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Modern/Hi-Fi

M

millsbass5

Dec 7, 2008
5,214
234
59
Logan,W.V.(not up some holler)
#1
Yes.It's a rant.....Kinda.But,at least you're helping me.

It's opinion time,people.As some of you may know,I've been a real blowhard when it comes to buying gear.
It's been about 12 years since I've made a significant gear/bass purchase(I promise!!I didn't use to be like this!!).I don't know,I just can't make my mind up on this one myself.I need help.I've always been the,"Be sure before you buy"type of guy.
I pretty much try to keep up with all the new gear coming out,thru reading reviews and such.My funds will let me pretty much spend whatever I take notion to.So,that being said.

Long story short.I plan on keeping my current rig,which is 12-13 yrs. old.I'm still told it will keep up with the new stuff out.Remind you,I'm from W.V.,and there's not many"quality"music stores in this area for me to test any new,modern gear.

Here's a list of what I'm playing thru at the moment:

*(1)Eden WT-800
*(2)Eden 4X10 XLT cabs
*Korg R/mount tuner
*Ashley R/mount Compressor
T.C. Electronics Chorus Pedal

*All racked up in Calzone road cases.

The following basses I mostly play:
Pre-Gibson Tobias Classic 5
'97 Carvin LB75KOA
'75 Fender Jazz w/Badass

I would like your opinion on what you think is the most modern,hi-fi combo,cabs and bass amps.I just wanna see what most people are leaning towards before I set out on a roadtrip to test some gear,somewhere.
Without even hearing anything,common sense has me kinda leaning towards some of the 3-way bass cabs out there.But then again,who am I to know??I haven't played any of them.Yes,a kick-ass combo might be nice,but I'm not hell-bent on it.I don't mind packing gear to get great tone,mind you.I mostly play rock,metal and funk.

Opinions??

Peace,
Steve
 
#6
tonenazi said:
paging Ken.
Click to expand...

:D I haven't commented since I still LOVE that classic, industry standard WT800/410XLT, and that was among the earliest rigs that defined what many on TB call hi fi... that punchy but very full range from top to bottom bass tone.

So, if the OP is looking for suggestions about lightening the weight and keeping at least a somewhat similar tone (and yes, maybe finding something a little more 'smooth and even') there are lots of choices.

If the OP is OK with the weight and is just looking for something 'better' sounding, I think I would save the money and be happy:)

Just to throw something out there, if the OP digs the Eden tone, still needs the wump of a 2 x 410 rig and big watts, but wants to lose some weight, the Genz Shuttle Max 12 and a couple of those Genz Uber 410's or 410/212 seem popular with the 'former Eden set' for loud, full range, but much lighter weight (under 70 pound cabs and a 7 pound head... putting out 1200 watts into two 4ohm cabs).
 
#9
KJung said:
Just to throw something out there, if the OP digs the Eden tone, still needs the wump of a 2 x 410 rig and big watts, but wants to lose some weight, the Genz Shuttle Max 12 and a couple of those Genz Uber 410's or 410/212 seem popular with the 'former Eden set' for loud, full range, but much lighter weight (under 70 pound cabs and a 7 pound head... putting out 1200 watts into two 4ohm cabs).
Click to expand...

I went from Eden to GB. Very happy. If I could justify a big rig, I'd have the Shuttle Max 12 and Uber 212/410 stack. The head is fantastic. Take the 12's, take the 10's, take 'em both, whatever.
 
#11
millsbass5 said:
JimmyM,can you throw some name brands and models out there for me to try??You seem to be pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the tube stuff,at least.How's yer knowledge on the super clean,hi-fi stuff.This is a test!!

Oh,well.I had to goad you into it,somehow!!
Click to expand...
It's not great ;) I'd have picked Eden cabs out of what's out there and easy to get. There's not many people making 2 and 3 way cabs, though. You can make them yourself with fEarful plans, there's the Carvin 3 way which is good but apparently could use a speaker upgrade, Low Down Sound in Detroit, and Audio Kinesis (but their cabs aren't out yet). Everything else I'm unfamiliar with.
 
#12
For those styles of music, I'd try an Aguilar cab, if there's one in your preferred weight-range. The small ones sound great and the big ones sound awesome! I've previously used Eden gear, but found it a little rock-focussed, so upgraded to Thunderfunk and Acme. Then bought an Aggie GS410 cab off a friend and it's the best combination ever! Always had a problem getting the Acmes loud enough, but no probs with the Aggie! That same friend switched to MarkBass gear and his general opinion is it's great for modern tones, but nowhere near as good as the Aguilar stuff for funk and anything old-school. ie. Warmth and phatness. :) For light-weight stuff, I'd very much recommend Epifani UL-210 or UL-310.

Cheers,

EG
 
#13
seamonkey said:
Get yourself a good 3 way PA cabinet.
Click to expand...
+1. PA cabs must have a reasonably hi-fi sound, because they're used to project either vocals or recordings, and in both those cases colored response will be very obvious and they won't sell. When a bass cab is highly colored it's called 'tone'. That's OK if you want a cab with a characteristic tone, not so much if you don't.
If you want to test a bass cab to see if it's hi-fi or not don't play a bass through it, play recorded music.
 
#14
^^^

That pretty much sums it up!

Also, many in the bass community use the term 'hi fi' to mean 'widely voiced'... i.e., full deep lows and treble extending all the way up. With that 'loose definition' of Hi Fi, that pretty much defines the vast majority of bass rigs out there today.

It's the 'vintage' voiced rigs that are 'specialized' and in the minority today.

So, asking for examples of 'hi fi rigs' (as used in the bass amp community) is kind of like asking for examples of cars with automatic transmissions or power windows... it doesn't help much as a descriptor anymore unless you are using the more 'exact' definition posted by Bill above.
 
#15
I appreciate some posters here mentioning my brand.....and I'd love to sell you a cab. ;)

In all seriousness though- if you're looking for a multi driver type cab, please don't over look Accugroove-

http://www.accugroove.com/

This might be right up your alley. Super nice people and real nice sounding, "modern" cabs.
 
#16
KJung said:
^^^

That pretty much sums it up!

Also, many in the bass community use the term 'hi fi' to mean 'widely voiced'... i.e., full deep lows and treble extending all the way up. With that 'loose definition' of Hi Fi, that pretty much defines the vast majority of bass rigs out there today.

It's the 'vintage' voiced rigs that are 'specialized' and in the minority today.

So, asking for examples of 'hi fi rigs' (as used in the bass amp community) is kind of like asking for examples of cars with automatic transmissions or power windows... it doesn't help much as a descriptor anymore unless you are using the more 'exact' definition posted by Bill above.
Click to expand...

agreed
 
#18
millsbass5 said:
Yes.It's a rant.....Kinda.But,at least you're helping me.

Here's a list of what I'm playing thru at the moment:

*(1)Eden WT-800
*(2)Eden 4X10 XLT cabs
*Korg R/mount tuner
*Ashley R/mount Compressor
T.C. Electronics Chorus Pedal

*All racked up in Calzone road cases.

The following basses I mostly play:
Pre-Gibson Tobias Classic 5
'97 Carvin LB75KOA
'75 Fender Jazz w/Badass

I would like your opinion on what you think is the most modern,hi-fi combo,cabs and bass amps.I just wanna see what most people are leaning towards before I set out on a roadtrip to test some gear,somewhere.
Without even hearing anything,common sense has me kinda leaning towards some of the 3-way bass cabs out there.But then again,who am I to know??I haven't played any of them.Yes,a kick-ass combo might be nice,but I'm not hell-bent on it.I don't mind packing gear to get great tone,mind you.I mostly play rock,metal and funk.

Opinions??

Peace,
Steve
Click to expand...

First step would be LOSE the Ashley compressor...you're losing a LOT of midrange with that, not to mention all your crisp brightness....and definitely keep the tuner OUT of the signal path. Those things are tone sucking monsters...the tc Chorus unit in stereo FX loops with the two 4x10 cabs on the floor, separated by about 3 or 4 feet = tonal bliss. What an amazing sound that must be - if I only had a back...

KJung said:
:D I haven't commented since I still LOVE that classic, industry standard WT800/410XLT, and that was among the earliest rigs that defined what many on TB call hi fi... that punchy but very full range from top to bottom bass tone.

So, if the OP is looking for suggestions about lightening the weight and keeping at least a somewhat similar tone (and yes, maybe finding something a little more 'smooth and even') there are lots of choices.

If the OP is OK with the weight and is just looking for something 'better' sounding, I think I would save the money and be happy:)

Just to throw something out there, if the OP digs the Eden tone, still needs the wump of a 2 x 410 rig and big watts, but wants to lose some weight, the Genz Shuttle Max 12 and a couple of those Genz Uber 410's or 410/212 seem popular with the 'former Eden set' for loud, full range, but much lighter weight (under 70 pound cabs and a 7 pound head... putting out 1200 watts into two 4ohm cabs).
Click to expand...

I agree, WT 800 and 2 - 410's is a pretty hard rig to outdo...much as I HATE the Eden corp now...

To the OP, do you use both 4x10 cabs often?

You could try a couple of Berg AE410 cabs and save about 100lbs of weight, keep the Eden head. You could also try those cabs with one of the new Mesa Carbine 9 heads...killer rig. If your back can take it, the Mesa Powerhouse giganta-cab (4x10+1x15) is about the only commercially available 1-cab rig that will totally anihilate the Eden even with its two cabs. And I mean TOTALLY anihilate...

Or downsize the rig but upsize the tone with a Bergantino IP310 and a great pre....if you can afford it, get two. Smaller, lighter, very expensive, but Bye bye Eden.... :hyper:

No contest.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Cameron

(Eden user for many years)
 
#19
+1 on getting rid of the signal processers

the eden head i would probably keep for starters as long as you like the sound.

if by hi-fi you mean clearer, i would check out a bunch of epifani and bergantino cabs, ea, and some of the others. but like bill said, a GOOD 2 or 3 way pa cab is quite a thing of beauty. a caveat, they can be heavy...
 
#20
I have the WT-400, and while I'm much more fond of the Genz Benz ShuttleMAX 12.0, the Eden gets a very nice base tone as well. I'd look into having someone build a fEarful design if you know you like the tone of your setup otherwise and want it relatively uncolored. A PA cab is not a bad idea at all either. If you like having the cabinet color the sound but want to stay balanced and clear, I've been most impressed with Bergantino's offerings.
 

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