Recommend me a Bass Amp

[Bryandt]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to upgrade my bass amp from a puny Smarvo 10w to something more powerful.

My band's going to set up a jamming room in our drummer's place for practice and I'm gonna deposit this new amp there.

Our guitarist is currently using a Fender Champion 300 and our drummer will be changing his electronic drum set to an acoustic one sometime soon. Thus, I need something that can play along these guys.

I'm currently sure that I need at least 30w or more in terms of power for the amp. My budget is around $700. I've always liked Ampeg amps but they're rather pricey.

Do recommend me some good amps based on these specifics. Thanks alot peeps. Always appreciate your help.

Cheers,
DT

 

[yuujin]

try hartke

 

[Bryandt]

oh yea.. forgot to mention some stuffs.

I'm using an EBMM StingRay and I play stuffs like RHCP, Jamiroquai, Rage Against The Machine etc. on my own.

Stuffs I play with the band include Switchfoot, Incubus, Weezer, Oasis etc.

Thanks.

 

[drumandbass]

Can try Hartke or Ampeg. I personally like Ampeg.

 

[lordie]

will if u like flea and stuff.. why not the GK RB700 for something abit more aggressive or Markbass LM-II for something abit more portable.

or u want something cheap i might be selling my Eden Nemesis RS-400 ;p.

 

[shinobi]

if youre on a budget you can go for hartke or ibanez soundwave

if not, i was in davis on monday and i saw new stocks of markbass heads. at good prices too. for all the buggers who complain that they don't bring stuff in... they do. it's just that they don't make promises (that they probably can't keep). and then they have GK, eden, ebs, et al.

my whining aside, you can get the rig that i used to have (markbass LM250 + hartke 210TP) for under 900 bucks. then power is no longer an issue. now i'm using a shuttle.

also, brendon bringing in some genz benz bass amps.

i personally do not like laney.

other than the SVT's i think ampegs are nothing fantastic. probably not worth the price/performance ratio compared to say the hartkes.

on a side note, you might consider a head+cab rig for portability. combos can get really heavy because most of the weight comes from the amp section.

 

[Bryandt]

Can try Hartke or Ampeg. I personally like Ampeg.

hahaha.. I don't think $700 can get me much of an Ampeg bro. Even the BA112 cost $900+- at Yamaha without the sale.

anyway, Melvin intends to sell me his Fender Bassman 150 at $800. What do you guys think?

 

[drumandbass]

I don't know anything about the Fender Bassman's so won't be any help.



Shinobi, you were saying about a LM250 + 210TP. Is it first hand? I was looking into a similar combination but din have time to check out the prices of each. Could you break down the prices? Thanks.

 

[Bryandt]

hi all,

Let me ask, if it's between an Ampeg BA115 and a Fender Bassman 150, which would you choose?

Thanks

 

[lordie]

ampeg ;p.... definately for the bassman i would plug a guitar to that.

 

[e4t3n]

consider getting a hartke cab and head

 

[Resetti]

i recommend Hartke as well.

it's very, very good sound and the best thing is the price won't cost you your arm and leg.

get a head + cab.

 

[cloud]

yep hartke, and with your budget you can get a powderful hartke first hand with no problems. check out citymusic.

 

[Bryandt]

hi all,

Thanks for the recommendations. Appreciate it

Anyways, I went down to CityMusic to give the Hartkes a go due to recommendations.

Tested 3 amps. The 100w A100 Combo, 250w HyDrive 112C and lastly a head+cab (250w HA2500 Head + XL Series 2x10" Cab).

All fall within my price range (except for the head+cab which is 776, the cheapest combi they offer, only abit more lah!).

Obviously the the head+cab sounds the best. Better tone, volume and functions.

After which, I went over to Yamaha at PS to try the Ampeg BA115HP Combo which alone cost $1375 (daylight robbery).

I loved the tone of it, much more than the Hartkes. However, the hiss that the amp produces is kinda annoying. It's a known complaint of the BA115 models to have it as I did much research on these models.

The only way I could get rid of it totally is to roll off all treble on the amp EQ. The hiss can be heard even with the lowest setting of the highs. @.@ From what I know, its the tweeter that causes the hiss and many owners disconnected it altogether.

So I'm stuck between this 2 choices, the Hartke head+cab or a second hand Ampeg BA115.

P.S. All the Hartkes had the hiss as well but according to the kind gentleman who served me, its due to the wiring of the electricity that causes interferance. Which I believed as many Hartke owners have no such complaints of these. Any comments on this?

Its the same reason the Yamaha staffs told me about the Ampeg as well, interferance due to wiring. However, much to online research, I think its the amp itself as well. Hmmmm...

Do comment everyone~

Thanks alot.

Cheers,
DT

 

[zerstorer]

Actually, you can't hear the hiss at all if when you are jamming, or even when when you make recordings. And if you have a guitarist with an unshielded single coils guitar on high gain, the hum and buzz from that amp would be even louder so its usually a non-issue.

Anyway, its good that you finally went to audition the amps like i told you to. You can get all sorts of suggestions, but nothing beats hearing things for yourself.

 

[Resetti]

i've never actually noticed any hiss on my hartke head+cab. even in teh studio when the volume is turned up pretty loud, no hiss.

if it's a grounding issue, just use a 3-pin plug for the power. the head has a power connector, which you can connect any computer electrical power cable that has a 3-pin plug. - the default from city music comes with a 2-pin one only, but you can just easily change to use a 3-pin one instead for the grounding.

just a note about cabs for hartke. the XL and VX series are the standard cabs to get - they are calibrated to better higher spefications. the Transporter versions are the lower end version with lower specs.

the VX are using paper cones while XL fully aluminium cones. this comes down to personal preference, I presonally prefer full aluminium because i believe (non-scientific) what I hear is a more accurate and tight bass reproduction, but this is purely speculationand personal like for me. you can test out both and see which one you prefer.

as for head, the 2500 is only solid state preamp, while the 3500 has both a solid-state and a tube preamp and you can mix both sounds together to get what you like. i bought the 3500 because I like the tube sound, and my mix is 100% tube and 0% solid state.

good luck in your hunt!

I never considered a ampeg because the pricing was just too ridiculous for me to afford.

 

[zerstorer]

Yep, I think the ampegs come stock with a 2-pin plug as well. Changing to a 3-pin reduces the hiss significantly, but there is some slight residual hiss up close, but its no longer objectionable.

 

[Bryandt]

Thanks guys.

as for head, the 2500 is only solid state preamp, while the 3500 has both a solid-state and a tube preamp and you can mix both sounds together to get what you like. i bought the 3500 because I like the tube sound, and my mix is 100% tube and 0% solid state.

Noted bro. How much did you get yours for?

 

[Bryandt]

Oh yea another thing..

Should I get the Hartke XL series 115XL (Single 15" Cone) or the 210XL (2x10" Cones)? They are around the same price.

I just read that these 2 cabs won't go with the 3500. haha so if i were to get the 3500, the overall price would go up as I would have to buy a bigger cab too. :S

 

[zerstorer]

There is no reason why the cabs you are looking at would not match the 3500. Whoever told you that must be looking at the power handling specs, which don't mean anything at all in practical use.