Peavey Firebass 700w w/ Hartke 4x10 XL?

[hall1k]

I'm hoping to pick up (if the guy gets back to me) a used Peavey Firebass 700w@2ohms head for $200 and a used Hartke 4x10 XL 8ohm cab for another $200. The head is a 3 hour drive away, so before I go that far, does anyone have any opinions on this setup? In particular, I'm pretty leery about the aluminum cones. Some people say they're good, some bad.

Thankfully, the cab is only an hour away, but before I go to that much trouble, what do you think of the aluminum cones? Is it really as bad as some people claim? Or is it just a tone freak thing?

The amp I'll be replacing is a Fender Rumble 100 combo, so it's definitely an upgrade either way. I'll be playing bars and such and a medium/hard rock type of style. I imagine the Fender amp would be fine, but I can sell it for close to the same price and it's really just too bland for me. Like it has no character or anything. Oh, and I'll be using my 2006 Fender Aerodyne P-bass (MIJ).

[Bassdirty]

Well...the Peavey is a good reliable head. (tho I think u could haggle the price down a little JMO)
I'm currently using a peavey head I got for 99 bux.
The hartke..?...
Its okay (not "bad" as u say) IMO..but my cup of tea.

for the money, I'd say do it.


HOWEVER, I did notice you said you were getting rid of the rumble because it was too bland?

imo ...tonewise , u wont get super excitement out of the peavey.just solid bass sound.
but who knows, maybe the alum cones will add suttin.

[hall1k]

By "bland" I mean it really doesn't do anything particularly well. It doesn't add its own colour to the sound. I'd like to get some growling on the low notes, though that's probably more to do with the bass. Do the wattages and whatnot match up fine? Since it's 8ohms I would only be getting 275w, but that should be enough for bars and stuff right?

[hall1k]

I like the Hartke 4x10XL, but I don't like the 8ohm rating. Is it worth it to pay more for a 4ohm cab?

[craig.p]

IMHO you're trading bland for very bland+loud, but you can always "un-bland" things with a stomp box or two. But if you do that, then you've increased the cost of the upgrade by around 200-300 or even more, and you might have been able to buy a head with character at that price point. Think real hard on this one.

[hall1k]

Well what would you suggest for something with some real character? The problem is that the one I have just isn't going to be loud enough, but I cannot spend more than $600 (CDN, but they're basically the same as USD now) for a head + cab. I do have an EHX Bass Big Muff Pi and a Rocktron Short Timer (from my guitar, but seems to work nicely with bass too).

edit: To give you an idea of what I'm competing against, the guitarist has two (that's right, TWO) 4x12 cabs and a 2x15 cab. Not sure about the head cause I haven't looked at it too closely, but its a tube head by the looks of it.

[hall1k]

Update: I picked up a Peavey 410TVX 4ohm cab today. Had to drive 4 hours each way (windsor to toronto), but it was cheap enough to justify it. You shoulda seen me trying to load that thing in and out of a 2dr Pontiac Sunfire...

Also, the guy on kijiji with the firebass head still hasn't emailed me back after two days, so I guess that decision's already been made for me lol. Or maybe he/she is gone for the holiday weekend I guess.

[hall1k]

Another update: I opted for a Yorkville 400B head, mostly because it was only 2 hours away in Sarnia versus 3 hours away for the Peavey head in Cambridge, and after driving 4 hours each way to get the cab from Toronto I was getting really tired of driving sans cruise control lol.