Amp shopping...

[UTS-D]

Hey guys,

So I'm in the market for a new bass amp, or head rather. And I need something with a lot of juice to push my 8x10 cab and something that will help me destroy my 2...sorry, I mean "keep up" with my 2 guitar players.

 

Right now, I'm in the research stage of my shopping process and I would like to know if you guys have any suggestions. I play Metal and I'm looking for something to make my Warwick really growl. So far nothing has really grabbed my attention except for older amps but sometimes I'm a little weary about buying used.

 

If it also helps, I play with a pick and love lows and mids. Clarity is my friend.

 

Anyway, thanks for any and all input.

Don

[tatudbassman]

$$$$????

I have a heavy rock/blues background. I've always liked Ampeg's B2R for about $550 but, if you have the xtra $'s get the SVT3-Pro (both have 450w @ 4ohm/250 @ 8ohm) for about $850!!!The SVT3-Pro sounds great for rock, was (?) well made (USA), and will blow those 2 wimpy guitar players off the stage...oops...I mean you'll be able to keep up with 2 guitarists.

[MongoN1]

 

to deal with the loud Guitarist issue, i am running 2 huge JBL dual 15 PA cabinets (used for a 1980s Julio Iglesias tour) driven by some good solid state power amps and my Joe Meek studio channel as a preamp. I can feel and hear my bass and the tone is so sweet at very obcene volumes

 

Big Power + Big Speakers to handle it + Musical preamp = bring on the wall of marshall stacks.

 

Allthough i prefer one of my smaller rigs at normal human volumes.

How often do we play Arenas?

Mongo......

[moot]

http://www.carvin.com/images/product/B15001.jpg

 

1900 watts of mono oughta show em the brown note

[1111000]

http://www.carvin.com/images/product/B15001.jpg

 

1900 watts of mono oughta show em the brown note

 

JEEZEZ.

 

$$$$????

I have a heavy rock/blues background. I've always liked Ampeg's B2R for about $550 but, if you have the xtra $'s get the SVT3-Pro (both have 450w @ 4ohm/250 @ 8ohm) for about $850!!!The SVT3-Pro sounds great for rock, was (?) well made (USA), and will blow those 2 wimpy guitar players off the stage...oops...I mean you'll be able to keep up with 2 guitarists.

 

I've found the SVT series to be good, but not THAT much better than the B series, actually. For a month or two I was convinced I needed to make the leap to SVT until I actually played on 3 SVT heads and heard little extra crispness, clarity, etc. Maybe I just suck at bringing out the honeytones, but my B5R seems to be able to do everything SVT-3 could, and the SVT-4 just seemed like a louder 3 with more features. The other SVT I played was the classic head, which isn't as much of a good arguing point.

[slap-pop-karl]

I saw an advert in BP for a MESA ENGINEERING head amp (i hope) think it can go to 1200 watts.

[Gruuve]

If you need mucho juice, you'd probably come out better with a preamp/poweramp combination rather than a head. You can pick any tonal flavor you want by choosing a bass preamp that suits you, then amplify it loud and clear with a clean power amp. If you buy selectively and look for used stuff, you should be able to pick up both for a lot less than a high-end integrated head. This has worked for me (BBE BMax preamp + QSC PLX-3002 power amp w/3000 watts of juice in bridged mono). Pair something like this with the right cabs, and you could jar the fillings out of the guitarists' teeth if you wanted to!

 

First though, I would say you might want to just ask the guitarists to turn down...seriously, how loud does the whole group really need to be? You seem like a reasonable guy from you posts, so I'd assume you've probably already tried that and it didn't work, so bring on the earthquake if that's what you want/need...(just make sure you wear ear-plugs yourself!)

 

Dave

 

[RHINO_ROB]

Ampeg SVT-8 Pro- 2500 watts of pure thunder. It will be about 1300 watts with just one 8x10. It only weighs 23 pounds!!

 

http://www.ampeg.com/products/pro/svt8pro/index.html

[Cliff Bordwell]

Check out what ThunderFunk has to offer.

[MongoN1]

1900 watts of MONGO.

 

Carvin work good until Mongo go up against multiple Marshall Stacks.

Then Carvin not keep up.

Mongo sad.

 

 

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/187/187136/folders/241938/1899376Web-Bass-rig-.jpg

[UTS-D]

Well, we enjoy playing kinda loud. Not too loud but kinda loud. Loud enough to get the blood flowing. However, 1 guitar player keeps on inching his volume up throughout practice until we tell him "Dude...turn it down..." His problem is that we play kinda loud and he stands right next to cab. At this point he's not getting the full blast of his sound wave, instead he gets mine or the other guitar player's because we're across the room. And yes we do use ear plugs.

 

That Mesa Boogie is the new Titan V12. It's a dual channel amp that you can NOT bridge. Actually, I was thinking of going back to a more simple time. My first big rig was a Peavey Mark VI. 500 Watts with a matching 500 watt 8x10 cab. This rig lasted me for 7 years and 7 bands (3 bands at once and tons of playing hours) until finally it died. After that I've tried a few of the big dogs and now I'm thinking that maybe I should go low end again. That Peavey sounded cool and I was able to doctor it up a bit with different effects. Then again, I'm also eyeballing the EBS TD650.

 

As for how much am I going to spend? I don't know...around $2K tops? But of course Peavey's price of $600 looks nice as well.

[Tim C]

I play lots of metal and hard rock myself, and I will tell you without a doubt that Hartke makes a hell of a product. You get deep, penetrating, really powerful sound with really good clear tone. You get a 10-band graphic EQ on every head for balncing your tone to how you like it, but most also have both solid state and tube pots as well. What I do on my 3500 is usually boost up the solid state for the low end to come through extra hard, and put the tube about a quarter lower for more volume and so you can actually hear all the notes I'm playing. Since you want more power I'd go with a 5500, but it's my opinion that Hartke is where it's at, no matter how much power you're looking for. The tone and volume produced usually really exceeds what you would typically expect out of a 350 or 500 watt amp.

 

Hartke is generally really cost efficient and has been the leading standard for bass amps ever since Jaco helped develop them develop the first 3500's and aluminum cone speakers back in the early days of Hartke. There is good reason why the 3500 is the best selling bass head in history. There's my reccomendation, do with it what you will.

 

or if you'd like to hear it from the experts themselves, put this url in your browser:

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1719&brandID=3

 

Like the Peavy it's $600 at this website:

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--brand-295--i-HAR-5500--src-Y0604GL0GOOGLE00.html?gclid=CKr_nb-E444CFQlQWAodIDIvTA

[alexclaber]

His problem is that we play kinda loud and he stands right next to cab. At this point he's not getting the full blast of his sound wave, instead he gets mine or the other guitar player's because we're across the room.

 

Don't just tell us that, do something about it. He needs to get his cabs up to ear level or needs to tilt them back so they point at his ears. Do not take no for an answer!

 

Alex

[alexclaber]

And if that doesn't solve the problem, get a used QSC PLX power amp and an Ampeg or Sansamp preamp. Or that Carvin B1500 - I don't think any other heads come close on the watts/dollar ratio.

 

Alex

[rumpelstiltskin.]

what is the impedance of your 810? if it's 4 Ohms, the peavey tour 700 is a great match. 700W into 4 Ohms, and the graphic EQ is skewed toward bass frequencies. it's very useful.

 

i have also played around with some hartke stuff. i understand their speaker cabinets are not too reliable, but every hartke electronic i've used is way underrated.

 

personally, i use a pre/pwr setup. i get a very defined sound that is unique among the amps i have played. i really like this approach, too. you can do it on the cheap or you can spend a lot, and either way you can get exactly what the sound you want.

 

robb.

[tatudbassman]

I'm personally going with what Dave Sisk is saying for me. I'm looking for a used (cause I'm poor) Demeter (or eq) preamp, with a 1400w per channel stereo power amp for one 750w continous speaker per channel for outside(2 8x10 cabs). And that's loud enough for a moniter for me. For inside med venues I'll switch to a 600w mono power amp (all in one rack) to my 4x10 cab (My workhorse!). And, am agreement about cassius with regard to b-series vs. the svt $to$. That's just me. I'd rather the PA's do all the work or as much as possible if I have them.

 

[UTS-D]

So yesterday I went to GC to check out their inventory and I started with the Peavey Tour 700. This amp sounded great! Easy to use, it reproduced the low B beautifully. It has an octave effect built and it was great for adding some grit to the overall tone. I was completely sold on this amp until I decided to crank the volume. I couldn't even get half way and the amp would go into protection mode. And I tried everything I could think of to avoid this annoyance. I was playing a Warwick with active pick-ups so I made sure I was plugged into the low input. I lowered the EQ settings. I turned off the Low and High end boost. I turned off the octave effect. I turned off the brightness effect. After all this, I was only able to turn the volume knob up just a bit more, but it wasn't any louder because I lowered and turned all the above off. Honestly, I was disappointed because it sounded REALLY good.

 

Next I played on a Mark Bass 501. This amp was kinda cool because of how much power it has in such a small package. But honestly, I found this amp to be boring. Sure the tone and volume were totally strong but for some reason I just found it boring.

 

Then I played a Trace Elliot AH-500-7. This was probably the coolest looking amp but the tone simply wasn't wasn't what I was looking for.

 

Next up, the Aguilar AG500SC. I always here great stuff about Aguilar but I was totally unimpressed with this amp. I didn't get why the tone knobs were backwards, treble on the left and bass on the right. I didn't play on this amp much at all.

 

Last I played a Gallien-Krueger 1001RB. This amp sounded good however it's a really different bass tone and I need to here in context with my band to really tell if it would work. It has a bi-amp system in it which is cool but I'm pushing a 8x10 and I don't know if the bi-amp can be turned off or what. I need to research this amp more.

 

So, I learned 2 things: 1. I really liked Peavey's tour 700 but that shut-off at half volume isn't going to work what so ever. And 2. Well this is more of a question. Why are newer amps being designed with all the peripheral inputs (tuner, send, return, DI xlr...) on the front of the amp? These are rack mountable units so to have the ports in the front of the unit really makes no sense to me.

 

Anyway, my search continues...

 

Oh yeah, I didn't play it but I say it sitting there was SWR's 750 power amp. I was thinking maybe I should just get that and go with the preamp/power set up. Thanks for everyone's input. It does help.

 

Don

[rumpelstiltskin.]

one observation on the tour 700 is that it has gain and volume controls. if the gain is high, the volume control will not have as much travel to reach full power.

 

if you can turn a volume control to full without clipping, you're not getting full power.

 

of course, if it's not loud enough, it's not loud enough. if your tone involves boosting a lot of really low frequency content or using the octave divider, you will run out of headroom with a lot of amps.

 

see if you can find a pro 2000 head. it won't run out of power. and it's only almost triple the price! have you checked out hartke yet? how about ashdown? i don't think ashdown is what you're looking for, but it's another big name to try.

 

robb.

[...]

Ampeg SVT Classic. It will rock your world and destroy your pesky guitar players. Real basic and simple controls - it's hard to make that head sound bad. Only big drawback is their eXtreme weight - 97 pounds.

[UTS-D]

I'm not sure if there is anywhere in San Diego that sells Hartke. Ashdown I think is sold at Bass Alone.

 

GC had Ampegs but they weren't hooked up so I didn't get to take them for a spin.

[Rocky McDougall]

I am assuming that the testing you did at GC, that all heads were played through the same cabinet. Playing different heads in differetnt cabinets will not tell you very much.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

what about fender?

 

i've played through the 210/400Pro combo. i really liked it. a lot. it may well offer you the tone you want. i don't know where to buy them, though.

 

robb.

[alexclaber]

How about the Mesa 400+? It's not as heavy as the SVT and as it's just being discontinued is bound to appreciate rather than depreciate. 300W of tubey rawkness.

 

Alex

[...]

I'm not sure if there is anywhere in San Diego that sells Hartke.

 

You don't want any of their crap gear anyway. Trust me.

 

Ashdown I think is sold at Bass Alone.

 

Worth checking out if you can. Ashdown is another amp that sounds very unique to them. Very tube and warm. I rather enjoy the ABM 900 EVO II.

 

GC had Ampegs but they weren't hooked up so I didn't get to take them for a spin.

 

If you have time I would encourage playing through the SVT Classic + SVT 810E cab.

 

How about the Mesa 400+? It's not as heavy as the SVT and as it's just being discontinued is bound to appreciate rather than depreciate. 300W of tubey rawkness.

 

Those also rock worlds and shake souls. I recently fell in love with those heads again after playing one over the weekend. Much rock indeed. Weight: 48 pounds.

[Mike Bear]

I tried the Titan V12, and it is a killer amp, but I don't believe you can blend the two channels. So maybe a Big Blick 700 would be the same thing if you just intend on using one. They seem to be the same otherwise. I second the thought about the Mesa 400+, but I've fallen in and out of love with that amp many times. I guess it just depends on how much sleep I got the night before. The amp I'd really like for myself at least is the SVT2. My big hesitation is the constant posts I read about it shutting down on stage, breaking down, being repaired and never being the same. Then again, I read posts about it never having a problem. I see people say that the problem units were only made through certain years. I've also read that's a crock. I always like the sound of a Classic SVT, I do wish it had more tweekablitiy though, but that's what the SVT2 is for. I'm currious if anyone here has purchased any of the new Ampegs seeing almost everything now is made in Asia, any problems, no problems?

 

Make a trek up to Hollywood one day and I'll meet you. There's that area where there's a GC, Mesa Boogie, Carvin, and Sam Ash all in the same street corner.

[Tim C]

I'm not sure if there is anywhere in San Diego that sells Hartke.

 

You don't want any of their crap gear anyway. Trust me.

 

 

BLASPHEMY!!!!! Sir, I take exception to that crazy remark. My 3500 and cabinets do too. If we weren't of sounder mind we just might challenge you to a duel with shwords (that's s-words, mr. connery) at dawn!

[UTS-D]

Yeah, I used an Ampeg Classic 8x10 to try out the Peavey, Mark Bass, Trace Elliot, and Aguilar. The Gallien-Krueger was hooked up to its matching 4x10 & 1x15 cabs. I'm guessing since it's a bi-amping model that it's only going to work with a simular set-up and not 8x10, but I could be wrong.

 

Hey Mike, that would be way cool to take a drive and check out those places. I'll just have to figure out which weekend. I'll let you know.

 

Don

[rumpelstiltskin.]

Y I'm guessing since it's a bi-amping model that it's only going to work with a similar set-up and not 8x10, but I could be wrong.

 

you can be, and are, wrong.

 

the bi-amp capability is actually just a separate 50W amp for the tweeter. it takes a specially wired speakon cable to make it work, and it only works with GK RBH cabinets (for all practical intents and purposes).

 

with any other cabinet, a "normal" speakon cable will use only the main amplifier, which is still a lot of power.

 

but that doesn't really do you much good, because you still won't like the GK sound for what you're trying to accomplish.

 

robb.

[Mike Bear]

I own a GK head that doesn't bi-amp.. it was an odd model. I'm not stoked on it..

 

BUT.... I have played many GK's at rehearsal facilities through GK 410's and otherwise.. I really just look at the bi-amping as another tone option and nothing crazy I'd miss at that. Sometimes, I think the GK's are very clean and puncy, and sometimes, I think the low-end is excessive, usually when I'm using a bass with passive pick-up's. An amp with bi-amping won't hurt a cab that isn't set up for non-bi-amping.

 

I'm actually shopping new amps too for my metal rig, as I have my mini-medium size rig taken care of finally with Genz-Benz stuff. I even consider the GK800RB as I still always like the sound of that one. Other 800RB users that you know, not currently anymore though.. Jim Shepard - Nevermore, and David Ellefson - Megadeth. GK800RB through Ampeg 8X10, both pick players. hug huh yeah?!

 

When it comes down to it, I'd totally guy an Ampeg SVT2 if I could find a reliable one.

[JonathanD]

i don't think you need a lot of juice per se. Maybe don't try to compete but try to get sound going lower than them, rid under the mix. Just 1 suggestion.

 

I like my ampeg SVP PRO+QSC 2402. Works great for me.

 

Also using a line6 does alright in the QSC.

 

I tried an ampeg CL all tube 300 watt and it killed. I am waiting for an ampeg svtII to hit my doorstep tomorrow and I have a string suspicion it will be a monster... both in sound and to carry.

Jonathan