NCD: BluGuitar Fatcab

[laxu]

I've had the BluGuitar Nanocab for a while now and have been pleased with it. I've wondered about the Fatcab and tried it at a store with the Amp 1 Iridium Edition but didn't quite like it then. A used one popped up recently for a good price, so after some consideration I decided to haul it home today, by tram and bus no less!

With my Amp 1 Mercury Edition's more old school voicing, it's actually a great combination. I guess what I didn't like in the store was either the Amp 1 Iridium or the placement of the cab, because it seemed much more harsh.

The Fatcab seems very balanced with the Amp 1 ME. Just leave the EQ at 5-5-5 and there's really not much need to do anything else but roll back the guitar volume and tone knob while leaving the Amp 1 gain higher to reduce the bright cap's effect.

Surprisingly the Fatcab also does well if you need to go to ridiculously low volumes. I didn't hate playing it with the Amp 1 MV set to 0.5, which is so low that you hear more of your guitar's strings than noise from the cab.

Compared to the Nanocab 1x12, the most noticeable difference is the amount of bass. As you can see from the pic the Fatcab is slightly taller, deeper and nearly twice the width. The mids sit in a different place but the high end is quite similar. With the same settings on the Amp 1, the Fatcab seems like it's a good bit louder because it's got so much more low end. I feel I can turn the Amp 1 master voume almost a notch higher with the Nanocab before it feels like it's too loud. I think that's just because there's so much less low end, I need to measure with a decibel meter and see what it says.

Both cabs have a beam running across the dustcap that will act as a beam blocker - and a mounting point for the BluGuitar logo. Each of the BluGuitar cabs has a different variant of BluGuitar's own speakers, tailored to go with the different cab format. They have at least different magnets, 42 ounces on the Fatcab, 38 on the Nanocab. Not sure if there are other differences.

I need to dig up another speaker cable and try what the Fatcab+Nanocab together sound like. You can easily hook them up because there's a series and parallel out jack on both cabs. With the Amp 1 you need to connect them in series for 16 ohm output which will reduce output level a bit but it's got tons on tap anyway so no big deal.

I'd definitely recommend either of these cabs. They are an alright price in EU (Nanocab 399€, Fatcab 499€), do a good "Greenback with a dash of V30" sound, have a healthy 60W power handling and don't weigh that much (Nanocab 10 kg, Fatcab 14.5 kg).

 

[laxu]

Found another speaker cable, so Fatcab + Nanocab experiment commenced!

They need to be connected in series for 16 ohms, so plugged into 16 ohms on the Amp 1, then to Fatcab, then used the series extension out on the Fatcab to connect to the Nanocab.

Compared to running a single cab at 8 ohms, you lose some output at 16 ohms. To compensate, I just turned the master up like one notch, still tons of power on tap.

Soundwise, the results are good. I have the cabs arranged as a cute little Amp 1 - Nanocab - Fatcab pyramid "mini full-stack". Compared to running just the Fatcab, both cabs together changes the mids and highs, and to my ears sounds like adding in frequencies that were missing before.

I tried just having the cabs side by side on the floor. This worked fine, but was maybe a bit more muted than the pyramid.

Putting the Nanocab on the other side of the room just meant that moving around there was less change to the sound. Since there's no stereo effect going on it doesn't sound like they are coming from two places.

So yeah, a neat little mini stack at home where the Fatcab adds the fullness and the Nanocab adds mid emphasis and some brightness.

 

[gearJunkie]

We need some pix of the nano fat stack.

I'm a huge fan of combining cabs.

 

[laxu]

We need some pix of the nano fat stack.

I'm a huge fan of combining cabs.

Ask and ye shall receive!

 

[timbuck3]

Wow are you gonna add the bluampx

 

[Jarick]

Looks awesome!

Do you ever use the BluGuitar as a power amp for the Fractal?

 

[laxu]

Do you ever use the BluGuitar as a power amp for the Fractal?

I've tried it with Helix, QC, FM3 and Axe-Fx 3. Worked fine with all of them at low to moderate volumes at least. But it's still a guitar poweramp so it is not as neutral as something like a Fryette Power Station, so you do get some hyped up lows and highs.

 

[Jarick]

I've tried it with Helix, QC, FM3 and Axe-Fx 3. Worked fine with all of them at low to moderate volumes at least. But it's still a guitar poweramp so it is not as neutral as something like a Fryette Power Station, so you do get some hyped up lows and highs.

Great feedback! I was looking at these when shopping for SS power amps. I think the Blackstar Amped I picked up was a better pick for neutrality then. Always been curious to try one of these Bluguitar amps though.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

I'm a huge fan of BluGuitar amps, I've owned all 3 versions and still have the Mercury.. I've never tried the cabs though. Based on the description here I think I'd prefer the Fatcab.

 

[laxu]

I'm a huge fan of BluGuitar amps, I've owned all 3 versions and still have the Mercury.. I've never tried the cabs though. Based on the description here I think I'd prefer the Fatcab.

If I were to buy just one, I'd go for the Fatcab too.

I think the Nanocab is easier to record though because it needs less low cuts, cuts through really nicely etc. While it may not look that much smaller, it's about 4.5 kg lighter, so easier to move around. I think it would work very well in a band scenario where the first thing you typically do is get rid of low end to leave room for the bass and kick drum.

 

[Life Eats Life]

If I were to buy just one, I'd go for the Fatcab too.

I think the Nanocab is easier to record though because it needs less low cuts, cuts through really nicely etc. While it may not look that much smaller, it's about 4.5 kg lighter, so easier to move around. I think it would work very well in a band scenario where the first thing you typically do is get rid of low end to leave room for the bass and kick drum.

Good man, respecting the bass guitar & kick drum space.