xhawk4 Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Hello fellow bass enthusiasts. I'm new to this forum and was impressed with the response and feedback from topic posts. You guys are awesome. Here we go.... I need to buy an amp head with at least 400 watts and I want your opinion. Some info first.... I am in two totally different style bands. One is Blues/Classics and the other is Newer Hard Rock. My basses are a '78 Fender P-Bass all original with DR Lowriders. The other is a 90's Fender Prophecy with passive Bartolini j-p setup,(these basses are VERY underated!!) I've installed a Bart preamp and quickly removed it! Reason?? I want simplicity and the preamp had too many options and I couldn't get the tone I had with 1 volume and 1 tone knob. Same for my amp selection. I want an amp with warm, full, punchy tone and headroom to boot. I now own an Eden Nemesis 210 200 watt combo. LOVE it!! Simple controls, lightweight great for rehersal and small gigs. My cabs are....1-TBC 2x10 4 or 8ohm,(The Bass Co.), and 1-Mesa Boogie Powerhouse 15 8 ohm. Either cab sounds great when added to my Nemesis. Just not enough power for larger gigs. I used to have a Hartke ha3000, Loved the simple controls and shape knob, but only 200 or so watts. I now practice at home with a Hartke Kickback12. So you see....I don't like the 9 band eq stuff or 12 different dials to 'tweek' your tone. But I don't want to have a boomy, muddy, lost in the mix tone either. I've been looking at.... SVT3Pro, SWR-sm series, Eden WT or Navigator, GK1001rb, Warwicks new line and Peaveys new Pro500. You see? I'm lost. I cannot go out and try all these. So ebay is all i have. Can you guys and gals help me. I'll read all replys with open ears. Thank you for reading my long post!! Hawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 1. Is your TBC 2x10 4 or 8 ohm? This matters if you plan on using it with your 1x15. 2. Also, what is the power handling of your cabs? That is, how many watts can each one handle (usually the spec is given in terms of watts RMS)? 3. How much cash can you spend? It sounds like you'll be fishing in the used market (you mentioned eBay), where personally I've had good success with amps. The answers to these questions will help us better discuss how well the different heads you've mentioned will work for your rig. Peace. spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xhawk4 Posted March 1, 2003 Author Share Posted March 1, 2003 Willie, The TBC 2x10 is rated for 400 watts @ 4ohm. I'm almost sure I can change it to 8ohm if needed,(series vs parallel), by re-routing the wires. If I need 2-8 ohm cabs... I'll figure something out with the 2x10. I love the Mesa 15.... it's 400 watts @ 8ohm. Available cash in my paypal account is around $1,000.00 usd (I love paypal). I also have had great deals on ebay. I think I've bought and sold over 15 basses and cabs to find the two that I have right now. So you can see my determination for tone....lol. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 You'll probably want two 8-ohm cabs, because then if you run them together parallel, your overall load will be 4 ohms, which is the minimum for many (but not all) amps. The most recent Bass Player mag with Stanley C. on the cover has a review of the Peavey amp you're considering. Pretty favorable, but you always have to look beyond the numerical ratings they use and see what the text really says. The Eden WT400 puts 400W into 4 ohms, and is very lightweight. It would probably work out nicely for you. I also like the Ampeg SVT3-Pro, and they're on eBay all the time. It's 450W into 4 ohms. I could go on and on, but there will be others who will sing the praises of the models you've mentioned. I play SWR now and really like it. I'm not a big GK fan, but there are others on the board who swear by theirs. $1000 is great. You could even consider getting a preamp and power amp for that much. $500 on a used power amp could get you plenty of wattage and then $500 on a really decent used preamp -- Demeter comes to mind, or maybe Alembic. I think I've seen both brands used in the n'hood of $500. The Alembic F1X has a built in crossover which could be nice to split the signal to the 2x10 and 1x15. It's worth your time to investigate that possibility. Plus, if you get a stereo power amp, you might not need to worry about rewiring your 2x10 -- if the power amp has enough juice per channel to run each cab. Have fun. Peace. --Willie spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xhawk4 Posted March 1, 2003 Author Share Posted March 1, 2003 So for example only... the SWR 800 Power amp + Ampeg SVT11 Bass preamp might work? This unit puts out 800 watts in mono mode and 350 watts per channel in stereo mode. Each channel has its own volume control plus led's. Coupled to the amp is an Ampeg SVT 11-P Bass preamp. The preamp has normal and bright imputs, 6 level EQ, bass, mid, and treble controls, ultra high and ulta low boosters. The SWR goes down to 2.6ohms. If a power amp and a pre amp was the way to go, I would need a 2 channel power amp, one for each of my different load cabinets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowbell Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 All I really have to say is that I really like the SWR stuff. I've been playing it more and more it it is just great. Just wondering.....but were you going to sell that Nemesis combo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 If you went with separate pre and power amps, two channels would make it easier to deal with the two different impedance cabs. However, to really take advantage of the situation, having a crossover or a preamp with a crossover -- thus allowing you to biamp -- would be the ideal. Then you could send the lows (say below 150 or 200 Hz) to the 1x15 and the mids and highs (say above 150 or 200 Hz or so) to the 2x10. This can result in great tone, and should also make the whole rig more efficient. A single channel would be okay if it could handle a 2.67 ohm load, which would be what you'd have with a 4-ohm 2x10 and an 8-ohm 1x15 (assuming you didn't try to change cab impedance). However, the 4-ohm cab would get twice the power coming out of the amp than the 8-ohm cab. That SWR Stereo 800 might really work well for you. BP mag liked it in their power amp shootout a few years back. I would need to read up on the Ampeg pre you cited -- I don't know enough about it. Peace. (BTW, others should feel free to correct or clarify what I've been writing. I may not be articulating everything as precisely as necessary or there may be some who think I'm misstating some of this.) spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xhawk4 Posted March 2, 2003 Author Share Posted March 2, 2003 Geeze. Is there a way to get my existing 2x10 4ohm cab to be 8ohm? Can I add something in the cab itself or what? I assume both speakers are 8ohm no markings. Definetly wired parallel. There is a crossover for the horn. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cup Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 Welcome to the forums xHawk4. I know so little but when the shit hits the fan, specifics fall to the wayside? I can't speak much of ohm's etc, but I can report on the SVT3. Go for it! I've only had mine 7 months yet everytime I play it, I think I'm underserving. After a stupid mix up (on my part) I've just had mine returned after 6 weeks....I'd forgotten how good it had been. I'd been playing through a Trace Elliot 300 watt combo...?Ohh it's good to be back! CupMcMali...this monkey's gone to heaven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted March 3, 2003 Share Posted March 3, 2003 All the amp choices you are considering are truly great gear. In the simplest terms, I would describe their 'sound' this way... Ampeg... Best of the old-school warm sounding amps. Eden... Best of the new-school warm sounding amps. GK... Best of the ultra-clean and punchy amps. SWR... Best compromise. Sounds somewhere between a fat-assed Eden and a clean and punchy GK rig. I currently have Eden, SWR, and GK gear. All are reliable, user-friendly, and well-made. My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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