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Boutique gear


geoff90guitar
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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1450272333' post='2931218']
I have to say, I've never really been sold on any NEO cabs I tried.
Doesn't mean I didn't use them at the time...just knew something
wasn't quite right.

I could list them as there are a good few... but not one
did I like. Draw your own conclusions but the one common
element was NEO.
That is why I feel I can say I don't like NEO.

Whether that might change at some point in the future
when I hear one, is a maybe.
[/quote]

The other common element that you may not have considered is that cab manufacturers who use neo speakers always put them in lightweight boxes. There might be one, but I don't know of any commercial neo cab that hasn't got a thinwall or balsawood-type box. I'd like to suggest that what you heard was not so much the sound of neo but rather the sound of insubstantial cabinet walls vibrating. Just a thought.

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[quote name='sunburstjazz1967' timestamp='1450275823' post='2931266']
As the op is slating multi hundred pound cabs I'm presuming cabs for less than £200 are the ones we should all be using, I'd need at least a good ceramic 4x10 capable of managing 600 watts at four ohms and to be able to produce a clean low B, any suggestions?
[/quote]

Our Ampeg 4 x 10, Bassman 2 x 15 and HH 2 x 15 can all, individually, fill any largish venue with good, clean bass from our sixer fretless with a 200w Hiwatt valve amp on tickover. I'm not saying neo, modern cabs are not good (I wouldn't know...), but I'd question why anyone would think that 600w is a requirement. We play modern pop/rock covers in all sorts of venues and have never felt that the bass was lacking, even outdoors. Old, vintage gear is not all rubbish.

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[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1450272504' post='2931219']
Good point Kevin, I wonder how much of that is due to the cab or the amp itself. I`d love to hear a full Ampeg valve amp through one of my S12Ts to hear the difference.
[/quote]
I think it's a bit of both , The ABM 1000 going through the Ampeg 8 x 10 to my ears made sounded a lot better than the SVT , Could go lower & made the speaker struggle when pushed , but that was an extreme setting , but I never got this with the Barefaced , I also have 2 x10 Ashdown Neos they are very good & look cool but are twice as heavy as the barefaced & don't have the depth ..

Edited by Kevin Dean
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[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1450274917' post='2931254']
The other common element that you may not have considered is that cab manufacturers who use neo speakers always put them in lightweight boxes. There might be one, but I don't know of any commercial neo cab that hasn't got a thinwall or balsawood-type box. I'd like to suggest that what you heard was not so much the sound of neo but rather the sound of insubstantial cabinet walls vibrating. Just a thought.
[/quote]

Fair point...but my introduction to NEO's was when I put 2510 deltalites in my Goliath Jnr box...and hated them.
I'd looked around to see whether this conversion was common as PAS speakers were like gold dust in the U.K
and no one had recone kits either.
The conversion WAS common and people said they loved it.... well, I liked the weight save, but sold the boxes
asap.

So, the box was a decent SWR box..albeit maybe not tuned optimally for the NEO chassis but it wasn't the volume]
that was the problem, it w as the sound.

Anyway... it wasn't until I used Markbass with NEO that I got the idea that NEO wasn't working....and then
onto all the others and same thought that these boxes weren't really happening for my ears.

The only NEO cabs I got reasonable comments on were Berg AE112's
.

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Looking out for a lightweight practice amp I had a bit of a spree earlier this year and tried out 4 PJB amps which I think you'd call 'boutique'. Build quality - excellent. 1 was ceramic and 3 were neo. Previously I had the notion that neos tended to have a sound that was a bit mid-biased. However, although the Cub and Flightcase sounded sort of gritty to me, the PB300 not so. All three have neo's. The Briefcase, (ceramic), was the warmest and my favourite. All were very high fidelity.

My next tryout was a Rumble 40 - incredibly light with great range of tone and plenty of volume - class D. But I've settled on a TCE BG208 for the time being - lightweight, small footprint and effective eq. It may well be class D.

I have a different preference for gigging though and my rig has remained the same over several years, Peavey Max160, (class AB SS), into an Ampeg B115E. I enjoy the differences between them and think they both suit their purpose.

Edited by grandad
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My 2p.

I've had many cabs over the years (gigging for 25years and counting), Trace / Laney / H&H / Orange / Peavey / Ashdown / Marshall etc all the usual suspects.

I've heard nothing that's as good as my Barefaced super compacts. They are certainly not lacking in heft in any way.

YMMV.

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[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1450347339' post='2931809']
Reading this thread has made me realise how much I miss lugging 1x15 and 4x10 cabinets about. I feel so inadequate now with my 20kg 2x12.
[/quote]
Same here. I simply wouldn't lug the 60kg of my old Trace 4x10 combo these days. Simple as that. I'd accept a compromised sound for the convenience of a lighter pack. Fortunately I don't have to, as I now have lighter and better - result!

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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1450274917' post='2931254']
I don't know of any commercial neo cab that hasn't got a thinwall or balsawood-type box.
[/quote]

AFAIK epifani use 3/4" poplar ply

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[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1450358760' post='2931990']
My 2p.

I've had many cabs over the years (gigging for 25years and counting), Trace / Laney / H&H / Orange / Peavey / Ashdown / Marshall etc all the usual suspects.

I've heard nothing that's as good as my Barefaced super compacts. They are certainly not lacking in heft in any way.

YMMV.
[/quote]

I feel the same.

From the mid 1980s, when I bought my first "proper" bass amplification (Trace Elliot AH250 with 1048 and 1518 cabs - which, interestingly were regarded as pretty "boutique" back then!), through use of Ampeg, Ashdown, Fender, Randall, Orange, Hartke, Gallien Krueger, Aguilar, TKS and a few others I have forgotten about... I have always had what I would think of as a "decent" bass tone. Some better than others to my ears, but all pretty good.

Since I first tried a Barefaced Compact, I have owned two Compacts, a Vintage and a Big One. I now use two Berg HS210s - not because I felt that the BFs lacked anything, but simply because the Bergs came up at a time when I was looking at alternatives, and I had always wanted to try some.

Amp-wise, I am now using a Markbass LM2.

To be honest, I've never noticed a "neo" sound, or the difference between Class D amps and more traditional designs. I've never noticed a lack of "ooomph" or "heft" or whatever it is called. Some amps have lacked midrange control, others have over-compensated with ridiculously complex EQ sections!

I think the general quality of bass gear these days is incredibly good, and costs a lot less (in relative terms) than it used to. My old Trace stack cost me over £1300 back in 1986. For that same money [b][i]now[/i][/b] I could buy a really decent rig!

It's a great time to be a bass player and all these petty arguments about which is "best" get slightly wearing. If you like it, it's good. Sod what anyone else says! :P

Edited by Conan
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Been there, done that, and all those cliches...

I currently run a Neo loaded cab (BF S12T) powered by either a GB Shuttle 9.2 or a Alembic F1-x going to a 1000W power amp.
Some may call this boutique but my old rig (Trace Elliot GP12 into a 2x10" and a 1x15") probably costs the same amount of money, so that must also be boutique!

What about the price of an Ampeg valve amp + 8x10? Isn't it also boutique?

Well, all i can say is that i wouldn't change my current setup for anything old and heavy. It's a pain to cart around, the sound isn't clear and defined and it won't go half as loud as what i use now (not that i ever need it to, in fact now a i can play at lower volumes because i have more clarity and cut the mix better).

Summing it up, Class-D+Neo for me all day long! :)








[size=3]PS: At least the OP doesn't use a multi-hundred(thousand) pound bass... oh wait!... is that a...[/size]

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