Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Help please with choice of bass cabinet


Chris Royle

Recommended Posts

11 hours ago, lownote12 said:

As you're close to London I'd take myself to the Bass Gallery in Camden, they have a wide range of heads and cabs, and may have a Barefaced demonstrator.

As someone mentioned modern cabs vary widely in 'colour'.  Your old cabs probably won't have had enough clarity to notice.  But a Markbass has a very different sound to a Barefaced One 10 which is different to a Retro Two10 - and doubtless many other makes, all different.  I would strongly recommend you listen to your head through various speakers before deciding. And other heads. 

Again as others have said, if you like old school Markbass heads coupled with their own cabs provide a fantastic sound IMHO.  For a sample, here's Michael League at a Markbass masterclass. 

As to power, weight, cost.  A Barefaced One10 weighs 7 Kg and will take 500 watts - but costs up to £400. Also Barefaced Tolex peels.

Back to my opening point really.

   

The Markbass 12 I  HR I heard the other day sounded like poo. The speaker looked like it had baby pop all over it.

Seriously though the baked in sound on that cab was really not to my taste but you may like it. There are enough Markbass uses out there to suggest that I might be wrong.........nah.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

I'd say not, because that's a minty clean, lovely old AC50 that deserves to be taken out of an evening and I'm an old fart who happily gigged a 50w Marshall Mk2 against an AC30, a Musicman HD130 and a loud drummer.

There's also a cheap and dirty approach to this issue (with which other forumites might disagree).

At the time of posting one can secure an Ashdown Toneman Deep 1x15 cab off Thomann for £129 inc shipping and a Celestion BN15-300S NEO-8OHM neodymium lightweight speaker from Watford Valves for a ludicrously cheap £100 inc shipping. One could theoretically whip out the stock Ashdown speaker and replace it with the Celestion Neo. Bingo, a fairly lightweight 1x15 8-ohm cab for £230. Unscrew the Ashdown logo, pair it up with the AC50 and see how it sounds.

Caveat 1: I've not used a BN-15 Neo and I've no idea of their reputation. Also, it's sensitivity is only 95dB. Another option would be a Jensen Smooth Bass BS 15N/350A from Hot Rox for £149 inc shipping. At a nominal 98.7dB it would be a more efficient speaker than the Celestion. Haven't used one of those either. Also, one would need to check the speaker aperture dimensions, etc for precise fit. NB, neo speakers have fantastically powerful magnets so observe any cautionary guidance or look it up on't web.

Caveat 2: Some people here might think there'd a need to re-tune the cab ports to the new speaker. I wouldn't know.

I've used the BN15S - the 400w model, rather than the 300 - which I also bought cheap from Watford Valves (they are discontinued and WV and others have been selling the last of their stock). It's not a bad driver, but be aware it only has about 3mm excursion, so the amount of wallop it can produce will be limited. It doesn't appear you will be looking for sustained high volume, so it should be fine for a typical pub gig with a lower volume amp.

I bought mine to put in a used Ashdown 15" cab that I bought cheaply because it had a blown driver. I used it as a stopgap whilst I was looking for new cabs. If you do decide to go this route, don't buy a new cab for £130. Get a used one. Several on eBay at present for much less than £130.

Re. keeping the Vox, I agree it's a lovely old beast and it's your choice, but do get it looked over before using it in anger (as I said in an earlier post).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SE Bash in Surrey in September...if you can wait till then.

In agreement with @Chienmortbb re: Markbass. I bought the Jeff Berlin combo on recommendation but was deeply disappointed. 

Are you planning on attending the Bass Guitar Show?? Lots of companies will be exhibiting so you'll be able to try most of the modern contenders. Personally I'd look at one or more Vanderkley, there are several for sale in our own marketplace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Personally I'd look at one or more Vanderkley, there are several for sale in our own marketplace.

See, ain't that strange.  I love the clarity of my Markbass.  But I owned two Vanderkley cabs and found them muddy and unpleasant. Got rid as soon as I could.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 27/04/2019 at 19:43, lownote12 said:

See, ain't that strange.  I love the clarity of my Markbass.  But I owned two Vanderkley cabs and found them muddy and unpleasant. Got rid as soon as I could.

That's the thing - what works for one doesn't necessarily for others...explains why there is more than one manufacturer out there...

Horses...and all that...BTW kicking myself for missing you VDK sale!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 27/04/2019 at 06:13, lownote12 said:

A Barefaced One10 weighs 7 Kg and will take 500 watts - but costs up to £400. Also Barefaced Tolex peels.

The early cabs had issues with the glue, but since it was fixed there is no problem with BF cabs and peeling Tolex.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...