Had a chance to take my Super Compact out on Saturday along with a Hathor 1203.
At home, the 1203 and the SC played well together and I expected them to pair well at full volume. The first time I paired them was when I first got the SC and nostatic and I met up for a gear comparison. His 1203 didn't pair well. I don't know if there has been SC break-in or if Duke altered the 1203 formula on newer models.
I played with my usual crew of old band mates. Drums, vox, keys through the PA, and a Line 6 212 guitar combo. Indie rock, 90's ish material with some metal and punk influences at times. We get stupid loud and the guitar is usually uncompressed and big. The keys sometimes have big, bass heavy patches. Drummer/vox is unrestrained and hits hard. We aren't bad, but we are unrefined.
I started plugging my P bass into my Tonehammer pedal into the power section of a Genz Shuttle 9.0. I got to the rehearsal space early so I could experiment. Plugging into just the 1203 I got a nice tone. It wasn't terribly loud nor bassy, but it was in line with my expectations. I figured I'd need both cabs to keep up based on prior experience in this setting.
Next, I tried the SC solo at the same settings; I just swapped the power amp speaker cable. At the same settings, the SC was noticeably louder and the low frequencies dwarfed what the 1203 had put out. I had previously tried the SC with a a Super Midget and briefly tried them each solo. Based on my memory, the Hathor was closer to the SMidget in terms of lows and volume, for what my memory is worth.
Once the rest of the band arrived, I tried pushing the first hour with just the SC, and it worked like a charm. Great tone. Plenty of lows. Shocking volume from a 112 cab weighing less than 25lbs. The tone was great. It took EQ well, and pushing my AGS, Agro, and/or Blower Box pedals didn't make it flinch. At one point, the limit light on the amp went on when I had the Blower on with a healthy bass boost. A quick EQ adjustment and all was well.
I honestly expected a 112 cab to have a hard time keeping up with this group based on having played a variety of amp and cab combos with these guys over the years. The Super Midget solo couldn't do it the last time I played with them. This time the SC held up for 3 hours of bashing, all alone and without a complaint. I'm quite impressed.
I think I've got a legit 1-cab solution. The Hathor and/or Super Midget seems to be a luxury. They could help in even louder settings, but since they are so similar I think having both of them might not make sense. The Hathor does seem to do a better job of polite, HiFi sounds with my gear, but that isn't really my goal so I haven't toyed with it much. Though going right into the Genz and bypassing the Tonehammer will get me near there with the SM.
I'm a pretty GAS-y guy, but I'm having hard time imagining wanting or needing another cab at this point. I can see how the a Super Twin would be a total monster. If I was gigging in a louder band, that cab might make sense.
