Info on bass amps?

johnROSS

Hi, i'm a guitarist and have recently acquired my dad's bass, so i'm looking to get an amp for it at some stage. I'll have about 200 to spend, the marshall mb models seem to be the main ones out there in my price range, but i had a marshall mg guitar amp before and it was a pile of sh!t. Is there any decent alternatives out there to them? What's the fender rumble series like?

Thanks in advance,
John

zafo

For that money I'd recommend second hand and Peavey.

Welease

For home or gigging use?

I have an Ashdown Perfect Ten 60 stack (65watt with 2 x 10" cabs) which I use at home.. Nice little head and cabs stack which can be picked up easily enough for about 100-120 Euro's second hand.. Got great reviews (although discontinued as a product).. there is a 40w combo now available new which also gets very good reviews (considering the cost)

Not really loud enough for bigger gigs though, where you would be looking more in the 300w range...

http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=144

johnROSS

for home use, yeah, thanks guys.

Herb Powell

Welease wrote: »

For home or gigging use?

I have an Ashdown Perfect Ten 60 stack (65watt with 2 x 10" cabs) which I use at home.. Nice little head and cabs stack which can be picked up easily enough for about 100-120 Euro's second hand.. Got great reviews (although discontinued as a product).. there is a 40w combo now available new which also gets very good reviews (considering the cost)

Not really loud enough for bigger gigs though, where you would be looking more in the 300w range...

http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=144

What........................

Welease

Herb Powell wrote: »

What........................

It's an SS amp.. and in bass terms you should be roughly looking at 3x - 5x times the power of your guitarists amps in order to be heard, which for most people is around 300w and above (some would argue 7x+ if they are using a tube amp)
The OP could argueably get away with less if they always will be using a PA, has band members that understand how to play at usable volume levels, or they don't mind pushing the amp up into distorted territory, it's difficult to know without a lot more details..
Point being.. buying a SS bass amp in the 50w range will be an utter waste of limited cash if their drummer/guitarists won't play at restrained volumes or a PA isn't available.

Herb Powell

Welease wrote: »

It's an SS amp.. and in bass terms you should be roughly looking at 3x - 5x times the power of your guitarists amps in order to be heard, which for most people is around 300w and above (some would argue 7x+ if they are using a tube amp)
The OP could argueably get away with less if they always will be using a PA, has band members that understand how to play at usable volume levels, or they don't mind pushing the amp up into distorted territory, it's difficult to know without a lot more details..
Point being.. buying a SS bass amp in the 50w range will be an utter waste of limited cash if their drummer/guitarists won't play at restrained volumes or a PA isn't available.

Ah yes, get it now, sorry.

But I would say around the 100-150w range is plenty, unless you are playing REALLY BIG gigs. You seem to have more knowledge than me though-what room size:amp power ratio do you recommend? I've been getting away with a 120w amp, but our gigs haven't been very big.

johnROSS

this is purely for home use, i won't be gigging with it.

Welease

Herb Powell wrote: »

Ah yes, get it now, sorry.

But I would say around the 100-150w range is plenty, unless you are playing REALLY BIG gigs. You seem to have more knowledge than me though-what room size:amp power ratio do you recommend? I've been getting away with a 120w amp, but our gigs haven't been very big.

If it's working for you, then I'd stick with it

There is no must be X type size equation... it's a combination of lots of different factors room size, crowd size, PA, playing style, speaker type/size, number of speakers/cabinets, room acoustics, other band members (and their playing style, amplification etc.)..

At 120w (SS) you probably find there is very little headway in your amp for larger gigs (couple of hundred people), and defintely not for anything outdoors unless you were miked up. With a guitarist pushing a 100w tube amp it would probably be difficult to hear you... It doesn't sound like an issue for you or the OP so I wouldnt worry, but I mentioned it because there would be nothing worse than buying an amp that isn't up to the job required.

Rough specs on the web (which mean nothing) would say..
1w-150w for practice/rehersal
200-400w+ for gigs

But as I said, it's dependant on a multitude of factors, and what you are actually trying to achieve. In guitar terms hitting volume "11" is great for punk/rock, but probably isn't as nice for mellow jazz.. so the same size room will require different wattage requirements.

Des Claypool

hey man i'd recommend ya buy a small second hand combo like the ashdown perfect 10 or a fender rumble they are great lil amps. ya could probably get this one for 60 bucks

http://www.adverts.ie/bass-amps/fender-rumble-15watt-bass-amp/1648106


Just looked at the date, hope your sorted now tho