Yet another backline du jour ... how is the Ampeg 410 HLF?

[slinkp]

Playing another unfamiliar venue. Their gear page says the house cab is an Ampeg 410 HLF.  I liked the 610 version I played through last year pretty well, think it was from the same series.  Should I expect roughly similar tone? 

How tight is the low E?  Does it drop like a rock below the port frequency? or can you hear all the notes all the way down?  Are some notes super boomy? Can you get a lot of mids and upper mids out of it?

[Pilgrim]

Pretty strong reviews at Musicians Friend, including mention of "strong 5th string lows."

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/ampeg-svt-410hlf-classic-series-bass-cabinet

No personal experience.

[D.M.N.]

Personally I never cared for the HLF. I found it way too boomy/woofy in the lows, and felt it lacking in the high mids and treble. It has a tweeter, and that can help with some highs, but if you run any distortion or drive the tweeter doesn't sound good. The lows are strong and powerful, but I felt they were a bit much, really overpowered the other frequencies. I preferred the HE, which was a sealed 4x10, more similar to the classic 8x10.

[lowend1]

Personally I never cared for the HLF. I found it way too boomy/woofy in the lows, and felt it lacking in the high mids and treble. It has a tweeter, and that can help with some highs, but if you run any distortion or drive the tweeter doesn't sound good. The lows are strong and powerful, but I felt they were a bit much, really overpowered the other frequencies. I preferred the HE, which was a sealed 4x10, more similar to the classic 8x10.

Exactly right.

[slinkp]

Hmmm... thanks for the input, lowend.  That sounds like not my cup of tea.

From what I'm now told though, there might not be enough time at this gig for a full bass rig swap. I may have to just risk it and hope I can quickly EQ it to something usable.

[slinkp]

Gig report: I did indeed play through the 410 HLF, didn't have time to load in and swap cabs, as predicted.  It was ... okay, but kind of boomy and undefined, just as you guys predicted.  Thanks lowend1 and DMN for the input!

It's funny. I'm wondering if there's something inherent to the geometry of 410 cabs that I just don't like. I have literally never played through one that made me want to buy it.  I have played through cabs of just about every other configuration that I've liked for one reason or another ... fifteens, twelves, 2x10, 6x10, 8x10, even eighteens... and some odd ducks like the SWR Triad or the (once ridiculously hyped) Schroeder 1210.  I don't know why it is... Even a pretty tight 4x10 like the Epifani sounds boomy to me, and they only get worse from there.  I'd be very curious to try a sealed one like the HE for sure, it would be interesting to find an exception to the rule.

[Nighttrain1127]

Just an FYI there are a couple of different versions of this cab. The boomy ones have black grill cloth and the much better IMHO still plenty of lows just much more defined and sweeter overall sounding has silver grill cloth .I do not know Dates and such but I had a black one and got rid of it quickly. I now have the silver one and it sounds pretty decent to me.