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Rob Allen & Amp Pairing

B

burritosdaily

Nov 24, 2008
65
0
Houston
#1
Any of you who have experience with Rob Allen basses... I'd really like to hear about some good amp and RA pairings.

I'd love to find something that brings out all of the natural sound of the Rob Allen and something that is easily transported (i.e. on the lighter side). Primary application would be jazz.

Any recommendations would be appreciated! :help:
 
#6
My RA Mouse sounds fantastic through an AudioKinesis ThunderChild 12AF cabinet. While there are other portable cabs that can play as loud (and some that can go deeper), I haven't heard a cab with a more even, balanced response. I use a Mesa Walkabout head and other than rolling off some lows (the Mouse has a really big bottom end), I hardly touch the eq.

I first tried a Thunderchild at relatively moderate levels at an area GTG. I was struck with how natural and smooth the transition between the drivers were. Months later Charlie (passinwind) brought his AF version over and hearing his EUB with some serious power behind it illustrated how loud and uncompressed the TC could go while maintaining it's fidelity.

I knew Duke was designing a TC15 and considered ordering one, but decided on the more portable cab size. Having owned the TC12AF for some months now, I have absolutely no regrets.
 
#7
i've used several different amps, but the one i keep coming back to is the EA Doubler for both the rob allen (mb2) and upright...
cabinets - EA Mline, Gk mb150x sealed cab, JBL D140 sealed cab, Acoustic Image ex sealed cab - all sound good just different...
 

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#8
koobie said:
My RA Mouse sounds fantastic through an AudioKinesis ThunderChild 12AF cabinet. While there are other portable cabs that can play as loud (and some that can go deeper), I haven't heard a cab with a more even, balanced response. I use a Mesa Walkabout head and other than rolling off some lows (the Mouse has a really big bottom end), I hardly touch the eq.

I first tried a Thunderchild at relatively moderate levels at an area GTG. I was struck with how natural and smooth the transition between the drivers were. Months later Charlie (passinwind) brought his AF version over and hearing his EUB with some serious power behind it illustrated how loud and uncompressed the TC could go while maintaining it's fidelity.

I knew Duke was designing a TC15 and considered ordering one, but decided on the more portable cab size. Having owned the TC12AF for some months now, I have absolutely no regrets.
Click to expand...

Also using a walkabout, either through the standard WA combo cab or a Berg AE212. Ditto on the para bass cut at about 50 hz, - I've also been using a Fishman Pro Platinum, mostly for the high pass filter, but also some light compression. I think I might ultimately try the Fdeck HPF and a higher quality comp. The Mouse does have a lot going on down low, curious what routes others take to control that?
 
#9
I have three amps that sound good with my Deep 4 - both of my Ampeg Portaflexes (B-15N, B-18) and a Polytone. The B-15/D4 combo is my favorite. For my big band rehearsals I tend to use the Polytone more because it's easier to carry. The Polytone shouldn't be a surprise as many upright folks have used them over the years.
 
#11
The OP poses kind of a loaded question to ask which amp sounds best when the cab will also have a significant impact on tone. For two years, my gold standard has been one of the "super 12" cabs, a 12/6 made by LDS, similar to fEarful design. But I just got a Crazy8 cab from Mike Arponol that has introduced a new level of quality for my fretless Deep 4. It would probably be hard to make a Rob Allen bass sound bad with any gear, but you can certainly make it sound even better with the right choice of amp and cab.
 
#12
Ukiah Bass said:
The OP poses kind of a loaded question to ask which amp sounds best when the cab will also have a significant impact on tone. For two years, my gold standard has been one of the "super 12" cabs, a 12/6 made by LDS, similar to fEarful design. But I just got a Crazy8 cab from Mike Arponol that has introduced a new level of quality for my fretless Deep 4. It would probably be hard to make a Rob Allen bass sound bad with any gear, but you can certainly make it sound even better with the right choice of amp and cab.
Click to expand...

I appreciate this... I guess I was thinking more along the lines of a combo when I mentioned being light and easily portable... but these suggestions have cause me to reconsider that idea.
 
#13
Hope this detour doesn't detract from the original question too much...
kevmoga said:
Also using a walkabout, either through the standard WA combo cab or a Berg AE212. Ditto on the para bass cut at about 50 hz, - I've also been using a Fishman Pro Platinum, mostly for the high pass filter, but also some light compression. I think I might ultimately try the Fdeck HPF and a higher quality comp. The Mouse does have a lot going on down low, curious what routes others take to control that?
Click to expand...

It seems like you're already addressing the Mouse's rotund bottom end with eq, works fine for me. I'd considered swapping out the built-in Fishman Matrix Natural One for a Natural Two (both discontinued), it has less boost in the lows. But I gotta figure Rob Allen spent a lot of time voicing the Mouse to be just as it is.
Link Removed

Here is a graph generously supplied by Fishman tech support showing the response curves of the two preamps:
 

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#14
koobie said:
Hope this detour doesn't detract from the original question too much...


It seems like you're already addressing the Mouse's rotund bottom end with eq, works fine for me. I'd considered swapping out the built-in Fishman Matrix Natural One for a Natural Two (both discontinued), it has less boost in the lows. But I gotta figure Rob Allen spent a lot of time voicing the Mouse to be just as it is.
Link Removed

Here is a graph generously supplied by Fishman tech support showing the response curves of the two preamps:
Click to expand...

As we see, there are many ways to tweak the signal chain. This idea seems more like a surgical approach. Seems easier to just use an EQ box or high pass filter.
 
#15
I've used mine with a bunch of different amps and cabs. Currently the typical setup is TH500 into a Berg AE210 cab. I've owned different Berg 12s for cabs, and Streamliner, Shuttle 9.0, RH450, MB Fusion heads and run supplied backlines that are fairly diverse (a fair amount of Ampeg, GK and Aguilar).

I prefer the Berg 210 cabs. The GB head is a bit more open, the TH500 more mid focused (which I prefer). If I'm doing a jazz gig either head will work. The Streamliner was too wooly in my hands, but other guys get it to work.

For taming the low end if I'm just playing the RA I just roll off a bit of bass and add a bit of mids. If I'm swapping between the RA and Fodera I'll set it flat and roll off a tad of bass on the Deep or the best setup is to use a Paradriver where I roll off some bass and dial up some mids around 500hz.
 
#16
nostatic said:
I've used mine with a bunch of different amps and cabs. Currently the typical setup is TH500 into a Berg AE210 cab. I've owned different Berg 12s for cabs, and Streamliner, Shuttle 9.0, RH450, MB Fusion heads and run supplied backlines that are fairly diverse (a fair amount of Ampeg, GK and Aguilar).

I prefer the Berg 210 cabs. The GB head is a bit more open, the TH500 more mid focused (which I prefer). If I'm doing a jazz gig either head will work. The Streamliner was too wooly in my hands, but other guys get it to work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response... I've listened to a good number of your audio clips and videos and I really like the sound you get out of your RA Basses.
 
#17
BTW, the active amps I've tried (I own a Berg IP112 that I used for awhile in a rock setting and am most likely going to sell since I really don't use it anymore) sounded horrible with my old D4. This is different than the Berg cabs nostatic is talking about. I personally don't like the sound of any cab smaller than a 15".

I think at the end of the day it depends on what sound you want. I've used the D4 + Ampeg Portaflex combo on plenty of jazz gigs and it's great. But it's not small and light.
 
#19
For me its a newer, high power (for headroom) Acoustic Image amp paired with Bergie's. Running some combination of 1x12s and/or 2x10.

Accugroove T110's are a nice alternative.

Surprisingly, I also found classic Ampeg B15s sound very nice with RAs.

a798564b.jpg
 

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