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ELF 10" Combo vs Rumble 100 vs Ashdown Studio 12

#41
I had elf head and I don't recommend it. The sound is compressed, colored, not truthful. You'll like it new and hate it later. If you have money for better head, say Aguilar or Markbass or Phil Jones, go for better head. I can compare Elf with TC BH250 and TC wins in all important aspects.

I can't say anything wrong about elf cabs though. Good shape for mass transit is better higher than thicker. Think suitcase, not cube.
 
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#42
equalizin said:
I got a rumble that I like. The elf has a much more clearer uncolored kind of tone that you'd usually pay a lot more for. And the elf DI is a lot better designed. You can't go wrong either way. Rumble does the vintage thing perfectly at half the price. If I redid things I might go with the elf. Not sure anyone gets better tone out of amps that small. Maybe Phil Jones but those are a lot more.
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I combined my Elf with two Phil Jones Cab 27 for a modular little powerhouse :hyper:
 
#44
I have direct experience with the Rumble 100v3. It is in my line of sight right now. The dimensional parameters that my amp needed to fit were only a tad larger that the 100. It is currently living in a house, but soon will be residing in a 38ft Travel Trailer. My wife bought it for me because I had a super important gig the next afternoon. Small gig (yet of unreal importance to me) and it handled it well.
 
#45
CallMeAl said:
I’d also consider GK MB 110. Seriously good combos.
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I'm a GK guy so I agree 100%. GK has such a nice growl, is a lot of bang for buck, and is designed and built in California. I bought two used GK heads five years ago and they still sound excellent. GK underreports its power ratings. Also on my short list is a GK MB110. Good luck!
 
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#46
alaskaleftybass said:
I'm a GK guy so I agree 100%. GK has such a nice growl, is a lot of bang for buck, and is designed and built in California. I bought two used GK heads five years ago and they still sound excellent. GK underreports its power ratings. Also on my short list is a GK MB110. Good luck!
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Yes, the GK MB110 looks good, and weighs only 21lbs. I have a lot of choices now, thanks everyone!
 
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#47
Mark Ambler said:
I also have a Spectradrive, they're rather under rated imo. I find its fine for setting up one sound, but as the drive setting is affected by gain and volume, drive is better left either on or off. As an alternative to distortion, the clean boost tone print works well.
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I neglected to mention that mine is loaded up with the clean boost. I don’t really have any use for actual “dirt” with how I do my tone. - On my passive P-Bass, I start with everything flat bass full vol, full tone. I play with the spectra drive vol and gain until I’m reasonably happy, add some clean boost until I’m happier, and then finish it off with a little compression until I’m happiest. Then I play with the low and high mids for the the icing on the cake, leaving the bass and treble at noon typically. Most of the time I roll the vol of the bass off a nickel’s worth, but sometimes not...
This gets me the tone I like and I just leave it alone at that point.
 
#48
Before you pull the trigger, a couple links for you. Read the reviews and specs from Sweetwater on the MB110. You will see that the amp is superior to anything in its price range. GK has a large group of loyal users.

Gallien-Krueger MB110 1x10" 100-watt Bass Combo Amp

Also, there's a GK group on Talkbass. Please stop by there to get a feel for the product. Even Robert Gallien, one of the founders, comes by often to chat with GK owners. How many company owners do that?

Gallien Krueger Club. GK Rules !
 
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#49
alaskaleftybass said:
Before you pull the trigger, a couple links for you. Read the reviews and specs from Sweetwater on the MB110. You will see that the amp is superior to anything in its price range. GK has a large group of loyal users.

Gallien-Krueger MB110 1x10" 100-watt Bass Combo Amp

Also, there's a GK group on Talkbass. Please stop by there to get a feel for the product. Even Robert Gallien, one of the founders, comes by often to chat with GK owners. How many company owners do that?

Gallien Krueger Club. GK Rules !
Click to expand...

Thanks, appreciate that. I wonder how it fares in comparison to the Elf 1x10” Combo?
 
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#50
alaskaleftybass said:
Before you pull the trigger, a couple links for you. Read the reviews and specs from Sweetwater on the MB110. You will see that the amp is superior to anything in its price range. GK has a large group of loyal users.

Gallien-Krueger MB110 1x10" 100-watt Bass Combo Amp

Also, there's a GK group on Talkbass. Please stop by there to get a feel for the product. Even Robert Gallien, one of the founders, comes by often to chat with GK owners. How many company owners do that?

Gallien Krueger Club. GK Rules !
Click to expand...
That GK is cool because you can connect a powered extension to it for a full gig rig.
 
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#51
Mark Ambler said:
Thanks, appreciate that. I wonder how it fares in comparison to the Elf 1x10” Combo?
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To be honest, I've never heard the ELF although I wanted to try their 110 combo. From what I read, it has a bright transparent tone to it. There are videos of it on YouTube but they irritate me because the demonstrator is usually a slapper and I'd usually end up wanting to slap him before finishing the video.

From my experience, the GK stuff is universally very identifiable. It has a midrange growl and punch that easily fits in the mix and is more powerful than its listed wattage. GK uses very conservative figures for measuring their performance specs. As a result, players are pleasantly surprised at the power and thump of the GK stuff. Sweetwater has a 45 day return policy. If you could order either one, you'd have time to try them out and return on their dime if you didn't.
 
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#53
The Elf fan noise would be an issue for me, whether it afflicts the combos also, I don't know, but a noisy fan is no good for home use.
The GK MB110 has no fan.
The only micro head that I've read to be very quiet in operation is the GK MB200.
CABS
The GR10 is 11lbs, Barefaced OneTen is 16lbs (about the same as the ELF 1x10")
Barefaced make a OneTenT which basically is a 10" + horn, which has it's own volume control.
So, I could get a GK MB200 £350 and a Barefaced OneTenT £550 and then have the flexibility of adding another cab, using a different amp, etc, or Just get a GK MB110 £373 Hmmm.

Looks like i'll be trying the GK MB110 asap:)

Edit I need to also try the PJB BG-110/BG-120 as its not that much more expensive and is lighter.
 
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#55
I tried the 8” and 10” Elf combos today, the Elf 8” is noticeably smaller but only a 1lb lighter. They really shouldn’t have bothered making the 1x8, a 2x8” combo would have been far better.
The 10” has a noticeably fuller sound than the 8”, and would be my choice. If you crank the volume up it doesn’t like the low notes so much, but at a medium / loud setting it works well.
Unfortunately the fan is on all the time and is very audible, so not great for home use.
In conclusion, the 10” combo would be great for lower volume gigs but I’d choose the Elf 10” with a GK mb200 Head over the Combo as the fan is quieter.
 
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#56
Mark Ambler said:
I guess you were writing this as I posted above:) The new One10T has my attention. Other than the TC BAM200, are there any other similar size and weight amps like the Elf?
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The Barefaced One10 is in a completely different class from the Elf and Rumble....it can get far louder than either without complaint and is stooopid light. If you have the rubles, it really has no competition IME for an ultralight cab that punches above its' weight class. The Phil Jones small combos are quality pieces, but laggards in terms of volume. I own a Double 4 and have owned the cub and suitcase combos........no PJB piece under 25 lbs will compete with a properly powered BF 110 cab for volume or low end projection at higher volumes. I notice the PJB cub appears in searches for 110 combos....... tries to pass off the notion that a pair of 5" drivers = 110, which is absolutely false. .....and if you want serious volume ....to easily compete with a rock drummer playing "normally" and fill a small bar without PA....the BF Super Compact is still under your weight limit, but much larger and heavier than the 110, and tonally a different beast.
 
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#57
lomo said:
The Barefaced One10 is in a completely different class from the Elf and Rumble....it can get far louder than either without complaint and is stooopid light. If you have the rubles, it really has no competition IME for an ultralight cab that punches above its' weight class. The Phil Jones small combos are quality pieces, but laggards in terms of volume. I own a Double 4 and have owned the cub and suitcase combos........no PJB piece under 25 lbs will compete with a properly powered BF 110 cab for volume or low end projection at higher volumes. I notice the PJB cub appears in searches for 110 combos....... tries to pass off the notion that a pair of 5" drivers = 110, which is absolutely false. .....and if you want serious volume ....to easily compete with a rock drummer playing "normally" and fill a small bar without PA....the BF Super Compact is still under your weight limit, but much larger and heavier than the 110, and tonally a different beast.
Click to expand...

The only competition I know of for the Barefaced OneTen is the GR 110 cab at 11lbs. Still, it’s great there are so many options these days.
 
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