Best name in bass amps

[zachoff]

I haven't bought anything new for a while... I guess my Micro VR last year. It's neat. It's cute. Not super loud. Sounds pretty good.

My regular amp is a '76 SVT and I would probably not trade it for anything other than maybe a Fender Super Bassman... Maybe.

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by ga_edwards

What's the best beer?
What's the best football team?
Who's the best Bond?

In order:

Alexander Keith's IPA

Everton

Gold Bond works really well.

[Rockin Mike]

All amps sound about the same, as do all basses and speaker cabs.

I cut the first two strings off my old Takamine acoustic guitar and ductaped a record player needle to it for a pickup. Sounds fine through an old Jensen car stereo powered by a boat battery.

The boat battery is a little heavy though so I'm thinking about a Jule Monique.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

In order:

Alexander Keith's IPA

Everton

Gold Bond works really well.

Gold label or green label, Paul.

[pacojas]

hey people,... please don't hate on Crate!

there's one at the practice space we rent and it kills!!! we dub out hard and this thing sounds as deep and clean as the SWR amp & Genz Benz cab that i use live. believe me, i frowned when i saw the Crate (i forget which model), but it has a distortion channel as well as a built-in Octavider! there's even a tuner in that thing.

[DrumsAndBass]

Originally Posted by Ash Jazz

Reading through a recent thread I was amazed by the great variation of opinion on various manufacters: "I love Fender", "I would never own a Fender", etc.

My question is; what in your opinion are the best name brands for Bass amps and in what order?

I'm really curious to see the results!

Thank you

I'll jab Guitar Center for a moment. They have very little gear in stock on the floor that interests me - so right there is a slew of name brands for bass amps. Yet they've ordered a variety of gear for me from time to time. There's plenty of other ways to get bass gear.

Ultimately what sounds best is best. I suppose some of us list our gear in our profiles on TB.

[LowBSix]

Walter Woods
Demeter

[Ric5]

My favorite bass amps are Ampeg and Hartke.

[Modern Growl]

Peavy
Behringer
Crate

[Russell L]

Silvertone, of course. No wait, mine's a guitar amp (old Twin Twelve, luv it).

Hey, I really don't give a crap.

[Cadfael]

Originally Posted by ga_edwards

What's the best beer?
What's the best football team?
Who's the best Bond?

König Pilsner
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Fender Telecaster Bass 1968 Blond

I don't care about the amp as long as it's a "Roland" ...

[zon6c-f]

Old School:

1-a) Acoustic Control 361
1-b) Double cab 371
1-c) Acoustic 320 w/ 408 cab.
1-d)Sunn 2000s: Double cab JBl
1-e) Sunn Coliseum: Double cab: 18" vega folded horn variety.

2) Double cab Ampeg S V T. Only one I ever used live blew up on me; been tube shy ever since.

New School: Too many new ones to list; Great time to be a bass player...

[cjp3044]

Originally Posted by pacojas

hey people,... please don't hate on Crate!

there's one at the practice space we rent and it kills!!! we dub out hard and this thing sounds as deep and clean as the SWR amp & Genz Benz cab that i use live. believe me, i frowned when i saw the Crate (i forget which model), but it has a distortion channel as well as a built-in Octavider! there's even a tuner in that thing.

From a repair standpoint, at the shop I help out in, we see more Crate stuff come in for repair than just about any other brand, except maybe Line 6, and both brands are usually more to repair than the resell value of the amp. That, and the other thing is that the Line 6 Bass amps sound like ass and the Crate stuff that I've heard is not much better. I think the posters that are putting brands like Crate and Kustom as the best are being VERY sarcastic. That said Crate does make some inexpensive stuff that will get a beginner by or maybe work for a practice amp, but after as many I've seen in the shop, I would NEVER trust one for live performances, plus I think they sound awful. Surprisingly, for inexpensive gear, we rarely see Behringer stuff come in the shop -- maybe because people see Behringer as being disposable? But there are a few Behringer bass amps that sound really good for the money.

OK, that's the cheap stuff. For a "good" amp (sound, reliability, transportability, etc) you can ask 10 different bass players and get 10 different answers. You've got people that love/hate this brand or that brand. I have some Ampeg stuff that was USA made before they moved most (or all?) their production overseas and it sounds amazing (US made 8x10 and US made SVT 6-Pro), but just because I like it doesn't mean you will. And newer Ampeg stuff seems to have a lot of quality control issues (so we're back to reliability). And my Ampeg gear is HEAVY - that rig now only gets used where the "look" of an 8x10 is important, but talk about punching you right in the chest! I own some of the better Ashdown gear as well (ABM EVO II and ABM EVO III, various US made Ashdown cabs), also sounds amazing (to me) and has so far been reliable, but lacks some of the punch I like for rock gigs. I also have a Fender Bassman Pro 400 2x10 combo -- this is the worst sounding of my current lineup and least reliable - in fact it's on my bench at home right now for yet another repair (which I luckily can do myself). But I use that amp to leave at one of the rehearsal spots I have to go on a weekly basis so I don't have to cart an amp every time. Although it's not mine, one of the bands I regularly fill in with carts all the stage gear in a single trailer, so when I fill in, I get to use the other bass player's rig -- a Mesa M600 into a Carvin BX 4x10 - all I can say about that rig is WOW! My personal go to rig for pretty much everything else now is an Aguilar TH500 and a Glasstone Lil-G cab, as of now I can't imagine spending money on anything else, but I'm sure I will at some point.

Play EVERYTHING you can and make a decision on what's best for you, not what someone else tells you is good, however take my heed on Crate and Line-6 from above - I don't trust 'em to be reliable and that is a very important aspect of your gear, especially if you are out playing live a lot.

[dalkowski]

What's the best name in bass amps for metal?

[MyMusic]

Carvin is working for me right now!!!!

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by cjp3044

From a repair standpoint, at the shop I help out in, we see more Crate stuff come in for repair than just about any other brand, except maybe Line 6, and both brands are usually more to repair than the resell value of the amp. That, and the other thing is that the Line 6 Bass amps sound like ass and the Crate stuff that I've heard is not much better. I think the posters that are putting brands like Crate and Kustom as the best are being VERY sarcastic. That said Crate does make some inexpensive stuff that will get a beginner by or maybe work for a practice amp, but after as many I've seen in the shop, I would NEVER trust one for live performances, plus I think they sound awful. Surprisingly, for inexpensive gear, we rarely see Behringer stuff come in the shop -- maybe because people see Behringer as being disposable? But there are a few Behringer bass amps that sound really good for the money.

OK, that's the cheap stuff. For a "good" amp (sound, reliability, transportability, etc) you can ask 10 different bass players and get 10 different answers. You've got people that love/hate this brand or that brand. I have some Ampeg stuff that was USA made before they moved most (or all?) their production overseas and it sounds amazing (US made 8x10 and US made SVT 6-Pro), but just because I like it doesn't mean you will. And newer Ampeg stuff seems to have a lot of quality control issues (so we're back to reliability). And my Ampeg gear is HEAVY - that rig now only gets used where the "look" of an 8x10 is important, but talk about punching you right in the chest! I own some of the better Ashdown gear as well (ABM EVO II and ABM EVO III, various US made Ashdown cabs), also sounds amazing (to me) and has so far been reliable, but lacks some of the punch I like for rock gigs. I also have a Fender Bassman Pro 400 2x10 combo -- this is the worst sounding of my current lineup and least reliable - in fact it's on my bench at home right now for yet another repair (which I luckily can do myself). But I use that amp to leave at one of the rehearsal spots I have to go on a weekly basis so I don't have to cart an amp every time. Although it's not mine, one of the bands I regularly fill in with carts all the stage gear in a single trailer, so when I fill in, I get to use the other bass player's rig -- a Mesa M600 into a Carvin BX 4x10 - all I can say about that rig is WOW! My personal go to rig for pretty much everything else now is an Aguilar TH500 and a Glasstone Lil-G cab, as of now I can't imagine spending money on anything else, but I'm sure I will at some point.

Play EVERYTHING you can and make a decision on what's best for you, not what someone else tells you is good, however take my heed on Crate and Line-6 from above - I don't trust 'em to be reliable and that is a very important aspect of your gear, especially if you are out playing live a lot.

I take it that you wouldn't see some brands in your shop unless you are an authorized repairman for that brand, like Markbass? For the most part, I mean. I find it interesting that you don't see many threads on TB about Markbass trouble. And there was a reply in a thread some time back about the number of repairs (I think it might've been in Europe--but nonetheless it's a yardstick). As I remember, Markbass scored very high on reliability. Of course, anything can fail, though.

[Muttleybass]

What?? No Gallien Kreuger? Best bang for the buck, IMO.

[Diesel Kilgore]

My preference in cabs are Peavey and Mesa. Amp head? There are many out there I would consider.

[Ash Jazz]

Thanks! Especially to those who answered. Your opinion is exactly what I was interested in. Perhaps you think I'm a little pathetic in that I would be interested in the opinions of a bunch of Bass bloggers but there you have it. I truly am that lifeless. But I am also happy that way!

For myself I play more guitar than bass and know that gear better. Although I do double duty on Bass and own several basses and a decent amp. In fact I love playing bass and enjoy playing it whenever I get the chance.

I have a Hartke HA500 with the XL 4x10 cab. I really like it althought I've been looking around at alternatives. Thats partly why I ask. Also because I'm curious. I had upgraded from a 1x15 Fender amp combo. I don't remember the model anymore although I will say it was a very loud thumper but had a serious lack of definition.

I've been wondering what "Bass Players" think. I mean people that look at it as their primary instrument and what experience tells them is good. Of course there are no right or wrong answers, just opinions. And thats great because thats what I'm interesated in hearing. And I thought that perhaps some of you might be curious too.

cjp great response, I enjoyed reading your post. Thank you.
MyMusic, Zon, Ric, Modern, Paco, Zach, Rooster, cnltb, Violen, Muttley, Diesel, anybody I missed, thank you.

[rapidfirerob]

The one I own because I own it and like it and I can't afford a Glockenklang.
It would be a Genz Benz, which has a cool sounding name as well.