Bringing this back to Rumble stuff, I'm spending some time with the 500 head/210 cab combination. It's interesting. Not the same vibe as the combo, but good nonetheless. It's sound is thick, but not especially growly. However, in the Hell Room aka rehearsal space, it was clear, deep and legible everywhere in the room. It's amazing to see so much low end come from such a little cab. So far only one suggestion for Fender: Put a knob on the horn. Tonight, even the -6dB switch was too loud, I had to dial down the treble quite a bit. Which is not ideal, as it takes a bunch of frequencies with it.
Generally, I like the sound of the combo better. It seems to be tighter. But IMO the 210 cab might have more bass.
I'm hoping others will let me know what they think.
I haven't had the main volume up past noon since adding the 210 cab to my 500, and I stand by my prior statement...
It's not at least in my experience that it changed anything other than there is just, well. more. More low, more mid, more high, more volume. It sounds fuller... Yes the lows are much more noticeable, but then again so is everything else. It's, even at the lowest possible volume settings almost in your face kind of there...
On the highs issue. At least in a small space, I would NOT recommend having the horn on both the combo and the cab. It kind of bypasses the whole growl thing and goes to an almost bubbly / bright character that just doesn't sound right. I find the sound better turning the horn on the combo off, and lower setting on the cab on... That is probably wrong though since highs are VERY directional, and the horn on the cab is roughly around my knee caps and not my head... It just makes what gets to my head sound better is all...
I rolled the lows back to about 10 o clock, and everything else to about 1:15 or 1:30, horn on combo off, horn on cab at lower setting, vintage on, and tweaked my tone knob on my bass until I got "just so" and I was able to manage the coolest bluesy smoothness with a simultaneous bark from the J pickup. I wish I had better words to describe what I mean other than to say, wow... I never knew I could do that!
I am thinking about the Tiki hut thing that bdplaid I believe it was is talking about... He must be in the gulf coast somewhere as well... LOTS of venues around here do that, a thatched hip type tiki roof, and typically some sort of concrete deck, with those epoxy coated cedar slab tables and metal chairs. Lots of accoustically bouncy surfaces. I never noticed bass being boomy in those venues so much as the highs being overly bright and echo prone. Like playing in a steel and concrete shop building. I had always attributed that to the through that perhaps the thatch absorbs low frequencies. I am curious, and this question is aimed at bdplaid or whomever posted up about the tiki hut / hip roof problem... The inside of the tiki roofs you are talking about, is it exposed thatch or is there a substrate under the thatching like plywood, or worse, corrugated steel that is bouncing your bass frequencies back at you causing the booming? Another possibility is that the venues he is doing have softer surfaces lower down, combined with the thatching maybe that is absorbing the highs too much? I admit I am just guessing here, I really have no clue. Trying to understand my observations and why they differ from yours...
Worst sounding bass at a live paid event I ever saw? Under a Tiki roof sure... Guy was playing some sort of tube head that was painted bright red, and the cabs were unlabelled, possibly home made, 2x15s stacked vertically like my combo / 210 rig, and his speakers were staggered in the cab similarly. Some sort of aluminum cone drivers... No high, barely any mid, all low, and just boom, boom boom.
I can't find a pic of the amp / head, but picture the following but painted bright, like Ferrari red...
Stacked on top of 2 cabs that looked like these with the name badges taken off.
Not sure if it was venue, settings, or something mechanically wrong, but it was just awful to try to listen to... The player knew it, kept fiddling with settings all night long, and was just looking sick by the end of the night... Don't envy that guy...
The sweep of the knobs is about 7 o'clock ( no or low volume) to about 5 o'clock or so (DAMN LOUD!).
