Markbass combo: 2x8 oder 2x10?

[Thunderthumbs73]

Based on your experience: would a 300W RMS amp with a 2x10 cabinet be sufficient for gigs without a PA system? Or should it be 500W?

Outdoors with a drummer than uses sticks and no PA will always challenge a bass amp of less than around 250-300 Watts. If you NEVER play outdoors/ALWAYS play indoors with a drummer using sticks and no bass going through a PA, I'd say 300 Watts and 2X10 would be likely (but not guaranteed) to work in a reasonable size room. If you EVER play outdoors with a drummer using sticks and no PA for bass, I'm thinking 500 Watts and a 4X10 Cabinet. You just have to know or predict your situation and have the proper gear specified for the job, and at least as far as I'm concerned, have clean headroom and cabinet sizes that allow the right volume and tone in a way that don't challenge the durability/reliability to the gear. There are so many specifics that temper an answer as to what is best, but buying things that have more wattage than less, and more speakers than less is ALWAYS more likely to allow you to run your gear at the volumes you want with the tones you want, AND doing so in a reliable, sustainable way.

I almost never play without bass into PA support anymore. Consequently, I can run my 350 watt combo amp always as a stage monitor of sorts, and I'm probably running it somewhere around "3" on a knob range of "0-10", and that is always more than enough. I play the amp on 1-2 semi-indoor winery gigs a year that has no bass into PA support and I'm running that somewhere between "4-4.5" and that seems completely in line with good volume and mix with the band.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Are you expecting 50 to 80 with no PA to be a regular occurrence? Can you borrow or hire something to see what works before committing to a significant purchase? Do you have time to shop new? What is your weight requirement?

 

[Slevage]

I’ve used my Elf 1-10 combo with a 2-12 GK cabinet with excellent results.
I suggest a decent quality single 12” or more if you don’t mind the weight.

 

[ccoyote]

I was recently trying to answer this same question and ended up with the mini cmd 121 p v. Figured that it would be enough for almost everything alone, was easier to carry than either of the two speaker combos and could match with the NY cab if I needed more.

But yeah... that 2x10 does look pretty dang nice.

edit: the markbass logo is easier to get off than the damn sticker so be ready for that.

 

[ArteK]

You mentioned playing smaller gigs – what kind of music? Mostly acoustic? What's the lineup? Do you play a passive or an activa bass? This information would be very helpful for my decision. Thanks in advance

I play a lot of acoustic or mixed acoustic and electric music nowadays. I also play in a four-piece blues band (guitar/bass/keys/drums).

The people I play with all been playing in clubs all of our lives, we want to hear the vocals clearly, and we like dynamics. So we know enough not to play ridiculously loud. No one's ever complained that we were too quiet. But we are quieter than a lot of bands out there.

I haven't had to wear earplugs at a gig for ten years. I did bring some to the jam session I mentioned earlier because I didn't know the players, and it was a good move because I needed them.

I do use a Sadowsky preamp pedal that boosts the input signal a little bit, so the amp is performing a bit louder than usual (but nothing that the preamp gain couldn't get me on its own).

They're only a couple hundred dollars different in price, so if there's any doubt (or you want to be prepared for ANY volume levels), then just go for the 500W 2x10 amp instead of the 300W 2x8.

My situation is that in small-ish rooms where you don't want to be too loud, this N300 2x8 is a very nice sounding and fully capable amp.