Rigs that surprised you . . .

Ever played through a rig that surprised the hell out of you? Something that you never thought of playing through, but plugged into with almost no tweaking and was like, 'Damn dude!!'

That happened to me in a rehersal space I played in a few times. The bass setup was a big old Peavey head and what looked like a really old Sunn 215. (Never seen a Sun 215 before, but it said 'Sunn' on it.) I was like, 'Oh hell yeah!' Punchy as a mother, nice low-end, and took a freakin' beating volume-wise.

Been looking for an excuse to go back to that rehersal space.

[gregoire1]

Yeah, but I have an undiagnosed mental illness which causes every rig I try to sound better than mine, until I play mine after an extended absence. Then its the best. Why can't I just be happy. This pursuit of tone is a rollercoaster ride.

[countrybass007]

The Mesa Boogie D180 and their Roadready 118. That was many, many years ago, but it still sounds great. It is both big, and heavy.

[lowregister]

Originally Posted by gregoire1

Yeah, but I have an undiagnosed mental illness which causes every rig I try to sound better than mine, until I play mine after an extended absence. Then its the best. Why can't I just be happy. This pursuit of tone is a rollercoaster ride.

Umm, that's not even funny how true that is.

[countrybass007]

There are alot of great sounding rigs out there now-a-days. Thirty years ago it seemed alot more difficult to find a good sounding, reliable rig. The size and weight have also improved considerably.

[silvertripper]

Originally Posted by lowregister

Umm, that's not even funny how true that is.

I know right... my wife laughs at m I spend all day on craigslist and TB classified loooking for the deal of the day in pursuit of gear happiness.

but seriously, my main rig use to be a GK1001RB through a Ampeg PR410H and a GK 115RBH, and also a Sansamp TriAC and the tone was was awesome. I now play through the same GK 1001RB head but with a SVT810 cab and still using the Sansamp TriAC and it still has killer tone. The only other time I played through a rig that I thought sounded better was 2 Ampeg SVT classic heads and 2 SVT810 cabs. Of course the sound was deadly loud but the tone was killer.

The voices in my head concur.

Originally Posted by gregoire1

Yeah, but I have an undiagnosed mental illness which causes every rig I try to sound better than mine, until I play mine after an extended absence. Then its the best. Why can't I just be happy. This pursuit of tone is a rollercoaster ride.

[Jim C]

Not a rig but LMII head.
Never would have considered one for Ampeg like tone if it wasn't for you knuckleheads.
Absolutely love it and the SCT-CL mostly stays at home; sold a Trace and SVT-III Pro as I am sure they would never be on the GAS list again



(anytime soon)

[funkingroovin]

Yep,the rig I wish I had never gotten rid of. An old,90lb MILO tube head paired w/an Acoustic 4-15 cab. Got rid of them because I needed a 1-ton truck to haul it,and I was a dumb kid then..but I guess one has to be young and dumb before they can be old and wise

[ThunderousFunk]

The 2 rigs I've played recently; Ampeg BA115 combo, and a Peavey Firebass 700 w/ Peavey TVX 410.

[meatwad]

I played through a Hartke rig once (something like the HA2500/Transporter 410/115) and was amazed at how LOUD it was in comparison to my SVT-IIIPRO/2x410 Ampeg rig! It was love at first note, the tone was there, and it tickled the senses to hear the difference in volume with the gain and master knobs pointed in the same familiar direction. I quickly realized though, whereas I could further crank the III to volumes beyond necessity and the tone remain intact, the Hartke was already to the point of fartiness trying to keep up with the drummer and his kick drum coming through my monitor. It got the job done... barely.

Then, after a string of techs and tubes, I finally got my SVT-CL back on stage and was like "Damn, dude!!" It amazes me every time, weighs a metric ton, and is practically irreplaceable.

GK also makes me happy like little girl, especially the 400RB. The Peavey T-Max gave me a pleasant chill, as did an old Fender Bassman 4x10 combo. Not loud at all, but it had the most beautiful tone for the country gig I was doing at the time.

[pasta4lnch]

i did a gig once w/ a hybrid svt pro through an incredibly beaten up hartke 4x10 and i was floored by the sound. and the low end - i saw my pants moving!

[LarkinLondon]

My Eden WT800C Direct Out blows me away.
But I can't get that perfect sound out of my cab.
: /

[jschwalls]

Possum Stomper by Swamp Works Amplifiers

hands down the BEST bass amp I have ever played through.

[RickenBoogie]

Even after 3 1/2 yrs, I'm still amazed with the pure tone of my Walkabout head. Lately, I've been favoring the Buster for home practice, then plugged into the Walkabout and BAM- there it was. Loves me some Walkabout.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Jim C

Not a rig but LMII head.
Never would have considered one for Ampeg like tone if it wasn't for you knuckleheads.
Absolutely love it and the SCT-CL mostly stays at home; sold a Trace and SVT-III Pro as I am sure they would never be on the GAS list again

same here, except i did go back to the svt. crazy how tubey it sounds with nary a tube in it, eh?

[lbwdog]

Surprised?.....How about a Dr Bass 1260 Slantface? And, oh yeah, a Carvin LS1503 to some degree.

Three years ago, I got interested in a three-way cab solution, inspired by Greenboy's "Boutique 3-way On A Budget" thread. So I ordered one and was very pleased at first. Then, I started having problems with it which were eventually attributed to probably the crossover. In the meantime, I got tired of dealing with it and ordered a Dr Bass 1580, which was a new model, and a 1260, both with ceramic woofers. During the build, Marc called me and asked if I would want to try the 1260 in a Slantfaced style at no extra charge, as he was building one for another customer, and thought it would be an advantage to me for my application.

When they arrived, I started using the 1580 on my gigs, and while it was alright, it just didn't excite me as much as I hoped.

The "surprise" came when I took the little 1260 alone to a gig, thinking it was to be a lite jazz gig in a small room. When I arrived, I discovered we were playing a big Mardi Gras ball in a very large banquet hall without PA support. "Uh Oh" I thought.
Well, as you might guess, that little cab did that gig with ease and sounded really good. It had a much deeper, fuller sound than the 1580, and I've used it alone on many gigs since. It does have it's limitations (one twelve can only do so much), but it far surpassed my expectations regarding power and strong bass.

Luckily, I ordered mine when they were still producing cabs on a timely basis. These are very well made cabs and if you can find a used one, i can highly recommend it.

[meatwad]

I could add, I was totally floored how my Park G10R guitar practice amp (10w/6") actually worked for an acoustic gig with my Tobias fretless and pedalboard. We had plenty of monitor and FOH support, so if it couldn't cut it, I was covered. The guitarist is a gear rebel, and I tried it much to his approval. We were both like, "damn, dude!!".

[Jazzdogg]

The first time I had a reaction to a bass rig was back in the 70s when a buddy parked his gigantic Sunn rig at my house for a few months and told me to use it as though it were my own.

The most recent iteration was a few years ago when I played an F-Bass AC5 through a Bergantino IP112 for the first time. If I'd had the coin at the time, I would have brought 'em both home.

[RoboChrist]

This plugged into an Eden 410T: