good 500 watt rig for 1000?

pizzazombie · #1 03-11-2013, 02:27 PM

So my band is going to have a few gigs this year where I have to take my own rig. The PA is always provided so i mainly need an amp to hear myself. BUT, I'm only 15 years old and my parents have already paid a lot of money for my bass, so I'm going to pay it myself, and i really don't want to spend more than 1000$. However, I want the rig to sound good and to be enough loud in the case that there wouldn't be a PA at the venue. My band's music genre is Punk/Indie/Brit Pop and we consist of 2 guitarists, one of them being the singer, a drummer and me, the bassist. I use a SBM Ray 34 as my main bass and I don't intend to change that in the near future. I don't want an amp that takes away the tonal character of my bass, a 3 or 4 way eq, a volume knob and a gain knob are all that i need. However I would love a DI out for the PA. I live in Switzerland where everything is more expensive than in the USA/UK (As far as i know). This is the first time I'm buying an amp/cab and I'm a noob when it comes to this topic, but I'm 100% sure that I DON'T want a tube amp.

Thank you if you read my post and I'm sorry if this question is annoying.

NOTE: The title should be 1000$ not "1000"

MontanaBassDude · #2 03-11-2013, 03:47 PM

Well, two things -- first, you're certainly not annoying. Second, I'd say you should get used to the idea that whatever amp you settle on, it WILL mess around with your guitar's characteristics. If you ask me, that's what amps are for... so you can dial in good bass audio to suit your taste.
I'd tell you not to get a combo. I'd tell you to get an amp that's twice as much power as you think you'll ever need. I'd tell you that 300w isn't enough. After your amp, you can start adding and experimenting with speaker units until you settle on the "ultimate perfect rig"... which you'll suddenly decide to change again in a year. I'd also tell you that two 10s isn't near enough... but that's why people in this forum like to dog-pile on my opinions.

VanillaThundah · #3 03-11-2013, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pizzazombie

This is the first time I'm buying an amp/cab and I'm a noob when it comes to this topic, but I'm 100% sure that I DON'T want a tube amp.

Give yourself some time...You'll wonder why you ever said that when you get in the room with a quality all-tube amp

Yeah, I'm not too versed in what is available in Switzerland, but you definitely want to a do a head + cab rig. Combos are really limiting and if you need more or less volume, being able to control what cab size you have to lug around is quite valuable lol. What type of gear do you see available over there?

MontanaBassDude · #4 03-11-2013, 04:04 PM

Five years ago, my band played in Switzerland at the Bern Country Music Night. Had a blast! They provided the back line... and it was great equipment! Where are you located, Zombie?

pizzazombie · #5 03-11-2013, 04:22 PM

Thanks for the replies.

What I meant with the part about not changing the sound characteristics too much, was that I don't want my Stingray to sound like a shortscale hollowbody with flats for example. It should "fit" my bass.
The reasons why I'm currently not interested in a tube amp are that they tend to be more expensive from what I saw and I don't want to pay for the replacement tubes afterwards.
I'm also not interested in a combo for exactly those reasons.
Most amps that are available in the UK/USA should also be available here but they tend to cost more.
I'm glad that you enjoyed your gig in Bern MontanaBassDude!

The venues here are really good and usually have a good soundguy and a good PA, sometimes they even have amps and drums there. I live near St. Moritz but my bandmates and our practice room are near Zurich. Most of our gigs are there but we are always looking to play somewhere els

pizzazombie · #6 03-11-2013, 04:23 PM

*else.

liam_g · #7 03-11-2013, 04:33 PM

A GK 700RBII and a Neo212 or Neo410 cab might do the trick. Great tone, not that heavy, and pretty reasonably priced here in the US at least. Those two cabinets are available in 4 or 8 ohms. 4 ohms will draw the most watts from your head, while 8 ohms will let you add a second 8 ohm cab for expansion in the future.

Lots of other options as well. I just like the GK stuff.

Good luck,
Liam

pizzazombie · #8 03-12-2013, 06:01 AM

THANK YOU!

Thombas · #9 03-12-2013, 06:13 AM

The Hartke LH500 gets some love, and might fulfill your criteria (3-way eq, DI, 500 watts), and it would leave you almost 2/3 of your total budget for at decent 4x10, given the price of the LH500 in Europe.

pizzazombie · #10 03-12-2013, 06:25 AM

The ones that were mentioned yet are really nice, but is there anything cheaper that is koud enough to be heard and still sounds good?

Thombas · #11 03-12-2013, 06:35 AM

You can get an LH500 for around 330 Swiss Franc. It's going to be tough to beat that in terms of sounding good, unless you go used - which is always an option :-)

pizzazombie · #12 03-12-2013, 06:36 AM

Sorry I read 1/3 insted of 2/3. xD

woody357 · #13 03-12-2013, 06:56 AM

IMHO a Genz Benz Focus 4x10 and a Shuttle 6.0 or 6.2 should do the trick and stay in the price range you want!!

cica · #14 03-12-2013, 07:09 AM

I'm not sure of the cost in Switzerland, but the Markbass amps are known for passing a very clean signal. You should test drive one.

pizzazombie · #15 03-12-2013, 07:50 AM

I already played a Markbass combo before and i really liked it. But the Hartke has the best price so far. Do you think a Fender Rumble 410 will be a good cab for it?

NKUSigEp · #16 03-12-2013, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by liam_g

A GK 700RBII and a Neo212 or Neo410 cab might do the trick. Great tone, not that heavy, and pretty reasonably priced here in the US at least. Those two cabinets are available in 4 or 8 ohms. 4 ohms will draw the most watts from your head, while 8 ohms will let you add a second 8 ohm cab for expansion in the future.

Lots of other options as well. I just like the GK stuff.

Good luck,
Liam

I'll second this response.

pizzazombie · #17 03-12-2013, 02:45 PM

Would a GK mb 500 and a Marshall mbc410 be a good top/cab combination?

liam_g · #18 03-12-2013, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pizzazombie

Would a GK mb 500 and a Marshall mbc410 be a good top/cab combination?

The mb500 is a fine head. I'm not familiar with that cabinet though. Maybe someone else will chime in with some experience.

Cheers,
Liam

pizzazombie · #19 03-12-2013, 03:09 PM

Goteky45 · #20 03-12-2013, 03:39 PM

ashdown stuff is great bang for buck in europe. I like their VS cabs. search on thomann.de or musicstore. you can get 2 1x15"s for something like 500€ and they are awesome.
for heads, there are a lot of 500W heads that don´t break you budget.

I would go with this if I were you. best bang for buck and great tone for your style.

http://www.thomann.de/pt/kustom_de300_hd_head.htm
http://www.thomann.de/pt/ashdown_vs115200.htm