Bass Amps Combo's etc

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Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby Jay Bass » Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:18 am

Never much on here about bass amps so i thought i would start a thread
Bass gear has come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years thanks to modern technology
cabs and amps dont have to be mega heavy to produce the power needed to shift the low frequencies
neodyme speakers and class D amps have made everything lighter and more managable.
for years i used heavy Trace Elliot And Ampeg amps and cabs in order to achieve the sound i liked.
with age and Health issues i decided a couple of years ago to downsize or at least down weight my gear
so i changed to a 2 x 12 Genz Benz Cab with neo speakers and a Hartke 500 Watt rack mount amp
this sounds great and is very managable weight wise .
more recently i have been looking at bass Combo's this would save me time setting up and space transporting it to gigs etc
i am awaiting the arrival of a Fender Rumble stage 800 to try before deciding wether to go down that route, The Rumble has everything built in
programable presets and effects , and is very portable and lightweight, i currently use a outboard effects board for comp, Tech 21 preamp, and a multi effect pedal
so again the Rumble will save time and space plugging all this in.
i just wondered what other bass players were using for live backline gigs these days.

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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby JimTidmarsh » Sat Feb 29, 2020 12:53 pm

TC Electronics BH250 & 2x15 cabinet with Behringer Compressor in line from guitar.

Like you I gave up my combo (Behringer with a single 18" speaker) because of the weight.
My current set up is very light & the amp plus leads etc all fit into a nice aluminium flight case.
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby Iain Purdon » Sat Feb 29, 2020 7:51 pm

I’ve stuck for 10 years with my Markbass 121P, 12” neomydium speaker and 500w output. Unlike my lovely Ashdown head and cabs, I can carry it and it’s compact but it still fills a function room. I have a light Vanderkley 12” ext cab which helps the bottom end get to the back.

I don’t need to change it but, as you say, there are even lighter combos around now. I haven’t done a side by side comparison however.
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby MMStingray54 » Sun Mar 08, 2020 2:20 am

Another vote for Mark Bass. I use a Little Mark 3 amp (weighs virtually nothing), and usually a 2x10 Traveller cabinet - this gives 350 watts - and for larger venues or outdoors a second 2x10 'standard' cabinet - which is larger than the Traveller, which with both cabinets gives 500 watts - however the input gain never gets above around 10 o clock, and the output 12 o clock - far less in small venues.

It's got a great balance between a vintage sound and clean aggressive bass sound. I can crank up the tweeter to make use of the top end sizzle available on a StingRay bass. It also handles the low B of a 5 string with no problem.

The other advantage I find is the availability on the amp of an XLR DI output, with a volume control - enabling output to a PA - as often happens at outdoor events. I also use an EBS envelope filter and an Electroharmonix octave pedal, which in combination, produce a pretty decent synth bass sound (not for use on Shadows music particularly but for example, Chameleon by Herbie Hancock).

Before this I used an Ashdown ABM 500 amp with 1 X 15 and 2 X 10 cabinets, which I still have. Apart from being too heavy for me to carry around, the sound was not as crisp and punchy as the Mark Bass. However it does have a very nice sound.

Ive used a Fender Rumble combo several times at a jam session in Denmark St - it seemed to be lacking mid range to me - the first couple of times but after that I fiddled with the preset buttons and it had clearly been set in a very scooped sound mode. It was fine after that but not as good as the Mark Bass in my view.
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby Jay Bass » Sun Mar 08, 2020 12:10 pm

The Fender Rumble Stage 800 arrived a few days Ago
i have Tweaked some of the patches to get a overall sound which i like
i only use 3 or 4 different patches for general gigs.
This has 100 preset patches which can be edited and saved and also another100 empty patches where you can save the edited presets or build your own from scratch. it also has a footswitch to enable changes without touching the amp.
The amp simulator sounds great just about every bass amp is available and a real bonus is the speaker simulator every bass cabinet fro 1x8 ,2x10 ,1x18 open and closed cabs is also available . so this gives you any combination of amp and cab you want . and together with the built in effects ,just about any sound is possible
you can go from James Jamerson Motown sound To pino palladino's fretless Chorus sound at the push of a button.
it also has built in WIFI to update to the latest firmware and to download custom patches from Fenders Tone store . Bluetooth is also built in so you can edit the amp from your phone.it has a dedicated headphone socket for silent practice, a aux in for any tracks you want to learn pre and post di outs .and a ext speaker option should you need to add another cab which has a nice feature of being abled to switch to either 8 ohm or 4ohm cabs.A built in horn which is also able to be turned off.The Combo itself is a 2x10 with 400watts output which can be increased to 800 watts with a ext speaker, i always DI into our Pa so the 400watts for a backline is more than Enough Power.
The combo is very light compact and managable compared to my current set up.
Looking forward to trying this on a live show next weekend il report back with my findings.
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby Jay Bass » Sun Mar 15, 2020 8:06 pm

Just thought id update my findings
i used the Rumble Live last night for the 1st Time
i had set up some basic sounds at home to give me a starting point .
initialy the sound was too bass heavy , as mentioned by Don there was a lack of Mid range once the volume was turned upto gigging level.
but with a bit of tweaking i managed to get a very nice clean balanced sound.it was certainly a lot easier setting up the combo compared to my usual gear of
Amp head, speaker Cab , Pedal board. it also took up less room on the stage and in the car.
The main thing i noticed which surprised me was the built in speaker emulator.
i have tried amp simulators before and never thought they worked very well in a live situation, but there was a marked difference when i changed from one cab to another. Theres so much available on this amp its a matter of spending some time trying different settings.
i am still trying different amps and cabs within the combo to get to what i want for a live sound , so this is ongoing .
i will post my findings when i have used it live a few more times.
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby Jay Bass » Fri Mar 27, 2020 9:50 pm

Just a follow on with some more info
obviously with what is happening with the covid 19 virus i wont be using the Fender Rumble In a live situation for a while
so i have been looking more into the editing and writing available on the presets.
the Fender tone App is brilliant , you can edit and save using your mobile
the app actualy show you the amp and speaker cab you are using with all the controls laid out , which you can actualy edit
it also shows any effects pedal you choose again with all the controls laid out, you can also download new presets from the fender site .
this realy does seem to have all the tools you need to get any sound for different genres of music.
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby Stuart » Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:26 am

With reference to bass combos and the weight issue,it makes more sense to use a separate amp head and bass cabinet.This reduces the weight when it comes time to shift them.Our bass player is still using a Trace Elliot AH150 amp with the 11 band graphic and a separate 15 inch cab.For the smaller gigs I have found him a smaller cabinet and fitted the same Trace 15 inch speaker into it.It works very well and is extremely light for a bass cab.
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby dave robinson » Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:52 pm

We've tried most of the light weight stuff including various Mark Bass combos and separates, Ampeg, Peavey, Hartke but the little Fender Rumble 100 V3 is the sole survivor for our needs. Ever since Alan Jones used his at The Sheffield City Hall un miked, I was so impressed I bought one for the band to use and carry it on my back seat. If desired it can be DI'd or miked up but we don't play that loud so it does the job. Don't ask me how because it's tiny and weighs literally nothing, but we're not complaining, especially at £160 off eBay. We also have a 2 x 10 Mark Bass combo if needed, but so far the Fender is our choice. :)
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Re: Bass Amps Combo's etc

Postby Iain Purdon » Sun Oct 10, 2021 10:59 am

dave robinson wrote:We've tried most of the light weight stuff including various Mark Bass combos and separates, Ampeg, Peavey, Hartke but the little Fender Rumble 100 V3 is the sole survivor for our needs. Ever since Alan Jones used his at The Sheffield City Hall un miked, I was so impressed I bought one for the band to use and carry it on my back seat. If desired it can be DI'd or miked up but we don't play that loud so it does the job. Don't ask me how because it's tiny and weighs literally nothing, but we're not complaining, especially at £160 off eBay. We also have a 2 x 10 Mark Bass combo if needed, but so far the Fender is our choice. :)


... we don't play that loud so it does the job


Yes!! So many bands go through that loop: you know the one. I can’t hear myself, so I’ll turn myself up. Now I can't hear what I’m doing, better turn it up. I like to be louder than this, volume to max...
Someone you trust in the audience can cure all that. Let them be your guide. When you’re not too loud, people are comfortable and the subtleties come through. So do the mistakes, of course!
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