Tag Sale TecAmp M212 - Holy Snap!

Standalone · #1 10-07-2011, 03:25 PM

NCD!

My tone heaven is the classic S15D stack, but I could not resist the amazing price I got on this M212 -- I had the gall to offer $120 untested, but the guy guaranteed it at his asking price, which was still awesome! This guy runs regular huge tool and electronics tag sales on a local main drag, so I was willing to take a chance on the guarantee.

I double electric/db, and have some old GK RB amps to take out to gigs. My usual second cab is a very heavy old GK210T, so this would be a great improvement. The 400RB was insanely loud though it when I tested it in my basement.

It has a modern sound, but was flat enough that it got a good mellower vintage tone with a little work on the GK's 4 band.

I listened hard for that telltale fuzz sound in the decay of notes that happens in drivers that have overheated or been pushed too hard, but heard nothing.

The 400RB is a fairly noisy amp, so the hiss isn't the best through the tweeter, but the high SPL of the cab is so sweet with the RB's 200 big GK watts.

It doesn't seem to have the tweeter dial, so maybe it's an older model?

I think maybe it was so cheap b/c it was speakon, and people don't tend to use speakon only amps? Works for me!

KJung · #2 10-07-2011, 03:39 PM

Speakon inputs are actually a good thing. Easy to get a 1/4" to Speakon cable to work with that older GK.

AMAZING deal. FYI, the tweeter control is in the cup of the handle to the right as you face the cab. It is an amazing circuit that impacts the tweeter level AND the crossover frequency.

There are 6 settings (if I remember correclty).

A true off, which is nice, since those drivers extend quite high into the lower treble... nice if you are using effects are getting that GK to grind. Then there are three 'soft attack' volume settings, which is kind of the traditional very high crossover tweeter volume settings (like, for example, the Epifani cabs)... great for slapping or whatever. There are then two 'hard attack' volume settings which lower the crossover to overlap with the top of the driver (similar to the Berg AE type voicing), resulting in a very aggressive 'bright' response.

Great cab! It should say if it is a 4ohm or 8ohm model on the back plate, which is good to know if you ever combine it with another cab.

My guess is he sold it cheap because he (and most of his customers) had no idea what he had there, since that brand is pretty rare in the US.

KJung · #3 10-07-2011, 03:43 PM

PS If you dig those little Bag End 15's with no tweeter, try either the 'tweeter off' setting, or the 'hard attack low volume' setting... very natural and grindy top end with both of those. The difference is pretty subtle, but you will get a similar tone with a touch better 'off axis' upper midrange dispersion with the tweeter on in that low crossed over/low volume setting.

Standalone · #4 10-07-2011, 03:47 PM

Thanks for the treble info. I think the knob may have been removed-- there is a switch post within the handle with nothing there, no sticker, etc. When I was carrying it to the gigmobile, I was thinking that it was maybe some locking point for flying the cab for PA use, although I was 99% sure that it was a bass cab.

The impedance rating had a scratch through it, but I thought I saw the top point of a 4 rather than the curve of an 8 so I took a chance. The way it cranks with my 400rb at half volume, it's clearly a 4. I'll throw my multimeter on it to double check.

I should try to blow up the image of it from the tec amp site, print it off, and put it on there.

I only noodled on it for five minutes in the garage--- didn't want to carry it up to the studio only to have to take it right back to the guy. I didn't pay $120 for it... but I figured that's exactly what I made at our last little 2 hour jazz gig, so why not throw the number out.

It's a great compliment to my amp and a nice different option to compliment my s15d's. Score!

Standalone · #5 10-07-2011, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

My guess is he sold it cheap because he (and most of his customers) had no idea what he had there, since that brand is pretty rare in the US.

That, too. He had it sitting atop a hartke 115, priced the same! When I tossed out the lowball, he thought about it for a second, but did say that he had $400 on it earlier. So he knew it was somewhat decent, but your're right that he didn't really know what he had.

I didn't quite know either until I got it home and played that first note through it!

Standalone · #6 10-07-2011, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

PS If you dig those little Bag End 15's with no tweeter, try either the 'tweeter off' setting, or the 'hard attack low volume' setting... very natural and grindy top end with both of those. The difference is pretty subtle, but you will get a similar tone with a touch better 'off axis' upper midrange dispersion with the tweeter on in that low crossed over/low volume setting.

Will do. That is definitely my tone, even with jazz. Well, my approximation of jazz.

KJung · #7 10-07-2011, 03:55 PM

Cool. I would guess most of the larger TecAmp cabs were shipped in 4ohm configuration.

Since you would most likely find your favorite setting on that tweeter control and leave it, probably no big deal.

I'm virtually sure that the level settings are (starting with the control all the way in the counter clockwise setting)

Off
Low Soft
Medium Soft
Hi Soft
Medium Hard
Hi Hard

The 'medium soft' or third 'click' (Edit: I guess it is technically the 'third position/second click) (medium soft attack) is the setting that most closely approximates the kind of 'standard two way cab with the attenuator at noon' sort of thing.

The Hi Hard setting is pretty over the top, so one click below that (can't remember if the hard settings are called medium and Hi or lo and medium) will give you a pretty nice 'one way cab' type deal.

Given your love of the little Bag Ends with no tweeter, you might like that control 'off' the best.

Good luck. If you end up loving the cab, and want to get it fixed up a bit, check with Glenn Kawamoto at Austin Bass Traders. He's a GREAT guy, and the US TecAmp rep. Tell him 'Ken Jung' told you to call, and he might be able to get you a replacement knob and the 'level indicator ring'. I think the knob is the same one they use on their amps, so he probably has some laying around.

Standalone · #8 10-07-2011, 04:02 PM

Wow-- that's a great connection! This is why TB rules-- denizens like KJung!

That lineup of settings looks like what I remember seeing on the TecAmp site.

I've enjoyed some of your youtube vids in the past. I took a 30 second webcam shot of the amp and uploaded it. Subjecting no one to my solo playing this time.

TecAmp M212 Video Only - YouTube

Standalone · #9 10-07-2011, 10:14 PM

I got to play with it more today. The amp has seen gigging use, and I figured out why the sticker indicating the 6 crossover/tweeter steps had been removed. The post for the switch is broken about halfway down. Looks like it was one of the split post, so there was just barely enough of a slot left to very carefully use a flat head screwdriver on it.

I found the tweeter off to be a much duller tone than the Bag Ends, actually. What I love about those drivers is their very musical, even behavior in the top end. The highs are there, but in the right proportions as they go up.

My PJ basses do well with it set to soft attack /medium level, but my snappier 6 string with the fresher set of strings sounds better set to low.

I'm not disappointed-- it's nice to know that this is probably the flaw that landed it in this driveway tag sale operation rather than a fading driver.

What the cab does do-- that my BE's cant--- is to go DEEP! Even with an old GK with their famous bass roll off, it sounds pretty dang huge in the low lows.

If TecAmp started to market/distribute like Markbass, they'd find a good brand niche in lightweight land somewhere north of where MarkBass is situated.

Standalone · #10 10-09-2011, 12:27 PM

Just gigged it, outdoors on a doubling gig. My 800RB did upright duty with one of my BE's, while the 400RB got to know the M212.

I haven't played through a deep wide range 212 cab since trading my Neox 212 for the bag ends, so the first few tunes felt a little boomy. (The pre is out on my carvin) But it really worked well with just a minor tweak on the treble and bass levels on the GK. I think it did a better job behaving as the amp was asking it to than my GB212 didy-- the Neox always had a personality to it that carried through more clearly from amp to amp and bass to bass. The TecAmp doesn't do that so much.

I didn't feel like it was a treble-happy super hi-fi cab either. I like some vintage cab smoothness-- it's more musical and a little more forgiving of technique. The TecAmp did just enough of that to keep me happy. One gig in, I'm thinking it's an ideal cab for when I want a more modern tone.

I'd love to run a tube amp through it sometime. Too bad I don't have my VT22 anymore. And my fliptop only runs 8 ohms.