I recently bought the amp my bassist for my main band and I have coveted for nearly a year now, the acclaimed DG Alpha Omega 900...
When it came, I set it up clean and ran it through my Ampeg 410HE (500W/1000W max, 8 ohm) and though I saw the speakers light up from being driven, there was no sign of backing down from this trusty cabinet! I later plugged in my pedals, adjusted the mix accordingly and went to town. - https://ampeg.com/products/classic/svt410he/
Celebrating the new head, I decided to get a new cab that could bring out its full, 900 Watt advertised potential, distortion included - Browsing Musician’s Friend, I saw the BBC Matrix, at the used cost of $850 with only cosmetic damage; A spectacular markdown from the list $1300+ on their site! - [This invalid link has been removed]
This monster is advertised to handle 1,100W, and a peak of 2,200W - I figures there’s nothing my current setup can’t throw at it that this thing can’t handle. After viewing some demos on YouTube, I also loved seeing how portable it was!
When the BBC came, it played the amp clean like a dream, but after plugging in the pedals, and messing with the built in OD/distortion, I noticed the familiar smell of heat in the air after under and hour of jamming/tweaking...
Before anyone asks, yes the amp was set to 4 ohms in all scenarios.
My roommate says no matter what the wattage, the pedals combined with a strong amp can still damage it. However I’m wondering why it didn’t do the same for the Ampeg 4x10.
I like to crank the drive of the Darkglass’s distortion channel, but it’s not dimed out and the Ampeg was fine with it. Both amps however, gave a loud buzz when I tried stacking the Bass Driver effect of my Boss-ME80B with the Darkglass’s driven distortion channel - That I just have to tweak.
So, should I just return this thing despite the deal I got it for and just bite the bullet on the DGNE212? Which would be stupid not to work...or is The Matrix worth exploring further?
But what’s going on here? Am I just being naive in thinking this cab can just do anything my 4x10 could despite it’s size and 2x10x15 setup? Or is it a simple case of exaggeration on the marketing side?
I could tweak my pedals and compensate to use this cab, but wouldn’t that make it objectively worse than the existing Ampeg if I have to adjust that way? Or is such just the nature of getting a new cab after such a long time?
Thank you in advance!
When it came, I set it up clean and ran it through my Ampeg 410HE (500W/1000W max, 8 ohm) and though I saw the speakers light up from being driven, there was no sign of backing down from this trusty cabinet! I later plugged in my pedals, adjusted the mix accordingly and went to town. - https://ampeg.com/products/classic/svt410he/
Celebrating the new head, I decided to get a new cab that could bring out its full, 900 Watt advertised potential, distortion included - Browsing Musician’s Friend, I saw the BBC Matrix, at the used cost of $850 with only cosmetic damage; A spectacular markdown from the list $1300+ on their site! - [This invalid link has been removed]
This monster is advertised to handle 1,100W, and a peak of 2,200W - I figures there’s nothing my current setup can’t throw at it that this thing can’t handle. After viewing some demos on YouTube, I also loved seeing how portable it was!
When the BBC came, it played the amp clean like a dream, but after plugging in the pedals, and messing with the built in OD/distortion, I noticed the familiar smell of heat in the air after under and hour of jamming/tweaking...
Before anyone asks, yes the amp was set to 4 ohms in all scenarios.
My roommate says no matter what the wattage, the pedals combined with a strong amp can still damage it. However I’m wondering why it didn’t do the same for the Ampeg 4x10.
I like to crank the drive of the Darkglass’s distortion channel, but it’s not dimed out and the Ampeg was fine with it. Both amps however, gave a loud buzz when I tried stacking the Bass Driver effect of my Boss-ME80B with the Darkglass’s driven distortion channel - That I just have to tweak.
So, should I just return this thing despite the deal I got it for and just bite the bullet on the DGNE212? Which would be stupid not to work...or is The Matrix worth exploring further?
But what’s going on here? Am I just being naive in thinking this cab can just do anything my 4x10 could despite it’s size and 2x10x15 setup? Or is it a simple case of exaggeration on the marketing side?
I could tweak my pedals and compensate to use this cab, but wouldn’t that make it objectively worse than the existing Ampeg if I have to adjust that way? Or is such just the nature of getting a new cab after such a long time?
Thank you in advance!
