POLL: Amps & Cabs - Mix brands or use same brand?

[Matthew Fisher]

you're smushing two different concepts together again!

the band may need to look professional and appropriate, that's a no-brainer.

as long as the amps at a wedding or something aren't covered in duct tape, stickers and spray-painted graffiti, nobody cares what they look like (except if they're too big, then they might look "too loud" for a nervous event planner ).

Hey, where can I get some of those dummy Marshall stacks like the real professionals use? I need a few of those for my next gig at Starbucks.

I do get beans-on-toast's point. Disney, Carnival and the Borg will probably care how your gear looks. It's like "jeans day" at a cubicle job. The workers get so excited. But you can't just wear any jeans, you have to spend good money on a pair of company-approved Dad jeans. Between the Dad jeans by day and the professional looking cabs by night, I can't afford my mortgage -- and my cab still doesn't match my head.

All joking aside, I'd really like to imagine that I don't care about looking the part. But I'll be darned if I didn't pass on cabs that come with Peavey logos because they don't look professional. I'm too bald to think like this, but that's how it is. I know I'm not the only one. The first thing people want to do when they get an awesome new Squier is to put a professional looking Fender sticker on it. A lot of people don't give in to that temptation, but they're definitely fighting it. Brand consciousness runs deep, and it's a form of mental slavery.

 

[Jim Nazium]

Until Greenboy starts building amps, I guess I'm mix-and-match.

 

[hsp-sandiego]

Not sure Cabinet makers are "clueless" about designing amplifiers as in the poll bi-line, but it sure seems to make sense that the electronics may be best left to the Larger companies while best cabinet makers are the smaller guys.

Re: mixed rig not looking professional - a big rack setup or ampeg amp on top of a vertical 112 stack does look a little off, but any sexy little class D amp atop some nice cabinets looks great. I am sure San Diego Harry's TecAmp on the Bergantinos looks slick! From hsp-sandiego. Another Harry in San Diego on TB. good stuff

 

[eriky4003]

Although I have matched manufacturer amp & speakers, had I known then what I believe I know now (and had a few more bucks), I would have likely gone with mismatched manufacturers. Not to say that there is anything wrong with my amp or cabs, just believe I could have likely gotten a better result based on what I've read here.

 

[subsonicbassist]

Play a Mesa M-Pulse 600 through an Ampeg PR-410HLF and it sounds demonic! I probably would have gone with a Mesa cab, but I knew that this cab can take the extended drop tuning pretty well, and it was a price difference. I got the cab for $400, whereas a comparable Mesa cab would be closer to $900

 

[Chef]

At this time, I only have GK heads; and I'm super happy with that.
I have GK Neo cabs too; and, they work very together.
But, I also have a pair of Baer ML112's that work really well with my heads; and a pair of fEARFul cabs that do too.

So.
My answer is yes, and, yes.

 

[socialleper]

Mixing brands of cabs together seems dicey and I've had bad experiences with that in the past.
Amps and cabs? Whatever. If there is a feature in a head I want and the manufacturer of a cab I like doesn't make a head that does what I want, I'm not going to compromise for some theoretical synergy that is marketing BS anyway.

 

[Ballin'bass]

I use an Ampeg svt cl and I had the matching 410hlf cabinet until I just recently sold it. I used the matching cab for about a week before realizing I truly prefer the sound (and weight/size/look) of my custom Avatar b410neo cabs. I think the mark of a truly good cabinet is that you can plug any amp into it and get a good result (some obviously better than others). I haven't tried the ampeg 8x10s fridge yet, but if the 410hlf is anything to go on, I'm much happier with the response of the Avatars running the SVT.

The also sound really good with my new Bugera Veyron Tube head. Very quick response.
So yea I voted for mixing amps and cabs.

 

[Ballin'bass]

Mixing brands of cabs together seems dicey and I've had bad experiences with that in the past.
Amps and cabs? Whatever. If there is a feature in a head I want and the manufacturer of a cab I like doesn't make a head that does what I want, I'm not going to compromise for some theoretical synergy that is marketing BS anyway.

Amen to that.

 

[Burwabit]

Depends. I love the match of Ampeg head and cabs, but then again Bergantino cabs go with anything.

 

[The Regulator]

I haven't tried the ampeg 8x10s fridge yet, but if the 410hlf is anything to go on, I'm much happier with the response of the Avatars running the SVT.

IMO the 810E is a different animal than the 410HLF and is the best cab match for the SVT CL.
Then again, for me any head sounds good through an 810E.

 

[popgadget]

Tecamp Puma or a Demeter/Crown rack with Fearless cabs.
I've never been accused of having a non-professional rig.

 

[Solarmist]

I really like GK amps, but I went with a Carvin cab because it comes with a tweeter w/5 way setting, and I insist on having a tweeter not to mention it's such a nice sounding cab.

 

[MrLenny1]

I constantly see backline companies using GK800 and SWR 4x10.
They always sound good.
Was running Eden & Eden, now TC450 and Eden. Still sounds good.

 

[jerry]

I constantly see backline companies using GK800 and SWR 4x10.
They always sound good.
Was running Eden & Eden, now TC450 and Eden. Still sounds good.

I still find GKRB800 and Hartke4/10 a lot too, had that pair last Saturday on a fly date, they still sound great together.

 

[CenTexThumper]

I've been mixing components for years. My present favorite is a G-K MB500 over a pair of Hartke Hydrive 1x12s. It works just fine with the country band and the rock band.

 

[Munjibunga]

In ages past, I've tried to match amp and cab brand. Since I switched to all Bergantino cabs, I've kind of been forced to mix 'em up. But not for much longer, although I'll still be using various amps for this and that.

 

[Tony Bassplayer]

I've never played a mixed rig. My first real rig was a Carvin PB500 through a 4x10 and a 1X18. I now play a Carvin BX500 through the same 4x10, but I'm in the market for a new cab (since it's ~20 years old now). Can't decide if I want another 4x10 or if I want to try a three-way (1x15, 1x8 + tweeter), and I'm willing to mix 'em up to get the sound I want.

 

[Omega Monkey]

I like a bunch of different amp companies and a bunch of different cab companies, with a lot of overlap. Having to match the brands is like the way a 12 year old girl would think. By all means if that's what you dig then go for it, but it has no bearing on anything other than your own preference in almost all cases. I would not hesitate to mix amps and cabs of any of those companies I like, as long as the overall system got me the sound and volume I was looking for and there wasn't a huge power mismatch between amp and cab/s (like a 900w amp with a 200w cab).

My main band recorded an album over the last year, and over the course of about 40 minutes of music, I used 4 basses from 3 companies, 2 cabs from 2 different companies (and the driver in the 2nd cab came from a 3rd company), and amps from 2 companies (one of which wasn't even a bass amp). And the result was a bunch of cool bass tones that were unique and interesting. Actually one of the coolest tones on the album was a Carvin active bass, into a Mesa DC-5 combo, but powering an SWR GIII (with the tweeter mostly off). The Mesa was in the clean channel but with the gain cranked pretty high for some tubey overdrive goodness. I was even going to use another cab from a 3rd company as well, but I was getting a buzz through it that I couldn't get rid of (sound was great though otherwise).

 

[lakefx]

In my case, my cab builder (me) is absolutely clueless about making amps! That doesn't mean that other manufacturers are too.