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old noob looking for cab suggestions

marqueemoon

marqueemoon

Oct 8, 2019
269
460
#1
Hey, everybody. It's been a really long time since I've been in the market for a bass rig, but after borrowing stuff for a while I think it's time to take the plunge again.

I've already picked the head. After trying a bunch of mid to budget priced Class D things I went back to my first love and bought a GK 400RB. I play a P Bass with rounds. It's high time I changed them, but I tend to like em' pretty dead. I also run an "always on" compressor.

I play in a three piece (guitar/bass/drums) indie rawk band with a pretty average hitting drummer. The guitar player uses a Fender Vibrolux (2x10, 35ish watts). Stage volumes are pretty modest and the venues we play tend to be on the smaller side. Usually I'll get a DI at the clubs, so the cab is mainly about stage monitoring and adding some tonal sauce.

Hoping to find something smaller/lighter than the Carvin 4x10 I've been borrowing that can still get the job done.
  • small, but not comically so
  • light-ish (let's say under 60 pounds)
  • front ported (my practice space is tiny so chances are it will be slammed up against a wall)
  • more on the old school sounding end of the spectrum. I like midrange :)
  • not too expensive - I'd like to keep it around $500 used
  • understated looking (not glaringly modern or trying too hard to look retro)
  • efficient. It would be great to be able to run it with my old 50W Bassman head for certain situations.
Of the things I've tried so far a Bag End D12-D has been my favorite sound-wise, but it would be nice if it were like 20 pounds lighter. I'm not opposed to high frequency drivers, but I tend to keep them low or completely off.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
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#2
Check out the GK Neo 212-II cab. It's 50 pounds and I just saw one used on Reverb for $480. It's a great sounding cab, in my opinion. It's pretty flat and you can introduce any coloration you want just by nudging your EQ. It's probably a good go-to for someone looking to ditch a 410, too. GK says it'll handle 800w.
 
Last edited:
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#5
@Spirit of Ox posted:
Which model is this? I have three GK 400rb heads. One is a 1989 model, one is a 1998 and the other is a 2003.

The 98 has the fan mod and thermal circuit bypass to keep it from going into protection mode and my 03 is stock and needs that mod since it shuts off after 2 hours of hard 4ohm load playing.

GKs are great amps. Just the 400rb III needs a mod to keep it from protection mode. I personally like the second gen the best. They will heat up but won't shut down and the overdrive a bit nicer and warmer.
​
 
#6
Stumbo said:
​
@Spirit of Ox posted:
Which model is this? I have three GK 400rb heads. One is a 1989 model, one is a 1998 and the other is a 2003.

The 98 has the fan mod and thermal circuit bypass to keep it from going into protection mode and my 03 is stock and needs that mod since it shuts off after 2 hours of hard 4ohm load playing.

GKs are great amps. Just the 400rb III needs a mod to keep it from protection mode. I personally like the second gen the best. They will heat up but won't shut down and the overdrive a bit nicer and warmer.
​
Click to expand...

Circa 1988 I believe (power cable isn't hardwired). I think that's second gen? It has a big ol' heatsink but no fan.
Rpp0ajM.jpg
 
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#10
Before you swap your cab for a smaller one, please check how much headroom you have left.
If I remember correctly, the 400rb has only 200 Watts, which is not a lot when you're looking to downsize your rig.
Going from a 410 with 4 ohms to a 112 with 8 ohms will most likely cost you half your volume.

When you want to go small, light and loud, you will need to use a lot of juice from the amp.
When you want to get away with low wattage, you will need to bring a lot of speaker surface.

So instead of a smaller cabinet, you could consider building a vertical 210+210 stack.
That way, your cab is split in two and you have the possibility to bring only half of the rig.
Two 210s are way easier to transport than one 410.
 
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#13
A GK cab will match a GK head well. Not crazy expensive either, and the Neos are super light. 212 Neo will give you more booty, 115 is more mid focused but very articulate. You can dial the horn up or down and you can also utilise the GK bi-amp system to separate the signal for the driver and the horn. 412 will obviously give you more of everything but is a little heavier
 
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#14
It sounds like you are in the same situation, I'm in. I play in a 3 piece rock band, average hitting drummer, guitarist uses a Roland Jazz chorus 2x12 combo. I've been using my two older 400s and my cabs are both Flite, a smaller company out of CT that makes lightweight cabs. I have a 15 and a 1x10 with 5" driver and tweeter.
This set up paired with a Jazz bass really cuts through, almost to much.
I decided to just use the 15 since I play smaller clubs and that alone is more than enough.
 
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#15
el murdoque said:
Before you swap your cab for a smaller one, please check how much headroom you have left.
If I remember correctly, the 400rb has only 200 Watts, which is not a lot when you're looking to downsize your rig.
Going from a 410 with 4 ohms to a 112 with 8 ohms will most likely cost you half your volume.

When you want to go small, light and loud, you will need to use a lot of juice from the amp.
When you want to get away with low wattage, you will need to bring a lot of speaker surface.

So instead of a smaller cabinet, you could consider building a vertical 210+210 stack.
That way, your cab is split in two and you have the possibility to bring only half of the rig.
Two 210s are way easier to transport than one 410.
Click to expand...

This is a good point. I’m pretty sure the borrowed 4x10 is 8 ohm, but I will confirm. No idea about the 4x10’s efficiency specs, but I’m definitely a little wary about scaling back too much driver-wise.
 
#18
I use 2 Hartke HyDrive 2x10's (now stacking vertically!) and play in an indie rock trio also. I can almost always get away with one of the cabs but like the flexibility of having a second depending on where we might be playing as often the house sound systems can vary from none to marginal.
 
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#20
Welcome to Talkbass!!!

Also, please check out some of the newer stuff from Barefaced, AudioKinesis, Revsound, Greenboy, etc. They come up used around here now and then, and even though they are much flatter in response than what you are asking about, they can reproduce anything you throw at them, and have amazing midrange.

I find I can dial-in the low mid whomp of old school cabs, but can also get a much richer color, too, when I need it—which has turned out to be useful, even in a simple 4 or 5 piece blues/funk band.

Reggae and Gospel on active 5-strings also love these newer designs.
 

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