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Fender Rumble Club

#3,921
bdplaid said:
Apparently so. I never checked them out because of the packaging - the different logo and such. It didn't look "Fender," therefore to me wasn't. In fact I thought they looked cheap, and in my head the different logo was Fender's attempt to separate their pro gear from the Rumble stuff. Right or wrong, the power of marketing.

But while on marketing, let me bring up the Bassman 500 - ***? I think it's an awesome idea, but I think Fender went too far the other way trying to make their bass amps look "Fender." To wit: We've got a tube-driven class D amplifier that is probably 3 times the size it should be, for no other reason than Fender wants it to look "vintage." Have a close look at the promo pics - the interior appears to be totally empty. They built them like that back in the day to cool those big power tubes; don't need that with class D!

I appreciate the attempt, I really do, but in the bargain it looks as though they've added probably a good 5-6 pounds of unnecessary case. Man... this another situation where I'm interested, but won't consider it because of the size.
Click to expand...

Maybe the extra space is a good place to store cables and the footswitch?
 
#3,923
Big Hoss said:
I went with a 1/4 to speakon cable to insure I had the advantage of Speakon on at least one end...
Click to expand...
You can get these adapters from Seismic Audio they are 1/4 to speakon.
image.jpg

Adapter | Speaker Cable Adapter | 1/4" TS Male to Speakon Cable | Patch Cable | 2 Pack
 
#3,924
those adapters from seismic suck. The 1/4" end will bend and loosen right off the bat. I bought 2 of them and had to replace the jacks just this week. used them about 4 times. I think it's better to go with 1/4 to 1/4, and speakon carry adapters for that. Man, I wish Fender had put speakons on the rumble heads, since that's the industry standard. a small problem but a true pita.
 
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#3,926
Well, FWIW, this might be a complete mistake on my part, but I have used "Musicians Gear" branded cables, which in all reality are merely AXL cables with a different cardboard sleeve (Even have AXL printed on the 1/4" plug boot), with great success. So my 1/4 to speakon cable that I ordered was Musicians Gear...

My 15 foot instrument cables are at least 15 years old, and have been less than kindly handled and still work and look like new...

I've never done business with Seismic Audio. Don't know them from Adam...
 
#3,927
Cables... what a can of worms...

For speaker cables you don't need much; good connectors, good wire of the proper gauge. I like to use 12 gauge wire with Switchcraft or Neutrik ends. Preferably Switchcraft. Lower gauge is OK, actually, down to maybe 16 gauge because these are very short runs. But if the run was 25ft or more, definitely nothing less than 12 ga. Cable can be just zip cord, Again, I'd use 12 but it's not that big a deal for a short amp run. NEVER use an instrument cable as a speaker cable.

FWIW, when I opened the Seismic adapters, the speaker wire was very oxidized but of what appeared to be proper diameter wire. Definitely not the best cable, but workable. The biggest problem were the crap 1/4" plugs they used. Replace them and you're good. Or buy a good adapter in the first place.

I guess Musician's Gear is OK; I haven't had them apart. I've used them before with no issues. For me, part of the judging of the quality of the cable is the ends they use on them: if they use Switchcraft or Neutrik, they're probably fine.

If you spend a boatload on fancy speaker cables like Monster or other snake oil promising the Second Coming as per your speaker cables, you've wasted your money. Again, good quality, heavy (like 12ga) wire and good quality connectors win the day for speaker connectors. Even 12 or 14 ga zip cord is good; Speakers just want a good reliable connection, not like the front the amp, between the instrument and the amp...

Out in front, the things to consider in the instrument cable is whether or not you have active or passive electronics. Passive electronics are rather susceptible to high end loss due to cable capacitance. Lower capacitance is better, meaning more highs will pass through. It has to do with the way the electronics load the pickups. This has little to no audible effect with active electronics.

All cables have capacitance, but some are lower than others. Interestingly, I've bought various high end cables that 1) were pretty high in capacitance, and 2) were low capacitance but just didn't sound good. FWIW and IMO and to make this short, I've found Fender Custom Shop cables and D'Addario braided cables to be about the best for my money. That's what I buy.

There's a table somewhere on the web that compares capacitance of various brands of cables, if you're interested. And I'm sure there's TB thread or 10 about it. I'd post a link if I could find it myself.

But in short (pun intended) most of the things that you can buy from GC or Sam Ash are fine. It's when you start going to low end companies like Seismic that there can be problems. My rule of thumb: if the price is in the tank, so is the quality.
 
#3,928
Yeah my cable ordered was from Musicians Friend. It's a 14 ga 10 foot cable (Longer than I need, but it will work fine for the $$) Used Neutrik end, and a full metal mono 1/4 plug on the other end. I am not really worried about the cable at all. It looks to be made of top grade components, and pretty much any robot can be programmed to make a decent solder joint...

And as a giant bonus, I got the confirmation from UPS that they have received the cab and it is in transit...

Getting pretty stoked... Can't wait to have it all put together and playable finally...
 
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#3,930
Dave:
Good deal! I just bought what I think are the same cables, and they are indeed fine. As I said, speaker cables, not much to think about with them, other than to be sure they work. 10 ft, ugh. Mine too. they just didn't sell them any shorter. I might cut mine in half and reconfigure them, it's a lot of cable to carry around for nothing.
 
#3,935
bdplaid said:
Dave:
Good deal! I just bought what I think are the same cables, and they are indeed fine. As I said, speaker cables, not much to think about with them, other than to be sure they work. 10 ft, ugh. Mine too. they just didn't sell them any shorter. I might cut mine in half and reconfigure them, it's a lot of cable to carry around for nothing.
Click to expand...

I am also considering cutting and resoldering the 1/4" end on mine as well. Not even so much the excess to haul but even more, I hate having extra cabling junking up an area that can be easily cleaned up. I fully intend on running my combo on top, the 210 on bottom. I think 4 feet should be more than enough including slack in the cable, 3 feet might do the trick as well...
 

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