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What a difference a good rig makes


shoulderpet

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Don't post that often but a rehearsal the other day inspired me to.  On forums people often talk about the differences that different basses provide, different strings etc, I think the most overlooked aspect is the rig being used, had a rehearsal the other day and we used one of the bigger rooms, I was pleased to see an 8x10" Marshall bass stack, I forget the actual bass head but it was something that looked like it had survived a few decades , anyhow plugging in the tone was incredible, big, rich and warm, lots of low end and deep,deep lows without being woofy like a lot of setups I have played through, anyhow point is amps/cabs/combos are often overlooked but have a huge impact on tone.

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Agree, and I`ve in general found that the better sounding rigs from my point of view have been ones where there have been a whopping great speaker stack, usually accompanied by a heavier weight amp. I`m no good with the techy stuff but to me it seems you need to put less actual bass in when there are a lot of speakers going, but you still get a the low end without the woof.

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What constitutes 'a good rig' could be debated until the cows come home, but I would agree... the best 'tone' or 'sound' or whatever you want to call it that I ever had was through an Ampeg SVT Classic with matching 8X10. Still chasing that sound, really. I'd use a fridge every time, were it not for the practicalities involved in moving the bloody thing from A to B. And back.

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1 minute ago, discreet said:

What constitutes 'a good rig' could be debated until the cows come home, but I would agree... the best 'tone' or 'sound' or whatever you want to call it that I ever had was through an Ampeg SVT Classic with matching 8X10. Still chasing that sound, really. I'd use a fridge every time, were it not for the practicalities involved in moving the bloody thing from A to B. And back.

Totally agree.  In my case it was four 4 x 12s driven with 2 x Marshall Super Bass hundreds.  What a sound.  Slightly impractical now though.

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14 minutes ago, discreet said:

What constitutes 'a good rig' could be debated until the cows come home, but I would agree... the best 'tone' or 'sound' or whatever you want to call it that I ever had was through an Ampeg SVT Classic with matching 8X10. Still chasing that sound, really. I'd use a fridge every time, were it not for the practicalities involved in moving the bloody thing from A to B. And back.

Yeah I agree about the practicalities, i'm not a tall person and not well built and the cab was nearly as tall as me

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The "best" sound I ever got was through the first amp I ever owned. It was a 60 watt valve amp and a 412 cab. I sounded so good I couldn't believe my bass (and me) could sound like that. That was it, no turning back. I have no idea if I actually sounded good or not but I thought I did to the point that I knew I'd be a bass player for the rest of my life.

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24 minutes ago, discreet said:

What constitutes 'a good rig' could be debated until the cows come home, but I would agree... the best 'tone' or 'sound' or whatever you want to call it that I ever had was through an Ampeg SVT Classic with matching 8X10. Still chasing that sound, really. I'd use a fridge every time, were it not for the practicalities involved in moving the bloody thing from A to B. And back.

I used an Orange AD200B head and Ampeg 8X10 cab at a festival a year or two ago. What a sound. But I'd never be able to carry that around, or really want to.

 

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2 hours ago, discreet said:

What constitutes 'a good rig' could be debated until the cows come home, but I would agree... the best 'tone' or 'sound' or whatever you want to call it that I ever had was through an Ampeg SVT Classic with matching 8X10. Still chasing that sound, really. I'd use a fridge every time, were it not for the practicalities involved in moving the bloody thing from A to B. And back.

Absolutely. And that's why even now the go-to bass rig you see on stages everywhere is the Ampeg SVT / 810 or derivatives of it.   Still miss mine after nearly 20 years 😢

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More speakers, more umpf!

Heavy head - even more umpf!

Class D and single lightweight cabs just cant compete - no matter what anyone says.

Theyre perfectly acceptable and youd never know the difference, but side by side, and playing through them its a different ball game!

 

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1 minute ago, la bam said:

More speakers, more umpf!

Heavy head - even more umpf!

Class D and single lightweight cabs just cant compete - no matter what anyone says.

Theyre perfectly acceptable and youd never know the difference, but side by side, and playing through them its a different ball game!

 

I'm beginning to come to this conclusion. Since using Class D and light weight speakers for the last 10 years or so, I've never been totally blown away by the sound and I'm so tempted to go back to a 4x10. Not sure what though. The last rig I used was a big old TC Electronic 4x10 and an old BH500 head and it sounded amazing. Before that, I used an Ashdown Rootmaster head and Ashdown 1x15 and my Precision seriously sounded incredible. Just not keen on the extra size and weight that comes with it compared to my MarkBass LM3 and 2 x NY112 cabs.

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41 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

Just not keen on the extra size and weight that comes with it ...

Aye, there's the rub. Lightweight gear is good because it's, er... lightweight. I went as light as possible but found I was sacrificing sound for portability. Now I've gone relatively small with a combo, but it's not a light combo. It's not Class D either. It sounds great, but... it's still 32kg. D'oh!!

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51 minutes ago, discreet said:

Aye, there's the rub. Lightweight gear is good because it's, er... lightweight. I went as light as possible but found I was sacrificing sound for portability. Now I've gone relatively small with a combo, but it's not a light combo. It's not Class D either. It sounds great, but... it's still 32kg. D'oh!!

What's your combo of choice?

 

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I went with lightweight amps & cabs and was perfectly satisfied with them til I started using Ampeg and Ashdown gear as provided rigs. From then on the lightweight gear sounded just that, lightweight. At some point I’m going to have to, out of sense and age, go lightweight on the cabs again. Luckily Ashdowns RM range of cabs sound great and are a good bit lighter than their ABMs.

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I've dipped my toe into lightweight stuff ( Markbass and GK MB range ) but for years have settled on what I consider to be a middleweight rig for my main gigs in theatres -  GK 1001RB (22lbs) and GK Neo 410 (64lbs) as kind of a compromise from what I would ideally love (Ampeg SVT). I also have a Gen 1 BF Compact which I use for my other gigs where I use my car, which has been a gamechanger for me. It's really the speaker cabs that have always been my bugbear, and the BF stuff has come just in time for me to feel the benefit after years of schlepping heavy stuff around the country. I don't consider my 1001RB to be overly heavy compared to most of the class D stuff, and do like the sound it makes so no probs there.

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12 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Don't post that often but a rehearsal the other day inspired me to.  On forums people often talk about the differences that different basses provide, different strings etc, I think the most overlooked aspect is the rig being used, had a rehearsal the other day and we used one of the bigger rooms, I was pleased to see an 8x10" Marshall bass stack, I forget the actual bass head but it was something that looked like it had survived a few decades , anyhow plugging in the tone was incredible, big, rich and warm, lots of low end and deep,deep lows without being woofy like a lot of setups I have played through, anyhow point is amps/cabs/combos are often overlooked but have a huge impact on tone.

Yeah but does this qualify as heft?

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I've done the whole 1kW head + 2x4x10 cabs route and yes it sounds great. There's nothing like having a hefty 1.3 horsepower roaring away behind you. But my back's not getting any younger, so I'm quite happy to compromise my sound for the sake of a much easier life. FOH it all sounds the same anyway, once the engineer has finished mangling it. Ooh what a cynic. :lol:

Edited by Rich
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On 03/12/2018 at 10:52, shoulderpet said:

Don't post that often but a rehearsal the other day inspired me to.  On forums people often talk about the differences that different basses provide, different strings etc, I think the most overlooked aspect is the rig being used, had a rehearsal the other day and we used one of the bigger rooms, I was pleased to see an 8x10" Marshall bass stack, I forget the actual bass head but it was something that looked like it had survived a few decades , anyhow plugging in the tone was incredible, big, rich and warm, lots of low end and deep,deep lows without being woofy like a lot of setups I have played through, anyhow point is amps/cabs/combos are often overlooked but have a huge impact on tone.

I've totally had similar experiences re: Rehearsal gear recently.  For the past 18 months I've always brought my own gear to band rehearsals, a GK MB head and various 12" lightweight / portable cabinets (Hartke, Barefaced etc) but I've never really got a sound I was totally happy with.  

Since selling my 12" cabs and getting a new Markbass head I've not taken my gear to rehearsals, I've used what's in the studio's for ease and I was surprised that I got tones I was way more pleased with. One studio was equipped with a HK 15" combo and the other a 4x10 Marshall combo.  Both beasts and not practical to move around but it's making me realise that 12's are just not the cabs for me and that I actually want a 1x15 and 2x10 rig to go with my new Markbass head.

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Best sound i've ever had is thru my current Mesa Mpulse 600 into a Mesa PH212 cab.

Preamp tubiness with reliable power stage and the 2x12 cab is deep and produces a tone that you feel around you with depth, warmth and yet the mids are still crystal clear.

Not a lightweight cab but its a one man lift if i have to. Usually always get offere a helping hand from band members anyway.

I've tried the 810 cabs at rehearsals but you really need to drive them to get the best from them.

As someone mentioned earlier i was lucky enough last year to play thru a very early Orange OC 200 (i think that was the model) and a Hartke 810 and it did feel dep and warm. The tube power section def gives more warmth and depth of tone but i just wouldn't depend on an all tube amp these days.

Dave

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I've dropped off my Schroeder 1210 for a once over with a techie and hauled out my Aguilar GS410 for a practice instead. 

I barely use it as not doing gigs that big nowadays, and was thinking of selling it. 

However, I had forgotten how great it sounds, and it's such a good match for my LM3 and MiJ Mustang with flats. 

Sure it ain't a valve head and huge cabinet. But it sounded warm, articulate and really punchy and snarling. V nice indeed. God knows what my neighbours made of it!

IMG_2258.JPG

Edited by bassbiscuits
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