When I did that years ago I got a Carvin combo with sufficient wattage and a jack to add another cab. In my case, the combo is the MB12, and the extra cab is a 1X15 on casters with a matching Carvin driver. All that is now defunct, but I'm sure there are other makers out there which can do something similar.
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Hypothesis : replace my SVT stack and small combo by a single medium amp… but what?
- Thread starter Inconnu
- Start date
I sold my SVT and 810 when I stopped playing full time in bands. Bought a Traynor YBA200-2 and plugged it into an early 90's Trace Elliot 4x10, which was a really nice rig - different character than the SVT, and very reliable. Had a great tone too, could really get a nice John Paul Jones sorta thing going with it. Found that rig to be too heavy eventually. Tried an Ampeg BA210, ended up hating it and sold it. Finally settled on a Mesa TT-800 and Subway 15 cab which I'm super-happy with. Lightweight and great tone.
I've always liked the Traynor stuff - I think you'd like the YBA-100. Try renting one?
I've always liked the Traynor stuff - I think you'd like the YBA-100. Try renting one?
Salut du centre-ville Mtl. If the SB112 is providing enough volume for you, I'd go with an excellent 112 cab and a 2nd cab that's larger but complementary to the 112, which would effectively give you 3 options (like 112, 210 and stack, or 112, 115 and stack). Some companies make cabs with different drivers that are designed to work together (Genzler and Mesa come to mind). If you're getting your tubiness from a pedal, almost any class D head will work well. If you wanna save some scratch, a used Traynor micro head could complete the package.
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To be, or not to be seems to apply.
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life:
For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of time,
The Oppressor's wrong, the proud man's Contumely, [F: poore]
The pangs of dispised Love, the Law’s delay, [F: dispriz’d]
The insolence of Office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his Quietus make
With a bare Bodkin? Who would Fardels bear, [F: these Fardels]
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of Resolution
Is sicklied o'er, with the pale cast of Thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment, [F: pith]
With this regard their Currents turn awry, [F: away]
And lose the name of Action. Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia? Nymph, in thy Orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.
OK!
Thanks for all the replies!
I made a list of amps and cabs to try out.
I’m not in a rush (no obligation to the that type of switch either, it’s just an option that crosses my mind and that I’ve never really explored).
Thanks for all the replies!
I made a list of amps and cabs to try out.
I’m not in a rush (no obligation to the that type of switch either, it’s just an option that crosses my mind and that I’ve never really explored).
You switched from 10s to a single 15. Does it get as punchy? I don’t have a great experience with 1x15 cabs in terms of definition, but I just might have never used one that I liked…
I bought a DNS-410 back in 2015 and I expected it to be the last cab I ever would need to buy. It handles 1400-watts is super clear, clean, and articulate with a great bottom end. It gets so loud I would have to keep the master on my 800-watt Eden amp below 10:30 or I'd be told to turn down at wide-open outdoor music festivals. No need for an 810, so that made me happy. It's a great cab.
However, I'd be forced to use some small 112 combo anytime I tried to roll it into a small venue like a brewpub. So I went out and bought an Eden EX112 in 4Ω. That cab was $269 when I bought it and I recently saw it in 8Ω for $279. Their top of the line D112XST cat is $799 or $500 more. I got the cab and used it that Friday and it sounded great. Certainly is nowhere near a $500 difference in sound. Sounded so good I bought a second one. I will still use the one, along with an Eden TN226 (225-watts) amp I bought used to go with it at small venues, and I ended up using both of them at the medium-sized venues we'd play. Since I bought them in 4Ω I had to use my Eden WT500/800 twin powerblock amp with it and plug one cab into each of the two power channels. If I had purchased them in 8Ω, I would have been able to use a much lighter amp. Worked and sounded great, but my "normal sized" amp in its rack hung over the edges of the very compact 112 cabs.
Top shot of the pics below shows my small venue set up that fits in a chair very nicely, and the bottom shot shows how I used it at medium-sized clubs.
The Eden EX-112 cabs use a whizzer cone (cone withing a cone) for the high-mids and highs, which is why they are so compact. Notice I laid the cabs on their side to align the ports and amp still hangs over the edges. Got a lot of compliments on my sound out of this set-up.
I think the 2x112 set up would work in a large venue too, but I really liked the sound of my DNS-410 so I never tried the 2x112 set up in a large venue. I'd roll my DNS0410 in for the large venues, outdoor venues, and music festivals. Then in 2019 I was accepted into the DNA Endorsing Artist Group and bought myself the DNS-210 (handles 700-watts rms) and ran my big Eden amp bridged at 800-watts into it. I now use it for all my indoor venues small through large and reserve my DNS-410 for outdoor venues and music festivals.
Here's a shot of the DNS-210 using that same amp bridging it at 800-watts. It has a max SPL of 134db. I actually use a DNA-800 amp for it now, which only gives it 400-watts instead of all 800-watts, but that only drops the max SPL to ~131db. Plus it weighs just 4.8-lbs instead of the ~36-lb weight of my big Eden amp in its rack. So far that's been more than enough for any indoor gig.
Street price on the DNS-210 is ~$849
Well, it's not quite like standing in front of an 8x10, but the Subway has plenty of punch - a full, very pleasant tone with good definition in the mids. It's a small cab too @ just under 20" x 20" x 18", and weighs 38lbs. I can carry the head and my bass in gigbags on my back, and the 15 at the same time so just one trip from the car. The whole kit is around 60lbs with a couple of pedals.
devnulljp
Supporting Member
Get one of these and plug it into whatever you like -- FoH PA, flat power amp and cabinet, DAW...
BASSRIG Super Vintage
BASSRIG Super Vintage
I’ve been looking at the ampeg pf50t for the exact same reason. The going price is less than a set of NOS General Electric 6550 tubes (which you were probably going to buy for the set anyway)
I recently got the Fender Rumble 500. lightweight and portable 2x10 combo with 350 watts as a standalone combo, 500 watts if I connect my 15 inch cab to it. Best of both worlds. Small combo for rehearsal and light gigs. Extension cab for bigger gigs.
I did exactly what you’re suggesting and spent a few years cycling through class D heads (Genz, Mesa, Genzler, and Ampeg) with a lightweight 2x12 cab searching for “that sound”. There were all great and I still own a few but I have ended back up running 2 Ampeg 410HEs and a Mesa 400+. And I suddenly find myself looking at SVTs again. Long story short don’t sell the SVT rig. You may come to regret it.
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In the past I gigged the SVT CL on top of a 610 cab and it was glorious but heavy
Today I gig the excellent Ashdown CTM100 valve head 100w and two ABM210H cabs or my single SVT212AV cab
Lighter but still an amazing tone that class D doesn’t give you
Today I gig the excellent Ashdown CTM100 valve head 100w and two ABM210H cabs or my single SVT212AV cab
Lighter but still an amazing tone that class D doesn’t give you
I think you’re right in a way, and that’s why I’m still debating on whether I should do that or not. Part of me feels it’s silly to keep a huge amp only to use it at home when I play by myself (at a specific volume were the speakers move actually start to move and the volume is a little louder than the fan) because it’s too big to carry and unnecessary in all the applications I have BUT that sound and the legacy that the SVT represents… hmmm.
On the other hand, searching for something new might be a good thing. Reading your post makes me think that looking for that SVT sound in another package might not be a good idea, but opening to new horizons could be. But, can I do that after spending 27 years standing in front of an SVT?
I really have to try stuff out I guess (let’s hope local stores have plenty of stock!).
If you come across an EBS T90 Classic tube head pick one up. It's not SVT or V4 sounding tube head but more like a 100 watt B15. Usable volume with the right cabs for medium sized gigs. Weights about 35 lbs. Out of all the heads I've tried that one is an absolute keeper.
To my experience, if you like the Ampeg sound - stay with Ampeg. I've played through SVT + 8x10 backlines, liked it a lot (but did not have the cash to get that full setup) and tried to get a similar sound from pedals + class D amps, Class D + Ampeg Preamp (this gets you pretty close), pedals + Class A/B poweramps - all were nice, but not "that" sound. In the end I ended up buying a 90's V4BH Head when I came across one cheap and surprise surprise that was it.
To my understanding the tone stack is similar to an SVT and even if it is not exactly the same, to my ears it's at least ~97%+ there minus the insane headroom. And with that 100w you can and will have to run the power section pretty hot which at least to me brought that "thing" I've missed with all the fore-mentioned "modern" setups. And you can crank the preamp a lot too, if you need it to break up some more.
My set consists currently that head + two 15" cabs - I prefer the sound of 15" cabs, but if you like 10" speakers get a 4 ohm 4x10 and the V4BH head. That's a manageable setup to haul around, and even carry up some stairs
With my setup in rehearsals (a smaller room) I can easily manage against 2 JCM800 Half stacks + drums with the master volume just a bit over halfway - played some gigs with just one cab and if the bass is going via the PA stage volume is adequate as well.
To my understanding the tone stack is similar to an SVT and even if it is not exactly the same, to my ears it's at least ~97%+ there minus the insane headroom. And with that 100w you can and will have to run the power section pretty hot which at least to me brought that "thing" I've missed with all the fore-mentioned "modern" setups. And you can crank the preamp a lot too, if you need it to break up some more.
My set consists currently that head + two 15" cabs - I prefer the sound of 15" cabs, but if you like 10" speakers get a 4 ohm 4x10 and the V4BH head. That's a manageable setup to haul around, and even carry up some stairs
With my setup in rehearsals (a smaller room) I can easily manage against 2 JCM800 Half stacks + drums with the master volume just a bit over halfway - played some gigs with just one cab and if the bass is going via the PA stage volume is adequate as well.
Nobody mentioned Markbass gear yet. They used to be mentioned all the time. Are they still good? My googling pointed me to the Little Mark Vintage. Should I try to find one I can try?
