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Mixing brands.

#21
Back when I used Eden gear, I always thought that the Eden cabs and heads sounded best when used together but really I think it depends on the amp/cab combination. As always, just use your ears - if it sounds good to you, go with it. I run my Ampeg PF350 with either Aggie GS112s or Genz Focus 115s and both setups sound great, IMO.
 
#22
I recently played through a GKMB500 and Epifani bass cab with one of my Brutes and I loved it. Mixing works. You just have to try that combo. I run a Puma500 and an Eden Nemisis RS212 and it sounds very good. The RS series was discontinued and now IMO are being sold as Eden EX series cabs. My cab only weighs about 58 lbs as well. You can see from these pics although one is the 212 and the other is a 4x10 that the Nemisis RS series became the Eden EX series. The 212 is the Nemisis. The 410 is the EX.
 

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#23
I dont think ive ever had matching head/cab.

used to play guitar thru a mesa dual rec head and marshall 412.

my bass gear these days is a GB shuttle thru 2 112 epifanis.
before that it was GK 1001 thru a swr goliath III 410..
o wait..before that it was the SWR350x thru the goliath..so i did match ..once.
 
#24
Right now I have a Genz Benz Streamliner 600 paired with a Genz Benz NeoX 212T and I have to say that the NeoX 212T seems to be made for this amp. I have tried this amp with several other cabs. Some sounded good and others not so good. When I plugged the amp into that cab I knew that was what I needed. It seemed like it just opened the amp up with the most punch and a very clear tone with good note definition. That being said I think it's really about the tone you're after. Personally I like GK Heads paired better with Ampeg cabs than GK cabs. So I say mix and match however you want. It's all about personal preference.
 
#27
I DO!!

I am original owner of 1974 AcoustIc 370 HEAD...Never owned the complimentary 301..One day I WILL!

I bought a used Sunn 118-vh folded horn cab which I power with the 370.

A match made in heaven.

All the power, richness in tone as well as throw of a folded horn with no deficiancy with on-stage volume
[ w-horn inherently deficit] and no loss of high frequencies. Clearly..loudly hear high D# on G-string as well as bellowing open E.

I bought the 370 because it was best bass heaed at that time [ my opinion] and EVERY guitarist who started with a Fender Super, invariably ended with a Marshall Stack, so I had to buy a head with more power.

Also, Before buying the Sunn cab, I sometimes powered my Kustom 200[ 2 X 15's CTS ] cab with the A C 370.

Made the Kustom head sound anemic in comparison. Ohm / Impedence mis-match?? Sure.. No issue with a solid state head.
 
#29
Bassdirty said:
I dont think ive ever had matching head/cab.

used to play guitar thru a mesa dual rec head and marshall 412.

my bass gear these days is a GB shuttle thru 2 112 epifanis.
before that it was GK 1001 thru a swr goliath III 410..
o wait..before that it was the SWR350x thru the goliath..so i did match ..once.
Click to expand...

Interesting and not surprising to me that you went from SWR head/SWR cab to GK head/SWR cab. When I bought my SWR cab mentioned above, I bought a GK head instead of the SWR head because I liked the pair better.
 
#30
Interesting - for about 15 years I used a GK 800RB through an Ampeg 410HE cab and loved every minute of it. When the GK finally bit the dust I traded my SWR Workingman's 12 for an SM-400. I sold the 2 Ampeg cabs I had and got a Goliath Jr II and a Goliath II and I love 'em. After all the years of having mismatched gear it's very satisfying to have all matched equipment from the same era.

To sum up: I've now done both and there's merit to both. The moral of this story is use your ears.
 
#32
CL400Peavey said:
Its partly that, but also IMHO I feel that there are a lot of manufacturers out there that have a great heritage of building world class amps, but they have not given much notice to improving their cabs. I am not saying people should love and play what works for them, but rather lets not mix objective performance advaces with subjective gear superstitions. ;)
Click to expand...
Hate to break it to you, Julian, but 3-way cabs have been around for decades ;) And I'm well aware of the limitations of commercial bass cabs but I prefer them anyway. There are a lot of us who do. It isn't superstition, which implies "dumb," but calling it "superstition" and to keep insinuating that folks are just a little bit dumb for not getting their "advanced" cab is a major part of the reason that folks react in a negative manner to the 3-way fans.
 
#34
I often match Ampeg with Ampeg now, but also run Marshall heads into Ampeg cabs. In the past I've used Mesa Cabs with Ampeg heads, Trace-Elliott Cabs with Hartke Heads and Peavey cabs with GK heads. As long as I'm getting the sound I want I could care less about what name is on the equipment.

I've come to realize I most enjoy the tones that come from equipment that was state-of-the-art in the mid seventies, so that's what I use.
 
#36
JimmyM said:
Hate to break it to you, Julian, but 3-way cabs have been around for decades ;) And I'm well aware of the limitations of commercial bass cabs but I prefer them anyway. There are a lot of us who do. It isn't superstition, which implies "dumb," but calling it "superstition" and to keep insinuating that folks are just a little bit dumb for not getting their "advanced" cab is a major part of the reason that folks react in a negative manner to the 3-way fans.
Click to expand...


Fearful or GTFO :D
 
#38
JimmyM said:
Hate to break it to you, Julian, but 3-way cabs have been around for decades ;) And I'm well aware of the limitations of commercial bass cabs but I prefer them anyway. There are a lot of us who do. It isn't superstition, which implies "dumb," but calling it "superstition" and to keep insinuating that folks are just a little bit dumb for not getting their "advanced" cab is a major part of the reason that folks react in a negative manner to the 3-way fans.
Click to expand...

Hey Jimmy. My post did not make any mention of 3 way cabs, or call anyone dumb. I will say that there are a lot of great cab manufacturers that are building cabs that push the boundaries of size/weight/tone.

Do I feel that it is superstitious or dumb to pine after old sun guitar cabs and try and load them with cheap bass drivers, just so that sun rig can sit on stage, mostly for the look of it all? Yeah I do.

All that said, it is my opinion right? No one has to listen to it, or care about it.

The question in the OP was "do a particular brand of amps sound best through their line of cabs?"

IMHO the brand shouldnt/doesnt matter. I love the sound of my portaflex head. There are a lot of guys that are of the opinion that it should be used with a flip top cab, "because it was designed to work together..." I dont really care for those cabs. I do think Ampeg is going in the right place with their PF-115LF though, as it fits in a size/tone/price hole in their line up. Do I find more success with other cabs? I sure do, but my tonal goals are my own.

So people should play what sounds good to them. But I dont think the matching logos should be the real selling point.
 
#40
I've been mixing them for a long time. I've done swr heads with peavey cabs, swr with ampeg, Harke amp with peavey cabs. That's aside from the matching setups. A lot of times it works out great. I really like my swr 750 head through my ampeg classic 410he(also had an 810e. Both combinations seem to complement each other better than my swr head and swr 610 do. I pretty much use ampeg cabs exclusively these days as they just last longer. All the other cabs I've owned only lasted a couple years. But I've owned ampeg classic cabs for up to a decade with no problems
 

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