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Small amp/cab combo for acoustic bass guitar

#21
el murdoque said:
No. Mr. Jones bent physics beyond what was thought possible when he made the D4 and nothing in the same size/weight ratio can keep up.

Bonus: The D4 runs off a laptop power bank, so your front porch does not even have to have an outlet.

If ease of transport is the main issue and you want to one-up the D4, the Barefaced one10 cabinet is a good contender,
that's a very loud 1x10" cabinet at 7kgs - add a class D head of your choice and you're well below 10kg, and it all fits neatly in a cajon bag.

Also, should money not really be an issue, the GR cabs are worth looking at.

I myself have a D4 and a Barefaced Super Mini. That's a 4kg combo amp and a 9.5kg cabinet. The latter can keep up with a loud drummer and is sufficient for more than 90% of what I do, including metal.

In a nutshell:
D4 is impossible to beat at the size/volume ratio of things. It's the smallest full sounding amp that can even do a low B with credible authority and it works in acoustic settings, but has to bow out once the drummer picks up the sticks.

GR makes incredibly light cabinets. A 112 is comparable to other 112 cabinets, but at a fraction of the weight. Careful: Carbon fiber sidewalls are incredibly stiff and make the cab work well as long as it's standing around, but they are not the sturdiest things against impact with pointy objects. Buy the padded cover if you intend to carry it around a lot.

Barefaced makes very light cabinets, but they are much louder than they have any right to be. Their 112 setups often successfully compete with 212 setups of quality brands.



Budget option:
Fender Rumble 100. A solid 112 setup at around 10kgs
Click to expand...
This. I agree 100% with all these options and their description.
You can probably add a few options from Markbass.

Another route would be to take an active version of the Barefaced One10 or Super Mini, or GR Bass AT110 + a preamp (I suppose @scubaduba already owns several :))
 
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#26
scubaduba said:
I'm doing more gigs with acoustic bass guitar and want to invest in a better amp/combo to augment front of house at some venues for stage presence. That said, some of my gigs have no FOH so I'd like something that can still carry weight on its own. I suspect the Phil Jones BG-120 or Double Four could be good options. Or more likely the BG-400. Any others? I don't want something that will be hollow sounding... looking for weight and punch to the tone but portable and small is important.
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I haven't seen an intentionally lightweight build of this DIY project yet, but I think it could easily come in at under 20 lbs. and IME for situations like you describe it makes the Double Four sound like a toy (really nice, albeit): https://www.talkbass.com/threads/mojo-sonic-1x10-lounge-cab-clone.1119531/

This is the top cab pictured in that thread, which I now own and have put a Traynor SB200H in:

Combo_5e.webp


My friend who owns a Double Four always just leaves it in her car if I bring mine to an open mic we both frequent, which usually has attendance in the 40-80 person range. Mainly acoustic, small cajon-based drum kit with some acts or someone with a cocktail or E-kit occasionally. My friend typically puts the PJB through FOH via the line out but I never feel the need to do that with my rig, even with a full drum kit in play.

Another open mic I sometimes play at a similar size space has a Rumble 100 backlined, which suffices, but for my purposes the Mojo clone would work considerably better (and cost ~ twice as much, to be fair). I may have to build a matching cab without the airhead space one day, but I'm mostly retired from gigging and already have a killer 112 and 500 watt head should I ever need it. This one is 26Lbs. including the head, using Baltic Birch and a lot of pretty dense acoustic foam. Great with upright, ABG, or my friend's Rob Allen Mouse, none of which I currently own though..
 
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#29
I rarely see them mentioned around here, and I have no direct experience with them, but I keep looking at the Ashdown OBM112, which comes in 300w and 500w versions. It looks to me like just what I'd want in my next amp, once I'm ready to pull the trigger and upgrade from my current one. Roughly the same size and weight as a MarkBass 112 combo. Anyways, I'm also curious why they get mentioned so little here, is it a geography thing? Opinions welcome :)

www.long-mcquade.com

Ashdown Engineering - UK-OBM-C112-500 1x12 Bass Combo - 500 Watt

Ashdown Engineering - UK-OBM-C112-500 1x12 Bass Combo - 500 Watt
www.long-mcquade.com www.long-mcquade.com
 
#30
Aric Bjorn said:
I rarely see them mentioned around here, and I have no direct experience with them, but I keep looking at the Ashdown OBM112, which comes in 300w and 500w versions. It looks to me like just what I'd want in my next amp, once I'm ready to pull the trigger and upgrade from my current one. Roughly the same size and weight as a MarkBass 112 combo. Anyways, I'm also curious why they get mentioned so little here, is it a geography thing? Opinions welcome :)

www.long-mcquade.com

Ashdown Engineering - UK-OBM-C112-500 1x12 Bass Combo - 500 Watt

Ashdown Engineering - UK-OBM-C112-500 1x12 Bass Combo - 500 Watt
www.long-mcquade.com www.long-mcquade.com
Click to expand...
It probably is geographic as much as anything. This site, though by no means exclusively North American, probably does skew that way. In the US, Ashdown haven't been complete unobtainium, but they've never had a big market presence relative to other makers such as G-K etc. Doesn't mean it's bad gear.
 
#32
scubaduba said:
That new 802 seems compelling with higher wattage. Tonally how does the 802 sound compared to the mini cmd 121p v?
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the 121 has more going on the low end and like rounder and fuller overall. it's not a mud machine, it's bright and warm, but capable of going reasonably low down. the 802 is not, it's a mid machine.

if your acoustic bass has a piezo, you'd probably appreciate the old-school knob on the 121, that's absent on the nano mark. it's a variable lpf that can cut the shrillness and since there's no tweeter knob on both, it can be very valuable.
 
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#35
Aloe said:
the 121 has more going on the low end and like rounder and fuller overall. it's not a mud machine, it's bright and warm, but capable of going reasonably low down. the 802 is not, it's a mid machine.

if your acoustic bass has a piezo, you'd probably appreciate the old-school knob on the 121, that's absent on the nano mark. it's a variable lpf that can cut the shrillness and since there's no tweeter knob on both, it can be very valuable.
Click to expand...

Sounds like maybe the 121 is the better move?
 
#36
scubaduba said:
Sounds like maybe the 121 is the better move?
Click to expand...

I'd think so. I'd expect it to be around 6dB louder (like a difference between a 50W amp and a 200W amp -- that's surely audible).

if you aim for hifi tone, another one to consider is a mini cmd 121 pure. usually folks hate it as it isn't that woody and round as the old wooden cab, but if you were considering a Phil Jones rig, that might be just your cup of tea. if you'd have a chance to try both, I recommend to do it.
 
#38
I've got an Ampeg PF-500 that I play through a Hartke HD210 and a G-K NEO 115. I usually use the whole rig, but have used the amp with just the G-K for an acoustic high school stadium gig, and with just the Hartke for acoustic rehearsals. Both worked out just great, although if I wanted a generally brighter tone, I would use the Hartke cab.
 

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