Bass equivalent of Carr Rambler?

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smigeonsmigeon Frets: 282
edited October 2017 in Bass
The Carr Viceroy or Rambler is, for me, the perfect electric guitar amp because it’s a single unit that excels both home and away: 

- sounds fantastic at low volume at home 
- small and neat enough to keep out at home (encourages you to play)
- very easy to lug around
- easily loud and beefy enough to cut it live.

So what might be the equivalent bass amp??? (I'm a guitar player, but I just got a bass - a Squier Jazz Bass VM 70’s - and it’s really good!)
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Comments

  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Markbass CMD 102P?
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  • smigeonsmigeon Frets: 282
    Thanks - that looks interesting. I’m surprised that 10” speakers can handle a bass at a reasonable volume, but I guess these newer designs are a lot different from the old school 15” jobbies. 

    This does indeed look like a good candidate for what I’m after...

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    smigeon said:
    Thanks - that looks interesting. I’m surprised that 10” speakers can handle a bass at a reasonable volume, but I guess these newer designs are a lot different from the old school 15” jobbies. 

    This does indeed look like a good candidate for what I’m after...

    Personally, I prefer 10's on bass.

    I've got a Barefaced Compact (1x15 with ports), and it's nice, but it's not particularly tight or defined. 

    I also have a Vanderkley 2x10 with tweeter and ports - it's rated at 1200W and it's an utter monster. A few here have heard it live (just ask @slacker) and it's an immense bass sound for such a diminutive cab.

    With bass, you have to forget all the rules you know and love with conventional cab and speaker thinking. Speaker size means little, it's all about how cabs are constructed, what the speakers are made of and how they are tuned, and what amp drives them.

    Flat out the 10's in my Vanderkley cab are scary. Proper scary. 

    I've played a CMD-102P and believe me, the last thing you're going to be thinking is "hmmm, it's lacking a bit of bass.." - for the money, given its weight and size (and the handy wedge shape angling it upward a bit) it's a really good bit of kit
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    Aguilar Tone Hammer 350 and one of their cabs. 10 inch bass speakers are pretty sweet-sounding 
    Not a cheap package/combo but nice, compact, light and toneful.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Kebabkid said:
    Aguilar Tone Hammer 350 and one of their cabs. 10 inch bass speakers are pretty sweet-sounding 
    Not a cheap package/combo but nice, compact, light and toneful.
    OP did ask for a single unit - personally I think it's a shame that Aguilar haven't put a tone hammer head in a combo package..
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  • smigeonsmigeon Frets: 282
    Thanks guys. I do like the idea of a combo, but those rinky-dinky heads seem quite attractive too if paired with a small cab! 

    Taking the "forgetting all the rules" thought to extremes, would a 1 x 10" cab (or even a combo with a single 10) be workable?

    I'm thinking here of a quietish band (I play in a loudish band and a quietish one - the latter does mainly ASB standards with a female singer. It would probably only ever be the the quiet one I'd play bass in).
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited October 2017
    Ah, yes. A single unit but the way I see It, given the Aguilar cab is so lightweight and the separate head is 3lbs, it's like having  combo with a slight bulkier and heavier amp footswitch and a couple more leads

    If you find yourself around the Midlands, get yourself to Bass Direct for a choice of high end gear (lots if portable choice) and a great selection of bass stuff.

    The GK stuff is good and whilst the TC gear has proved popular, they have suffered reliability problems.
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  • KKJaleKKJale Frets: 982
    edited October 2017
    The new breed of 1x10" cabs are indeed workable. It's said that the Barefaced One10 (built in leafy Brighton) would cope with any "quietish" gig. I've got the old-model 1x12 and it's the biz. 

    Another 1x10" combo option to add to the Markbass that Bridgehouse mentioned would be the Ibanez Promethean. 

    An Aguilar 350 through a One10 would probably beat it though!
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  • Phil Jones Bass
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Phil Jones Bass
    You have to get a big 'un to cope with decent gigging volumes tho...
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  • smigeonsmigeon Frets: 282
    edited October 2017
    (Googled...) Those Barefaced One10 cabs look very interesting. Like the idea of supporting a small volume UK company too. Anyone have practical experience of these?
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578

    smigeon said:
    (Googled...) Those Barefaced One10 cabs look very interesting. Like the idea of supporting a small volume UK company too. Anyone have practical experience of these?
    Yes, they are very good and very very lightweight. They will cope with a drummer if your drummer is a lighter touch and more subtle than "smack the crap out of the kit"
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  • smigeonsmigeon Frets: 282
    I might have to have a closer look at those Barefaced cabs...

    As well, all this has got me thinking along a slightly tangential line: are there possibilities for workable "multi-purpose" rigs??

    For example:

    1. An AX8 or a Helix plus a Yamaha DXR10 is a well thought of solution for guitar, but would it also work well for bass? 

    2. Forgetting about basses for a moment, would a Barefaced One10 cab plugged into the extension socket of a Fender Princeton be a good option for electric guitar in venues where the Princeton alone is struggling?

    3. Would it work for quietish jazz or acoustic gigs to put a bass though a column PA system like a Bose L1 (maybe asking a lot of the subs and crossover?)? 

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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    edited October 2017
    If you are thinking of smaller venues and acoustic or jazz then the Phil Jones combos are worth looking at. I have the Double Four practice combo and the sound quality is remarkable, esp. considering its size.

    http://www.pjbworld.com/product.html
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  • fftcfftc Frets: 559
    If you want one box and you have Carr Rambler money available take a look at AER.




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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    fftc said:
    If you want one box and you have Carr Rambler money available take a look at AER.




    One day, I will own one of these. I will. I will.
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