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downsizing

Dec 8, 2000
1,910
4
38
England, Liverpool
www.mattlawtonbass.com
Disclosures
Endorsing Artist: Warwick Bass and Amp
Has anybody downsized their live rig just to ease back pain (or because you're getting lazy, whichever...) and where you happy with it?

I'm considering downsizing my cabs, at the min I'm using a warwick 411 and 115 with an ampeg svt 3 pro, are there any smaller/lighter cabs that will give me a similar sound?
 
I was lazy from the get go. although I started when I was 33, now 40. I had dreams of a big stack. I had a fairly powerfull rack, 4 space with 1200w. my heaviest cab was about 55Lbs. right around that time I injured my back, jet ski accident. actually the 55 Lbs cab agrivated my injury.

Since then I've been downsizing everytime I find something lighter that sounded good to me. first I lost the rack and went to a head, actually it was my rediscovery of my love of Eden sound. I looked at some wt300s, 400s and even some of the SS heads WT405 and 330. then I decided on the wt550. seemed to have just enough power and "lighness" at 20 Lbs. I've never racked it to save weight, I got the eden bag. I've also tried the Thunderfunk 550, 16.5 Lbs, just weighed it. I thought it might sound similar to eden because of the control layou, but its more a SS/HIFI sound, good but different. You might also look into Aguilar ag500 heads, about 15 Lbs at 500w into 4 ohms. but if you need a heavy authoritative sound I'd look into eden first.

I've mainly stuck to 12's for my sound. 10's aren't big enough in a modular setup. i.e. I won't use a 210 cab because it would be too heavy for me to move. and I would need too many single 10s to make a loud volume. The 12's I've liked are Aguilar GS112 (42 Lbs, 39 on the NT version). Bergantino Ht112 and ex112 (39 and 36 Lbs) I've tried but don't own Epifani UL112 (30 Lbs) If I had the dough I'd get a pair of these, but at $600 each thats TWICE the price of the Aguilars.

Also look into a good two wheeler or a luggage cart. I own a Remin "kart-a-bag" tri-kart 800. it holds 300 lbs and is nice if you have a ways too walk and minimal stairs.

Good Luck!!

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I am in process of down sizing myself, due to not giging as much as I would like and jacking up my back. Going to go from 4x10 plus, 4 space rack pre amp and 2 space rack power to a small combo of some type. I kind of like the markbass mini CMD 121P.
 
I moved to a Schroeder 21012L recently. In my case it was to go form a 2 cabinet solution to 1. The cab is 23.5 " square - or close there abouts and - it's killer. Simply killer - and it doesn't seem to need a boat load of power to get loud. 700 watts is loud while loafing ...
 
I've done a few things. I retired my 410 and replaced it with a Genz-Benz NeoX212T which is an amazing cabinet. I also picked up a pair of Bag End S-15D's because ot their great tone and portability. I have not moved to one of these new Class D "Mini" power amps......yet, but the new Genz-Benz Shuttles look very interesting to me. Having said that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my SVT-3Pro. It sounds great, has been absolutely reliable and is easy to carry around.

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Quest for tone led me to Orange 55lb all-tube head and Epi 210/115 stack. If I was trying to get signed or doing recording I'd have kept it, but for an amateur hack in a dance cover band.....I simply realized the band cared but the audience didn't. Now it's Schro 1212L w/dolly and Markbass. Total rig<50lbs, louder than I'll ever need. Good tone, but it IS a compromise.
 
Quest for tone led me to Orange 55lb all-tube head and Epi 210/115 stack. If I was trying to get signed or doing recording I'd have kept it, but for an amateur hack in a dance cover band.....I simply realized the band cared but the audience didn't. Now it's Schro 1212L w/dolly and Markbass. Total rig<50lbs, louder than I'll ever need. Good tone, but it IS a compromise.

I have played an orange head only once and have been led to believe that there are few rigs that would NOT be a compromise... :D
 
I've been running two GS112s with my 50 lb. (+/-) rack case. I finally decided that, with kinda mid-scooped cabs, I wasn't getting a tone with which I was satisfied with running an F-1X preamp so I went shopping. Found an Epifani 310UL S2 at a blowout price so I'm picking it up today. I'm getting a better tone with the F-1X and my SVP Pro and the bonus is it weighs 47lbs. which is about 5 lbs. more than just one GS112.

My main objective was better tone and if I could do it with a one cab solution that weighed less I was really up for that. Guess I'll be putting the GS112s up for sale pretty soon but first I'm gonna try the 310UL in a live setting. If I don't like it GC will always take it back.

No compromise here. Only improvement on every front.
 
I've used 2 Aguilar GS-112's for about 6 years now and probably over 250 gigs and they are truly amazing. I've used them for all manner of rooms, outside gigs, one at a time for small gigs or rehearsals and they have never let me down.
I had to replace the drivers 2 years ago becuse they wore out (long story) but I would highly recommend them. They're only about 40 pounds and they'll handle 350 watts RMS each at 8 ohms.
I have read here on TB where a lot of guys think they have a "mid-scooped" sound, and that may be true, but I found that with my amp I have a Boost control that can really accentuate the mids and I've never felt that these cabs can't produce enough mids if you give them the right juice. My amp is a GK 1001 RB (actually I have 2 of them) that is the older version with 540 watts. I'd love to find an amp that's smaller but the GK's only weigh about 30 pounds in a rack case and they sound so good and have been so dependable that you know how it is...If it ain't broke, don't fix it. )-(
 
Just about 3 years ago.
I went from a full SWR Stack (Golliath II and a Big Ben) to a Schroeder 1212 and Mini 12.
My 2 cabinets combined weigh less than my 18" Big Ben.
I went from 200 pounds for both SWR Cabinets to 74 for the 2 Schroeder cabinets.
I love it... Now I can do all my own setup, tear down and hauling of my gear.
 
Eden WT-550 + Epifani UL-210 + Epifani UL-110. This kills in smallish clubs with no PA support. Total weight of about 80 lbs and a very small footprint with the cabinets stacked on end. Two basses in a double gig bag + Eden in shoulder bag + the two cabinets = one trip with no pain. :cool: