Suggestions for gigging amp

adytum · #1 10-14-2011, 08:03 AM

I'll be traveling to gigs a lot, and I'm going to buy a nice portable amp. These are all pretty large venues, so I'll play on house PA.

I had halfway decided on the Line 6 Lowdown Studio 110, which sound real nice, has nice amp modeling and a practical built-in direct out.

Turns out my budget is a bit larger than I'd originally thought, so I'm looking for alternatives. Problem is, most "better" amps are also much larger, and the DI+portability of the Lowdown is really attractive. It's not that I have a desire to spend more money, but I really can't find decent alternatives, so I'm looking this way.

Any amp suggestions?

Medford Bassman · #2 10-14-2011, 08:08 AM

Genz Benz

lightweight, portable, sound great and a great built in DI. A few years ago a fellow TB did some testing and it looked like the DI coming from a Shuttle amp matched that of a Countryman DI.

Good enough for me. I've use a Shuttle for over 3 years now, countless gigs and I always run the DI straight to the mixer.

HMZ · #3 10-14-2011, 08:09 AM

Markbass CMD102P two ten combo amp. light and loud

DrumsAndBass · #4 10-14-2011, 08:14 AM

I'd avoid tubes because they are higher maintenance than SS.

PurpleDrank · #5 10-14-2011, 08:31 AM

Genz Benz Shuttle series combos are amazing. The 3.0-8T or 3.0-10T win the portability and pure clean tone award. The 6.0-12T can get louder and grindier. (I practice with a 3.0-10T and gig with a 6.0 into bigger cabs, and I love them both for different reasons.) The DI on both is immaculate. Get a 6.0-12T (bc it has a tweeter attenuator) and a VT bass pedal or the like, and there won't be a lot of gigs you can't cover if the PA is decent.

BoomBoomRoom · #6 10-14-2011, 08:56 AM

+1 on the Genz Benz. I love the tone and portability

soulman969 · #7 10-14-2011, 10:04 AM

GK mb112 or mb115 are in the same price range.

MarTONEbass · #8 10-14-2011, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMZ

Markbass CMD102P two ten combo amp. light and loud

+1

You absolutely should try this amp. Light, low and loud. Kicks back for easy monitoring.

adytum · #9 10-18-2011, 06:21 AM

Thanks for the responses, I actually ended up with the Lowdown 110. Thought I'd share what happened, for those interested.

This might sound weird, but I thought the Lowdown was as good as, or even slightly better than, the GK mb112. No affordable Markbass models were available where I live, and I needed one quickly. The tone might have been a bit more comfortable all over on the GK, but the tonal options of the Lowdown had me sold. I currently tour with a band where I change bass styles a lot, mainly beatlebass, a rounded, smooth low tone and thirdly a typical punchy p-bass tone. My G&L L2000 has no trouble covering all these styles, and the combination with the Lowdown turned out to expand the possibilities even further. I now have my 3 styles as custom presets, so between songs I press a button on the amp, adjust a knob or switch on my bass, and I'm good to go!

Plently loud enough for a personal stage monitor, and the DI sounds absolutely fantastic. I'll be using only this for my home studio in the future.

Highly recommended if you need to switch around a lot, my only complaint is that they overdid the lo-mid presence on every model, so you really have to do some tweaking to get where you want. But that's what the custom presets are for!