The Upshot with the SL head is light. Probably as light as you are going to find. Plus, the backpack is comfortable.
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Double Bass Mas 16 vs upshot
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And since it’s a powered speaker all you need is a Headway EDB-2 or similar pre-amp
I bet an mas16 would fit nicely in the upshot backpack, which I think is even better designed and built than the speaker!
I have never used a 16, however if it’s dimensions are close the Upshot, the backpack would be worth considering as it has nice compartments for speaker and amplifier. I wish you the best in your decision! Lots of good options out there, and it seems like you are receiving some positive and helpful feedback.
I have both the 16 and the upshot. I love my upshot, but the 16 is miles ahead in terms of fidelity and the unique "3D" quality of the sound. It is also VERY loud. The most impressive speaker. It is very lightweight and I can carry it in a small cajon bag like a backpack.
When you plug both into an amplifier at the same time can you hear both or does the upshot get drowned out?
With the 16 do you have the same “omnipresent” sound you achieve with the Upshot? That is my favorite quality of the upshot...the dispersion. It can fix a lot of “weird room” issues quickly. Let me know. I am curious. I am sure this info will help the OP.
been using the MAS16 flat on the floor for duo gigs and some quiet trio. Utterly fantastic sound. Wide dispersion yet tight focused sound, ...was on concrete last night at a fancy resaurant and it was just the perfect cabinet for the room.
Same experience here, abet with the powered MAS 1/8, played a small house club last Saturday in a really tight space and had no problem, every one could hear me, and I could hear myself. Sunday I played a Church concert off the wide open space on the pulpit. The Bass was clear, throught the
sanctuary, all I needed to do was put an Ampwedge underneath it to cant the cabinet up a few degrees.
Dispersion and the ability to not excite room resonances are the top priority with my cabs. One can get great dispersion by firing straight up, but projection will suffer. It's also a bit too easy to excite stage resonances by shooting straight up.
The vortex production spits the sound out in every direction. The biggest difference between my cabs and others is that you get near 180 degree dispersion on stage, but there is still power and clarity in the back of the room. And no boominess.
It might sound like hyperbole coming from a manufacturer but no, this is just how it works. Particularly with upright where whole ranges of frequencies can get garbled or drop out, to have a cab that is both directional and omni directional and diffuse and focused at the same time is a wonder. I sometimes use mine straight up, but truth is it works well a bunch of different ways. I'd still like to try an upshot.
you can lay it on its back and the sound reaches the back of the audience unimpeded. I have used other standard cabs this way and the sound---mids and highs---never seemed to make it very far. Which makes sense as they are directional at those frequencies. Nearly all of the sound (reaching the audience) in this case is first reflection--which is not what I'm looking for.
I've only tried this a couple times, but yes - you can hear both. Especially if you are standing above the upshot using it more like a monitor and the 16 facing the audience.
the 16 is even more "omnipresent" in the room than an upshot. B/c it is forward-facing, it will be a little less "in-your-face" as an onstage monitor, but still far better than any traditional bass cab without the vortex.
I should say that I love both cabs. They are fantastic next evolutions in bass cabinet designs. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, but are miles ahead of the cabs we've all been using over the past few decades. Its a great time to be a bass player!
When I first heard these cabs I was worried. If you can hear yourself so well on stage and at the same time the sound doesn't drop off nearly as much at a distance---maybe the sound might be good at my stage position, but maybe too hot in other stage positions or in the house. Fortunately it seems to work perfectly with the stuff I was worried about. When I've had to use an upfiring speaker in the past---stage volume was out of balance with room volume.
I've never played the Upshot, but Rick Jones doesn't know how to make bad equipment.
As a follow-up to my last post, the Tonedexter really is a next level device. I brought it to the first recording session since getting it and the engineer, who only takes a direct signal for a safety track, was knocked out. One hard hitting track had some annoying cymbal bleed into the bass track - we were in the same room with head high baffles - so he ended up using the direct tonedexter signal only. In that bashing-crashing context it sounded amazing - as good as a mic. He let me hang after the session and make some maps with better mics than I own, Royer ribbon, and a couple of Neumann's, and I can't wait to check them out on the bandstand. When I get that 6, I'm gonna be happy and done gear wise.
Are you planning on getting a powered MAS 1/6 or a passive one? Conceivably, you could just connect the ToneDexter directly to powered one, however I’m not sure if the output of the TD alone, has enough voltage to drive one. Perhaps a passive one would best.
