Advice - cab for Walkabout

[lowfreq1]

Hello,

Need advice. I play 5-string basses and have recently bought a Walkabout Scout 15"-combo.
I love the sound of the walkabout, but the scout 15"-speaker isn't my thing.

So, I'm looking for a good 4x10 or 2x12 stand alone cab to the Walkabout. 4 Ohm.

 

[fenderhutz]

I should be endorsed by Avatar at this point

The 2x12 cab puts out so much low end goodness and for the price it can't be touched.

 

[rodl2005]

Yeah I'd go for a 2 12'' & Avatar seem 2 be GREAT for the $$$$. A 4 ohm 2 x 12" would be HUGE sounding!

 

[lowfreq1]

Okay, thanks. But Avatar is not available where I live.

What about SWR Goliath III 4x10? Aguilar DB410? Mesa Powerhouse 410?

or...?

 

[Transverz]

I'm on this WA cab hunt too.

I've tried a lot of things recently (all old school Mesa stuff) and so far, only the Powerhouse 1000 @ 4 ohms came through with flying colors with enough volume for a loud rock band. 2nd place was a 1x15 + 2x10 but I was starting to hear (I think??) it running out of steam w/ farting or bad distortion sounds of what you would hear when you are trying to push the volume too much. The 1x15 and 2x10 separately was OK, but I found myself cranking and getting bad farting. I don't play THAT loud btw. I think it may be the 8 ohms operation combined with not enough drivers. Plus, these cabs aren't exactly super efficient.

Last up to bat is a 4x10 I acquired recently (Diesel RR). The cab is wired badly I think so I can't trust what I initially heard. I'm rewiring it now for 2 ohms and I'm gonna see if the WA can rip on it. I've heard enough success from regular 2 ohm users to take the plunge. Sadly though, I won't TRULY know yet because it is highly suspect that the drivers that are in that 4x10 aren't of the typical bass amp variety . We'll see...

Honestly, some Avatars are tempting though. A 4 ohm 4x10 or 2x12 sounds good right about now. I was even considering 2x10 + 1x12 @ 4 ohms each for 2 ohm doom. And still viable separately at 4 ohms each. Or in that same vein of madness, an 8 ohm 4x10 or 2x12 wired down to 2 ohms. Yikes. I had owned an early 4x10 Avatar quite some time ago and eventually sold it because it sounded too thin with what I was using it with and doing at the time, plus it was crazy heavy. Now I'm sure those cabs not only vastly improved, but with the Neo drivers, is a joy to carry. I'll report any good findings with the WA.

Best of luck...

 

[62bass]

I've used my Walkabout to power the SWR 4x10 (8 ohm) a couple times. It was very good. Pretty loud even though the Walkabout was going into 8 ohms. Also with an 8 ohm Eden 4x10. Same thing. Good sound and lots of volume. I don't know if either of these cabs are available in 4 ohm versions though.

In fact, my Walkabout sounds great powering just about any good cabinet I've tried it with.

Since you're using a 5 string (which I don't) you might want to base your choice on which ones handle a 5 string better. Getting anything other than Avatar in 4 ohms will be a bit tougher to find I think.

 

[Chef]

You can check my profile for a list of cabs I have.
I really haven't met a cab the walkabout didn't like.
Recently I've been pushing two Mesa Diesel 115's with it....talk about ooomph!

 

[lowfreq1]

1x15 + 2x10 but I was starting to hear (I think??) it running out of steam w/ farting or bad distortion sounds of what you would hear when you are trying to push the volume too much. The 1x15 and 2x10 separately was OK, but I found myself cranking and getting bad farting. I don't play THAT loud btw.

Okay, what brand was the 1x15 + 2x10? How many Ohm was the speakers?

 

[bdeaux]

I read somewhere that Justin who basses with Beck and others used the Walkabout with an Amoeg 410-hlf and said it worked the stage well. Club show it think it was, so no stadium volumes here. The hlf cab will give you good lows for the B string, but not sure how much headroom you want or will get after a certain point.

I've also thought Mesa amps sound great with Eden cabs. So maybe an XLT cab??

 

[Transverz]

Okay, what brand was the 1x15 + 2x10? How many Ohm was the speakers?

The cabs were Mesa Diesels. Both at 8 ohms, running at 4 ohms. Definitely got loud enough for my uses, and we play decently loud. Not crazy, stupid loud, but as loud as your average rock band with two tube g**tarists and a heavy handed drummer.

My 1x15 always had some sort rattling or slight distortion issue, even before I had the WA and last week I finally found out that the speaker is sorta busted. That's probably why my initial tests with the WA weren't as good as I thought it could be. It sounded like I was farting or running out of steam, but this could have been a majority of it.

Also, I have an update on what I think about the 2x10 and 1x15 as individual cabs. I found that I might have set up my rig wrong when first playing through all my cabs. As I mentioned, no probs with the PH1000. But the 2x10 + 1x15 felt like I was taxing the power section. Well, after finding the 1x15 needs a speaker recone or replacement, I have to temporarily use just the 2x10. Initially, it sounded what I thought it would be at 8 ohms. Not loud enough, getting close to farting or getting farty when digging in the low notes. Also, not much lows except at certain frequencies. Overall just no consistency. Then I realized that after recording direct from my Sansamp BDDI, which I usually run into the front of the WA, that the BDDI was still in LINE output rather than INSTRUMENT! Rather than go back to INST output and still running in line, I decided to eliminate too many factors and just ran LINE output to the WA return jack.

MUCH BETTER! Lows were LOW and sustaining. Consistent across the board with a very creamy sound. I could definitely crank the volume with no sound of the speaker nor the power section starting to give out. Actually, I had to turn it down. Overall, much more headroom. Much more pleasant and enjoyable experience with a single 8 ohm cab. And now I see how and why people say that the WA is way more what they need with a single cab. I didn't have a chance to try it with the BDDI back into the front input or with just the bass straight to the front input, but I will soon.

So...? What went wrong here? I could be wrong, but I think I was overdriving the input. It sorta fooled me into thinking the WA just couldn't put out the volume I wanted it to. Is this a valid assumption of my experience? Or am I way off here? I'll make a new thread to ask this as it is part of my continuing quest to understand volume and clipping in relation to preamp / poweramp input balance.

Sorry to get off track, but basically I'm saying that when used correctly, even an 8 ohm 2x10 could sound way huge with the WA, if you know the cab is capable of doing so. (edit) And I wasn't even using the WA preamp that must everyone agrees is some of Mesa's best work. I'll definitely get this to work with the preamp, with and without the BDDI. And even if I don't, well, the Walkabout is one sweet little poweramp with an insurance plan!

 

[bino]

I really haven't met a cab the walkabout didn't like.

I'm in complete agreement. I've tried schroeder, bagend, aguilar, and epifani and all have sounded great.