Bass Amp: some advice welcome

4string

The Amp thread about whether to get a combo or a head and cab has prompted me to post... I am finally getting a band together and I think my 30w Laney Linebacker is not going to be up to amplification duties. So, oh fellow pluckers of the thick stings, what might replace my trusty Linebacker?

• I hope to be playing pub gigs, though nothing too big, so what wattage?
  
• I need to be able to schlep the beast around, so combo? Separates? Good makes that are light yet sturdy?
  
• And what to get if I have £400, or £800 or even £1,000 (as long as Mrs 4String never finds this thread...) - very happy to look at, in fact probably prefer, pre-loved/second hand.
  

So, I am not after much. :-) 

Jalapeno

Got an old GK MB200 of the bay - looking for a matching extension cab for my occasional 4 string duties.

Think it was circa £200.

The RedSub / Yamaha cubey things look like good value for a lot of output.

Our bass player has an Ashdown EB Lite combo, he never has it loud enough and has blown a speaker FWIW.

mart

For portability, get a good lightweight head (Genz-Benz, for example) and a Barefaced cab. Or Phil Jones does some very portable stuff, with a good reputation, but I've not heard it myself. £800 ought to get you a pretty good rig, and £400 is probably do-able if you're prepared to compromise a bit.

For pubs I'd have thought you want something around 2-300W depending on the sensitivity of your speaker(s).

Last time I looked, bassdirect had a second hand GB Shuttle, which would be a very good place to start.

4string

Thanks for the responses.  Plenty of food for thought... Might have to sell one of the children after all...

ICBM

100 to 150W will probably be enough with a 15" speaker of reasonable efficiency - the lightweight head and high-sensitivity cab approach is definitely the way to go if you want portable.

An extra 3dB of speaker sensitivity is as effective as doubling the amp power, and usually has less of a weight and sometimes less of a cost penalty.

Check the cab impedance requirement of the amp too - while getting a 4-ohm amp and an 8-ohm cab will mean that you could add another cab later, it also means you won't be getting the full power out of the amp into the single cab, so if you're never going to get another cab it's an unnecessary limitation.

fretmeister

Genz-Benz Streamliner 900 head

Wonderful thing.

And a good nick used cab. Bergantino HD112 if you only need a small cab would be perfect.

IanSavage

Keep a weather eye here: http://basschat.co.uk/forum/20-amps-and-cabs-for-sale/ , you'll find something  

4string

Again, many thanks for your comments. So much to learn...

JCA2550

I am a guitarist returning to bass after many years and needed a rig that wouldn't disgrace itself but wouldn't break the bank. I really like Markbass gear but couldn't justify the new price. In the end I wen for a Galliem-Krueger MB210 and haven't looked back.
300 watts 2x10 combo, 500 watts with an added cab. Once you get used to how to set the sound up it's perfect for my needs, mainly pubs and Festival stages and really light too. Picked one up from Sounds Great for around 500 hundred quid delivered.

4string

The GK MB210 looks an interesting option. Price is right as well :-) This then makes me think of TC Electronics BG250 - does anyone have experience of this amp?  Similar-ish spec to the GK... 

fretmeister

TC are well known for marketing exaggeration on power outputs!

But with the opposite approach is EBS - their tiny Reidmar amp is a claimed 250W and is sooooo frakking loud it's amazing. 

Very nice little amp and well worth a try.

monquixote

As fret says the Reidmar is excellent. 

I don't gig bass much these days so I have a Mark Bass 1x15 combo which is small light and wlll handle most venues. 

Can be had quite reasonably second hand as well.

geoffbyrne

Consider 100W & under a practice amp for bass. 

500W @ 4Ohms (2 cabs) is good as it'll 'do' 300W@8Ohms (1 cab) and there's a wonderful device on it that allows you to play both small & large venues - a Master Volume.  Turning it anti-clockwise allows you to be QUIETER and therefore practice indoors.

Maybe you could introduce some guitarists to this new-fangled device - as it's a concept few have managed to grasp. 

To be serious, if you're up for something cheap, try a Peavey TNT 150W - it certainly good for small venues, sound pretty decent & is bombproof.  Problem is, they weigh a ton.

Good suggestion above, getting a 300W 2x10 (which really gives you about 150W) and you can add another cab for the full output.

Good luck with your hunt.

G.

ICBM

geoffbyrne said:

Consider 100W & under a practice amp for bass. 

I agree up to a point - but 50-100W of (especially valve) amp, through a large and efficient cab, isn't. But then you almost might as well use more power in a smaller format since it becomes such a pain to shift...

geoffbyrne said:

500W @ 4Ohms (2 cabs) is good as it'll 'do' 300W@8Ohms (1 cab) and there's a wonderful device on it that allows you to play both small & large venues - a Master Volume.  Turning it anti-clockwise allows you to be QUIETER and therefore practice indoors. 

Maybe you could introduce some guitarists to this new-fangled device - as it's a concept few have managed to grasp. 

lol... so true. There are still so many who can't seem to get their heads around the fact that it's quite possible to use a 100W guitar amp and not play at deafening volume. You hear it all the time... "100W is overkill for anything", "you never need that much power", "amp is too loud for the house" etc etc.

I use a 100W guitar amp and a 500W bass amp, and I play them quite quietly at home.

geoffbyrne said:

To be serious, if you're up for something cheap, try a Peavey TNT 150W - it certainly good for small venues, sound pretty decent & is bombproof.  Problem is, they weigh a ton.

The old Trace Elliot MkV/Series 6 100W 1x15" combo is pretty giggable too, although it does also weigh a ton for something of that power.

4string

Thanks. Weight is an issue, so I had dismissed Trace Elliot. Wonderfully solid construction, but I could barley move the GP12 I borrowed. Real spine threatening weight... 

JCA2550

I just checked and the GK MB 210 weighs in at a manageable 35lbs (just under 16kgs) if that helps?

Ramirez

What you need is an Orange Terror 500 and SP212 cab.

Luckily for you I have just such a rig for sale

ICBM

^

He's probably right you know.

littlethoughts

Most of the TC stuff and the MarkBass stuff is pretty light. I've played pub gigs with a line6 lowdown 150 amp with no difficulties. The other thing you can do with the line6 (and plenty of other modern amps) is use the DI to go into the PA as well for a bit of extra juice. It's nice to have loud things but a lot of the time it's not really that necessary! Still, I've upgraded to TC separates and plan to build a bit of a stack just because.

JCA2550

Ramirez said:

What you need is an Orange Terror 500 and SP212 cab.

Luckily for you I have just such a rig for sale

I did a festival gig in Belgium recently and the bassist in Celkilt was using an Orange Bass Terror about the size of a fishing tackle box, shut your eyes and it sounded like a SVT, A great rock head.

4string

Ramirez said:

What you need is an Orange Terror 500 and SP212 cab.

Luckily for you I have just such a rig for sale

Hmmm, tempting, very tempting... Might have to move the best china from the cabinet in the corner of the music room though.