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The Needlessly Oversized, Inconveniently Excessive Bass Amp Thread

FugaziBomb

FugaziBomb

Jun 5, 2017
2,645
5,957
#1
1206222218_HDR.jpg


Behold, the world's biggest, dumbest bass rig. This is two 18" subs powered by a 2x450 watt Crown XLi and a 2x10 Peavey headliner powered by one 50 watt side of a Mesa Stereo 2:Fifty tube amp.

This came about because of playing in reggae and hip hop bands where I couldn't get enough low end to compete with the DJ between sets. At the time, I was playing an 8x10 and an 8 space rack head with the Crown powering the whole thing and the damn DJ was still hitting so much harder than I could below 100hz. So I decide in lieu of a traditional bass amp, I'd carry around my own PA with a sub. I eventually added the Mesa to run my pedal board through and left the Crown to handle the clean lows. It sounded great!

Then one night for a laugh, I added in another Peavey 18 I had lying around. Sure it was a lot louder, but the thing that was really nice about it was that I could just wheel each stack in and out without having to carry anything. You get to the gig, drop an 18 cab and put the 210 atop it, dolly it in and then do the same thing with the other cab and rack. It might seem counterintuitive, but adding the 2nd 18" cab actually made load in and out easier. So that's what I did for a few years. Carting all this BS around never bothered me, up until the bands I was working with started to dissolve. That was about 2 years ago. Now I just sit and play this thing in my home while my neighbors weep.
 
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#7
Doesn't seem all that excessive to me. If you are willing to do the work, it's all good :woot:.

My first biamp rig was similar in some ways, and probably significantly heavier. I started with a new MTI era SVT and 810. Did not like the sound, so I added an Orban 672A and a Fender Twin Reverb loaded with a pair of JBL E120s crossed over at 200hz. Sometimes I subbed a pair of cabs loaded with EVM18Bs for the 810. The pair of EVM cabs were about the same size as the 810, but much lighter.

This rig is probably bigger and dumberer in some ways ;). Even worse, I have no intent of ever gigging it.
upload_2022-12-9_15-49-37.jpeg

The cabs are a quad of (3-way) Genz Benz 1288T Uber Quads. The amp in this particular configuration is an Epifani UL902C with 1800W on tap. I have several amps in my collection that can push all four cabs, including an Ampeg SVT 8Pro with 2500W.

This rig was obviously inspired by the Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound. I bought the cabs primarily to satisfy my curiosity. I leave two of the cabs set up in my basement. I would stack all four but the ceiling is not high enough down there. So the other two cabs are just dust catchers for now.

As a touring pro I typically ran 200-250W through a decent 210 and let the PA do the heavy lifting. My last touring rig gave me the option of running an additional 410 with a second channel of 250W, but I did not feel the extra work to transport and set it up was justified....the 210 was plenty. I might have felt different if we had roadies. Everyone in the band pitched in with loading/unloading a 28' box truck and setting up all of the gear.
 
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#10
FugaziBomb said:
View attachment 4898184

Behold, the world's biggest, dumbest bass rig. This is two 18" subs powered by a 2x450 watt Crown XLi and a 2x10 Peavey headliner powered by one 50 watt side of a Mesa Stereo 2:Fifty tube amp.

This came about because of playing in reggae and hip hop bands where I couldn't get enough low end to compete with the DJ between sets. At the time, I was playing an 8x10 and an 8 space rack head with the Crown powering the whole thing and the damn DJ was still hitting so much harder than I could below 100hz. So I decide in lieu of a traditional bass amp, I'd carry around my own PA with a sub. I eventually added the Mesa to run my pedal board through and left the Crown to handle the clean lows. It sounded great!

Then one night for a laugh, I added in another Peavey 18 I had lying around. Sure it was a lot louder, but the thing that was really nice about it was that I could just wheel each stack in and out without having to carry anything. You get to the gig, drop an 18 cab and put the 210 atop it, dolly it in and then do the same thing with the other cab and rack. It might seem counterintuitive, but adding the 2nd 18" cab actually made load in and out easier. So that's what I did for a few years. Carting all this BS around never bothered me, up until the bands I was working with started to dissolve. That was about 2 years ago. Now I just sit and play this thing in my home while my neighbors weep.
Click to expand...
Geez, I hope you have earthquake coverage on your homeowner's insurance.
 
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#12
FugaziBomb said:
View attachment 4898184

Behold, the world's biggest, dumbest bass rig. This is two 18" subs powered by a 2x450 watt Crown XLi and a 2x10 Peavey headliner powered by one 50 watt side of a Mesa Stereo 2:Fifty tube amp.

This came about because of playing in reggae and hip hop bands where I couldn't get enough low end to compete with the DJ between sets. At the time, I was playing an 8x10 and an 8 space rack head with the Crown powering the whole thing and the damn DJ was still hitting so much harder than I could below 100hz. So I decide in lieu of a traditional bass amp, I'd carry around my own PA with a sub. I eventually added the Mesa to run my pedal board through and left the Crown to handle the clean lows. It sounded great!

Then one night for a laugh, I added in another Peavey 18 I had lying around. Sure it was a lot louder, but the thing that was really nice about it was that I could just wheel each stack in and out without having to carry anything. You get to the gig, drop an 18 cab and put the 210 atop it, dolly it in and then do the same thing with the other cab and rack. It might seem counterintuitive, but adding the 2nd 18" cab actually made load in and out easier. So that's what I did for a few years. Carting all this BS around never bothered me, up until the bands I was working with started to dissolve. That was about 2 years ago. Now I just sit and play this thing in my home while my neighbors weep.
Click to expand...
Are those peavy PV118s? I used those back in the day, they pounded pretty well.
 
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#13
I have a head that can drop to 2ohms and enough cabs to run it that way. I have a back up of the same head. Even though I have never needed all those cabs at once and have yet to bring them all to a show, I'm actually contemplating running an A/B channel with one 4ohm rig as my clean tone and one 4ohm rig as my wet channel.

Need? God no! But damn it would sound good. And... then I could double my cabs so EACH channel was a 2ohm rig.

Yep, thats what every hobby band needs. A bass player trying to fit a wall of cabs that could handle 3200 watts on a dive bar stage. :roflmao:
 
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#18
FugaziBomb said:
Behold, the world's biggest, dumbest bass rig. This is two 18" subs powered by a 2x450 watt Crown XLi and a 2x10 Peavey headliner powered by one 50 watt side of a Mesa Stereo 2:Fifty tube amp.

This came about because of playing in reggae and hip hop bands where I couldn't get enough low end to compete with the DJ between sets. At the time, I was playing an 8x10 and an 8 space rack head with the Crown powering the whole thing and the damn DJ was still hitting so much harder than I could below 100hz. So I decide in lieu of a traditional bass amp, I'd carry around my own PA with a sub. I eventually added the Mesa to run my pedal board through and left the Crown to handle the clean lows. It sounded great!

Then one night for a laugh, I added in another Peavey 18 I had lying around. Sure it was a lot louder, but the thing that was really nice about it was that I could just wheel each stack in and out without having to carry anything. You get to the gig, drop an 18 cab and put the 210 atop it, dolly it in and then do the same thing with the other cab and rack. It might seem counterintuitive, but adding the 2nd 18" cab actually made load in and out easier. So that's what I did for a few years. Carting all this BS around never bothered me, up until the bands I was working with started to dissolve. That was about 2 years ago. Now I just sit and play this thing in my home while my neighbors weep.
Click to expand...

Congratulations Sir – you’ve laid my little rig to waste!


fretless-reduced-jpg.4752961


Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Pedulla Club #45 Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Administrator, Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Basses
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
Pedulla Club #45
 
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#20
FugaziBomb said:
View attachment 4898184

Behold, the world's biggest, dumbest bass rig. This is two 18" subs powered by a 2x450 watt Crown XLi and a 2x10 Peavey headliner powered by one 50 watt side of a Mesa Stereo 2:Fifty tube amp.

This came about because of playing in reggae and hip hop bands where I couldn't get enough low end to compete with the DJ between sets. At the time, I was playing an 8x10 and an 8 space rack head with the Crown powering the whole thing and the damn DJ was still hitting so much harder than I could below 100hz. So I decide in lieu of a traditional bass amp, I'd carry around my own PA with a sub. I eventually added the Mesa to run my pedal board through and left the Crown to handle the clean lows. It sounded great!

Then one night for a laugh, I added in another Peavey 18 I had lying around. Sure it was a lot louder, but the thing that was really nice about it was that I could just wheel each stack in and out without having to carry anything. You get to the gig, drop an 18 cab and put the 210 atop it, dolly it in and then do the same thing with the other cab and rack. It might seem counterintuitive, but adding the 2nd 18" cab actually made load in and out easier. So that's what I did for a few years. Carting all this BS around never bothered me, up until the bands I was working with started to dissolve. That was about 2 years ago. Now I just sit and play this thing in my home while my neighbors weep.
Click to expand...
...and here's me thinking "man, I've got to get myself a smaller rig" as I was carting my 1x12 back to the car after last night's jazz gig LOL
 
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