Surprise cab test at GC of all places opens up new ideas...

[MWBass]

We'll as much as i tried to avoid a huge amp quest again, my inherent desire for testing and research took control again. I am on a mission to get a new rig as a summer gift to myself.

Unlike my last cab search quests, I am not going to go deep into my ownership history... I'll just lay out the basic facts...

My main three rigs were Eden 410XLT's with eden heads, Accugroove Whappo Jr's with EA iAMP, and Most recently a Genz Benz Neox212 with Shuittle 6.0. Currently, I have no amps or cabs. I spent th elast two years trying to cultivate my hobbism of luthiery into a second job. I am waiting for the spar varnish to cure on the second iteration of a custom that I am building for myself. It is a short scale (30") 29 fret single cut bolt-on. The pickup is basically a single wide humbucker in closer to a bridge pickup position. Plays like a dream, but given pickup position tends to be on the brighter side. Also, I use light strings 100, 76, 55, 40 on a short scale, i like the bendyness as Mark King would say. As a player, as much as I love and try to groove fingerstyle, I always end up slappin, poppin, and tappin away on the board. It was my true draw to the instrument.

That being said, I am looking lighten up my transport and get a solid rig that will pull me through the next phase. let me get into the rigs that have been going through my head...

A. Accugroove Whappo Jr. with iAMP Pro - It was my go to before. Love the sound. My problem is that the Whappo Jr. is not heavy, but its a big ol square box. Looking for something a bit more portable. I know the Tri112 Stack would work, but that would be like a couple bills over 3 grand. But I love that sound.

B. Genz Benz Uber Quad X 2 with Genz S900 - This is almost like having 2 410 boxes, but I like the three ways and like what I have heard of the Uber Quads thus far. Obviously the S900 kicks butt.

C. Eden 210XST Neos by 2 with WT Head - Use to love that deep tone of the XST's. Even on the four bangers, they seemed to sound deep and a bit studio dark. Very cool. Love it.

D. Acme 12 Full R by 2 with powerful head - Every time I talked about the eden XSTs everyone said I should try acme. Never got the chance, and the sensitivity scared me a bit.

E. Phil Jones Roadcase - a 750 watt 12 by 5 combo that weighs less then most 410's... what could be better. I played it about 8 months ago as a prototype and It blew my mind. Very awesome. Built beautifully. I was actually sure I was gonna get one, but I'm a little nervous about overall volume and thickness of tone.

F. Berg AE212 or AE410 with S900 - Berg stuff looks good and sounds good. I loved the IP310 I had for a while.

So, WHERE DOES THIS WHOLE GUITAR CENTER THING COME IN? WELL, HERE...

G. Mesa Scout Radiator 112's by 2 with Walkabout and power amp - I went over to guitar center yesterday to try to see if they had the new tc rs cabs and rh heads. They didn't. But they had a BG500 210 tc combo based on the 2.0 platform. I decided to play that with a few other set ups. Mesa walkabout 112 combo, M6 carbine combo, MB 210 with LMII, and the tc. I went around about 4 or 5 times. I didn't really like the MB stuff. Not my thing. The carbine was a beast, so powerful tight and loud as hell. But, like all the mesa I owned before, a bit cold and dry sounding to my ears. But pretty awesome. The TC sounded good, head on the combo was cool to play around with. But the shocker to me was the scout. I went back and fourth between the two mesas like 4 times and everytime, loved the tone of the walkabout. I kept sayin I can't believe this is a mesa. It was different in a good way. I just needed more of it. I figured the walkabout is really a smaller M-Pulse 600, so I could get the power from that, but a big wide rack with those narrow cabs, just not my cup of tea. But a walkabout either slaving a second walkabout, or a small power amp, that would work. Plus, i like the idea of the 112 cabs better then the combo. They are only 37 lbs, and the combo loses 25% of its internal volume to the head slot. and it only has an 8 inch Passive radiator. Def should be more bottom and slightly more perceived output from the radiator on the stand alone. I was thinking what would two of those seeing 6-800 whats sound like...


H. TC RS210's or 212's with RH750 - As I said in the other thread, I have been so curious. Great company. Solid product, great build... Maybe not quite Phil Jones, Bergantino, or Mesa Build Q, but still great, and I consider them the best. I just really want to hear the RS stuff, and I am concerned because i wasn't head over heels with the TC BG combo. But man it looks good.

So thats everything. The TC, the Mesa and the PJB Roadcase really got me pumped, but it brought up some old favs and I have to narrow this down.

I guess I am just looking for any thoughts anyone has on personal experience with this gear and what they think may work given some of my ramblings.

And as usual, sorry about the epic post, its just good for me to get it down in e-ink.

Thanks for listening.

[R Baer]

Originally Posted by MWBass

...I am just looking for any thoughts anyone has on personal experience with this gear and what they think may work given some of my ramblings.

IMO, you are doing this exactly right. Playing through everything you can get your hands on and deciding which gear you like and which gear you don't like. Honestly, just keep doing what you are doing. You don't need anyone else's opinion on what gear they think will work for you!

[lomo]

The Walkabout tone is addictive IME. If possible, try that head through other cabs as well. I have not been able to find the WA tone in any other head.

[Buster Brown]

Originally Posted by R Baer

IMO, you are doing this exactly right. Playing through everything you can get your hands on and deciding which gear you like and which gear you don't like. Honestly, just keep doing what you are doing. You don't need anyone else's opinion on what gear they think will work for you!

Couldn't agree more!

[MWBass]

Yep, thats what i have been trying to do.

I have some free time this week, so I have been traveling around trying some stuff. Today I was gonna head out to bass specialties in PA, figured I could at least test the EA vs Accugroove vs Bergantino vs Eden. They closed early today though.

I stopped into Guitar and bass today in edison nj, Jay's beeen a friend for years. Played an MTD6 today... it was wierd... i looked at it and it was white semigloss opaque finish. I haven't seen mike do any opaque finishes on the usa stuff. I looked closer and the paint job was a little shotty around the horns and stuff. Turns out it was used and the customer had it refinished. Think its black korina underneath... sorry for the side track, just though mike tobias was losing it for a sec, but alas, he is still noble and gifted.

[MWBass]

Also tried sam ash, for hopes of tc rs stuff. No luck.

I played through the Hartke HyDrive stuff.

112 and a 410.

I could not get past the tweeters. They seared. It was annoying. I turned them down 2 -6db with the switch on the back, not much different. Turns out I turned the tweeter off on the 410 and really dug the sound,

So, I guess I learned something. I don't really like sizzle or clack up top. It sounds like two things going on at once. The bass line and then the tweeter line clackin away up top. Probably why I have liked every 3 way I have played. Feels better connected.

Anybody know of any other great 3/4 ways besides AG, Acme, old EA, Genz?
This also makes me understand why i like softer tweets like the silks in the AG stuff. I had a similar experience to the hartke with the swr henry 8x8 when I owned it. I don't like something that can cut my head off.

I also preferred the 10's over the 12's. I like punch, but a particular punch.

For instance, i like a tight quick punch, like on a sealed 10 system. Not loose high excursion punch. I like punch that sounds better with higher volume. Not stuff that gets more character and stranger sounding at high volumes. This was my problem with the MB 210. Punch sounded great at low volume , but added character at high volumes, it was wierd.

So, I guess I did learn something. I am more of a tens guy as long as the put out a tight quick hardly move the cones type punch, more of a darker deep sounding punch, possibly sealed . Any good sealed 10's that fit my criteria? And I'll still do 12s but as long as they play like 10's with more depth and width. Like the mesa 12's in both combos were quick, but not my thing in the Hartke.