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Help with new rig

smokinjoe

smokinjoe

Jul 1, 2009
124
409
Columbus, OH
#1
I joined TB several years ago, but as luck would have it, I ended up with a 2nd shift job that I had to work Friday and Saturday nights. I mothballed my gear and except for a few pick-up gigs, stopped playing. Starting in January I get to move to the day shift!

For years I gigged a Cerwin-Vega BG 250 head and B36 cab. I rarely had FOH support, so I had to provide all the bass. Room filling bass and fantastic outdoors. I also got a Super Redhead that I would biamp sometimes with the CV. I drove vans for the obvious reason.

These days, like a lot of us, I don't feel like lugging all that heavy stuff around anymore. So I get to spend some of the money I sacrificed for on a new rig! Obviously, weight and portability are prime considerations. I also want something that can give me a warm deep tone in a small to medium size room, and get punchy when called for. I will probably keep the B36 for bigger rooms and outside gigs. I plan to build a variable crossover so it can act as a sub with my new cab. Maybe an attenuator for the top cab just to even things out. The crossover and attenuator will go in the B36. Lots of space to mount stuff.

What would be a good amp choice? I like the class D weight if the performance is there.

What is a good full range, lightweight cabinet for what I described? I would like to be able to play a 200 seat club without carting the big cab.

What crossover point would you recommend for the sub, with the cabinet you like?

No idea what kind of music I'll be playing. There's everything around here. I'm open to anything that sounds good, and I can get along with the other players.
 
#8
I can easily carry a 200 people room with either of my barefaced 112 cabs and my Aguilar Tonehammer 500.
The cabs weigh in at less than 10kg and are easy one hand carries. The head fits into the gigbag.

If you're willing to spend some money, the Mesa subway series get a lot of praise in terms of volume and portability, the Markbass stuff is pretty light and loud, too and there are the so called supercabs by barefaced, fEARless/fEARfull, and Audiokinesis to name a few.
Class D heads that pack a punch and have the dimensions and weight of a car stereo are to be had in abundance by all the major brands.
 
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#10
Behold the beasts....

Gallien Krueger Fusion MB800

mbf 500.JPG

There are also MB Fusion 500 and non tube GK MB500 and MB800. All dynamite packages. They cost less than the MBF800 but just as potent.

Gallien Krueger Neo 212. If you want more thunder you can add a second cab. Ultralight too. Ask other GK users.

gk neo 212.JPG
 
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#12
I'm told the Rumble 500 head or combo are plenty loud for the money. I played the combo at our local music store. I thought it sounded great. I'd like to hear one played at high volume though. I wonder how punchy it is.
 
#13
I've been playing a long time and have played more rigs than I can remember.

I gave Bergantino a try and have discovered the best all around sound I've ever experienced. I have since sold every other rig I still owned or had stored.

If you have the budget, it is worth your time to check out the Bergantino Forte (class D head) paired with a Bergantino HG 410 cabinet. I own this rig, plus a second Forte and an HG 310 as backup.

I could rave about these rigs for paragraphs, but since we all imagine our perfect sound differently, it's probably best if I just encourage you to experience it for yourself.

If you want to PM me, I'll answer as many questions as you ask.

Good luck in your search and welcome back to the stage.

Hope this is helpful.

Koog
 
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#15
For light and powerful with great sound, I'd point you towards DNA (David Nordschow Amplification). The caveat is that his stuff isn't cheap. It's not outrageously expensive though and worth every penny. He has 2 Class D amps that are superb. One is the DNA-1350 which puts out 1350-watt rms (weighs 7.4-lbs) and has LOTS of built-in features. Has a 4-control studio-quality compressor and besides the normal effects loop, also has a side chain effects loop. You can find out more about it at the link below. Street price is around $1400:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

A much less expensive and still plenty powerful amp is the DNA-800. It has most of the features that the 1350 does but does not have the side-chain effects and uses a simpler compressor (still studio quality though). It produces 800-watts rms @4 ohms. Good news is the street price of it is ~$749 to $799 which is pretty much the price point most of the quality class D amps with 800-watts RMS power. Below is a link to Bass Musician Magazine's video putting the DNA-800 through its paces. He's running it through a DNS210 cab which is also a great option although heavier than the 112.



For a single set-up that will work in an amazing number of situations, add the DNS-112 speaker cab to either of the amps above. If you find yourself doing a lot of big outdoor gigs, then you will need two of the 112's but one of those cabs works just fine in an amazing variety of situations. it will handle 450-watts RMS and weighs 34-lbs. Max SPL is 129db. A single 8 ohm cab is just about a perfect match for the DNA-800 as it puts out 400-watts at 8 oms. Add a second DNS-112 and you end up with 800-watts RMS from the amp into 900-watts rms power-handling for the two cabs.

Personally I have the DNS-410, which is DNA's 410 cab. It's a crazy loud (Max SPL is 137db) and clear cab. Here's a link to an iPhone video (taken by the owner of the club) where we played outside at SnoTown Brewery. If you look while he pans around you'll be able to spot my amp and cab on the right located ***a few feet behind and about 1-foot below below the stage on the asphalt. You can see the speakers of my cab but not the port. My 800-watt Eden amp was set at 10 o'clock on this song and I was asked to turn down. I had my low mids boosted slightly around 250Hz and the rest of the EQ's set flat.
 
#16
Fender rumble cabinets are really nice, really light and pretty cheap. I have 2 15s and I have zero complaints about them. I use them with a 900 watt class D head or a 135 watt tube head and it sounds really great with plenty of lows and as much treble as you want. They can handle the sub only section of my octave pedal and not fart out.
 
#18
Another for Bergantino. I run a B | Amp with a Reference 112 and a Reference 210 ("Reference 322"). It slays. Once I tried Bergantino I forgot about every other cabinet manufacturer out there. You can use almost any head you like, I ran an Eden Navigator with various power amps for a long time with my original dual Bergantino AE112's.
 
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#19
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I’m super bias and not a great reference sense I haven’t tried a lot of class d stuff out yet admitidly. I’m a 300 watt tube head big cab man myself but my Aguilar th500 with 2 112 cabs has been more than enough power for my band next to two 100 watt Marshall heads and a heavy hitting drummer. I actually got asked to turn down last practice. I run a Sansamp into the front and the amp has a very warm almost tube tone and response. The full rig also weights about the same as just my svt head and is wayyy easier to carry.
 

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