Best Practice/Small Gig Amp/Combo (newb needs help)

[Philbuster]

Howdy bassheads! I finally registered to this forum that has provided me so many answers to various bass-related questions throughout my internet travels. First, a big thank you to the bass community here.

Now, I need some advice on some recommended bass amps/cabs or combos that will suit my wants/needs. First, I'll give a little background which may be of some importance in the decision making process.

I've been a guitar player for 10+ years and a violist/celloist since before that so I'm no stranger to stringed instruments. Guitar is great, but I have felt a change comin' on and have wanted to go down this road now for years. I have played and borrowed friends' basses a couple of times in the past few years and it has just made me want to have a rig of my own even more. So, no time like the present, right?

I've focused my bass search down to a Squier CV 60s P Bass, because, come on, these are fantastic playing and sounding basses for the money. I've got one of the CV 50s Strats and love it. Way more guitar than you would think $350 could get you. I've played Jazz Basses and while the necks are nice, I don't particularly care for the sound. Not as full and deep, more thin and somewhat raspy in my experience. P Bass just feels and sounds right for me.

I'm a huge sucker for Soul, R&B, Funk, Reggae, and Hip-Hop. Some of my favorite bassists to try and learn licks/songs from are Chuck Rainey, Jamerson (duh), Jerry Jemmont, Willie Weeks, Duck Dunn, Family Man, Pino, Adam Blackstone, Leonard "Hub" Hubbard, etc....So I'm trying to create my developing style and sound based on this kind of reference. I like a phat, deep, and relatively clean bass tone.

Now it seems that the Ampeg B100R is the amp for me, from all the internet research that I've done. Great! Wait...I can't find one within any reasonable distance...Should I just keep looking? Are they really that good? What is the upper price range of what they're worth?

I played an Ampeg BA-115 and BA-115HP @ guitar center a while back that sounded...okay. The 5 "style" knob seemed utterly useless and the while I did certainly like the depth of the 15", it didn't really seem that responsive. How are these rated on the scale of new SS combos under $500? It seems like I could do better with $500...?

I like the idea and togetherness of combos, but am certainly not opposed to head/cab if I've got some good options there. I found a Ampeg SVT 200T head within a couple hours drive for $250 yesterday on CL. Any good? I wouldn't really know what size cab to match with it though, and then I'd have to find it. I live in Western NC in the mountains. Somewhat of an isolated, low population area that I've almost always had to travel out of to find good deals and plentiful amounts of musical gear. This may just be another one of those times...

Not trying to keep this all Ampeg, it's just what I have experience with because it's familiar and that's what there's the most info about on the web. Certainly open to other stuff.

I love tubes and would love to play with an old B15 or V4 or something along those lines, but I think I will save the tubes for next time when I have more money, am a better, more solid player, and need a louder amp. Unless, there's something that I'm overlooking...

Oh yeah, let's just say the budget is $400-500 or less. Thanks for any advice on this subject that is probably a very frequently asked question!

[Datsgor]

check this one out.

Carvin.com :: MB15

Good luck on your search

[Turock]

I noticed a couple of B100Rs in the TB classified section.

[Interceptor]

Hmmm, four string P and low dough. Sounds good. Doesn't break down. Able to be found.

Peavey TNT 115. Or any Peavey head and what ever Peavey TVX cabinet you can find in driving range. The TVX cabinets are not light, but they are nice and deep sounding. The Peavey heads sound good and are harder to kill than a house full of roaches.

Or, if you're a crafty shopper - SWR 350 redface together with a SWR Goliath Jr (210) or an Avatar 210. Can't get real loud, but FAT!

Or, one more - a Hartke 3500 head and what ever 115 you can find. This pairing will produce a surprisingly pro tone tone for low dough.

Any of these will KILL an Ampeg b115. The b100's are nice, but not always so easy to find.

Jim

[klokker]

The b100r is discontinued. Wonder why? Frankly I've never liked any of the Ampeg combos very well. And the BA-115....if you want a practice amp its ok but if you're playing with any volume in a band....forget it......plus it sounds bad.

I agree with the Peavey comments. I don't know much about their new models but even the older TNT 100 watt models were killer and indestructible.

[Sparky Mark]

Don't know if you can try an Ashdown Electric Blue 180 12" EVO 2 combo? It is a fantastic sounding fully featured combo capable of doing small gigs on its own or with an extension cab giving the full 180W.

[Philbuster]

Thanks for the all the advice guys. Thanks to a fellow forum member pointing me in the right direction, I found a nice looking B100R on Guitar Center's website for what seems to me to be a decent price. It's on the way tomorrow. Will let you know how it works out.

[Turock]

Originally Posted by Philbuster

Thanks for the all the advice guys. Thanks to a fellow forum member pointing me in the right direction, I found a nice looking B100R on Guitar Center's website for what seems to me to be a decent price. It's on the way tomorrow. Will let you know how it works out.

That's great man. You'll have the best sounding combo out there.

[dmrogers]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Hmmm, four string P and low dough. Sounds good. Doesn't break down. Able to be found.

Peavey TNT 115. Or any Peavey Bass Head and what ever Peavey TVX cabinet you can find in driving range. The TVX cabinets are not light, but they are nice and deep sounding. The Peavey heads sound good and are harder to kill than a house full of roaches.

Or, if you're a crafty shopper - SWR 350 redface together with a SWR Goliath Jr (210) or an Avatar 210. Can't get real loud, but FAT!

Or, one more - a Hartke 3500 head and what ever 115 you can find. This pairing will produce a surprisingly pro tone tone for low dough.

Any of these will KILL an Ampeg b115. The b100's are nice, but not always so easy to find.

Jim

^ This!

This forum gets tons of requests for situations just like yours. For your budget, Peavey is going to be hard to beat. First, they are indestructible. I have always been able to get a good tone out of them with plenty of volume. If you shop around and are patient, you could probably score something like a Firebass head and decent cab for $500-$550.

Good luck!

[srxplayer]

I have a BA115HP that I have owned for 5 or 6 years. Its okay, I like the way it sounds but I wouldn't recommend one for anything more than practice or very small gigs.

You could get great deals on used Peavey stuff. I used to use a Peavey Combo 115 and I added a 4 ohm TVX 210 cab to it. It worked great and you can get them cheap used.

[jeff7bass]

The Carvin MB15 is the best sub-500 dollar combo out there!

[Interceptor]

One problem with the B100.

One stupid handle on top. The darn thing is 65 pounds. Moving it isn't going to be comfortable.

Get a Peavey head and cabinet. Easier to move.

[FooHead]

Anything Traynor is good bang for the buck and indestructible as well.

[RBetoGT]

peavey TNT 115, as the name says, "TNT"

i have seen them fall down BEFORE a gig, and play normally IN the gig
I have one, the one with a sheffield speaker, and it IS loud, I have used it alone, and all the other guys were connected to the PA system of a club...

the only thing is that they show some hum if they are not grounded, ground it and youre fine, the chorus effect is nice

of course, that is bottom line, you can get a lot of best quality, but the price rises incredibly....

then, I would reccomend some GK but that is expensive stuff, out of discussion

[RBetoGT]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

One problem with the B100.

One stupid handle on top. The darn thing is 65 pounds. Moving it isn't going to be comfortable.

Get a Peavey head and cabinet. Easier to move.

same with the TNT, 90 pounds....- 1 handle on top :S