weighing my 4x10 options for country...?

Fine Cut · #1 07-26-2011, 12:15 PM

hey guys, haven't been around in a while...feels good to get back to lurking the forums

anyway, i've recently joined up with a country originals/covers group, and the project's looking pretty promising. seeing as how i don't currently have a cab, and my Hartke 2500 sits in the corner i figure it's a good time to get myself another cab. we'll mostly be playing small-medium clubs around here, and the occasional beerfest-type gig with PA support.

i'm looking at several different single cab solutions (it's gotta fit in the back of a LeSabre). i've got the Avatar 4x10 ceramic in mind, as well as the Avatar 212 and GK mbx410. the Rumble 410 and peavey headliner are on my map also, but i haven't heard those yet. i'm giving myself up to $500 to pick something up, but having a bit extra never hurt anyone

.

what would you guys recommend along this line of thought?

craig.p · #2 07-26-2011, 04:17 PM

All comments here assume the bass isn't running through the mains. I'm a country player and I use one B212 for the small gigs and two for the medium ones. I wouldn't push the 212 into medium duty. IMO it just doesn't have it. The B410, maybe.

All these long-throw drivers sacrifice some upper midrange but you don't need that if you're playing true country and not some modern ~~perversion~~ permutation, because there'll be (or ought to be, if the band's doing things correctly) a pretty low ceiling on your frequency slot.

One caveat about the Avatar cabs: If you've never played through a cab with real bass extension, it's going to be an eye-opener. The down side of that bass extension is that these cabs will reveal, unforgivingly, any sloppiness in how you play. The upside is that if you do have work to do in that area, it can be a good opportunity to improve how you manage the instrument.

FWIW, I bypassed the crossovers on both my cabs. If Avatar had offered a B212 variant without the crossover+tweeter, or with a crossover+5" (or 6") midrange, I would've bought it instead.

zachoff · #3 07-26-2011, 04:34 PM

SWR Goliath III is my favorite 410.

Mr-Wunderful · #4 07-26-2011, 04:40 PM

I'm using an Avatar 212 with a Hartke LH 500 for country rock stuff, it works great and is easy to carry. Doing both outdoor and indoor stages with and without support. The guitarist and steel player both play at reasonable levels. I found my cab used for about $150.00

ErnieD · #5 07-26-2011, 11:29 PM

I recently did a new-country/traditional country gig with two UL410's, my Genz Benz Streamliner and Skyline 55-02D bass. First time I tried this, sounded awesome. Also, gigged with that same band with my Markbass F1, two TC-E RS-210's (stacked vert), same bass.

Worked great for me. I just take what the room required, no PA support for bass. Try some cabs, see what you like. I think the Avatar 410 could work for you.

countrybassist · #6 07-27-2011, 08:08 AM

Lately I've been using a Hartke HX410, instead of hauling around an Ampeg 810. Believe it or not, the Hartke HX sounds pretty darn good.

georgestrings · #7 07-27-2011, 08:20 AM

I'd probably go with Ampeg for that application - I prefer alot of lows, so *I* would go for an SVT-410HLF, but someone who likes alot of mids would probably be well served with an SVT-410HE...

- georgestrings

wcriley · #8 07-27-2011, 08:50 AM

I subbed with a country band recently with my pair of fEARful 12/6 cabs. No PA support. I could have easily gotten by with just one cab.

Fine Cut · #9 07-27-2011, 11:43 AM

I'm glad to see the avatars are being used favorably in country. Ima keep the ampeg in mind also.

What about EQ/wattage requirements? Anyone noticed any trends they're using to get a decent country sound? Also, since im planning on this most likely being a single cab rig, should I go 4 ohms?

craig.p · #10 07-27-2011, 03:09 PM

This will make you laugh. One of my top three kits to run a B212 is an ART Tube MP right into a power amp. Not a tone control in sight. But, we're talking 30-year-old VERY dead/thuddy Rotosounds, to emulate an upright, so you've got to factor that in.

With a GK MB200 or BL600 with the same instrument, I run the treble all the way off, hi mid at 2 o'clock, lo mid at 1 o'clock, and bass at 10 o'clock. Except for the treble control, that's more or less flat. (Thanks to fdeck who measured where flat is on the GK kit some months ago.)

With NO view toward future expansion, yeah, I'd get the thing in 4 ohms so you can use all the current the Hartke can provide. I've tried one 8 ohm B212 with an MB200 (140 at 8) and I could tell the amp was being held back by the impedance. So, I'm certain this would happen at 180 as well. If you need a second B212 in the future, though, you'd be looking at swapping the Hartke for something capable of driving 2 ohms, or buying a second 2500 to run in parallel, or going pre/power to get two channels, or...

If you don't play all that loud, you could get an 8 ohm cab, live with 180, add a second cab later on, and be able to run the full 250 into both. (It's not that the B212 can't get loud with 140 or 180 -- it can. It's just that you probably won't be able to exploit all that cab offers at that power level.) I've run my MB200 into both my B212s (200 watts, or 100 watts per cab), and it's hilarious how loud the combination is for that power rating. Yeah, there is some loss of dynamics, but it's a benign effect.

I know none of this is definitive, but maybe it'll help you decide. I think you can make a valid argument for either impedance.