Building a new rig, little help?

[DS70872]

I'm putting together a new rig in the next month or so and despite having looked around for a couple of hours I still haven't really found quite as much info as I would like to suit my needs.

I play pop-rock, somewhere between You Me At Six and Deaf Havana (Youtube them if you're curious). I'm currently using a Peavey Tour 700 with the TVX 410, but it's a bit metal for me and the cab weighs more than a house. For reference I'm also playing a Fender Jazz. Generally speaking I want my tone to be warm but punchy; not too much top but still quite clear. My style is quite driving, with fairly smooth running fills.

The amps I've been looking at are the Aguilar Tone Hammer 500, Ampeg SVT (probs a Pro but depending on budget maybe a Classic), or a Mark Bass Tube. Alongside this I'll be looking for a compressor (tho I think the SVT 7 has one built in?), and a rack tuner so any recommendations there would be appreciated.

Can anyone rate these amps side by side for the kind of modern rock/pop-rock I'm talking about?

Also I've been contemplating a Sansamp RBI or Bass Driver; how much more do you get for £150~ with the RBI? And how much does one of these REALLY add to the tone of your rig when you're shelling out so much on the head?

Every demo video I find is played using either slap or fingerpicking and I play solely picked so I can't really get a true feeling for any of the amps I'm looking at. Plus I don't really have time to be running around between 3 different shops that have dealerships to check them personally. For example I don't want to have to drive to the next county to check out the Aguilar if people don't really rate it.

Lots of info I know but I'm busting out savings on this so I don't really want to blow it on the wrong gear. My budget will probably be around £1700, but I'd rather spend less on the cab since I usually end up borrowing for quick changeovers live anyway. Depending who I go with I may possibly be able to knock a little off through endorsement as well.

Thanks folks!

[DS70872]

Actually just seen this, does this seem like a good starting place? It'd leave my budget wide open for extra gear: ‘96 USA Ampeg SVT-3 Pro Bass Head and ‘97 410 HE Classic Cab | eBay

[bassgod0dmw]

Originally Posted by DS70872

Depending who I go with I may possibly be able to knock a little off through endorsement as well.

Wait, what?

[mr.black]

in my opinion i think a cab is the best way to get the more modern rock tone you want. i personally went from a boogie set up playing thrash metal to a peavey head and eden 410xlt cab to play radio rock covers. the eden seemed to help the most.

[DS70872]

I've managed to procure 96 US made Ampeg SVT3 Pro and so far I'm really happy with the results. To make it even better I managed to pick it up with an Ampeg Classic 410 (again US made) for the low price of £800 altogether, all in good condition. Not a bad start for my new rig I think!

This leaves me plenty of budget to spare when it comes to adding additional tech to my set-up. As I said before I've been contemplating a Sansamp (either RBI or Bass Driver), a rack tuner and a compressor of some kind. The person I bought the amp off said the amp had a compressor built in but I've yet to see any indicators of this. Can anyone confirm this? Failing that any good recommendations for a good compressor?

As far as the Sansamp goes I'm actually pretty happy with the tones I've been getting out of the head so far, having spent some time messing around with the pre and post EQs, so I don't really need it for onstage. However I've read that these babies can make a huge difference to FOH sound when DI'ing (which I almost always am). Having said that I don't want to be spending another £300 on an RBI I could potentially do without and possibly put towards buying another bass or something. BUT, if people think they're worth it then I don't mind investing.

Any thoughts?

[tom once dead]

You've got a good start.
I've got the same setup. I used to run my BDDI with it, but I ended up just running a dry signal. Less mucking around with things setting up in minimal time. The 3 pro doesn't have an 'inbuilt compressor' but the tubes do naturally compress the tone. Not a whole lot but it's there.

I've been looking at getting some kind of compressor, but everything I've tried I've just hated (I'm not generally a fan of compressed tone). With some of the tapping/sweeping parts, live I find they get a bit lost so a compressor would help to clean it up and make the notes heard.

I've got a Korg DTR 1000 tuner in my rack which I run out of the tuner out. Works well, I just plug it into the aux power supply on the 3 Pro and I've never had any problems with it.