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The Quest for New Cabs


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Scootdog, this is partially your fault... :D

 

OK, so I've posted in a few threads on amps/cabs and the like that I'm looking at getting something new. Currently I own 2 Bag End S15D cabs and a Bag End S18E-D; I use the two 15's for gigs and the 18 when I play outdoor gigs in conjunction with the 15's. They sound good, but I've noticed that I don't have nearly enough definition in the mids that I'd like to have, and it doesn't cut through enough when I start playing higher up on the neck (10th fret or so).

 

When we were sound checking for our New Year's Eve show, Bryan Beller and I were noodling around together onstage and I was insanely jealous of the sound he was getting from his Goliath III cabs. We have very similar taste in overall tone and such, and his was just so much better (the bastard :D ). This prompted me to check out the SWR Goliath III cabs and I totally dug them. I had every intention on buying 2 of them and calling it good. Then tonight happened.

 

I was on my way to rehearsal, which is in downtown Seattle, about a mile or so from Bass Northwest. I was an hour early for rehearsal because I was already downtown and wanted to kill time, so I popped into BassNW to chat with Chad and Evan. We got to talking and I mentioned my quest for cabs and they started suggesting stuff... and I started playing through different cabs. ARGH! I didn't have my rack with me, as it was already at the rehearsal studio, but I had my Lull M5. The field of potential cabs is now broader and I will be going down there again on Saturday with my rack to try out different combinations of stuff.

 

Here are the current players:

 

2 SWR Goliath III - I'm sure people are fairly hip to these, so I won't go into detail. They sound great.

 

2 Bergantino HT322 - Have you heard these!?? wow. I wasn't at all hip to these things until tonight and I was very impressed. They have 1 12" driver, 2 10" drivers and a horn tweeter. Very, very smooth response and tons of wonderful definition. I highly suggest checking them out if you ever get a chance. They are expensive, the manufacturer won't allow them to be sold for less than $999 each, but man what a sound. They even handle the low-B string with a furious kapow!

 

1 Bag End Q10BX-D - 4 10" speakers and one of them has a time-aligned co-ax tweeter. I would use this with the Bag End 18 that I already have. This cab sounds incredible by itself and I can hardly wait to try it with an 18 added to it. According to Chad and Evan, this combination of cabs is one of their personal favorites of all time.

 

*sigh* who needs to have money or be out of debt? :D

 

So, Saturday is the day of reckoning as I will be spending a great deal of time pondering what sounds best and what to go with. I'll share with the rest of the class when the experiment is done.

 

-Brian

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Bryan's rig does indeed sound tremendous, I've heard him with that very rig live at the Bottom Line. His entire soundcheck consisted of doing a flamenco ghost-note roll across all five strings with his right hand. "TBBBBT!" The transients hit me in the chest from the back of the house. :D

 

All those cabinets are good choices. I'd recommend two Acme Low-B4 4x10s...but you'd have to buy a second Mackie to get any decent spls out of 'em!

 

The Bergatinos sound interesting...let me know what you think of them.

 

Also, check out the Euphonic Audio cabinets if they have any. If I did my rig all over again, I might have gone with these cabinets. They sound HUGE and are even smaller than my Acme! I don't know how heavy they are, though...

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I probably can't tell you anything that you don't already know. Your list already has some great choices on it. Do you have a crossover, either on your Ash pre or a separate unit? The idea of biamping the Bag End 4x10 and 1x18 sounds thumpalicious to me. You could crossover low, probably 100 Hz, with that set-up. That Bergie 322 got a solid review from BP, and I bet two of those bad boys would be smokin'.

 

Play, play, play as many cabs as you can. Just for the heckuv it, maybe try to play thru a pair of 2x12 cabs. (I think the Epifani 2x12 cabs kick butt, but there are also those by Bergie, EBS, and others). Also, don't rule out the Genz-Benz XB series.

 

Enjoy the hunt and relish in the debt.

 

Peace.

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk.

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The Bag End 4 x 10 cab gets my vote.

I use the same Bag End 15" cabs you use and I also own a 2 x 12 Bag End.

I am very happy with these cabinets

If I where looking to enhance my mids I would steer away from the 15's and 18's and go in the 10" or 12" direction.

I just installed new 12" Bag End speakers replacing the old speakers into the Bag End 2 x 12 cabinet and its working out very nice.

Plenty of mids along with good bottom and top.

I use an Eden WT 400 to drive the 2 12's and its a perfect medium sized set up.

 

I'm pretty sure there is a review in the current Bass Player about the Berg cab you described.

Good Luck Let us know what you decide to do. :)

www.danielprine.com

 

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Mac Daddy Bump,

 

How goes the quest, brutha? Did you end up throwing an EBS 4x12 and a couple of Ashdown folded horn bass bins into the back of a flatbed while you watched your credit card spontaneously combust as it went thru the reader? Or perhaps you purchased a variety of EA 1x12 and 1x10 cabs to array around the stage in various locations for some crazy octophonic sound?

 

Fill us in.

 

Peace,

--Willie

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk.

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Cool.

 

By the way, if you have an opportunity, please give an EBS cab or two a go. I haven't been able to plug into one around here, and I'm curious to hear some opinions. M2 uses 'em and so does Richard Bona, so I figure they've got to have something of value to offer!

 

Peace.

--S-dub

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk.

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Originally posted by Bumpcity:

Dig. I had to put off the cab quest until this coming Saturday. Look for the love this weekend sometime.

So...did you go play cab after cab after cab? We're lookin' for love...

 

Curiosity killed the cat, but I'm gonna take the risk. Maybe you'll be able to post before you hit the shed to work on the Chris and Yogi tune in 13/8?

 

Peace. Keep bumpin'.

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk.

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Alright boys and girls, I went to Bass NW and spent some quality time with a bunch of cabs.

 

The winner is (so far): 4x10 Bag End to add to my 1x18 Bag End. It sounds gi-hugically massive. Bass into Ashdown, then things get interesting: full range output into one side of Mackie 1400i and then that side of the Mackie into the 18" cab. Effects send of Ashdown into Digitech BNX-3, BNX-3 out to other side of Mackie and then into 4x10 cab. The Ashdown preamp can use the effects loop as another full-range send, which is very cool in my opinion; it doesn't want or need the effects loop to have a return signal to it in order to work as an output.

 

Since I don't use a lot of effects, the Digitech is usually on 'bypass' mode. However, when I do use effects, the 18 will still be providing none-more-lowend while the 10's will be providing said effect-laden signal. Excellent. Sounds wonderful... especially with Huge Ass Overdrive that is provided by the Interstellar Overdrive emulator. It's to die for.

 

I tried out the SWR Goliath III's, the Eden 4x10, the Bergantino cabs (several of them, actually), and even an Ampeg "pro series" 4x10. I really dug the Bergantino HT322 and the SWR/Eden stuff; but the Bag End just sounded too sexy to warrent spending another $1700-$2000 on cabs when I could spend less than a grand on the Bag End 4x10 and have Full On Kevin's Mom type love. I would love to check out some of the Acme Low-B4 cabs before I pull the trigger and actually buy this thing. G.A.S. pains suck.

 

Anyone want to buy a pair of Bag End S15-D cabs? :D

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Yo Bump,

Don't forget to check out Mesa Boogie cabs. They have one I was playing through today that was to die for. It had 4-10's and 1-15 all in one cab. 4ohm mega wattage. Check the web site.

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bump - sounds like you are getting close (despite bypassing my beloved Bergs...). I'm sure the Bag End will be great.

 

57pbass, I looked at their website - they list dealers in the area. Unfortunately the closest has a 973 area code, and looks like it's in Garfield, NJ...

 

Tom

www.stoneflyrocks.com

Acoustic Color

 

Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sweetness,

 

Dig. I've had to wait off for a brief period of time due to the Evils which are taxes. I just got setup with a "musician specialist" tax person. I'm hoping that I can score a refund as opposed to paying a small countries' national gross income (like I usually do).

 

Hopfully soon.

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