Advice on 300w bass amp

10-02-2005 4:05pm #1

Hi guys, Need advice on buying a new/second-hand bass amp. Ideally looking for something around 300w. have about €500 to spend. So advice on buying new/second-hand welcome.

D!ve^Bomb! · 10-02-2005 4:10pm

i'm no expert on bass amps.. but isn't 300w alot!! why not sacrfice wattage for quality? again i'm no expert so don't listen to me;)

10-02-2005 4:26pm

I need it to play live as well as record. I don't like going through the PA.

daram · 10-02-2005 4:44pm

You dont like going through P.A? Why not? It makes you sound better to the crowd. You know it possible to use an amp and a P.A. at the same time. Usually a bass amp is only used for monitoring when playing live. And when recording, I suggest a D.I.

That said, an ashdown mag300 is a damn fine amp. Thats what Id recommend. But not for the 300w, for the sound.

Doctor J · 11-02-2005 9:20am

You'd pick up a Peavey combo for that. They're not the best amps in the world but they sound good at a decent price, so might be just what you're looking for. One thing to be weary of though, the world of bass is populated by people who lash mid-scopps onto the EQ and then turn the thing all the way up cos they can't hear themselves, so a lot of the second hand amps out there might have some speaker damage. Be very careful to try anything you buy thoroughly.

bombidol · 11-02-2005 12:02pm

Dont think of a 300Watt Bass amp in the same way you think of a guitar amp. Its different. In a lot of cases an 80 Watt guitar amp would be louder to the ear than a 300Watt bassamp.

If its for gigging, you need sometime 250 Watt +

11-02-2005 3:11pm

OK what about this:
http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw6_behringer_bx3000t_ultrabass_basshead_prodinfo.html
with this:
http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw6_hartke_vx_410_prodinfo.html

And then eventually (for porn)
http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw6_artikel-170157.html

WOW!!

Doctor J · 11-02-2005 3:18pm

TBH when you're on a budget go for a combo, the head/cab route is far more expensive. As for Behringer, they make cheap gear by using cheap parts, I'm not saying they're crap, I'm just struggling to find other words...

bombidol · 11-02-2005 4:28pm

I use a Behringer head(V.Ampire) and Cab for My guitar. Cost me 450 inc shipping. and to my Ear theres no Difference between it and A Line6 Spider II Which cost over 800 Euro.
infact, ive got a 4X12" and the line6 was 4X10" and behringer has more features. including a Cab simulator so you can run lines out of the cab into the PA instead of bringing your 4X12. The Cab simulator means you can make it sound like you are playing out of a long list of different cabs.
So if its a budget you are on, id recommend behringer stuff as i personally own a lot of it. They seem to have a bad name, but for budget-midrange gear they are hard to beat

Eoin Madsen · 12-02-2005 11:37am

bombidol wrote:

So if its a budget you are on, id recommend behringer stuff as i personally own a lot of it. They seem to have a bad name, but for budget-midrange gear they are hard to beat

No! Good budget amp I'll accept, but behringer aren't touching the midrange. The aforementioned Ashdown MAG is entering midrange. There's a whole wealth of amazingly better amps (bass or guitar) out there.

Karl Hungus · 12-02-2005 1:06pm

CLEARLY you want this and this.

D!ve^Bomb! · 12-02-2005 1:27pm

Karl Hungus wrote:

CLEARLY you want this and this.

sweet jesus:eek:

Karl Hungus · 12-02-2005 3:43pm

D!ve^Bomb! wrote:

sweet jesus:eek:

Yes, that was my sentiments exactly. 600W Head and 1200W cab. How many small animals can you kill with that!?

daram · 12-02-2005 10:21pm

Go with ashdown man, they're a sweet deal.

Behringer really really are not very good.

feylya · 13-02-2005 2:54pm

TBH, there's better bass amps than Mesa's...

Karl Hungus · 13-02-2005 3:02pm

Well, it's likely... I've not delved into the big bad world of bass amps lately, as my Trace Elliot has me quite happy.

14-02-2005 1:35pm

:eek: HOW MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plainly no... need to keep in the 5-600 quid department. Anyone have a recommendation for me?

Doctor J · 14-02-2005 1:38pm

Ashdown. If you're going for a new amp just get the Ashdown.

D!ve^Bomb! · 14-02-2005 2:57pm

play a real instrument!!!! muwa ha ha ha!! na i'm kidding, bass tis cool:cool:

ktoal · 16-02-2005 3:08pm

If you are going for an Ashdown, stay clear for the MAG series... I've had nothing but trouble with them. I went through two Ashdown 300MAG heads in the space of a week. Maybe it was a bad batch, but if you're serious about the bass, check out the Ashdown ABM series.
I ended up buying a Peavey Firebass 700 with an Ashdown ABM 410T and a Trace Elliot 1x15" almost two years ago... I've never looked back since.

Doctor J · 16-02-2005 3:14pm

ktoal wrote:

I've never looked back since.

Did you hurt your neck?

There were problems with the initial batch of Mags, and also some of the first ABM series (I have one and it's been trouble free so far) but the newer ones (ie less than a year old) appear to have cured whetever bugs were in the first ones. Interestingly, I read a report from a guy who was having a little trouble with his Mag and he got in touch with Ashdown, they traced the problem to him never turning it up, he never gigged and only plonked about at home and that playing a 300W amp quietly was having some sort of negative effect on the electronics. They told him to turn it up once in a while and it cured his problem

Advice on 300w bass amp

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