light bass cab or combo suitable for jazz guitar

[adriansmith247]

Hi

I know this is not wholely bass specific but I hope its OK to post anyway as it is kind of bass related.  I am not a member of any guitar forums and I don't play guitar so I am hoping that some of you who also play guitar can offer some advice. 

A guitar playing friend of mine is in need of a lightweight, cheap and small cab suitable for small jazz gigs. He has an old Polytone amp and cab that is too heavy but he may still want to use the amp. 

Are any of those small 'SubZero' cabs on Gear4music any good? He can't spend big money on a high-end lightweight combo so we are thinking he could still use the Polytone amp and get a cheap and light cab to go with it

(the bass bit) Is there a light weight and cheap bass cab that would be suitable? I am thinking of one of those 1x10 eden cabs or Ashdown Neo cabs. Do any of you guys use a small bass cab for guitar work? I know some guitarists use the old GK MB150 combo but even that combo is a little too heavy for my friend who is getting a bit now. One option could be to replace his current loudspeaker with a Neo speaker. This comes in at around £150 but I don't think it would take off that much weight

Any ideas welcome. 

many thanks 

Adrian

[Dan Dare]

If he has a Polytone head, I should think that will be ideal for jazz guitar. That's what they were originally intended for. The head is largely what governs how it will sound. I'd look into the neo driver option. Is the existing cab a 1x12?  if so, he should be able to replace the drive unit for much less than £150 - Watford Vales has the Celestion Neos at reasonable prices, for example.

[adriansmith247]

Cheers I’ll check those speakers out 

[Bigguy2017]

Check out the little Yerasov extension cabs  

http://yerasov.co.uk/products.html#CABINETS

12 "Jensen C12R

10" Jensen C10Q

both 8R and 8kg

I have the GT15 combo and its truly excellent.

[adriansmith247]

Cheers Bigguy2017. Those cabinets look really good

[DanOwens]

I've put my jazzbox through all my bass amps (GSS, Eden, TechSoundsystems, Markbass) and the only bass amp tone I've enjoyed with it was a little Ibanez 10w practice amp. I'm sure there would be some combination out there that sounds great, but I just couldn't get the articulation I needed in the upper mids from a bass amp (except the Ibanez I mentioned, but that lacked volume). 

Edited September 3, 2019 by DanOwens

[Sparky Mark]

A couple of weeks ago the guitarist in my band arrived at a gig without his Roland JC120 (another band member forgot to bring it). Anyhow, I had my rehearsal combo, a line 6 studio 110 in my car and we gave it a spin. Set on the clean preset with his guitar going into his line 6 effects board in the the 110 it managed a fairly loud gig for a couple of hours. At the end it was pretty hot but 80 watts into a single 10 was pretty damn loud so I think a small 10 cab would be good. 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Sparky Mark

[fleabag]

My pal plays jazz guitar, amongst other styles, and being a grade 8 teacher of guitar, i guess he knows whats what.

He uses a Marshall AS50D, and leaves it at my place for impromptu  jamming.  Its a superb amp. Not expensive - think they can picked up for  £100-£135

Edited September 4, 2019 by fleabag

[Tubster]

Fender Rumble V3 40 watt. Great for guitar and light as a feather.

[Balcro]

Hello adriansmith247,

You have many variables in that question so it would help us if you could give some more information about your friend's existing set-up.

What's the wattage output from the Polytone amp?
What power handling is required for the Bass cab?

What's the budget?

The GK MB 150 1x12 combo you mention has a weight of 12 Kg or about 26lbs, so I guess you're looking for something less than that. Small major-brand bass cabs coming in under 12 Kgs are rare. The EDEN EX112 @gear4music comes close but still  weighs 30lbs, so as you say, you're looking at brands like RedSub / SubZero.

If your friend wants to continue to use his Polytone amp then there is sideways option open to him. That's to send the signal from the Polytone to the Effects Return socket on a combo.  Only a few light & cheap combo's can do this but their speaker power handling is usually limited to about 30w input.
For example: - https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/RedSub-BA-30-30W-Bass-Amplifier/2KCW
This weigh in at 11Kg.

The SubZero GC 112, a guitar cab & looks adequate, can be daisy chained, but no weight is specified.
The SubZero G 110 with a Celestion speaker is another guitar cab; is good for 30 watts & weighs 10Kg.
Otherwise at a price there's the Gallien Krueger 112 MBX extension loudspeaker with aluminium chassis. Only 16 lbs, but  £300!

Edited September 6, 2019 by Balcro

[adriansmith247]

Hi everyone

many thanks for all your suggestions. There is a lot to think about here and, as always, you seem to get what you pay for. I'll have a chat to him over the next couple of weeks to find out what budget he has. I was hoping for a really cheap cab, sub £100, that is also very light but I have been looking at the DV mark jazz combos. They are around £300 but really light and totally fit for purpose. 

[basstone]

The AER compact guitar combos are great, very small and light. I know a couple of jazz guitar players who use these all the time now. Maybe worth keeping a lookout for a secondhand oneas new they are well outside budget? The polytone could possibly be sold to help fund it?