Help! needed buying bass combo

[dumptydo]

Hi all=)

Im about to blow my saving (which are bugga all being a student) on a bass combo-however Im undecided on which one to get. The 1st one is a Behringer Ultrabass BX1200 (120 watts) and the other being a Warwick Sweet 15 (150 watts). The Ultrabass can make an octave harmonic below what your playing so it really gives a grunty sound, but then the Warwick has a much cleaner and crisper sound. The Ultrabass has a 12 inch speaker and can geta lot of tonal variation due to its two channels. The Warwick has 15 inch speaker plus a small horn which pumps out a solid sound. The ultrabass also has a tape out/in, tuner out, footswitch...all the bits and bobs but then is also a rather new brand on the market. Warwick is an established brand with good tech support. The Behringer is going for $1300 New Zealand, but its ultrabass button is dodgy so they said they would get it fixed and take off $300. The Warwick sweet 15 is going for $1100 NZ. So they both work out the same price roughly. Im justa little worried that the Behringer ultrabass may not beso good for the funk and slapping as it has no wee horns or tweeter. The Warwick does and helps with the octave popping. I playa 4 string Ibanez soundgear (older one), playing middle of the road cover and rock on the weekends, funk through the week and anything else I can learn between times.

Please any advice will be greatly appreciated! =)

Cheers!

dumptydo

[Mr. Phil]

I dont know what New Zealand dollars are in USD but that doesnt really matter. Basically get what sounds the best for the money. Also consider what you are getting the amp for.

Are you playing a lot of shows, or are you just fooling around in the garage? If you play a lot of shows, I would suggest to invest in something that may be more expensive, but is worth it in sound, portability, and that you will not need to step up to something bigger in a year or two.

 

I'll tell you all a story now, so sit and relax. Go make a sandwich or something

 

When I first started playing, the amp I used was a S*itty Ibanez POS amp. It was the worst thing I had ever heard. I eventually got a Crate BX100 because my drummer plays insanely loud, and you could yell louder than the Ibanez amp could go. Well, the Crate was doing fine until my drummer started playing louder, and we started play a few little shows at school and a park. (mind you it was good for use in the School Jazz Band) So I saved up some money and went and ordered a Carvin R600 Head with Avatar B210 and B115 cabs. (I highly reccomend these amp and speakers, but if you are looking for max power from the amp, order the speaker in 8Ohm; I ordered them in 4Ohm and am only running 275watts per cab.) Anyway, I am in the process of selling my Crate amp to my drummer (i keep forgetting to give him his DVD movie back) and I am very happy.

 

So the bottom line is: Get what sounds good, and what will be the most practical for you. I feel I kinda wasted the money on the Crate because It didnt last me long (only about a year). Now I know I will keep the Carvin/Avatar rig FOREVER!!!

 

(sorry for the long post)

 

~PHIL~

[PhilMan99]

I'd go with the Warwick, since you say (as I'd expect), it has a cleaner sound. That (clean) works best for the kind of music I play.

 

Only you know what kind of "sound" you need, but beware an amp with a distorted sound unless you like that (distortion).