I Need a tenor bass-ranged powered monitor, any ideas?

johnp352

johnp352

New Member
Glad to have arrived here this morning, here's my situation:

I play an electric tenor bass, tuned in fourths, five strings. The range is "a" on a standard bass to "f", 2 octave neck... so somewhat like a baritone in "a", but on a 30" scale. Piezo and mag pu's. I sometimes use an octaver and/or harmonizer as well which might produce information below the "a", but in real world live playing, nothing below what a standard 5 string/low B bass does, and I usually pick those lows up through the mains anyway. I also play "bass" parts on a synth in that range. I sit down when I play.

Except for me, the group is all acoustic: trap kit, lots of percussion, and a saxophone..no vocals. Improvisational instrumental dance music (stuff that used to be called "jazz"). No amps on stage, everything FOH ...

...wherein lies problem one: as most of you know, the monitor mix/situation can vary a lot..sometimes good sidefills, separate mixes and Meyers wedges, sometimes a fan to spit through would sound better. So the answer seemed obvious to get a small powered personal monitor for myself.

Wherein problem two: though I have combed the good forum here all morning, and run across a few people who are doing double duty as bassists, I haven't come across (please correct me, I am new here) anyone who is doing something similar to what I am trying to do, which is a combination bass/low guitar range.

Having said that, here's the "spec" I am looking for: Sub 40 lbs, small floor wedge and/or standing orientation, +/- 3b @ approx 45hz... and in the $5-600 range. I need to hear bass- not like the lows from an SVT at 15 feet, but not like a Roland cube either, if you get my drift.

Looking at all the reviews here, the Qsc K12 and the fbt 12, while pushing the $$ range, seem to be the only things that fit the criteria.

I need real world advice, gigging experiences, which the people here seem to have as opposed to most forums. The studio part I have down..this is strictly for live.

Any suggestions?

thanks, and again, great to have found this place.
 
been there..not enough spl, don't need the pre, and the alternative, as put by Bob, is the head with two or more epi cabs..not what I am looking for.
 
I would also take a good look at the K12, then, as it has good low response, is loud as hell and light to boot. I use them onstage for guitar.

I am expecting a pair of 12MA's this week, but I don't know how robust they are or how good the warranty (or non-warranty) service would be on a product from Italy with a small dealer network in the US. The QSC has a 6-year warranty and they are ubiquitous.

On the K12 there is also a "deep" switch for an EQ curve that bumps up the low end if a perfectly flat response is not vital to you.

If the Acoustic Image stuff doesn't have enough SPL, it's certainly not the amp part of it, because my Focus 2R power amp section has a tremendous amount of power. It is deafeningly loud with a pair of JBL E120 speakers.
 
thanks RP..I hazz the feeling there's a K12 in my immediate future.

It probably is the speaker in the AI..it's really not meant to do what i need. I had a nice talk with the company founder when these came out, as I was interested in the class d angle (which was fairly new at the time). for d'jass in a small place..perfect. for what I need..probably not.

btw, are you one of the people here who does double duty as a bassist?
 
I play guitar primarily, but a little bass on occasion, but not with the AxeFX.

I have a GenzBenz Shuttle 600 watt head (5 pounds) and the matching 2X10 cabinet (6.0 210T). Very light, very portable and plenty loud enough. About 40 lbs or so for the whole rig, and it tilts back to help you hear it.

I also have an Acoustic Image Focus 2R head that I used with an Eden 2X10 but that was much heavier. I'm going to put the Acoustic Image up for sale soon, it's a really versatile head but the Shuttle is more electric-bass friendly with some good tone-shaping controls, plus a 12AX7 which warms it up a bit.

I think you would like the K12. It's not going to really handle the low B string past the 9th or 7th fret or so, if you have a 5-string, but neither will a 2X10, that's more about moving air. But for the tenor range, it should be great.
 
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