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Double Bass Epifani UL-110? Comments?

Huy Nguyen

Huy Nguyen

Official Forum Flunkee
Supporting Member
Mar 16, 2004
6,521
2,104
Richmond, CA
#1
Hey guys, I'm thinking about taking the plunge on the cab. I've been sifting through all the other threads that mention it but thought I'd start one dedicated just to it.

So for some of you who or anybody else already own it (Adrian Cho, MacMrkt, Tombowlus), can you update us on how it's faired for you with the bull fiddle? I'ts been several months now so it would be interesting to hear what you have to say and what you think about it now. Thanks a bunch.
--Huy
 
#2
hdiddy said:
Hey guys, I'm thinking about taking the plunge on the cab. I've been sifting through all the other threads that mention it but thought I'd start one dedicated just to it.

So for some of you who or anybody else already own it (Adrian Cho, MacMrkt, Tombowlus), can you update us on how it's faired for you with the bull fiddle? I'ts been several months now so it would be interesting to hear what you have to say and what you think about it now. Thanks a bunch.
--Huy
Click to expand...

I'm not really here much nowadays but happened to be snoooping around and saw this thread. I'm still very happy with my Epi. The sound is wonderful and the weight is amazing. It's not a super loud box but plenty for me.

Adrian
 
#3
I've been switching between the Berg ht112 and the
Epi 110UL, with a Focus I. I need a little more eq with
the Epi, but for its size and weight, it rocks. A friend
of mine found a way to attach his Focus to the Epi.
It makes a sick 24lb combo.
 
#6
I have one and I LOVE it. It's great with upright, it's great with electric. For upright gigs I use the UL 110 alone, driven by an AvalonU5 and a Focus SA, and for slab gigs I use the UL110 with an Aggie GS112, same preamp/amp.

The weight is a delight, and the tone is even, not harsh, clear, and hi-fi without sounding cold.

Only think I don't like--and in my experience, this is always the case with neo mag drivers--is that under harder, more sustained playing, the tone goes mushy. For example, with electric bass, playing a lot of sustained 8th notes at higher volumes, it gets kind of flabby. Not extreme, but I notice it. I also notice it with a Genz-Benz 2x12 I use a lot, and I used to notice it with the ampeg portabass 2x12 I had. I think--though I'm no expert--that the neo mags get hot and lose some of their damping factor.

Anyway, aside from that, I love the Epi, and especially for upright, the weight advantages are well worth the trade off.
 
#7
Reuben said:
I wish I knew somewhere where I could try those Markbass amps. I've been curious about them.
Click to expand...

There should be a US distributor set up within the next few months. Someone said that it's going to be Guitar Center (but I've not heard anything official about that).
 
#8
Thanks a bunch guys. I'll probably order this baby this weekend and have light-cab showdown. I've already got a Flite 1x10 (15 lbs) right now sharing them with my teach to get his opinion. If I don't end up selling any of them I might try finding a GK MB112EX cab later on and write up a comparison.

So far the Flite has been surprisingly good in some places. Others it gets muddy and boomy. I haven't tried raising the cab off the ground in those situations yet but will try that eventually. I'll let you know what I find out later.
 
#9
I'm not sure I'd reccomend the MB112ex cab to compare to those others. I had one for a while that I kept at home for a practice amp, I left the 2x10 I was using in my then-bands' rehearsal space and just moved the head back and forth. It worked great for that, but I didn't find it useful as a performance cabinet.

I do gig with the MB150 combo and generally like it and I've heard that that extension cab is a good match for that combo, which I can kind of buy based on the generally concept of matching and phasing, which I only sort of understand.

That being said, I think I can predict the outcome of driving it with an independant head and comparing it tonally to boutique type cabs like you've been mentioning.

Not to discourace science, but just my opinion.

Troy
 
#10
keykendrick said:
That being said, I think I can predict the outcome of driving it with an independant head and comparing it tonally to boutique type cabs like you've been mentioning.
Click to expand...
No, I think I agree with you since Adrian Cho has already tried the MB112ex and said it was too metal-boxy sound (I wonder why? :smug:). I'm prejudged with the MB112ex to fail in comparison with the other cabs. But I'd still be open to trying it anyway if I can get it used at a good price - maybe from another TBer. Either that or borrow someone's MB112 combo and just going direct into the speaker.
 
#11
Borrow one if you can. It's fantastic for it's portability and worked great for me as a home, practice monitor when I was an electric bassist, but it's not going to compare to those other cab's you mentioned for what you're trying to do now.

MAYBE, as an extension to the MB combo, I sold my extension before I bought my combo and I think the combo sounds much better than I ever got the cab to sound with another head. The MB head and cabinet are tuned for each other. (Again, I only have a surface understanding of such things, but my ears have confirmed)
 
#12
To finish off the thread I started...

Thanks again for all the input guys. I finally got the UL110 that I ordered a while back. Was backordered and took a while. I used it for a couple of jams this past weekend and it performed pretty dang well, but I hadn't dialed it in yet. Was finally able to do so last night.

My conclusion? This cab is awesome. I didn't have to deal with cutting the lows just to keep the entire setup from feeding back. I can just "season" the eq just a little bit to even the sound out. Volume-wise it gets really loud and the sound doesn't seem to break up or get compressed the louder it goes. The cab isn't loud, so having something like a Focus SA is nice since you can just turn it up and it seems to deal with "loud" very well. The sound is very even it all registers. The old Flite 10 I had gave me some problems up in the area just before thumb position. I wanted a real natural/stringy sound that my Anima's give. The Flite would kinda distort it and it would sound weird. Not with the UL110. Seems like the tweeter adds alot of definition to these areas.

So with the setup I got (Revolution Solo -> Monster Cable -> Fishman Pro Platinum Bass EQ Preamp -> Focus SA -> UL110) I get a really really nice sound. Transparent, full, present, responsive. I don't think it's perfect but it's pretty dang good.

I'm comparing this thing to a Flite 10 and the Ampeg PB110H I just got from another TBer. It's much better than either of those cabs. And for 23 lbs, this thing is gonna cover 98% of all my needs. Me likey!
 
#17
tombowlus said:
You'll have some interesting - and excellent! - options between those two rigs. :cool:
Click to expand...

Thanks. If it wasn't for this forum I'd be in the dark since I'm really pretty ignorant when it comes to amps. I've relied on the expertise of the many here in hopes of getting a decent amplified sound.

Speaking of decent sound . . . last night at the jam session I had the Wizzy/iAmp 500 with the Cleveland strung with Animas and it sounded great. Truly an old school sound!
 
#19
I figure there must be a few doublers down here.

I had the chance to play my Ray5 [and a few other BGs] through a Focus/Epifani setup at Scott Pazera's shop. I wish i hadn't. The tone was great for all the basses that the two of us put through it-including Scott's DB. The idea of better tone, less weight, [than my WM 12] and the ability to use it w/my Rack when i'm back home, i want to buy one. I want to compare it to the 1X12 first though.

The idea of having a Focus head that i *think* would fit into the front pocket of my Mooradian electric bag, is a great thing. I'm curious if it'd fit inside any of the pockets of my Mooradian DB bag.

The epifani cabs though-i wish i had never played through the, as long as i can get a job this summer and make some money-i want to upgrade my amp to a setup that involves one of those.

that's all
 
#20
Freddels said:
I just ordered one (will be here Monday) to go with my WW M-100. I figure it'll be a smaller load to carry to just practice sessions than the Wizzy and iAmp 500.
Click to expand...
Wow. Very cool. You are going to post your impressions, and compare the Epi and the Wizzy I trust ... please.
 

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