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What head? Fender 210 cabinet

reddog

reddog

Mar 5, 2013
1,950
1,196
Philly burbs
#1
Recently sold off my GB Shuttle 6.2 setup.
Left me with just a small Rumble bedroom amp.

Then I got a great deal on a Rumble 210 (V3) cabinet from a friend.

Figured it was good enough for the putzing around I do.

WHAT HEAD TO PUT ON THIS THING??

Have you had good experience matching that cabinet with a specific head?

Contemplating a GB or Genzler.

Also contemplating selling the cab and getting a GK 210 combo.

What do you think?
 
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#5
Almost any head up to around 350/400 watts @8 Ohms will do fine - the Rumble 210 is very forgiving. Whatever head you put on top might sound a little more like a Rumble than you’d expect, though. But that’s no bad thing in my book.
 
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#7
I recently got that same Fender 210 cab. My others are Ampeg 410 HLFs. Anyway, I've had a little MarkBass Blackline 250 for home practice and it's got more than enough power for home practice/coffee house stuff. Sounds great through as SVT Heritage 410. It doesn't have a good overdrive sound or anything, but lots of nice clean headroom for such a low-powered (my other amps are 800w and 1000w) amp. I'm using that with the Fender 210 and it's... fine. Not great. Not awful. Just mediocre. I have to REALLY boost the lows and low mids on the amp eq to compensate for the lack of bass from the cab.

As for the Fender cab. I'm not really lovin it. I totally should have gone the GK route, I think. So many of the reviews for the Fender V3 210 make it seem like it's a monster for the price. It is praised to be on par with cabs costing 2-3x as much. Well... I've had some of those cabs... this does NOT stand up to them in tone or power handling, imho.

I've decided that at this point I'm going to continue to play my Ampegs for the most part and just keep this around for the occasional quiet outing. It IS nice and light, and travels easily with the little MarkBass head. I'm just going to save my pennies and go Mesa by the end of the year, with a Subway 115 and 210.

I hope you like yours more than I like mine, or find a good swapportunity to upgrade!
 
#8
If you want either the Ampeg or the GK tone, the Fender Rumble cab is definitely not the way to go, as it’s a totally different beast. If you like the Fender vintage style tone, though, the Fender delivers and then some, and the power handling is actually very good, being conservatively rated at 350 watts, but in real life it’s closer to 400.

But the Rumble cab design and drivers are a big part of the Fender Rumble tone, so if that’s not your thing, it’s better to look elsewhere.
 
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#9
reddog said:
That's what I was wondering. Could be a good thing!

I was thinking of something like a GK MB500 Fusion.
Use it with the Rumble for that "Rumble" sound.

Later, buy a GK cabinet for a different sound.
Click to expand...
When I’m not using mine as an extension cab for my Rumble 500 combo, I use it with a TC Electronic BAM 200 for rehearsals and such. Sounds great, and definitely still has that Rumble personality. I haven’t tried it with a GK, but suspect the result will be fairly similar.
 
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#10
You can always bring the cab with you while you try out heads if there’s somewhere that carries good stuff near you. But guessing you’ve thought of that already. I’m luckier than most being 15 minutes from Bass Central so a no brainer for me...
 
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