Product: Trace Elliot 1248H 412 Cabinet
Price Paid: 600 (AU) used
Submitted
05/24/2006
at
03:19am
by
chris/bass/idoru
Features
:
8
This is the Vintage Series cab. 4x12" 200w Celestions + horn, for a total of 800w at 8ohms power handling. It is fully enclosed, with no ports. There is an attenuator dial to turn the horn down, and both XLR & 1/4" inputs and through-puts to feed a second cab.
The construction is astoundingly heavy (102lbs), as the beast is made from 3/4" MDF board. A steel grille with black mesh overlay protects the drivers, and it has a padded vinyl covering, steel corners and amazingly, rubber feet. This is sheer madness. Our guitarist's Mesa cab weighs less than this, and came with the excellent detachable castors that are probably worth more than my first car. That cab gets a 10 for features (as it is stereo), so I'll call this an 8.
Sound Quality
:
9
I play 4 string basses with J or soapbar pickups. Our band (PLUG ALERT: http://www.myspace.com/idoruband ) plays progressive post-hardcore rock in the vein of At.The.Drive-in. I love this cab, it fits our music like a glove now.
The low end starts to roll off around 42hz, so B strings (or lower) should lack a little depth. I tested this at practice by down-tuning to B and thumping away for a few minutes. Our drummer, outside, commented that the entire building was rattling... so while the physics says this cab isn't best suited for really deep bass, structural engineering tends to disagree :)
I would describe the sound as punchy and articulate, even with the RBI's Bass control on full it isn't muddy, just phat. I can get pinch harmonics out of the bass through this cab + my old MT-2, so the frequency range extends up nice and high.
Reliability
:
10
I bought this second hand over two years ago, and it has never given me the slightest technical problem. The only issue is it's weight - if you use castors (as I do) to move it, make sure each castor is rated to carry the entire weight of the thing, otherwise they'll break when you hit a cracked paver or something.
Backup? I'd need roadies, and a bigger car. Fortunately the SansAmp's DI is faultless.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Seeing as how Trace disappeared for a while, I don't think I'll rate this. Website was nice enough though, and I was able to download the manuals for the V-type heads.
Overall Rating
:
9
I've been playing over 8 years, and now have some pretty sweet gear.
Warwick Thumb 4 Bolt-on > SansAmp RBI > Carver PM 1.5 > 1248H
...plus a whole heap of effects in the loop of the RBI.
If this cab were stolen, I would probably buy two seperate 212 cabs for the simple reason that this thing is a b*tch to cart around, and I'd love to build a stereo rig anyway.
But my god, the air this can move when suitably powered... 12's are a great compromise for the punch of 10's and the low of a 15, especially when combined with the horn. Having four of them in such a solid cab makes for a huge sound.
I dock a point because of the lack of ports & the weight of this behemoth, but I certainly don't hold that against it :)
If you play 4 string bass exclusively and have a strong back, this cab comes highly recommended from me.
