Head and Cab advice

[Ljorges]

Hello fellow bassists,
So my little carvin mb10 finally gave up the ghost. So it's time to upgrade. I've just recently started to gig with a small group, mostly at bars, car shows, and other smaller venues.
I'm looking for a head and cab for my fender pbass. We mostly play motown, Sam cooke, James brown, Beatles, classic rock. We don't have pa support at the venues so we haul our gear in every time.
Looking at a 1200$-1500$ budget.
Recommendations?

 

[tubedude]

The car shows are outdoor gigs, or do you play from a porch or structure?

 

[SJan3]

Hello fellow bassists,
So my little carvin mb10 finally gave up the ghost. So it's time to upgrade. I've just recently started to gig with a small group, mostly at bars, car shows, and other smaller venues.
I'm looking for a head and cab for my fender pbass. We mostly play motown, Sam cooke, James brown, Beatles, classic rock. We don't have pa support at the venues so we haul our gear in every time.
Looking at a 1200$-1500$ budget.
Recommendations?

I'd recommend a MarkBass CMD121PV and a NY121P. That's 2 small 1X12" cubes weighing less than 30 lbs each and 500 watts RMS.
You'll probably be able to play some gigs with just the CMD121PV but have the extra cabinet for when you need more. Total cost should be appx $1300+/- New.

 

[gtirard]

I would get a Quilter Bass Block v803 head and a Fender Rumble 115 cab with that budget for that music genre.
The Quilter is very versatile, and especially with the "warm" and "qtube" voices, you'll get that old school tone easilly.
The cab is lightweight for a 1x15 (39 lbs), and it's easy to move with the pop-out rollers.

 

[Pulverizor]

We mostly play motown, Sam cooke, James brown, Beatles, classic rock.

Sounds like the Ampeg Venture series amps would be a good option with it's B15 voicing and switchable overdrive.
I'd do a Venture V7 with a 2x10; Fender Rumble, GK CX, and Ashdown are all within budget at Sweetwater.
Either of those options are quite capable gigging rigs and at 8ohms offer an upgrade path to a vertical 4x10 stack.

Alternatively, Rumble 800 combo with vintage and slight overdrive is a great sound for those artists too.

 

[Number179]

So many options, but I say go find any generation of the Bergantino Forte along with a Berg cab. Might be able to get both under $1500

 

[Solipsistik]

Lots of good options listed. I too rate the Mark Bass 121 and the Ampeg Venture series, though I think it might be a stretch to get a workable Bergantino or Ampeg setup for $1500 or so... that being said, I'd stretch for the few extra hundred for one of those solutions (or use a Mark Bass 104 Energy cab which weighs 36lbs as I have, to give you a 800W cabinet, but again - a bit more $$). An Ashdown Evo II with a good 2x12" or 4x10" neo cabinet should be available for about $1500-ish and would give you 500W of power through multiple speakers.

That said, consider a Katana 210 Bass if you want to save some money. Comes with two 10" speakers, 300W power handling, multiple modeler voices and a small fleet of BOSS effects included in the amplifier. I'd play through one before buying, but demonstrations I have seen are pretty good.

We're spoiled for choice and in this case, that might even be a bad thing. Causes decision paralysis and FOMO.

 

[dune]

That said, consider a Katana 210 Bass if you want to save some money. Comes with two 10" speakers, 300W power handling, multiple modeler voices and a small fleet of BOSS effects included in the amplifier. I'd play through one before buying, but demonstrations I have seen are pretty good.

Somewhat along those same lines I was thinking Rumble Stage 800. I'm surprised I don't see it recommended more often, but I'm guessing that some people just don't want to mess around with all the modeling and effects options. Probably overkill for the OP's needs here, but it's well within the price range. I always say "If it's worth killing, it's worth overkilling."

 

[bherman]

This is another one of those cases where everybody’s gonna give you their own personal opinion and what they prefer. So I’ll go ahead and give you mine, with a couple of caveats first of all don’t be afraid to buy used from the talk Bass classifieds. Save a lot of money and be able to get much higher level of a gear for that kind of budget. Personally, I prefer either Mesa or Gensler amplifiers. I have a Mesa sub 800 D and Gensler Magellan 350, either one would be more than adequate for the type of gigs that you’re doing. I’d start with a single 8 ohm cabinet, either 210 or 115, and see if that’s enough for what you need. By going eight ohms, you can add a second cabinet if you find you need more. Personally, I prefer RevSound cabinets. I have two 112 cabinets, each weighs 21 pounds and one cabinet is more than adequate for 99% of the gigs that I do. I have a large outdoor gig coming up next week where they’ll be several thousand people, and for that I’ll use two Cabinets. Mesa subway cabinets are also excellent, but they are a little heavier and cost more money. But are very high-quality. Personally, I don’t care for Mark Bass stuff, and I’m not a big fan of Ampeg sound since it’s kind of a one trick pony for me. Hope this helps, feel free to send a message if you want any more details.

 

[Solipsistik]

I’m not a big fan of Ampeg sound since it’s kind of a one trick pony for me.

Not to be contrary, but the same can be said for Mesa heads. It's a sound I personally love, but it's not for everyone.

I can understand not thinking Mark Bass gear sounds the best - that is, however, not the point of Mark Bass gear - the point is that it's very easily portable for artists which are playing gigs without any roadies or other assistance. A small-ish woman can carry a 4x10" cabinet up the stairs if need be and if you look up an average cabinet with that ability you'll find that they are mostly in the 60-90lb range, from nearly double to several times as heavy. They actually feel surreal to carry, the weight for something that large and capable seems impossible. Frankly, they sound very good for a live rig, just maybe not what you want at a studio where you are looking for the very last vestige of tone. That said, these days they are mostly doing that through DI interfaces!

To name a few, Mohini Dey, Ellen Alaverdyan, Joe Dart are examples of artists using the 104 Energy and Pure cabinets onstage. There are others, I've spotted them onstage with big names, sometimes with the yellow painted black. If they're sponsored or not, nobody would risk their reputation as bass musicians if the gear sounded poor.

 

[Gervais Cote]

In my area, small venues in bars means very small stages so a cabinet with a small footprint is what I would recommend.

I use two GK Neo IV 112 cabs with a class D amp of 500 watts and never had to turn it up more than 40%.

I’m now considering a 210 cab such as a Markbass MB58R 102 PURE for its very light weight and smaller footprint but the tone doesn’t convince me so far………

Tons of options are available nowadays but for your Motown stuff, an Ampeg cab would be a good fit IMO.

 

[klokker]

Mesa D800+ into a Subway 212. I know it's over budget but...................

 

[Gervais Cote]

Not to be contrary, but the same can be said for Mesa heads. It's a sound I personally love, but it's not for everyone.

I can understand not thinking Mark Bass gear sounds the best - that is, however, not the point of Mark Bass gear - the point is that it's very easily portable for artists which are playing gigs without any roadies or other assistance. A small-ish woman can carry a 4x10" cabinet up the stairs if need be and if you look up an average cabinet with that ability you'll find that they are mostly in the 60-90lb range, from nearly double to several times as heavy. They actually feel surreal to carry, the weight for something that large and capable seems impossible. Frankly, they sound very good for a live rig, just maybe not what you want at a studio where you are looking for the very last vestige of tone. That said, these days they are mostly doing that through DI interfaces!

To name a few, Mohini Dey, Ellen Alaverdyan, Joe Dart are examples of artists using the 104 Energy and Pure cabinets onstage. There are others, I've spotted them onstage with big names, sometimes with the yellow painted black. If they're sponsored or not, nobody would risk their reputation as bass musicians if the gear sounded poor.

Well…….

Maybe I should stop focusing on sound, improve my technique and get a Markbass cab dedicated to live performances then !

 

[Gervais Cote]

Mesa D800+ into a Subway 212. I know it's over budget but...................

Lovely and a lot of power on tap !

 

[Solipsistik]

I really don't think the Mark Bass shade is warranted. This guy likes it too... and he plays a bit.

 

[SJan3]

I really don't think the Mark Bass shade is warranted. This guy likes it too... and he plays a bit.

It's been fashionable to throw "shade" at MarkBass. But it's contraindicated by the slew of great players who use the gear. It's not the only player but it is indeed a prime player and still, in my book, the best dollar value out there.

 

[jastacey]

I'd say buy used, you'll get a better value, what I use now, is a Mesa Subway 800+ and two Aguilar DB112's, the Subway can get you many different tones ( if you spend the time to explore the tone controls ) , and the Aquilar DB112's kind of do the "old school ", bass tones very well, the only downsides to the DB112's is there heavy, I have other equipment but this is what I grab most of the time, as a side note I always bring a backup head, which is the Fender rumble 500, and it does sound good through the DB112's

 

[dune]

I really don't think the Mark Bass shade is warranted. This guy likes it too... and he plays a bit.

The ubiquity of Markbass gear is enough to prove the shade unwarranted IMO. I'm guessing that much of the shade is thrown by the brightness of all that yellow more than it is by sound and performance.

Artist endorsements have never swayed me much, as that is often more about the money (highest bidder) than sound preference. I think that most accomplished bassists are going to be able to get a great stage sound out of anything of high quality, so why not: "Show me the money!!!"???
These days especially, in the era of IEMs, the backline is often just for show, but certainly not always.

 

[Ljorges]

The car shows are outdoor gigs, or do you play from a porch or structure?

Usually a makeshift stage.

 

[Nebadon2000]

I bought a MB CMD 121P based on hearing a about a dozen in the wild
and always sounded excellent in the Mix which is how I would be using it (for Gig's)

I don't judge anything Bass, Strings ,Amps Cabs Etc. Solo at home or in store even when using equipment at home it is with a mix or at least a Drum Track

Maybe MB are less impressive Solo but in a Live Band situation quite impressive:

I have now went with Mesa Subway gear but not because MB didn't work fine for my Gigs but because I could and wanted my 'Last Dance' Rig and Bass(Stingray Special)