andrewrx7

Tried a new combination on Sat night at a club gig. Quite liked it. I've been gradually changing away from the big heavy Trace gear to something a bit smaller and lighter. All my personal opinions, and granted what I like will not reflect what many others like, but any how, my opinions to date: Head = Trace AH300. Always use pre-shape, with eq off. Compression on, set to just over half way. Bass set typically to full volume on both neck and bridge pick ups, with tone pots set to mid positions. Input on the head set to thumbs up LED! :-) Set up 1: Trace 4x10. Nice and punchy, but thought it lacked some low end thump. Set up 2: So, invested in a Trace 1x15, to go classic 1x15 + 4x10 stack. It certainly added some bottom to the overall sound. Relatively pleased, but at times it did seem quite boomy. Set up 3: Bought a TC Electronics BC2x10. Also bought one of those isolation pads to lift the cabs off the floor, which I use all the time now. Really liked the overall sound with this. TC on the bottom and TE on top. Got rid of the booming and had a nice and punchy sound again. I'd also say the BC210 certainly had a nice low end sound to it, something the TE cab was lacking. Overall, a really good set up. Set up 4: That pesky TE 4x10 weighs a ton, so decided to go for a matching TC cab and bought the BC212. Also been reading about vertical stacking etc, so this would allow me the opportunity to try this out. 2x12 on the bottom and BC 210 on top, in a 4x1 speaker arrangement. Disappointed, to be honest. Can't quite put my finger on it, but to my ears, thickened up the sound alot, but seemed to lack definition to the sound that the 4x10 gave. Also was audibly less effective, really needed to push the amp high to get volume to keep up with the other two guys. Didn't like this sound at all. Set up 5: Decided I wanted to stick with this vertical array format, but wanted another 2x10. Finally went for an Ashdown MAG210t (slim cab version). Have done 1 gig with this so far, and really pleased with it. BC on the bottom and MAG on the top, again as a 4x1 vertical array. Nice and punchy sound, with a good deep bottom end. Some nice high end "twang" from the strings to, which I like. Both cabs have tweeters, but non adjustable. The MAG cab is smaller than the BC210, but weights quite a bit more - not really what I'd call a lightweight cab! Plus they only give you one handle which makes carrying it a bit awkward. But overall, I like the sound at the gig. A good even sound, at least to me, around the club as I walked around during the soundcheck - due to the vertical array? Even the guitarist said good sound, which he rarely does. Normally complains he can't hear me. So, although very subjective, for a smaller rig and a bit lighter, the BC210 + MAG210 has had a good start. Think I will still break out the big TE 410 at a particular pub, but will be sticking the this combination for the time-being. Guess I should really try to sell some of the cabs now, I don't want to become a hoarder!

Interesting to read. Personally, I carry a spare head. Never had to use it, thankfully. But this was triggered with a gig, where the output pot on my head broke. It was either off or full volume! Needed to carefully control the volume from the bass, but got through it. So got a spare head. Doesn't take up alot of space in the car, so don't mind taking it with me.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1394707056' post='2394173'] You need one of these: [/quote] Very good!

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1394712955' post='2394256'] You don't, the guitar amps do. [/quote] Good! Well, for me anyway!

OK, so the theory describes best sound dispersion using a vertically stacked array. I've tried a quick test with my gear with a 4x1 stack vs a 2x2 stack and yes, I can clearly hear differences. Quite surprised actually. Question: fine to hear differences in a quiet room, with only the bass thumping away, but does this linear array set up all go wrong when you add guitar amps into the mix? Do you end up with the comb filtering effect again?

On a cab that quotes a frequency response from 60Hz, presumably porting would not offer much of an advantage then, assuming there is little effect from the ports from 80Hz upwards (Bill's post #8)? As ever, interesting reading, and thanks to Bill for sharing his knowledge. Does he ever sleep??

I tried a closed back 2x10 last night. To my ears, sounded pretty good actually. Compared it to a different manufacturers 2x10 with twin ports on the back, and the close back cab was both louder and, to my ears, had a more rounded sound. Does porting actually do much, or is it 90% hype? Does it matter if the ports are forward or rear facing?

Can a cab that has had the depth reduced by say 25% sound as good as the cab that is full depth? Or do manufacturers "re-tune" the performance of the cab to sound the same? Just wondering whether there are some physics that means that the slimmer version simply will never sound the same?

Interesting read, thank you. I even strayed into the next installment!

Crikey, my lunch break isn't long enough to read all that link! Thanks for that, I'll see how much of it I understand!

Apologies if this is a daft question to start off with, but why don't manufacturers make cabs with angled speakers to get a more even distribution of sound? I've only ever seen a couple of angled speaker cabs (and to be honest can't remember who made them or whether they were for bass or guitar), but why isn't this really the norm? It is blatently obvious that even moving a few feet from the centre line in front of a cab (bass or guitar) the audible response is significantly different. Would not having several speakers slightly angled provide a more even sound to an audience? This is made in reference to say, small venues, like pubs/clubs, without a FOH PA system. Just curoius...and willing to learn why this is not a good idea!

Hi, As per title, these cabs seem to be on sale at a good price. Anyone have any experience with them? The Ashdown site is crap, with little or no info - does anyone know why these are now "Slim" cabs, compared to the "Deep" cabs? What's changed and what effect does this have on the sound? Thanks!

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1344361189' post='1763381'] We change the key. We're bad enough without having the singer struggling as well. [/quote] Hahaha! That sounds familiar!

Hi there, I had a quick search for insurance but only found one hit, so sorry if this has been asked before and I've missed it. What do people do about insuring equipment, in storage and at a gig? And who do you use? Do you rely on "house insurance or do you use something specific? My situation: until recently, we had thought all my gear was covered under house insurance, both stored at home and when I take pieces out for a gig. We have now found out that this was not the case. We have a secure building not attached to the house, in which the gear is stored. The maximum the insurance company will cover for all contents in this building is only £5k. They also do not cover for when the gear is out and about. We were advised by the insurance broker to take out a seperate policy specifically to cover the music gear, both at a place of storage and while in transit. He recommended Music Guard, as he was a DJ and had looked into this area from his personal point of view. Any used Music Guard? Are they OK? Any other recomendations as alternatives? An example of a quote from teh Music Guard web site, for £8k cover, premiums were about £160/yr. Drops to about £130 for £6k cover. Any comments on what other people do would be appreciated. Thanks, Andrew

Just checked with a 9v battery and yes, the poles are opposite way round. Soldering iron, here I come! Thanks for the help, even if it were a very simple solution!