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Double Bass Grr!!!

Marc Piane

Marc Piane

Jun 14, 2004
4,901
153
51
Chicago
www.marcpiane.com
#1
Grrr. I think I have to go on a quest for gear again. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

My GK is great. Not enough for loud gigs though.

Picked up an Aggie 112NT. Great with the GK. Getting to be a lot of crap to carry though and not always enough power for outdoors.

Bought a Clarus Series III for more power. Loud but annoying midrange with the DB and the Aggie.

Now I'm thinking about changing my cab, my strings, my pickup, my hands.

I should have never gone there.

Cab shopping again I guess.

Wizzy 12 here I come.

Grrr.

Sorry, I had to vent.

Any ideas are appreciated.
 
#2
Keep the hands. :D
I was very impressed w/the Eden CXC-110 combo I had a couple of years ago. I sold it for a variety of logistical reasons, but the tone was ideal(for me/my bass; YMMV). Plenty of volume & a perfectly useable DI made it hard to beat. The CX-110 cabs are nice, too(I had one of those too for the little giant-killer micro-rig).
 
#3
bassteban said:
Keep the hands. :D
I was very impressed w/the Eden CXC-110 combo I had a couple of years ago. I sold it for a variety of logistical reasons, but the tone was ideal(for me/my bass; YMMV). Plenty of volume & a perfectly useable DI made it hard to beat. The CX-110 cabs are nice, too(I had one of those too for the little giant-killer micro-rig).
Click to expand...

For some reason I can't get a very good tone from my CXC210. Believe it or not, my piece of garbage Squier BP-15 15 watt practise amp sounds pretty good though. What the heck is going on?

I'm going to look into an AI head to run through my Eden speakers I think, but I dont have any money right now. Maybe I'll try putting an external preamp in between the amp and bass.
 
#5
I think you should really check out the Bergie ht-112. It works very very well with the Focus/Clarus and is very compact. I have been very happy with this combination since 2003. It sounds really natural (woody) but has plenty of oomph where you need it. I have 2 now.
 
#6
I say keep the GK, keep the Clarus and use a 4OHM Wizzy M line 12 for loud gigs with the Clarus.

The Wizzy 10 you'd like on lots of your gigs but it doesn't really do loud all that well. If you decide to dump the GK the Wizzy 10 and the Clarus would be a superior sounding substitute and then augment with the Wizzy 12 M for loud gigs.

The aggie and berg cabs never cut it for me on DB.
 
#7
Just my two cents, to add to your "Grrr." Or maybe it will help.

The Wizzy and Wizzy M-line have a somewhat different sound. The M-line's highs are stronger and sweeter sounding to me. And if you play 5-string EB, the M-line's fundamentals in the low register have more depth and breadth to them.

They both have excellent dispersion and clarity IMO. Other bass players who have heard my rig have actually commented on that. But the M-line has this cool off-axis presence or thickness thing going too that is ... kind of enchanting.

A friend of mine recently picked up an M-line (two actually) including covers on ebay for less than the price of the regular Wizzers.
 
#9
robgrow said:
I think Phil (Uncletoad) is right on. The Wizzy 10 for smaller gigs and the Wizzy M for bigger gigs (or both for really big gigs) with the Clarus would be a great setup.
Click to expand...

That is my ultimate goal. I've got a couple of Fdeck's 12 cabs which are not bad, play loudly and are paid for :hyper: for stupid gigs. An M-line will ultimately replace these.
The Focus/Wizzy 10 kills on everything else. No comparison to the GK; it ain't fair, but triple the money.
 
#12
I recently got my ears on an epifani ps-112. It seems to have accentuated lows and lo-mids, scooped high mids, and as much "finger noise" register as you want depending on how you set the tweeter. Very "beefy" overall, for lack of a better word. If you really push it hard it can start to sound a bit electricky, but turning up the mids on the amp seems to circumvent that problem. I would think it would be a good match with a Clarus/Focus. As compared to the euphonic audio cabs, it's less mid-rangey and a couple hundred bucks cheaper on the used market.

If you're looking for a transparent hi-fidelity cab with plenty of upper mids, forget I said anything. From reading TB, it seems like the M line has the "beef" of the epifani but with that upper mid-range too. I've never played one, so I can't say for sure.

Here I am playing through the the epifani (set on the floor) with the woods MI-200-8 set flat. The sound is closest to what I think I was pumping into the room when the video camera is facing the bass. This was an off night playing for tips with an unrehearsed band (excuses, excuses!)
 
#14
fingers said:
Nice. You're getting a nice sound. I'll have to look into those.

There is a store by my house that sells both Epifani and EA. I hope he has the Wizzy 12 M-Line and Epi in stock so I can A/B them in the store. Thanks. M-->
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment. You're a lucky man to have such a shop nearby. If you get to A/B those cabs let us know how they compared.
 
#15
Someday I'm gonna get me an EA NL210 -- 4 Ohm.

I think something like this would be great with your Clarus III for the louder, outdoor-type gigs. I think a 2x10 might have less bark in the mids with much deeper lows, etc.

I really have no experience with the newer 12 boxes with the exception of an Aggie 1x12. It SOUNDED great -- but didn't reproduce my low E fundamental without farting out.

A tank to haul around, my SWR 2x10 never bottoms out.

Good luck!
 
#16
robgrow said:
I think Phil (Uncletoad) is right on. The Wizzy 10 for smaller gigs and the Wizzy M for bigger gigs (or both for really big gigs) with the Clarus would be a great setup.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm doing doing now w/ a Focus III 2R (or my old WW) instead of a Clarus. Really great!

BG
 
#17
I played a Clarus through an Epi 1X10 & 1X12 [i think i also played through the 12] at Scott Pazera's shop. Great sound on both DB & BG. Between playing through gear w/him and reading on here-i will never decide on an amp.
 
#18
Let me just say I have a short fuse with gear. I want to plug it in and have it work. The GK is one of those 'plug in and get the sound I want' amps for me. I'm never getting rid of it.

That said I am a studio engineer so I have a good understanding of acoustics and eq.

Tonight I used the Clarus/Aggie rig at a gig and got a really nice tone. I was using my Fishman Platinum Pro and I had to do some serious eq but I was very happy with the end result. I also changed my top two strings from Eudoxas to Spiros. That helped a ton too.

Bottom line... I put the credit card back in my wallet. My mind is at ease.

Thanks for feeling my pain folks.
 
#19
Ok. I broke down and bought an Wizzy 12 M-Line today. There is a store down the street that sells them. Dangerous. The Aguilar got a nice sound but the footprint (too big) and the stage sound was a problem. I got a bunch of nice comments from audience members and complaints from the band stand. No good. I'll report back after my very busy gig week.
 

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