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old school tone, but portable

J

jeremynyc

Jan 21, 2008
58
2
#1
Hey this is my first post...

I'm looking for an amp with good old school tone (jamerson, dunn, etc.) that I can lift myself down 3 flights of stairs. Plus, it should be decently loud. I have an SVT for tours and bigger shows where it makes sense for the band to rent a van. The amp I'm looking for would be for small to medium clubs and bars.

I'm playing a 60s P-Bass with flats so I have most of the tone from the bass already. I live in NYC on the 3rd floor of an apt building and if I need to take an amp to a show I'm taking a taxi.. I need something I can lift myself.

Impossible?

I played the Shuttle 3.0 though a Schroeder Mini 12+ in a store the other day and was actually very impressed with how warm and big it sounded. But I don't think the Mini 12 would really put out enough juice for anything more than a smaller show...plus I kind of want a more "old school" vibe to cabinet. I don't mind the high-tech head as much. Bag End S15?

Also I've always liked the Ampeg B100r, but at 65lbs it's pretty hefty and doesn't have that much head room.

Let me know your thoughts, thanks!
 
#3
Ok, one more requirement I should have mentioned. It has to look good (or at least unobtrusive) on stage!

Sorry to all you Markbass fans out there, but I really don't like that orange speaker. If they made it in black I would have bought one.
 
#5
I've also heard (and read) that the Wizzy's are great for old-school.

And I must chime in and say the Bag End S15-D gets that old school vibe. Plus at around 45 lbs. it's easy to schlep and can get downright loud, if you want them to. And hey, let's not forget that they are not that expensive!
 
#6
Yeah, I played a Bag End S15D on a small gig once, with an old Acoustic head. Nice and fat sounding.

I've never played the EA Whizzy. I see it's only rate for 200watts. Anyone have experience with pushing these things?

In comparison the Schroeder 12 is rated at 500watts I believe...
 
#12
Dr. Bass has some light weight cabs. There's a 1x15 (neo), 36lbs., 600rms/4 or 8 ohms, 37hz.

Hook that up with a Shuttle 6 @ 4 ohms/600rms (tube pre-amp) might be portable enough/loud enough for just about any gig and get the tone you want.

If you don't use a gig bag for your bass, you might look for a heavy duty one the will hold the Shuttle as well. Strap the gig bag on your back and you'll have just a 36lb. speaker box to carry.
 
#13
It seems like you've got the head thing worked out well enough, many small portable choices.

I owned a few different BagEnd 15 cabs over the years and they sound great and are small. They also get pretty loud. But I don't know if I'd want to lug one up and down 3 flights of stairs.

Now the Wizzy I'd carry up and down 3 flights all day long and the tone is nice but it certainly won't get you any more volume then the mini12.

An Epi UL112 or Berg 112, should be pretty good to get you up and down the stairs with some decent volume on stage. If you need more you can always look at a 210 neo, I have a EA210 which weighs 36lbs it's really easy to move around, plenty loud and has nice tone. There are other 210 cabs out there I only mention EA because I happen to have one.
 
#16
jeremynyc said:
Could you elaborate?
Click to expand...

I don't know that this is the case here between, say, the Schro and the EA but (all things being equal) a speaker with a high wattage rating and low sensitivity will not necessarily be louder than cab with a hi sensitivity rating and a lower wattage rating(In fact my experience has been the cab with a higher sensitivity rating is louder)

It's usually listed as xxdb@1 watt/1meter

Of course numbers can be deceiving. Someone else here can probably explain this WAY better than I am right now!
 
#17
Bass Boy said:
I don't know that this is the case here between, say, the Schro and the EA but (all things being equal) a speaker with a high wattage rating and low sensitivity will not necessarily be louder than cab with a hi sensitivity rating and a lower wattage rating(In fact my experience has been the cab with a higher sensitivity rating is louder)

It's usually listed as xxdb@1 watt/1meter

Of course numbers can be deceiving. Someone else here can probably explain this WAY better than I am right now!
Click to expand...

So the EA might seem louder because it has higher sensitivity?
 
#19
jeremynyc said:
So the EA might seem louder because it has higher sensitivity?
Click to expand...

No, Sorry that I'm not really explaining this well. Here's the sensitivity rating for the whizzy:103dB @ 1m

For the Schroeder mini 12: 100dB @ 1m

Now in theory, the Whizzy would be a bit louder when fed the same power. Of course this can go out the window when you factor in what I have been told is the mid forward voicing of the Schro. To sum it all up I was basically saying (although very badly) that the wattage rating of a cab doesn't give you the best idea of how loud a cab is.
 
#20
Sensistivity is important, but since we do not have access to most companies SPL charts (or the way they test their speakers to produce these charts) it doesn't mean a whole lot.

But yes, usually a more sensitive cab will be louder than a less sensitive cab with the same power going through it. The only way to know if a cab is suitable is either with a full spl chart or by trying it out.
 

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