Fender Rumble Amp Hidden in Plain Sight

[tabdog]

I have always considered Rumble
amps to be entry level or practice
amps. They disguise the amps quality
by paring it with low grade speakers
and not supplying a speaker out jack.

I found a Rumble 350 head at GC that
was on clearance for $250. The amp
was just $212.50 after my 15%
discount. That's $337.50 off retail and
a 61% discount. That's some serious
savings.

So, I bought it for a practice amp.

Come to find out this thing is really a
serious amp in sheep's clothing when
pared with a good speaker. If I hook
up two 8 ohm 1X12 cabs to this thing,
the acoustic paint starts falling off the
ceiling and it sounds awesome.

I've notice there is very little info on
these amp heads on TB. Maybe it has
been hidden in plain sight,



Tabdog

[HeavyDuty]

I've been seeing these on clearance at Sam Ash, too along with the Rumble 112 cabs.

Is the OD footswitchable? What's the tone like?

[BassSurfer]

This amp is a real "sleeper" in my opinion. For some reason, it has always (I had a Rumble 60) made my tone AMAZING. Someone once said on here that they prefer it to the likes of a Shuttle and I'll second that. REALLY nice tone with perfect mids! Everyone should atleast try one out!

[tabdog]

Originally Posted by HeavyDuty

I've been seeing these on clearance at Sam Ash, too along with the Rumble 112 cabs.

Is the OD footswitchable? What's the tone like?

Hay HeavyDuity,

Yes, the OD is the only thing that is foot switchable.
It has a gain control and a mix control that works
fairly well.

I didn't like the OD at first. I'm not big on OD, but
this one is tasteful in the way it can be blended in
and still maintain the low end.

For that kind of effect it is hard to beat Tech 21,
in my opinion,

Tabdog

[rnarrington1]

These amps carry the same power section as the Aguilar Tone Hammers!!

[tabdog]

Originally Posted by BassSurfer

This amp is a real "sleeper" in my opinion. For some reason, it has always (I had a Rumble 60) made my tone AMAZING. Someone once said on here that they prefer it to the likes of a Shuttle and I'll second that. REALLY nice tone with perfect mids! Everyone should atleast try one out!

Fender does something to the tone of these
amps. With the settings set strait up, it has
a real good tone for bass. Then it is simple
to tweak and use.

I prefer the Fender 350 tone to most of the
other amps anywhere near the price range.

Speakers make a big difference. I hooked it
up to that Fender 1X12 cab in the photo
and a cab with a JBL 12" speaker and the
volume and tone were way more than I ever
expected from any Rumble.

It is definitely a sleeper. You can do a search
and see that. Few have them, but they seem
to be converts for the most part,

Tabdog

[rpsands]

Agreed, these amps are definitely sleepers. They sound great and are fairly loud.

[mjac28]

Congrats great find

[Russell L]

Ya'll making me wanna look for one, lol.

Just wanted to say it makes me think of my little Bassman 25 combo. It's that way---perfect bass tone, only it has one 10" speaker. In the headphones it's a most wonderful tone, set flat.


[EDIT: heh, heh, my Markbass 151P cab sounded great as an ext. speaker. Can't believe it has a jack for it.]

[funkytoe]

I have to agree. I learned long ago to trust my ears and not get caught up in the hype of the "flavor of the week" amp.

As for the Rumble amps, I was picking up some cable at Guitar Center last year and decided to demo a couple of the new Fender American Standard basses. I pulled down a 2011 Precision and tuned it up. First, I plugged into a Mesa Walkabout 1x12 combo. I was actually kind of stoked to see one there. The amp was nearly dimed for distortion, so I had to re-set the EQ to my taste. And the P bass sounded good through it. Good, but it did not blow me away. In fact, I though it kind of lacked clarity. I then plugged the same bass into a GK micro 2x12 combo amp. Even with the additional 12 inch speaker, it sounded anemic compared to the Walkabout. I unplugged in less than 30 seconds. Right next to the GK was a Fender Rumble 350 2x10 combo. Just because I wasn't ready to put down the P bass, I decided to plug in and give it a go. Same bass with all the EQ on the amp set at noon. There it was. Great basic bass tone. Great punch, round bass, great clarity. The Rumble absolutely made the Fender P sound like a new bass, certainly better than the Walkabout and MUCH better than the GK micro. To tell the truth, I really had to resist not buying the Rumble 350 right on the spot (It was marked down to just $379 as I recall).

Fender Bass Amplification definitely has something going on these days. I think the new Bassman tube amps sound great. And these "entry-level" Rumble amps are solid. I would not hesitate to gig that Rumble 350 on a bar or small club gig. Sorry if that sounds like some endorsement. I am not a shill for Fender. But like I said at the beginning, I have learned to trust my ears over labels and badges and these amps sound good. For the price, they would be hard to beat for someone on a budget.

Not trying to offend any Mesa or GK lovers. I have bought and used amps by both manufacturers and will likely do so in the future. It just so happened that both came up short on this particular day.

[bb03]

Does anyone know whether the aux-in plays through the speaker outs...or is it just through the headphones? Can you control the aux volume with the Rumble?

[DerTeufel]

Originally Posted by bb03

Does anyone know whether the aux-in plays through the speaker outs...or is it just through the headphones? Can you control the aux volume with the Rumble?

Aux in does play through the speaker outs. Aux in volume is controlled by the source only.

[bb03]

Originally Posted by DerTeufel

Aux in does play through the speaker outs. Aux in volume is controlled by the source only.

Thanks!

So the aux in goes straight to the power amp? I would assume, then, that the aux in can get quite loud...yes?

[tabdog]

Originally Posted by bb03

Thanks!

So the aux in goes straight to the power amp? I would assume, then, that the aux in can get quite loud...yes?

I believe it is strait to the power amp.
I know it can get pretty loud. I ran my
Sony MP3 player through it. It was
loud enough to play along with and
seemed to have good headroom.
I didn't push it so I'm not sure about
real high volume.

Tabdog

[PDGood]

Originally Posted by rpsands

Agreed, these amps are definitely sleepers. They sound great and are fairly loud.

From other threads I know that rp has exceptional ears so now that makes me want to test one out.

[Downunderwonder]

I've played the 2x10 combo a few times, no problem getting a good tone here either. You could pair the head up with a home made 2x15 and blow any stage away for very little investment.

[HeavyDuty]

Thanks for the info, tabdog!

[MrCool84]

Sooo ive had the 350 for almost 2yrs and gigged it thru An SWR GIII which was the 8ohm version. Soo i was gettin what 175 watts out of it? I never liked the tone except with a BDDI in the signal. Although i did dig the OD/blend it had. I got the 100t in august and the new fender 610 neo in sept/oct. Since the 100t i have not played the 350 untill this thread. i thought well lets see what its got with the full power and the tone of the neo 610. WOW the 610 and the full 350watts really kicks ass!! i played it with my active Brian Moore i4. Bass set flat bridge pick up full on, the punch button engaged, gain 6, blend 4, bass @11, low mids w/ a slight boost and treble flat. Sounded really nice. oh tweeter on cab on a third. I have had this head on craigs list trying to fund a pf500 then eventually a pf115he idk tho with the reliability issues with the pf500. Maybe ill just get a new 115 or build the 15/6 ive been pondering. Wonder how the rumble 350 would sound w a 15/6/1?

[wshines1892]

Ill throw in my thoughts I suppose.

Standards-wise, after working in a local music store for quite a while. I never saw a Rumble come back in for warranty work. Saw a lot of GK micros come back, but never a Rumble. It is worth mentioning that Fender owns Genz, so realistically this and the Shuttle aren't too far off in terms of reliability.

Sound-wise I liked them. They were a nice sound set flat and then you could noodle the controls all you want. I was a much bigger fan of the parametric high and low mid control of the Fender line before these, but they also weren't micro heads either.

The cabs are kind of meh. I owned one of the Rumble 4x10s for a while and I couldn't get that thing to cut through a mix for the life of me. Could have been the gear I was using at the time, but I sold it and moved onto an all Ampeg rig. When I would demo gear at work though I often drifted toward plugging in the Rumble head to a Genz 15. Sounded killer.

The overdrive channel on them was even pretty decent with the right settings. Went with the Ampeg PF500 personally for the little bit of extra headroom and a little more flexibility, but for the right price they're hard to pass up.

[Alivefor5]

Good thread. There's a 350 2x10 combo at the local mom & pop that I've paid NO attention to. Need to change that.