Catlin Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Hey all, I am looking to buy some new gear, looking to better my sound. What are in your opinions some "good" head/cab for a decent price. *Keep in mind I am a student, and make very little income.* -Thanks -Catlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Hi Catman! There have several threads here discussing gear of all shapes and sizes. You need to decide what your desired tone is and how you apply this tone (practice room, small jam, small stage, etc). I'll let the true gear-heads point you towards the proper thread (or potential gear) for you. Good luck! Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruuve Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Catman: The concept of "good sounding" is VERY subjective. I'd suggest going to your local music stores, take your bass, and play through everything they have, cheap or expensive. Identify the rigs that you like and the ones that you don't like. What matters is what sounds good to you! Once you know the rigs that you think sound good, then you can start to look for them used...that's usually my approach. Once you know what you like, check your local stores, stores that are within driving distance, Ebay, etc. It'll take some patience, but you'll find what you like at a good price. While you wait for it to show up, you can save the money to buy it with... [\begin shameless plug] I have two Carvin RL-410T cabs for sale right now. They sound great and are a great used price. Send me a PM if you're interested. [\end shameless plug] HTH, Dave Old bass players never die, they just buy lighter rigs. - Tom Capasso, 11/9/2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Hello there, fellow Atlantic-Canadian! I'm making a big assumption here, but assuming you're looking for the most 'bang for the buck', as in good tone with lots of power, headroom, and the ability to move some big air... It's hard to beat a GK 1001RB head with an SWR Workingman's 4x10 cab. If you have a few more bucks to spare, the SWR Goliath III with the same head will be even better. Once again, Bass Player magazine voted the GK 1001RB II the 'Outstanding Value' award in it's latest edition of the 'Bass Gear Top Picks' supplement. My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlin Posted January 17, 2005 Author Share Posted January 17, 2005 Wow, thanks alot guys, the other night at a gig I played throught a traynor....i wiash I could recall what model it was. I know the head was all tube. Anyway what are your takes on traynor, and hey i am Canadian I like to support my countries companys. Edendude: Where in Atlantic Canada are you at? Its cool to see some Canadians on here. Thanks and i will keep up the search, I have to save up for a few months. -Catlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Cat... I'm right next door to you, on the island of Newfoundland. Those old Traynor amps were the real shit in their day. I used to own one, back in the day. The company later became Yorkville Sound, I do believe. Nice old tube amp tone, but not much power or headroom by today's standards. My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I'd look at Carvin, GK and Yorkville for heads and Eden, SWR or Schroeder for cabs. Buy secondhand! Carvin's B500/B1500 amps look excellent and the Redlines are solid. GK's 1001RB is a fine (and light) amp. Yorkville seem to have a whole bunch of decent stuff out at reasonable prices. Eden and SWR cabs are no longer the flavour of the month so you can get them cheap used, but they're still excellent cabs. Schroeders are the flavour of the month and are really well voiced and efficient, so you can get away with smaller/fewer cabs than normal, reducing both cost and transport hassles. If you're patient and cunning you should be able to get an excellent rig for less than $1000 (US). If your budget is smaller than that, you'll need more cunning, patience and you might have to settle for very good rather than excellent (e.g. Peavey Firebass and Avatar B212 - total cost ~ $600). What are you using now, anyway? Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderdog Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I second ( or third ) the suggestion for the GK 1001RB - II I use it with two GK 410SBX cabs ( also nicely priced ) and it is ATOMIC. The whole rig was somewhere around $1300 US. I have active pickups, but I've heard a Geddy Lee Fender played through it and it might even have sounded better and more punchy with the passives. All in all, a fantastic setup for the dough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlin Posted January 17, 2005 Author Share Posted January 17, 2005 Originally posted by Edendude: Cat... I'm right next door to you, on the island of Newfoundland. Those old Traynor amps were the real shit in their day. I used to own one, back in the day. The company later became Yorkville Sound, I do believe. Nice old tube amp tone, but not much power or headroom by today's standards.NFLD eh, nice, I would like to come check out the music scene up their sometime, also compare how prices are compared to hear. As for Traynor, i believe Yorkville bought them out , and know makes all there gear. Sometime when i am able to get over, we will have to meet up for a jam. Originally posted by C. Alexander Claber: I'd look at Carvin, GK and Yorkville for heads and Eden, SWR or Schroeder for cabs. Buy secondhand! Carvin's B500/B1500 amps look excellent and the Redlines are solid. GK's 1001RB is a fine (and light) amp. Yorkville seem to have a whole bunch of decent stuff out at reasonable prices. Eden and SWR cabs are no longer the flavour of the month so you can get them cheap used, but they're still excellent cabs. Schroeders are the flavour of the month and are really well voiced and efficient, so you can get away with smaller/fewer cabs than normal, reducing both cost and transport hassles. If you're patient and cunning you should be able to get an excellent rig for less than $1000 (US). If your budget is smaller than that, you'll need more cunning, patience and you might have to settle for very good rather than excellent (e.g. Peavey Firebass and Avatar B212 - total cost ~ $600). What are you using now, anyway? AlexHey man, thanks for the info, GK seems to be sounding intresting, how affordable are they, and do you know how common they are to find used. As for what I have now, I have a old Yorville 200b, one of the oder models http://www.mindspring.com/~triplerguitar/used/pics/yorkie.jpg I love this amp to death, but I personally just would like to experiment with a head/and a cab, also i would love some more power, i could go for a little more tone, and on top of that i would like to have something for my house, and something for my jam spot. The sound I am going for hmmm.....i want an amp that is versatile, nice warm jazz sounds, smooth thick funk for some percussive playing, or something great for some metal. I know that may be asking alot, but I can obtain it with my Yorkville and it is old, so i figure i must be albe to do it with something more up to date. Thanks again-Catlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basshappi Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I suggest that Catman get an award for "Coolest Avatar"! Welcome to the Lowdown! Nothing is as it seems but everything is exactly what it is - B. Banzai Life is what happens while you are busy playing in bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 For wattage, instead of a head you might consider a standard PA-type power amp (there's no such thing as a bass watt) & a preamp of your choice. For the same money, you might be able to get more wattage &/or better tone control than if you got it all in one box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlin Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 Originally posted by basshappi: I suggest that Catman get an award for "Coolest Avatar"! Welcome to the Lowdown!Thanks alot, Jaco is becomming one of my favorites, my teacher is getting me hooked, he is getting me to learn some tunes. I have also convinced my high school Jazz band to do a verison of Birdland. That should be fun. Thanks for all the help evryone, I will keep all this in mind. -Catlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fonz Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 traynors are cool. they are used in a very specific way by steve albini and bob weston with shellac. check them out to get a feel of what the amps can sound like but be advised that they keep them very trebly (and a lot of their stuff is released on touch 'n go if you want to further support canadian businesses). but yeah, head to the local music store and try out some good quality amps that are representative of their ilk at about 2x your price range and then hit ebay to get a used one. you might want to try and ampeg pro series (the svt 3 pro is a good starting point) and an swr (something from the workingmans series). from there you can figure out if you're a tube guy or a solid state guy. then you're half way home. Eeeeeehhhhhhhhh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenLoy Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I played a Mrs. Grundy gig at a place called the Parkside Lounge on Houston St. The house bass rig was an old Traynor 50-watt tube head with a small 1x12 cabinet. I turned the thing up to 10 and got an awesomely killin' overdrive that just ruled. Old Traynors rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edendude Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 It's hard to admit, but my bass rig in my early twenties consisted of a black pre-CBS Fender Mustang bass, an Aims 1x15 (JBL driver-equipped) folded horn cab, and a 100 watt Taynor all tube head. It saddens me deeply to think I let all that great old school shit go over the years. Damn! I wonder what gear that's around today will be looked back on in this way, twenty years from now? Anyone care to guess? My Last Band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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