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TecAmp S212/Puma500 Ultra Light Rig

#242
The Butler said:
Hey guys,
What basses are you playing with the Puma? And are there any that don't sound as good with it? ie...Sadowsky, Lakland, Alleva-Coppolo etc...I currently have the Thunderfunk 550b & Epi 310.
Thanks,
Steve
Click to expand...

The Puma/s212 rig is VERY different from the 310UL/TF rig (I used that rig for a bit). Where the 310UL/TF rig is big and smooth and just a touch dark up top, the Puma/s212 rig is bright, extremely articulate, very present in the upper mids, and very tight and controlled down low.

I LOVE that voicing with my Alleva's, and not quite so much with my particular Sadowsky. My NYC ash/maple vintage with singles is... tight down low and very aggressive in the upper mids. So, for me, it's just a little too much of a good thing with the Puma/s212 rig. However, it still sounds darn good and with a bit of EQ can sound quite good with that rig!

My particular Sadowsky with the Puma500 and the Epi410UL is a whole other thing... smooth, big, HUGE, but still punchy. I LOVE that match-up!

The Puma/s212 rig is a VERY good platform for a more passive, vintage-type Fender tone to my ear.. the best I've found so far. I have some clips posted somewhere in this thread (and in the Alleva thread) that are pretty representative of what I hear with that combination.

Since the s212 design has changed a bit (per all the posts above), I'm not sure if the above still completely holds. I'll know in about 3 weeks!
 
#243
The Butler said:
Hey guys,
What basses are you playing with the Puma? And are there any that don't sound as good with it? ie...Sadowsky, Lakland, Alleva-Coppolo etc...I currently have the Thunderfunk 550b & Epi 310.
Thanks,
Steve
Click to expand...


Basses in my signature.
Do you need more informations about them ?

So a Fender PB MIA fitted with flatwoods ... And I can get that typical vintage sound by turning the "taste" knob on the Puma.

The Status, is a PB fitted with a status neck with SD quaterpounds P & J ...

A skjold STD 92 (biginning of production from Skjold, All in EMG, so let me say a kind of sound like spectors

And a JPbasses , modern 5 that you can compare to a Fodera.

All sounds good to my ears.
 
#244
Got my L410 today, first impressions are positive. Very tight lows, articulate mids with a bite, and the highs sounds pretty much any way I want to, using the tweeter-control. Very even sounding cab. Mine is a 4 ohm cab, and pairing it with my Mark Bass SD800 gives me enough headroom...I think.
IMO its a good match too.
I also played the new Puma Combo212 today, and thats a puchy little sucker indeed! The power to weight ratio is incredible, and I loved the taste-knob. But I actually prefer the slightly more thigh lows in the L410 cab. I guess 10" is my thing.
No doubt that the Tecamp stuff is high-end gear!
I`ll chime in next week after giggin with the L410 on saturday.
 
#245
bugbass said:
Got my L410 today, first impressions are positive. Very tight lows, articulate mids with a bite, and the highs sounds pretty much any way I want to, using the tweeter-control. Very even sounding cab. Mine is a 4 ohm cab, and pairing it with my Mark Bass SD800 gives me enough headroom...I think.
IMO its a good match too.
I also played the new Puma Combo212 today, and thats a puchy little sucker indeed! The power to weight ratio is incredible, and I loved the taste-knob. But I actually prefer the slightly more thigh lows in the L410 cab. I guess 10" is my thing.
No doubt that the Tecamp stuff is high-end gear!
I`ll chime in next week after giggin with the L410 on saturday.
Click to expand...

Very cool! Where do you have the tweeter set? I'm digging the mid level of the higher crossover setting (mid soft attack).
 
#247
KJung said:
The Puma/s212 rig is a VERY good platform for a more passive, vintage-type Fender tone to my ear.. the best I've found so far. I have some clips posted somewhere in this thread (and in the Alleva thread) that are pretty representative of what I hear with that combination.
Click to expand...



Sounds like my BN6 will be a great matchup ken ;):cool:

I'm excited to try out a rig that has an inherently more aggressive mid/upper-mid response. I'm guessing that with the tone knob dialed back on the bass and things set flat, that inherent mid response will keep things very punchy and forward sounding... tight all over. Like it's going to add a nice grit/grind (similar to bridge pup bark) to the overall tone of things.

I'm so used to the Berg's which are very wide and pure(to use ken's description), more like a loud studio monitor to my ear. That, with the TD-1 and my Fbass pre has been a very cool uber clean voicing, and maybe 'too much of a good thing'... It'll be fun to try something else. :p


I can't wait to hear it with my Fbass...

Pat.
 
#250
Gigged with my new L410 last night, the cab sounds absolutely killer!! I`m impressed and very happy with my purcase. The L410/SD800 is a great match too. The slightly wide lows in SD800 is nicely tamed by the thight lows in L410.
 
#253
Shiveringbass said:
Hello Ken,

I'm not sure to understand. Tecamp recently changes the S212 design ? I heard nothing about it.

Thanks

Ludo
Click to expand...

Yes, per the discussion a bit earlier in this thread, it is my understanding the s212 (and I assume the s210) have moved to a larger rear porting, which lowers the -3db roll-off by what looks like 10hz (probably not that much, but that's the published spec). The size, weight, drivers, tweeter, etc. are all the same.

Interestingly (and confusingly!), the cabs in the combo designs are different from their 's' cab stand-alone versions in that they have a fixed mid driver cone ( a 4" paper cone mid driver) versus the tweeter with adjustable crossover).

I was originally going to order an m212 for my 'road' rig (hoping to get the same tone as the original s212 with the ability for a little more low end for louder, bigger gigs). When I heard that I could get the new version of the s212 that seems to allow me to achieve that goal in the same amazing small footprint form factor, I switched my order to that.

I should have it in two to three weeks, and will put up a post on it!
 
#254
KJung said:
Yes, per the discussion a bit earlier in this thread, it is my understanding the s212 (and I assume the s210) have moved to a larger rear porting, which lowers the -3db roll-off by what looks like 10hz (probably not that much, but that's the published spec). The size, weight, drivers, tweeter, etc. are all the same.
Click to expand...

Putting in a larger port (assuming the tuning frequency stays them same) has no bearing on frequency response, just on when the port startings acting non-linearly and thus restricting output. Lowering the port tuning frequency rarely has much effect on low frequency extension unless you also increase the size of the enclosure substantially. It will lower the frequency where the speakers unload and thus allow them to take more power down there but what you gain in the low bass you lose in the mid bass.

Alex
 
#255
alexclaber said:
Putting in a larger port (assuming the tuning frequency stays them same) has no bearing on frequency response, just on when the port startings acting non-linearly and thus restricting output. Lowering the port tuning frequency rarely has much effect on low frequency extension unless you also increase the size of the enclosure substantially. It will lower the frequency where the speakers unload and thus allow them to take more power down there but what you gain in the low bass you lose in the mid bass.

Alex
Click to expand...

Yeah, the published spec looked a little funny (going from 40hz to 30hz!!! -3db), but your description of more deep low end and a slight smoothing of the tone (which I assume is that low bass to mid bass ratio you are talking about) is basically how the company describes the change.

To my ear, the current s212 is about perfect, but it is a bit tight in the deep low end, so a touch of change in that area might be a beautiful thing. The current porting is almost non-existent.... there is a very, very, very small triangle port in the corner... maybe 3" by 3" by 3" or so. I assume that makes the current design behave almost as a sealed cab? Is that correct? By the pictures I've seen, the port size has been increased by a factor of 3 or 4 .
 
#256
KJung said:
The current porting is almost non-existent.... there is a very, very, very small triangle port in the corner... maybe 3" by 3" by 3" or so. I assume that makes the current design behave almost as a sealed cab?
Click to expand...

It'll make the cab behave like a ported cab until you start getting loud and then it'll cause all sorts of nightmares - chuffing noises, uncontrolled cone behaviour, weird response. Undersized ports are a sonic disaster!

The specs are certainly on the extremely far side of optimistic. ;)

Alex
 
#257
alexclaber said:
It'll make the cab behave like a ported cab until you start getting loud and then it'll cause all sorts of nightmares - chuffing noises, uncontrolled cone behaviour, weird response. Undersized ports are a sonic disaster!

The specs are certainly on the extremely far side of optimistic. ;)

Alex
Click to expand...

Sounds like the change is a good one then! It will be interesting to directly compare the two cabs, since the porting is, as far as I was told, the only change.

I don't hear any chuffing from that little port even at high volumes. HOWEVER, I am not dialing in a bunch of low end. I assume that could cause problems with the current design.
 
#258
KJung said:
Sounds like the change is a good one then! It will be interesting to directly compare the two cabs, since the porting is, as far as I was told, the only change.

I don't hear any chuffing from that little port even at high volumes. HOWEVER, I am not dialing in a bunch of low end. I assume that could cause problems with the current design.
Click to expand...

It's a rather small cab for those drivers so I doubt there's much happening down at the tuning frequency but with EQ boost you can force that response out if you have enough power and that's when the port issues will become very obvious. I'd expect the real response to be ~F3 @ 60Hz, F10 @ 40Hz and sensitivity about 98dB. If sensitivity is higher then F3 and F10 will be shifted upwards too.

Alex
 
#259
alexclaber said:
It's a rather small cab for those drivers so I doubt there's much happening down at the tuning frequency but with EQ boost you can force that response out if you have enough power and that's when the port issues will become very obvious. I'd expect the real response to be ~F3 @ 60Hz, F10 @ 40Hz and sensitivity about 98dB. If sensitivity is higher then F3 and F10 will be shifted upwards too.

Alex
Click to expand...

Your F3 at 60hz sounds about right to me... very punchy 'high bass' sort of thing that you can lower a bit with the EQ of the head. It has that very useful strong first harmonic of the B string type tone (I think it's first harmonic... you know what I mean). You can really hear that on the clips I put up a while back.. very even all the way down to the low open B. As you point out, the change in porting should allow for a bit more low end EQ at volume without issues. We shall see!

The current version is a smoking cab. It doesn't have the 'bigness' of my Epi410UL, but I spend most of my time trying to dial some of that out anyway:D
 
#260
KJung said:
Your F3 at 60hz sounds about right to me... very punchy 'high bass' sort of thing that you can lower a bit with the EQ of the head. It has that very useful strong first harmonic of the B string type tone (I think it's first harmonic... you know what I mean).
Click to expand...

I guess you meant first overtone aka second harmonic. However I seriously doubt it's strong there, more likely that the third harmonic @ 93Hz is the loud one. Getting a strong second harmonic on low B is where most cabs fall down so badly.

Alex
 

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