Beedster Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) Right, I've got a rather nice Acoustic Image Contra II combo and extension cab that i like for double bass but which, although it does a decent enough job if I'm after a clean sound, doesn't really do what I'd like it to do for electric bass. I need to reduce some gear at the moment, so was thinking of selling the AI rig and buying a Mesa Walkabout to cover both DB and electric. Cut a long story short, no-one seems to want to buy the AI gear which means I would be spending 'non gear-allocated funds' (N-GAFs) on the Walkabout (and as we all know, the Beedster-Clarky Law dictates that previously cheap and plentiful used gear such as a Walkabout Scout suddenly become inexplicably rare and expensive once you've decided you absolutely must have one). It's probably fair to say also that at high volumes the Walkabout can get a bit too grunty for DB. So, I was reading various posts on here last night about combos and micro heads and was wondering if what I need to do is keep the AI and simply buy a head specifically for electric - that is one that will provide some warmth and some grunt - but run it through the AI cabs for electric whilst keeping the AI head for DB. I wouldn't be using this rig for big gigs, for that i have 'The Monster' (400+/1516). I'd simply be using it for practice and rehearsals, the latter of which will need to keep up with drums. So, I've been tempted by the Phil Jones M300, by some TC heads I've seen and the EBS Riedmar I've read a lot about over recent days. Also in the running I'd guess would be an Orange TB, although i think it might scare the AI cabs a little, and i guess even a tube front-ended Markbass could do the job? What I'm looking for most is warmth and a little bit of grunt (for which a Walkabout head would be perfect, all joking aside I think the TB provides a little too much grunt). I'm also very fond of para or semi-para EQ (Walkabout wins again of course). It needs to sit on top of an AI cab so ideally should be no wider than about 10-12 inches, in fact, the smaller the better. I'd also prefer not to be spending much more than £500 new or used if at all possible (Walkabout loses). I'd really appreciate both your thoughts on which head would be best and on running such a head through the rather small AI cabs Thanks Chris Edited October 2, 2012 by Beedster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I got very nice results from an AI Clarus amp by putting something "dirty" in front, and using it as a powered speaker. The AI amps are great, just very clean with eq so subtle it passes me by. My old Sansamp worked well, as long as you're gentle with the eq and the blend control,as did the VT pedal and a Sadowsky..or a SFT clone (but grungier..) there are loads to chose from. Also worked a treat with Euphonic Audio amps. Its not real valve grunt, but I found it was very useable and most of all convenient and cost effective! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Have you tried popping the DB through Markbass gear to see if you like it? I had a DB through my MB 2x10 combo & I thought it sounded superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Thanks for the replies guys [quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1349193454' post='1823097'] I got very nice results from an AI Clarus amp by putting something "dirty" in front, and using it as a powered speaker. The AI amps are great, just very clean with eq so subtle it passes me by. My old Sansamp worked well, as long as you're gentle with the eq and the blend control,as did the VT pedal and a Sadowsky..or a SFT clone (but grungier..) there are loads to chose from. Also worked a treat with Euphonic Audio amps. Its not real valve grunt, but I found it was very useable and most of all convenient and cost effective! [/quote] Agreed, I ran my old Sansamp VT Bass through the AI from my Ric and it sounded really good, but I hate using boxes to get 'the sound' if you know what I mean. It kinda felt a little synthetic, good, but synthetic (although I'm sure no-one in the audience would have noticed) [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1349193915' post='1823106'] Have you tried popping the DB through Markbass gear to see if you like it? I had a DB through my MB 2x10 combo & I thought it sounded superb. [/quote] I've never tried it with DB, I don't really like the way my basses sound through Markbass cabs. Nothing wrong with them, just don't like them all that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Looks like this is sorted folks, I'm going to be running a Walkabout head through the two AI cabs. Can't wait (With thanks to the mysterious benefactor............) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Something tells me you should go gentle with those AI cabs...probably over cautious, but I've seen a few with rattling speakers. I know what you mean about getting your sound from a box of tricks...but aren't valves just fancy light bulbs anyway?? For me, an easy load in always wins over "the sound" - I seem to get paid much more when no-one is listening anyway. My holy grail box is the Alembic F2B (single rack space, very light) but most of the time I just don't want to cart even a small rack bag around, its stealth gigging and every bag/box has to be essential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 If I had any money Chris, I would have bought the AI stuff from you but I'm definitely keeping my Walkabout. Good luck with your new plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 [quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1349204766' post='1823317'] Something tells me you should go gentle with those AI cabs...probably over cautious, but I've seen a few with rattling speakers. I know what you mean about getting your sound from a box of tricks...but aren't valves just fancy light bulbs anyway?? For me, an easy load in always wins over "the sound" - I seem to get paid much more when no-one is listening anyway. My holy grail box is the Alembic F2B (single rack space, very light) but most of the time I just don't want to cart even a small rack bag around, its stealth gigging and every bag/box has to be essential. [/quote] Ha ha, wish I gigged sufficiently frequently to worry about such things! Point taken re the cabs though, although I have to say I've put some pretty serious dbs through them from DB to not be unduly worried. [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1349205124' post='1823332'] If I had any money Chris, I would have bought the AI stuff from you but I'm definitely keeping my Walkabout. Good luck with your new plan. [/quote] Cheers Dave, I'm hoping it works out a better compromise than the Walkabout for both DB and electric, although if I had the money.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggybass Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Possibly a bit late but I have to say that a Sansamp RBI would be the perfect solution if you can handle having an extra box. Advantages (not in any order): * Two electronically balanced outputs, wet and dry, so you can feed [i]exactly[/i] the sound you want (post-gain / blend / EQ) to the house PA as well as also giving them a dry feed if you want. * Duplicated wet / dry unbalanced outputs for connection to your own backline * Quality FX loop with choice of fully wet or 50/50 blend with original signal so you can run non-preamp based FX properly, or (as I do) connect a tuner for silent tuning * Instrument inputs front and rear, and it's footswitchable in / out * Really musical EQ with well-chosen frequencies for bass, a useful presence control and a sensible gain range able to produce fully clean to comprehensively nasty preamp overdrive from pretty much any input level * Very solidly built! I've used my RBI for years (in fact I have two) and can't imagine gigging without it. Couple of weeks ago I gigged at a local music venue and DI'd into their system as normal - at soundcheck the engineer asked me to play a bit, I did and he started smiling. I stopped and he said 'Is that a Sansamp?' I nodded and he said, 'Fantastic - they always sound great. Can we do the drums...?' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 [quote name='Wiggybass' timestamp='1349207005' post='1823376'] Possibly a bit late but I have to say that a Sansamp RBI would be the perfect solution if you can handle having an extra box. Advantages (not in any order): * Two electronically balanced outputs, wet and dry, so you can feed [i]exactly[/i] the sound you want (post-gain / blend / EQ) to the house PA as well as also giving them a dry feed if you want. * Duplicated wet / dry unbalanced outputs for connection to your own backline * Quality FX loop with choice of fully wet or 50/50 blend with original signal so you can run non-preamp based FX properly, or (as I do) connect a tuner for silent tuning * Instrument inputs front and rear, and it's footswitchable in / out * Really musical EQ with well-chosen frequencies for bass, a useful presence control and a sensible gain range able to produce fully clean to comprehensively nasty preamp overdrive from pretty much any input level * Very solidly built! I've used my RBI for years (in fact I have two) and can't imagine gigging without it. Couple of weeks ago I gigged at a local music venue and DI'd into their system as normal - at soundcheck the engineer asked me to play a bit, I did and he started smiling. I stopped and he said 'Is that a Sansamp?' I nodded and he said, 'Fantastic - they always sound great. Can we do the drums...?' [/quote] I don't disagree, other than it's not an amp and not less than 12" wide! I also think it suffers from the same limitations as the Sansamp/VT Bass, that is, it's good but synthetic C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponehandloose Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Walkabout is great for double bass, have the input on passive with gain about 1 o clock, flick the active switch for lecky bass to get a bit more bite. All the Mesa forums reckon you can run the head with 2 , 4 ohm cabs even though its rated 4 ohm min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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