so far I am reigniting my spark with Josh’s course and it’s a blast. I have as a bass a Fame Baphomet which is Warwick Corvette lookalike with two jazz pickups.
Amp-wise I have a NUX Mighty Headphone Amp and a small Warwick BC 10. The Warwick is fine for the bedroom but not worth the travel to play with others.
Since my first rehearsal experience I would like to change the amp to something bigger but not heavier, rather used and as light as possible. This is what I got, all between 350 and 400 Euro.
GR Bass Cube 350, 12" Speaker with 350 Watt RMS, roughly 12kgs, one owner, about 5 years old.
Ashdown Studio 15, 15" speaker with 300 Watt RMS, also below 12 kgs, one owner, 5-10 years old
MarkBass Little Mark, 12" speaker with 550 watt (taken from the back plate, could be less RMS if it’s alike the current MarkBass Mini models), 13kgs, multiple owners and roadworn, 20 years old.
Anyone has experience with one of these? What would be your pick? Since I have no chance of traveling and testing all of them, I would have to buy blind.
Thanks to all of you.
PS: if my budget permits, I will upgrade my bass to a Sandberg VM or TM with a humbucker at the bridge position in the near future.
My choice would be the GR Bass Cube 350 (wood enclosure). I have an AT Cube 500 (carbon fiber enclosure) which is the best amp I’ve ever owned. The custom Jensen/SICA 12" is fantastic, and the amp in the combo is the same as the one in my AT 500. The low-mid and high-mid tone controls have 3-position switches for the center freqs. Very flexible, handling almost any room/space you can throw at it. I love the clean, neutral sound. I have pedals and amp sims if I want a certain tone.
I have found the 12" speakers from GR Bass to be a great do-all size. They move more air than 10"ers and are faster responding than 15"ers. I used to own a v3 Rumble 200 with a 15"er and loved it, but now, I wouldn’t trade my GR Bass AT Cube 500 for anything. It took months to track down an AT Cube 112 cab to go with it, but now I’m set. I don’t anticipate ever needing more than that, but if it happens, I’ll get an GR Bass 800 head and a pair of AT 212 cabs.
The Rumble 100 v3 has less wattage, the other 200 and 500 combo amps are above 14kgs, only the 800 would fit in there. But with 800-900 Euro and used/new it is out of range.
The Katana’s were my first thought as well, but also heavier with the 110 at 17kgs and the 210 above 20kgs.
Was just too late for the GR Bass but keep my eyes peeled on one in the upcoming weeks. Wood Cube would be enough for me (350 or 500) since I would like to not pass 500 Euros for a used amp.
My goal is to have enough power in one combo and still small enough to haul with my cargo bike.
Since these are not compact then I’d recommend the Katana 110. It’s plenty loud. If you can afford a few more inches on either side the 210 is pretty much all you need. At one of my gig they have both 110 and 210. 110 is plenty loud for the venue.
If budget is not the issue the loudest and most compact not to mention kick a$$ sound is the Genzler BA 10-2 array combo. It’s not cheap but it has a pretty expensive tone.
Also a Trace Elliot Elf 110 speaker allows to channel up to 300w and weighs 7,5kg. This combined with a micro amp of max 2kgs would be interestingly light.
Any experiences here? Is the 10" speaker a downgrade to the 12" in the combos listed above?
10” speakers are just different than the 12” and 15” the popular size among bassists. 15” is probably best in a large outdoor venue, 12” is more for most people across genres, but the latest and greatest for me is the 10”. It’s deliciously fast and tight suits my style of playing as well as my hearing preference.
Can we get anything good smaller than 10”, sure but you’d be paying through the nose to get the same high quality bass tone on a smaller speakers, for gigging, of course.
Why specific size and weight?
Usually, the two out of three rule applies. In your case, Price, size, sound quality. Pick TWO.
I traded my Orange Crush 100 (15 inch) for a TE Elf with a Darkglass Microtubes 200: runs well and very light. I think you might be able to get a bag for the speaker but I haven’t found it yet - I was carrying it around in an IKEA bag
Easy. I am old enough with money put aside for leisure to disregard the price tag since it is a once in 10 years investment. Looking at gear up to 1.200 Euros combined. Nevertheless, if 2nd hand is preferred, sustainability and such things do matter.
I agree with @Al1885 . The sound of a 10" is very precise.
Also I could test how loud a 10" bass can be when I mistakingly switched on my amp (a JBL EON 310) at 100% volume and and played some notes.
Not only did my ears bleed (at least they felt like it) … a few minutes later the neighboor from the 9th floor came down to complain about my f#cking LOUD music (I live on the 2nd floor). And this is in a German-built house, so no cardboard walls…
Oh no don’t get me wrong. The reason I asked about size and weight was maybe physical limitations of lifting the amp or space limitations of transporting in a car. I too have to measure the Katana because I have specific width and length shelf space for it.
The good reasons for the Katana are that they are AB class amp, cheap, future proof (expandable with Bluetooth and foot switch pedals), and sounds great.
I have total of 3 BA 10-2 and 2 Magellan 350 head, I’m regularly A/B switching between the Genzler and the Katana.
With the Genzler, though not necessary I have a board full of pedals for when I need to pull them up and not at all practical to take to the gig with me.
With the Katana I spent a couple of hours (mainly because I’m slow, ) and put together 4-5 preset I need and just bring my Foot switch pedal or I can use the app, heck on the gig with Katana as house amp I just bring my katana Bluetooth dongle attach and connect it’s just like my home setup.
) and put together 4-5 preset I need and just bring my Foot switch pedal or I can use the app, heck on the gig with Katana as house amp I just bring my katana Bluetooth dongle attach and connect it’s just like my home setup.