Double Bass Good balance weight/performance head/cabinet.

[SirFunk]

Hi there, I was wondering what you guys recommend for a good balance between weight/price/performance for an amp and cab. The amp i want to be in the 300+ watt range, i want something that CAN power a large amp incase i need to. However, for the time being most of my gigs will be in small clubs and coffee shops mosly, so i'm thinking of spending ~ $700 on a head and $300 on a smaller cab.

right now a couple of things i'm looking at:

Accoustic Image Contra II

Genz-Benz GBE400 + 2x10 GB 210T-CC (i can't find pricing on this stuff anywhere, so i don't knwo what it costs... called a dealer they should be getting back to me in a while)

GK 700RB

Aguilar 1x12 cabinet.

These are some of the things i'm looking at.. if you have any comments, or other suggestions that would be appreciated.

I'm mostly going to be using this setup for upright, but i do do SOME electric playing (funky kinda stuff).

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[tombowlus]

For the head, I would recommend a Mesa Boogie Walkabout. It is 300w into 4 ohms, only 13 lbs, and can fit in a shoulder-strap gig bag. While it is not as uncolored as a Clarus or iAMP, it does sound very nice on both electric and upright. I consider it to be a great balance of weight and performance, especially for the price. The Walter Woods units are stellar, of course, but they are quite pricey. For a cab, I would recommend an EA Wizzy. It is 4 ohm, so it will allow the Walkabout to crank out its full 300w (it is only 175 into an 8 ohm cab, like an Aguilar GS112). In addition, I do not think that the GS112 is going to be a good cab for upright. A lot of people like them for electric, but with their scooped mids sound, I wouldn't think that they would work as well for upright.

I managed to pick up a used Walkabout for $600 (with a gig bag) and a used Wizzy for $250. Both were in mint condition (and I actually bought them both from the same guy, 8 months apart, so he never owned them both at the same time!). While I think the deal on the Wizzy was especially good, you should be able to pick up these cabs in that price range. You may also want to look at some older EA cabs, like the VL-208 or VL-110, which are fantastic on both upright and electric.

Tom.