low loud, just will also have 'big (which means not so light, but for the size, it could be engineered up real good). Loud if you have the juice is also totally doable. See Barefaced, one of those will sort you, which exactly, up to discussion direct. The Dubster does light, low, loud, but it doesn't do 'having any highs at all'.

[lomo]

A well-exectuted fEarful or similar cab (often called nEarful and available through builders like Audiokinesis, Art of Noise and LDS) will outperform a 410 and be around 50 lbs. Most are available only in 8 Ohms though, and you'll want to push 500 watts into one to get its' full potential. Audiokinesis makes a 4 Ohm but it's a few months wait.

[makohund]

The dual woofer versions are 4ohm... 1212/6 and 1515/66. A little bigger and heavier than the singles of course. What does the Triad weigh?)

But they'll also smash a 4x10 like a grape, so it's worth it. Keeping up with loud drummers and two guitars with loud tube stacks? No sweat. Mine made 'em all look up and say "wow".

They'll happily eat more power than the little mark puts out, but I've run mine on 450W occasionally and it does fine. (Haven't tried that at a gig yet though. I might just to see.)

[Sundogue]

A fEARful is a GAS killer. You've been warned.

[dhomer]

Originally Posted by lomo

A well-exectuted fEarful or similar cab (often called nEarful and available through builders like Audiokinesis, Art of Noise and LDS) will outperform a 410 and be around 50 lbs. Most are available only in 8 Ohms though, and you'll want to push 500 watts into one to get its' full potential. Audiokinesis makes a 4 Ohm but it's a few months wait.

A bit of clarification, Audiokinesis markets his own design, the Thunderchild is worth investigating.. Art of Noise is an authorized fEARful builder (as I am), this is a guarantee if you order from any of us, you will get a genuine, to-spec fEARful.. LDS is NOT an authorized builder, and as a heads up he won't build one to GB's specs.. His nearfuls may be close, but there will be performance compromises..

[Blues Bass 2]

You could check out the Avatar TB153 . It uses the same 3015 LF woofer as the fEarfuls and is bigger and a little heavier than a fEarful but you can get it in 4 ohms . I got one a couple months ago and it just kills with a loud drummer and a couple loud guitar players , cuts through the mix great and has crazy good low end . You might think of Avatar cabinets as low budget but this cabinet works great , would bury your Triad and only weighs about 65 pounds .

[jungleheat]

Why would you WANT GAS if you don't already have it. A Redhead and Triad is an awesome rig already. Unless you feel like it's not doing the job for you, stick with that, and dont listen to a bunch of yahoos who will try to sell you on every single piece of equipment out there, and probably finding that you liked the Redhead better only AFTER you spend a bunch of money and time worrying about something that doesn't seem to be an actual problem.

But if you want, you can send me the Redhead and Triad and I'll hold onto it for a while to free up space so you can try out everything else.

[Blues Bass 2]

Originally Posted by jungleheat

Why would you WANT GAS if you don't already have it. A Redhead and Triad is an awesome rig already. Unless you feel like it's not doing the job for you, stick with that, and dont listen to a bunch of yahoos who will try to sell you on every single piece of equipment out there, and probably finding that you liked the Redhead better only AFTER you spend a bunch of money and time worrying about something that doesn't seem to be an actual problem.

But if you want, you can send me the Redhead and Triad and I'll hold onto it for a while to free up space so you can try out everything else.

His rig is a very good one but if he got one of the 7 pound Markbass heads and a 45 to 65 pound cabinet like we have been suggesting he would have his light , loud and low rig , be able to keep up with the gear he was talking about and save about 140 pounds at load in and teardown . And sound great doing that .

[jungleheat]

Maybe, but there are other sacrifices when going for small/light. To be honest I haven't been too thrilled with the Mark Bass stuff (mostly in terms of tone). I guess if you have the right kind of bass and are looking for a certain kind of tone they might be good.

The Redhead is probably fine by itself for most gigs. I think they're about 80-90 lbs? Which in terms of loading, is not appreciably different from 65 lbs. Both are doable alone for small distances but are probably better with 2 people. The Triad could be added for louder gigs. I think those are roughly the same weight as the Redhead or slightly less. And that stuff sounds incredible and can get a pretty wide range of sounds and will interface with any bass you might care to try them with.

If anything, I would get either a separate head to go with the Triad for a more compartmentalized setup (like a Bass 350), or just get a smaller combo for smaller shows where the Redhead might be too big.

[malthumb]

Wow! This is interesting. I'm in the process of totally rescoping my rig(s). For years I've been using SWR Goliath Jrs and Triads. Had two of each. Left one of each at home for my own practice needs, one Goliath Jr at my church and one Triad at my band's rehearsal spot. This is all so I wouldn't have to lug the heavy speaker 2-3 times a week.

Selling off all the cabs and my big Crown power amp and now i'm using a MarkBass CMD 102P combo with a Traveler 102P 2X10.

Now I don't need to duplicate rigs in order to get around having carryin them. The CMD combo and the Travelor together weigh less than either of my Triads.

[Blues Bass 2]

Originally Posted by jungleheat

Maybe, but there are other sacrifices when going for small/light. To be honest I haven't been too thrilled with the Mark Bass stuff (mostly in terms of tone). I guess if you have the right kind of bass and are looking for a certain kind of tone they might be good.

The Redhead is probably fine by itself for most gigs. I think they're about 80-90 lbs? Which in terms of loading, is not appreciably different from 65 lbs. Both are doable alone for small distances but are probably better with 2 people. The Triad could be added for louder gigs. I think those are roughly the same weight as the Redhead or slightly less. And that stuff sounds incredible and can get a pretty wide range of sounds and will interface with any bass you might care to try them with.

If anything, I would get either a separate head to go with the Triad for a more compartmentalized setup (like a Bass 350), or just get a smaller combo for smaller shows where the Redhead might be too big.

Like you say the Redhead is about 90 pounds and so is the Triad . That's 180 pounds at load in and at the end of the gig compared to 70 pounds total at every gig . The rig he has is a great rig and I would love to use a rig like that myself but this isn't the 90's anymore and today there are tons of options for players that don't have to have two people to move around . The fEarfuls and even the Avatar cabinet I suggested will bury the Triad cabinet in volume and go lower and sound clearer and can be carried by one person easily . No need to have another cab for the big gigs , either cab will do that by itself . If he doesn't want a three way cab there are also more traditional cabs like the Berg AE410 or 212 , the Genz Benz Neo X 212t that won't hurt the back and will still do about any gig .

Also Markbass isn't the only lightweight head on the market , there are many heads out there that put out as much sound as the Redhead and weigh under 10 pounds and sound great .
Carvin BX500
Genz Benz Steamliner 900 or 600
Genz Benz shuttle 6.0 or 9.0
These are just a few , there are many more .

Just saying that a 90 pound cab at the end of the night when your buddies are more interested in what's going on at the bar than helping you get your gear loaded up or when you get home and don't have anyone to help get your cab into your house a 45 to 65 pound cab is much more appealing than a 90 pound amp or cab that might send you to the chiro on Monday . Also with any of the gear I've suggested there is no sacrifice in volume or tone to be light , they all work great by any measure .