Looking For A Nice Combo Amp Under $600, Suggestions?

[ryevick]

I am wanting to get me a decent amp for mostly practice in my home studio, jammin' with the guys and if needed small gigs but this doesn't mean I want small sound. I have a brand new Boss GT-10B that I will use to record direct with but I need a full range amp to help me develop ideas with it. I play a lot of hard/heavy funk and jazz fusion stuff mostly. I would prefer a 15" amp with an effects loop.

I have been thinking about the Peavey Tour TNT 115 and the Hartke Hydrive 115C but I think I need to hear some suggestions from you guys. I have been seeing several amps online recently that I haven't listened to or considered. SWR, Roland, Fender, Rocktron, etc. Ideas/suggestions?

[Infidelity]

I'd recommend a Ampeg B100r if you don't need that much head room..

If you need a lot to medium size gigs prolly a Mark Bass combo is the way to go but you gotta add a little bit more for those..

[LAPetrarca]

Just sold my HyDrive 115c in favor of a GK MB115. No complaints about the Hartke except for the weight which, pushing 60 years old, becomes an issue. It was my first foray into graphic EQ's (I was still using my 1980's era stack) and I determined that I'm still an "old school" kind of guy.....volume, bass, middle and treble are all I need. The MB115 gives me that plus it only weighs 35 pounds. I recommend either.....and if you want to go even smaller, the GK MB112 is VERY surprising for it's size. That's my practice amp that lead me to buy the MB115.

[ryevick]

Originally Posted by LAPetrarca

Just sold my HyDrive 115c in favor of a GK MB115. No complaints about the Hartke except for the weight which, pushing 60 years old, becomes an issue. It was my first foray into graphic EQ's (I was still using my 1980's era stack) and I determined that I'm still an "old school" kind of guy.....volume, bass, middle and treble are all I need. The MB115 gives me that plus it only weighs 35 pounds. I recommend either.....and if you want to go even smaller, the GK MB112 is VERY surprising for it's size. That's my practice amp that lead me to buy the MB115.

I would love to check out that GK... less weight is always better I don't need a lot of bells and whistles. The only thing is from looking at it, it looks like it doesn't have an effects loop which I really want with my Boss processor... that's disappointing

[ryevick]

Originally Posted by Infidelity

I'd recommend a Ampeg B100r if you don't need that much head room..

If you need a lot to medium size gigs prolly a Mark Bass combo is the way to go but you gotta add a little bit more for those..

I'm not sure if that Ampeg will give me what I need but I'll check it out. The MarkBass 15" combo amp is about twice what I want to spend so I may have to keep looking.

[Nedmundo]

Even though it's a 12", check out Roland's Cube series, which is changing from the 100 to the 120XL. The new 120XL has a built in tuner, a looper, and other cool stuff. They're incredibly versatile, which would be good for your purposes, and they sound much bigger than their sizes and power ratings suggest. I have the Cube 100. I love it, and may upgrade to the 120XL. Unfortunately, they don't have effects loops, which they should considering the other pro level features.

Roland has some demo videos on YouTube for the new Cubes:

YouTube - CUBE BASS-120XL/-60XL Overview (part 1)

[ryevick]

Originally Posted by Nedmundo

Even though it's a 12", check out Roland's Cube series, which is changing from the 100 to the 120XL. The new 120XL has a built in tuner, a looper, and other cool stuff. They're incredibly versatile, which would be good for your purposes, and they sound much bigger than their sizes and power ratings suggest. I have the Cube 100. I love it, and may upgrade to the 120XL. Unfortunately, they don't have effects loops, which they should considering the other pro level features.

Roland has some demo videos on YouTube for the new Cubes:

YouTube - CUBE BASS-120XL/-60XL Overview (part 1)

That cube looks pretty nice but it just doesn't fit my needs. I already have the pretty much the best effects processor out right now so buying an amp with effects doesn't make sense. Thanks for the reply.

[RickenBoogie]

Your Boss processor will work better going in the front of an amp, not in the loop. FX loops are meant for line level gear, not instrument level, although I believe the Boss unit can send either (?) But, in front of the amp should work better anyway, so choosing an amp for that particular feature seems counterintuitive to me.

[ryevick]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Your Boss processor will work better going in the front of an amp, not in the loop. FX loops are meant for line level gear, not instrument level, although I believe the Boss unit can send either (?) But, in front of the amp should work better anyway, so choosing an amp for that particular feature seems counterintuitive to me.

Thank you for your reply but there are a several ways of hooking up to the amp.

A.) Bass > GT-10B input, GT10B output > amp input.
this setup is best not to use any GT-10B preamps as you are already running through one on your amp.

B.) Bass > GT-10B input, GT-10B output > amp Fx Return.
This setup is best to use the GT-10B preamps since you are using your amp as a power amp only, and will allow more variety using the different GT-10B preamp models.

C.) Bass > amp input, amp Fx send > GT-10B input, GT-10B output > amp FX return.
I have not tried this setup, but i imagine the levels would not be quite right.

D.) Bass > GT-10B input, GT-10B S/R Send > amp input, amp FX Send > GT-10B S/R Return, GT-10B output > amp Fx Return.
This setup is known as the 4 cable method and will give the most from the GT-10B and your amp, you can use the amp's preamp as one of the GT-10B effects and freely move it within the GT-10B signal chain, you can choose to use either your external preamp or one of the GT-10B preamps. The S/R loop effect must be enabled for this to work.

[bills2north]

My home amp is fender rumble 150. It´s got a 15" speaker, casters & the basic bells & whistles and costs only $350 from music farm. It aint pretty but who cares?

[ryevick]

Originally Posted by bills2north

My home amp is fender rumble 150. It´s got a 15" speaker, casters & the basic bells & whistles and costs only $350 from music farm. It aint pretty but who cares?

I'll check that out... thanks