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Acme Low B2 users

#2
Buzz-

Yep, many 5-string players do prefer the Acmes because of the extended range and ease of portability. I know several guys here in Chicago, including my good friend BillyBinLZ, who uses 'em with his 5's.

Of course, that is not to say that 4-string players don't use them too. If I'm not mistaken, Alex Claber plays four-string primarily, matched with a pair of vertical B2s.

Lonnybass
 
#3
Buzz said:
Are the majority of ACME Low B2 users 5 stringers?

I'm curious how many 4 sting players use this cabinet for playing out and in doing so, is this the only cabinet you bring for the job?

Thanks

Buzz
Click to expand...

I'm a 4-stringer. I bought a Low B2 on advice from a bunch of guys in the Alembic Club & have to say I'm extremely pleased with it. If you love the sound of your bass & amp without speaker coloration, this may be the cab for you. As many TBers have mentioned, it's a power hog. For gigs, I typically use just the Low B2 an an SVT. Plenty of stage volume to keep up with the 2 guitarists. They both use fairly low wattage tube amps, so they can't push me around too much! When I feel like moving some more air, I bring along a 1x15" & run down at 2 ohms .... sweeeeet!!!
 
#4
acmes are terrific w/ whatever strings you have on your bass.

if you dig a neutral, fat sounding low end that doesnt color the inherent tone of your bass, and want a more relaxed and natural sound that's the complete antithesis to eden or ampeg, the Acmes are your ticket.

also, its highly dependent on what musical situation you'll be playing. i.e. for me, the Acme cab works terrific w/ alot of the smaller singer/songwriter/acoustic/church gigs i do. and i'm always of the more relaxed easy going sound w/ my bass.

so, within what kind of music are you planning on using the Acme?
 
#5
As LonnyBass wrote, I do play a 5....but never being one to moderate well, I have a pair of B4s :hyper:

Besides the extended low end, the thing that impresses me most about Acmes is their clarity. I never realized how beautifully clear they were until I was comparing Lonny's B2s to my (former) Avatar B210 Delta stacked vertically on top of a 1x15 EVM loaded cabinet. The 2x10 + 1x15 sounded great by itself, but a quick A/B with the Acmes (using the same preamp and power amp (with cabinet stacks on seperate channels)) demonstrated the "focus" that the Acmes have in the mids and highs...very cool!!!

My first Acme experience didn't go so well...I was playing 4 string in a way-too-loud rock band using a 4 ohm B2 and the 1x15 mentioned above. The poor B2 just couldn't take the punishment and sounded awful... Perhaps with some more attention on my part to my EQ settings (I used the same preamp for both B2 and 1x15) it might have worked better...but I threw in the towel all too soon and sold off the B2 in favor of what ultimately became a pair of SWR Goliath IIs. The Goliaths are now long gone and I'm back with Acmes...where I plan to stay!

Plan on spending some time changing your approach to EQ once you get your first Acme...they're that different.

Hopefully Alex will join in this thread and offer his comments.
 
#8
Thanks for all the comments/input gang. I've always been curious about the ACME cabs since the review first appeared way back when in BP magazine. I guess I always assumed that these were designed for and used by 5 string players, hence the question.
Clarity & weight is great, it's the power amp lugging that I still haven't bowed down to (yet) :hmm:

To answer Joker's question, "a light acoustic/church type usage?"
Not in the near future. 150-300+ club dates w/ 4 piece pop/rock.

Buzz
 
#9
Buzz said:
(...)
To answer Joker's question, "a light acoustic/church type usage?"
Not in the near future. 150-300+ club dates w/ 4 piece pop/rock.

Buzz
Click to expand...

hmm, FYI, i'm also talkin' more of a 4 piece pop/rock setup. :p

but, definitely give the larger B-4 a go. w/ my iAMP-800, is my "when i'm feelin' lazy" big rig. the B-4 much lighter than most 4x10's, yet pumps out plenty of low end clarity for most anyone. w/ the right preamp EQ section, its fantastically punchie.

good enough for Melissa Ethridge/Paula Cole bassist, mark browne, dont see how it wouldnt help you out, too.
 
#12
jokerjkny said:
hmm, FYI, i'm also talkin' more of a 4 piece pop/rock setup. :p

but, definitely give the larger B-4 a go. w/ my iAMP-800, is my "when i'm feelin' lazy" big rig. the B-4 much lighter than most 4x10's, yet pumps out plenty of low end clarity for most anyone. w/ the right preamp EQ section, its fantastically punchie.

good enough for Melissa Ethridge/Paula Cole bassist, mark browne, dont see how it wouldnt help you out, too.
Click to expand...

+1

I too play mainly pop/rock, roughly 120+ dates per year. I opted for 2 x B2s, as they are more portable than a single B4. Not to mention that stacking them vertically is a force to be reckoned with.

Over the summer, I played a gig with a rented SVT 8x10 backline - it simply couldn't hold a candle to the clean low end of my vertical B2 stack.

If it' the weight of power amps that you're scared of, get yourself a Stewart 2.1 and you'll put nearly 2000 watts at 4 ohms - with an amp weighing in at roughly 16 lbs.

Lonnybass
 
#13
Lonnybass said:
+1

I too play mainly pop/rock, roughly 120+ dates per year. I opted for 2 x B2s, as they are more portable than a single B4. Not to mention that stacking them vertically is a force to be reckoned with.

Over the summer, I played a gig with a rented SVT 8x10 backline - it simply couldn't hold a candle to the clean low end of my vertical B2 stack.

If it' the weight of power amps that you're scared of, get yourself a Stewart 2.1 and you'll put nearly 2000 watts at 4 ohms - with an amp weighing in at roughly 16 lbs.

Lonnybass
Click to expand...


I'd like to know what pre-amp your using Lonny and if you occasionally opt for just 1 B2?

B
 
#14
Buzz said:
As I recall the BP article said the B2 was "the 2x10 that thinks it's a 4x10."

Plus anything that's braced like an airplane....well, where's Orville when you need him? ;)

B
Click to expand...

hmm...

i dunno about that. while it has waaay more low end than say an SWR 4x10, the poor B2 is not nearly as loud as one. :hmm:

speaking of flight, i had my B2 in the back of a friend's mini van, when he hit the gas a little too excitedly, which swung open the doors of the van, sending my B2 on its own little flight onto the cold dark NYC street. thankfully, only the cordura cover was ripped, and the cab was fine. braced is a very accurate statement. :p

also, weight wise, i'm actually really happy w/ my B4. 78 lbs. aint too shabby, and it still fits really easy into the trunk of my honda accord.

course, a pair of B2's would be mad fun as well. odio's pair of B2's is an awesome sight, especially when mated to a TE tube amp. :cool:
 
#16
I've used a 4 ohm B2 for 5+ years. I love it and my drummer loves it. I play four string most of the time, but it loves my five as well.

It can be heard in a rock setting, but I usually put a tiny bit of bass through the PA, just to get some more mids. You can hardly hear the bass in the PA, but you can feel the Acme. My drummer is constantly raving about it, saying he can "feel the bass through my head and chest". We don't lie to each other about our gear, either. I've told him he needed new drums and he told me my old amps sucked. We've been friends for over seven years, so we can say these things without wanting to kill each other.

Be careful with it though, make sure you let them break in before gigging with one. Joker has been a stickler for this in other Acme threads, if I recall.
 
#18
Lump me in with the gang that plays a 5 string through a pair of B2's. I play an SR5 in a pop/rock outfit, and everyone in the band appreciates the Acme's on one level or another. I've got an Avalon/Stewart 1.6 rig driving them, and it's the sound(feel) I always wanted. Plus the 'directionality' vertical stack gives me the ability to be loud enough for my preferences without being too loud for the singers' preferences! :D

In the other band I'm in, I play 4 string classic/hard rock. When I recently plugged my new Rickenbacker 4001C64S into this rig, everyone's jaws hit the floor. The Rick has a more pronounced feel in the lows than my usual Fender Jazz/Yamaha BB1200 (I think it's the placement of the neck pickup), and that came through in spades thanks to the Acmes!
 
#19
Another Acme user here.

I am running my SR5 and fretless ric 4001 through a 4ohm B4 driven by a SVT4-PRO. (wow, lots of 4's in that last sentance). For me the combination of the Ampeg with the Acme produces the sound that I have been looking for. The Acme really lets the woody tone of the Ric come through.

I am playing with a relatively loud trio, with the guitarist playing through a Peavey 5150 head and cab. I have no problems being heard in the mix.
 
#20
Buzz said:
I'd like to know what pre-amp your using Lonny and if you occasionally opt for just 1 B2?

B
Click to expand...

Buzz-

In answer to your question, my preamp is an Alembic F-1X. Among all the other stuff in my rack, I have also added an Aphex parametric EQ for added control over the mids. This setup is SO warm and punchy sounding, and because the ACMEs are neutral, you'll really HEAR what your instrument sounds like. This takes on a whole new level of cool if you have a bunch of different instruments with different pickups and string setups - it lets each of 'em speak in ways you've never heard.

In answer to your question about using just one B2, from time to time I do use just one, especially for smaller jazz/singer songwriter kind of stuff, but for the bigger venue gigs I play, two B2s make the journey. (With a good rolling cart and space in your vehicle, schlepping the second one is really no big deal).

Interestingly, today I actually stopped at G/C to pick up a spare cable for tomorrow's gig (The Great Hall at Chicago's Navy Pier - expected audience of 6000, for which I'll be using my 2 x B2 tower for stage monitoring with no fear of it not cutting it) and demoed a few basses through the display amps of SWR, Ampegs and Boogies.

When testing out a Pedulla Rapture through an Ampeg 4x10 with all the controls set flat, I couldn't believe the flat out lack of guts on any note below an E - Acme's really do kind of spoil your ears after a while. Not to mention that I kept asking myself about each bass, "So what does this thing REALLY sound like?"

Acmes do require a little bit of tender loving care, including a careful breaking-in process as Joker and BillyB have mentioned. Since they eat up so much power, it's possible to overdo it and push the cones too hard if you're not careful. There's definitely a little learning curve involved, but once you get the hang of it, it's hard to go back.

Lonnybass
 

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