What's the bass equivalent of a Peavey Bandit?

ICBM

Bridgehouse said:

I wonder how much of the sound is due to the density of the cabinet and the weight? 

I am sure @ICBM would know

It's quite possible it's a factor. The denser the cabinet, the less energy is wasted resonating it and the more is projected by the speaker. Some modern makers (eg Barefaced) have managed to square the circle by using lightweight but very well-braced cabinets, so they're still very rigid which achieves the same thing. Peavey just seemed to have used sheer mass… although some of the older Trace gear is brutally heavy too.

For guitar cabs it's actually the other way round, generally - you want the cab to resonate more because it produces a better tone, and volume and projection are rarely an issue for guitar amps.

impmann said:

Yes, it does weigh about the same as the car he transports it in…

I'm actually giving up heavy gear, after a bit of medical advice - nothing serious probably, just a precaution… but it would be stupid to harm myself by carrying weight I don't need to. So the Mesa is gone, and the Peaveys are at the practice studio apart from my Special, which is about 60lb and will stay in my workshop, and my Century which is quite light.

Babones

I forgot to mention, the 80s Gallien Krueger 400RB is good.

siraxeman

Some nice sounding ashdown combos that are not too heavy....

DartmoorHedgehog

My band's drummer has a Peavey TKO 80 that I borrowed when I was playing bass for a bit and didn't have a bass amp.  It's certainly pretty indestructable and reliable, but extremely heavy as mentioned.  I put side handles on it when it was in my custody because it's ridiculous to move with just the top handle.  Looks like a Bandit, with the blue stripe across the front panel.  Tatty as anything but always just works when required (our current bassist has used it when his amp had problems - it's just dragged out, dusted off and works).  It's loud enough as well even with only 80W (and we're not a quiet band).  Just really heavy!

Bridgehouse

DartmoorHedgehog said:

My band's drummer has a Peavey TKO 80 that I borrowed when I was playing bass for a bit and didn't have a bass amp.  It's certainly pretty indestructable and reliable, but extremely heavy as mentioned.  I put side handles on it when it was in my custody because it's ridiculous to move with just the top handle.  Looks like a Bandit, with the blue stripe across the front panel.  Tatty as anything but always just works when required (our current bassist has used it when his amp had problems - it's just dragged out, dusted off and works).  It's loud enough as well even with only 80W (and we're not a quiet band).  Just really heavy!

One of these?



You know, funny enough.. I now have one of those distant memories creeping back to me. Way back when in the early days when I first played bass, I think one of those was provided as backline for a gig I did..

IIRC it was pretty damn alright - loud, reasonable tone etc.  I don't think the EQ made much difference when you twiddled with it tho..

DartmoorHedgehog

Bridgehouse said:

One of these?

IIRC it was pretty damn alright - loud, reasonable tone etc.  I don't think the EQ made much difference when you twiddled with it tho..

Exactly like that yes  
Similar number of missing knobs as well - I replaced a few of them with wooden ones made from a bit of dowel.  Utterly reliable, loud enough, not bad sound... but just stupidly heavy.

Bridgehouse

DartmoorHedgehog said:

Bridgehouse said:

One of these?

IIRC it was pretty damn alright - loud, reasonable tone etc.  I don't think the EQ made much difference when you twiddled with it tho..

Exactly like that yes  
Similar number of missing knobs as well - I replaced a few of them with wooden ones made from a bit of dowel.  Utterly reliable, loud enough, not bad sound... but just stupidly heavy.

Luckily I didn't have to lift it - but it did look pretty substantial!!!

ICBM

DartmoorHedgehog said:

Exactly like that yes  

Similar number of missing knobs as well - I replaced a few of them with wooden ones made from a bit of dowel.  Utterly reliable, loud enough, not bad sound... but just stupidly heavy.

What's funny is that not only are the cabinets apparently made from concrete (high-density particle-board really), the covering is made from tarmac . It's actually quite rare to find a really tatty one, even when they've been abused and half the knobs are missing - the tolex is not only much tougher than usual, it's bonded much better to the cabinet than most other makers do. And rougher - it's actually a hazard to your knuckles if you get you hand caught against it when you're moving them… they are not refined or subtle, but they are about as close to bombproof as any piece of music gear I know of.