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Lightweight Cabs That Throw...

Count Bassie

Count Bassie

Supporting Member
Jun 10, 2006
16,796
64,564
Smithfield, RI
#1
I'm looking for a lightweight cab that can handle rock gigs, is efficient with power and packs some old school sounding punch. My sonic neighborhood is kind of FEAR/Killing Joke, as opposed to Spyro-Gyra, for a coarse reference.

Cabs I currently have:
*Hartke 410XL, 400w @8 ohms...
*Carvin 215/Kappalite 3015s, 4 ohm total...
*Ampeg PR410HLF, 600w @4 ohms.
The Ampeg has a particular job to do and will stay- the others could be replaced.

Heads:
*Eden WT405, runs down to 2 ohms. Headroom seems light, drowns with two heavy guitars and hard hitting drummer...
*Trace Elliot Mk IV AH250 (currently in process of rehab)...
*GK 200RB, an old rare booger, sounds great but limited to 100w @8 ohms.

Edit...
The GK200RB through the Hartke sounds great, but lacks headroom.
The Eden through the Carvin/Kappalites works well. But the cab looks ratty, and I'd like to have one rig for all the non-doom gigs. I have no need for multiple rigs, personally. (There will be a Fender 300 Pro to set a top the Ampeg cab, that'll handle the doom project.)

I played a gig with my "doom band", used the Eden head and a pair of TL-606 cabs loaded with the Kappalites. It was utterly anemic. The band after us had a Markbass single 12 combo and extension cab. That was a sturdy sound: solid and punchy all the way up the register of that guy's Fender Precision. It was a poppier sound, but it delivered. That's what finally set me on my search here. I'm after something a little darker than that, but not muddy. Articulate, but still has some "belly" to it.

How arcane an I getting with all this? 😂
Thanks for reading, and your time/experience/wisdom/snark, where appropriate.
 
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#2
Barefaced 10CR cabs

Super super efficient. I have a One10 (1x10) and a Super Compact (1x12), and both sound louder and bigger than any other brand I've tried before (in rehearsal studios, I'm used to Hartke, Fender, Markbass and Ampeg mainly).

I my experience, I can get roughly the same loudness per driver than twice the number of drivers from the other brands I know. And they are very lightweight, so if you replace a normal 610 by a Barefaced Three10 or a Four10, it will be much lighter and sound better.

The 10CR series is more appropriate for your tonal goals IMO (they say "warm, fat, colored"), 12 inch cabs are more hi-fi sounding. They never sound muddy and have a great dispersion (you can hear them from everywhere).

I've also bought a GR Bass 210, equally very efficient and even lighter, but I sold it because I prefer the sound of my Barefaced cabs. GR Bass sounds great in hi-fi / modern style, but Barefaced sounds even better.

Pricey but "buy once, cry once"
 
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#3
gtirard said:
Barefaced 10CR cabs

Super super efficient. I have a One10 (1x10) and a Super Compact (1x12), and both sound louder and bigger than any other brand I've tried before (in rehearsal studios, I'm used to Hartke, Fender, Markbass and Ampeg mainly).

I my experience, I can get roughly the same loudness per driver than twice the number of drivers from the other brands I know. And they are very lightweight, so if you replace a normal 610 by a Barefaced Three10 or a Four10, it will be much lighter and sound better.

The 10CR series is more appropriate for your tonal goals IMO (they say "warm, fat, colored"), 12 inch cabs are more hi-fi sounding. They never sound muddy and have a great dispersion (you can hear them from everywhere).

I've also bought a GR Bass 210, equally very efficient and even lighter, but I sold it because I prefer the sound of my Barefaced cabs. GR Bass sounds great in hi-fi / modern style, but Barefaced sounds even better.

Pricey but "buy once, cry once"
Click to expand...
I will look them up, thank you. I'll be able to shed a tear one time to do this!
 
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#5
I have 2 Aguilar SL112 cabs for sale right now in the classifieds. At only 25lb apiece, they fit the lightweight bill perfectly. The few times I gigged them with my jam band, I had my bass on my back and one of these in each hand. Literal one-trip load-in. My band gets loud and they more than held their own at 250W RMS each. Amp was a Tone Hammer 500 and you could feel it.
 
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#6
RattleSnack said:
Since you like that combination, why not just get another GK head with more power? That would be first step for me.
I use GK RB400 that I quite like and is inexpensive, but there are other more modern GK amps.
If you find it still lacks headroom, go for one more of the same cab.
Click to expand...
Two of the 410XL is more physical presence than I want, and want to cart. The principle is good though. An 800, or 700RB with the single cab, would likely be enough. But I'm having an exploration here, and the 410 format isn't my favorite. They're low, wide and tend to be hefty, bad back territory. Also they "beam", dispersion has its limitations. Now that can be ok, as long as you've got your bass going to the foh, since in such case your amp is mostly your personal stage monitor.

A vertical array of 12s, or similar idea, comes to mind, however, in this search I'm on.
 
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#7
Count Bassie said:
Two of the 410XL is more physical presence than I want, and want to cart. The principle is good though. An 800, or 700RB with the single cab, would likely be enough. But I'm having an exploration here, and the 410 format isn't my favorite. They're low, wide and tend to be hefty, bad back territory. Also they "beam", dispersion has its limitations. Now that can be ok, as long as you've got your bass going to the foh, since in such case your amp is mostly your personal stage monitor.

A vertical array of 12s, or similar idea, comes to mind, however, in this search I'm on.
Click to expand...
Interesting that you mention cabs with 12" drivers, as I use GK NEO 112. I need only one as it is only personal monitor, but having two would probably successfully replace that one 410.
 
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#8
Hands down the best light weight cabinets are the GR Bass carbon fiber cabs. I have two and both are the best sounding cabinets I have ever played through. They have a very direct and focused tone to them. I have their 2x10 which is rated for 600W and a 1x12 which is rated for 450W, both 8 ohm. I power them with a Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0.

The whole rig you see in this photo including the amp only weighs around 36 lbs! That is less then a single Fender 2x10 cab I had.


GR-STACK-JAZZ.jpg
 
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#9
Count Bassie said:
I'm looking for a lightweight cab that can handle rock gigs, is efficient with power and packs some old school sounding punch. My sonic neighborhood is kind of FEAR/Killing Joke, as opposed to Spyro-Gyra, for a coarse reference.

Cabs I currently have:
*Hartke 410XL, 400w @8 ohms...
*Carvin 215/Kappalite 3015s, 4 ohm total...
*Ampeg PR410HLF, 600w @4 ohms.
The Ampeg has a particular job to do and will stay- the others could be replaced.

Heads:
*Eden WT405, runs down to 2 ohms. Headroom seems light, drowns with two heavy guitars and hard hitting drummer...
*Trace Elliot Mk IV AH250 (currently in process of rehab)...
*GK 200RB, an old rare booger, sounds great but limited to 100w @8 ohms.

Edit...
The GK200RB through the Hartke sounds great, but lacks headroom.
The Eden through the Carvin/Kappalites works well. But the cab looks ratty, and I'd like to have one rig for all the non-doom gigs. I have no need for multiple rigs, personally. (There will be a Fender 300 Pro to set a top the Ampeg cab, that'll handle the doom project.)

I played a gig with my "doom band", used the Eden head and a pair of TL-606 cabs loaded with the Kappalites. It was utterly anemic. The band after us had a Markbass single 12 combo and extension cab. That was a sturdy sound: solid and punchy all the way up the register of that guy's Fender Precision. It was a poppier sound, but it delivered. That's what finally set me on my search here. I'm after something a little darker than that, but not muddy. Articulate, but still has some "belly" to it.

How arcane an I getting with all this? 😂
Thanks for reading, and your time/experience/wisdom/snark, where appropriate.
Click to expand...

Genzler Bass Arrays
 
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#10
Yeah, if you can sell some stuff and save up the coin, and wait for shipping from England, any of the Barefaced 10 cabs have your name on them. The metal grill versions are a bit more affordable and more… Metal.
Pick whatever you can afford and can comfortably move around. Maybe the 310 🤔
“Should” be a lifer and then you can find the head with the best voicing for what you do
(apparently not the Eden)

Perhaps sell all your Amps and look at a GK mb fusion (since you dig your GK). Those things are awesome and have two input channels for different drive amounts- but be aware that the master level is not reflected in the DI out (so if you have one input set much higher than the other, you will get large level change on the DI- ok if you want the increase in volume for your more distorted tone, to a point). Or a more powerful RB amp.

I also have a GR NF 112, and I agree it’s a very good cab but not voiced for “old school punch/belly.”
 
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#13
Would add RevSound to your list to explore - there's an active Official page here, and you can find lots of info on their website. I use a pair of 112s, 21 lbs each. They also make a 212 that is a powerhouse and weighs 35 lbs. If you are interested, call and talk to David, the owner. He's very accessible and extremely adept at helping pair you with the right cabs to meet your needs.
 
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#14
I love Markbass' cabs for plenty of volume and fatness at a manageable size and weight. I have two of the 104 HR (4x10) cabs and use one or both depending on the situation. I think I figured out at one point that both cabs (i.e. 8x10) were basically the same overall size and weight as my old Carvin setup, which was just a 2x10 and 1x15, but with relatively bigger and heavier boxes.
 
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#16
Your needs are going to translate to roughly a minimum of 2x12” drivers at ~100dB/1W/1M in order to get adequate net sensitivity, power handling and LF extension. An amp from 400-800 watts RMS at the rated load should get you comfortably into that territory. I think that will be a pretty tall ask of any 210 imo.

This will help rule out lower performing options.
 
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#18
ClassicJazz said:
Hands down the best light weight cabinets are the GR Bass carbon fiber cabs. I have two and both are the best sounding cabinets I have ever played through. They have a very direct and focused tone to them. I have their 2x10 which is rated for 600W and a 1x12 which is rated for 450W, both 8 ohm. I power them with a Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0.

The whole rig you see in this photo including the amp only weighs around 36 lbs! That is less then a single Fender 2x10 cab I had.


View attachment 7180801
Click to expand...
That's pricey, not sure if I'll be able to justify that... But it's on the list. I hear good things about that make.
 
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