Many or most of you have seen this image by now. I don't know how many have heard the story behind it. It was intended to demonstrate, of course, that the Acme 2x12 is so light even a small child can lift it. Well, the day Andy's photographer was scheduled to shoot this pic, the little girl who was originally supposed to lift the cab for the photo--and who had done so many times before--became ill; so the pic was shot instead with her twin brother, whom you see above. (I trust all the correct feminist groups will accept my sincerest apologies for even suggesting that the young lass might not be as strong.)
I finally had an opportunity to try out this 2x12 prototype Saturday night. I can't give as complete a review as I'd like because, for reasons too lengthy and boring to recount, I wasn't able to use a head larger than my Eden 300B, a 300-watt, all-tube integrated amplifier. Even though I wasn't able to stretch it out power-wise, the 2x12 was--from a tone standpoint--another wunderkab from the mind and designs of Andy Lewis.
I often play with a pair of Acme 1x12s: two Flatwounds, or a Flatwound and a FullRange. There is no question the 2x12 is from the same tonal family. It has a front-firing, 12" FullRange speaker and a concentric, rear-firing, 12" FlatWound speaker in a laminate box the size of the Low B-4 cabinet. The box has been re-tuned and braced, of course, for the back-to-back speaker configuration. I found the tone wonderfully deep, thick and full; yet clear and articulate. My favorite. Always thick and full; yet plenty of clarity for 16th and 32nd note passages, pick-up notes, etc. When I needed to dial in a little grind or some additional mids or treble, those sounds were right there.
We were playing a medium-sized club, so my 300-watt Eden was enough power for the room. I'm anxious to try the 2x12 in a larger venue with one of my Crest amp rack rigs (1,000 and 2000 watts). We have an outdoor gig in a couple of months that might provide that opportunity. I would expect to normally use an 800- or 1,000-watt head with this cab, as I do now for a FullRange/FlatWound stack.
This cab is so light--less than 50 lbs.--largely due to Andy's use of laminate materials instead of the plywood from which the FullRange and FlatWound are built. I loaded it out with one hand with no problem. The laminate is significantly more expensive, however, and Andy is still undecided about whether to offer both a plywood and a laminate version. In either event, the cab will have the same Duratex finish, polyswitches, combo jack and other Acme Series III features. The handles are the same inset-on-the-side type as the Low B-4 cab.
My last observation: While the 2x12 is clearly the tonal sibling of the FullRange and FlatWound, it sounded even better to me than a FullRange, Flatwound or mixed pair. It's still hard for me to describe this after only one outing, but it seems to have even greater thickness and richness with no loss of clarity.
I know we're all anxiously awaiting the Bass Gear review of the FullRange and FlatWound. I hope Tom will be able to test this "Evil Twin" in the near future as well.
Thanks again, Andy, for such a great-sounding, well-designed and beautifully-executed cabinet.
