Complaints about bass gear weight

[themacinator]

So I read alot of stories where people so "I love the sound but ohhhhh the weight." Personally I love having something I need help lifting on stage or loading in the vehicle. Makes me feel more like I am in a band.

And people can say it all they want but a 200 pound bass cab would pound a mudhole in someone's boutique 115.

 

[mellowgerman]

Also, they're a lot harder to steal

 

[Bardley]

Personally, I enjoy playing bass more than hauling gear. So with that in mind, weight is a factor for me. I prefer not to have 200 lbs of gear to schlep just to play. The Fearful 15/6 is about as big as I want to go in the 50ish lb range.

 

[jobu3]

You can get close-ish but absolutely nothing will truly sound like a tube amp except a tube amp.

With that comes weight.

It's a labor of love.

I find a big cab that tilts back on wheels much easier to move around than a smaller 50 lb. cab from load in/out to in out of buildings. Exception being stairs of course but nothing is perfect.

 

[fishdreams]

a 200 pound bass cab would pound a mudhole in someone's boutique 115.

Totally true-but if you live and gig in a place like NYC where everyone lives in small 4 story walkups, moves around by train because parking is a b*tch and the simplest car insurance is like $200 a month, and joints one plays have stages the size of a postage stamp- maybe some compromising might be in order....

 

[waleross]

I just bought a Phil Jones Fleightcase Combo amp with a powered cab. Ok it is a great "lite" Rig sounds great etc. , however it cost in total as much as my 810-E and
Svt 4-Pro did new. You can't beat heavy full sized rigs or at least a half stack. I hear it all the time where forum members try to convince themselves that their little "mini" rig sounds as good as their monster rig that they have in their basement. If I am in mid-town NYC, catching cabs that's one thing but for me full size rigs win out. +1 on the fact that heavy bass rigs can't be stolen too quickly, it would leave a trail of wall damage as well as hits on the hands and feet....Have a great Football Sunday........................

 

[jad]

My band mates are always willing to help load and unload my 215 at the venue or practice facility. However, they are not willing to come to my house to help me unload it or help me drag it in or out of the basement. Yeah, having help makes me feel like a member of a group, too. But negotiating my basement steps just makes me feel tired. Having said that, as a bass player I expect to have to do more work than certain other musicians.

 

[onda'bass]

I don't care ...heavy sounds awesome.....

 

[Bardley]

I guess every musician playing an instrument has some downside in a band setting. for the most part, Drummers have lots of stuff and super heavy hardware cases, guitarists have heavy tube combos or half stacks and many times huge effects pedal boards, keyboard players have heavy and bulky keyboards and stands, bass players have heavy cabs and amp heads.
The people who have it the best are guys who strictly play acoustic guitar or vocalists.
If you are the sound guy , like me most of the time, you have the most gear to schlep once you get home. That's why I try to keep my gear to a single trip with a folding hand cart. I get that with the fearful cab and amp rack and my gig bag on my back. I have no desire (or room for that matter) for a fridge sized cab.

 

[mongo2]

Like some said previously, I like playing bass not hauling gear. My "big" rig is a 4 lb Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 head and 24 lb Flite 1x15 neo loaded cab. If bigger is needed the venue can provide the rig or PA and I'll use a DI and leave my rig home. I changed over to stand mounted EUBGs a while ago.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

Its about stiffness, not weight.

My 39LB fibreglass 15/6 goes super loud, sounds absolutely fantastic and is designed/engineered to be incredibly light and portable.

Have fun with your heavy stuff!

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Not gonna lie, I love having a 50lb 2x12 and a 6lb head. It makes rehearsals more fun because I'm not in pain the entire time. That said, nothing but my SVT will ever be played on a gig. The tone is worth the weight, and my band doesn't mind helping me carry it to make us sound that much better.

 

[Mugre]

I have a damaged cervical disk at the bass (sic) of my neck. Light basses are an absolute necessity. Pathetically enough, playing without the strap is not a good option either because of the hunched over playing position it engenders.

Mug

 

[C47]

Nothing like a couple of dozen load outs up a flight of stairs at 2 AM
to make you think lighter, especially when you're over 50.
My PF500 and 410HLF are all I feel like lugging these days and
they sound just great.

 

[fdeck]

What makes this comical is we're talking about playing an instrument that was originally designed to be a lightweight substitute for the real thing, and amplification which is a substitute for the physical effort of making sound.

The other comical thing is remembering from high school that the kid with the biggest, loudest pickup truck somehow imagined himself to be more masculine than the kid who drove his mom's Tercel.

I'm an engineer by day. In almost every field of engineering, we think about making things that are smaller, lighter, cheaper, more efficient, safer, more reliable, and so forth. The amp that I play today -- micro head and neo speaker -- is simply what any engineer would design if he didn't care about the historical legacy of bass gear.

 

[slaps76]

Figures I just returned from lugging my 4x10 cab, Carvin B1500 head, and my band's two subs down in my basement.

There are times I've been tempted to just get rid of my rig for something like a small Markbass combo, especially since I don't need a ton of stage volume since I'm always going through the PA. My head's volume is usually never above 2. I love the sound of my cab though.

 

[Gearhead17]

Loading out bass gear after a 3 hour gig at 3am is NOT FUN. It's quite annoying actually.

I recently got rid of my Ampeg SVT 4 PRO's (44lbs each) and replaced them with 2 Carvin BX1200 (25lbs each). Why lug around something heavier when the tone is better on the lighter head? I also got rid of my Mesa 410 for a DNA 210. The Mesa was 96lbs and the DNA 210 is 54lbs. Without a doubt, the DNA 210 is MUCH louder, sounds better, and I can tilt it towards my ears. The lighter cab can be easily lifted by just me and is well balanced in weight.

With PA systems working better and better, why lug heavy bass cabs on stage? They are just monitors.....

 

[seanm]

+1 One of the things I like about my amp is that it is class D and very efficient. The engineer[*] side of me loves that. I shouldn't really care.... I only use it for gigs and practices at other peoples houses so I am not paying for the electricity. But I like the idea it squeezes the most power it can out of what it consumes.

The newer cabs are also more efficient. My 2 wizzys go lower and higher than an Ampeg fridge. The Ampeg needs 8 speakers, and an extra 80 pounds, to get 1dB more in max SPL. I also think the wizzy sounds better, but that is completely subjective.

So let's look at the lighter rig:

Pros: Lighter, more low end, better tone (subjective)
Neutral: Basically the same volume
Cons: Less awesome looking on stage

So I am not switching to an all Ampeg rig anytime soon (sorry Jimmy).

[*] I am not really an engineer. While my job title for a lot of years was Software Engineer, I don't have a degree. So I am not an engineer, I just think like one

 

[Muaguana]

What makes this comical is we're talking about playing an instrument that was originally designed to be a lightweight substitute for the real thing, and amplification which is a substitute for the physical effort of making sound.

The other comical thing is remembering from high school that the kid with the biggest, loudest pickup truck somehow imagined himself to be more masculine than the kid who drove his mom's Tercel.

I'm an engineer by day. In almost every field of engineering, we think about making things that are smaller, lighter, cheaper, more efficient, safer, more reliable, and so forth. The amp that I play today -- micro head and neo speaker -- is simply what any engineer would design if he didn't care about the historical legacy of bass gear.

+1. Studying Electronic Engineering at the moment, and the trend of technology (particularly IC's and semiconductors) is to reduce size/power consumption while increasing performance. Good thing the OP's mindset wasn't common among engineers back in the day, else surface mount technology wouldn't exist and we'd be using DIP packages because "they're more manly."

 

[jimmydean]

I have used " Entwistle" size rigs on down and the best sounding rig I have ever used is when I bought a Genz-Benz 6.0 and two GB 2x10 cabs . I loved my SVT years , but hauling that stuff around at 4 AM will give you a new look on life .