views on the fender rumble?

[allroundbassnut]

decent amp for the working bassist? any comments appreciated

[smogg]

Depends which one you're talking about. The 350 will carry a gig. I do small gigs with my Bassman 150 combo all the time.

[msaone]

I bought the 350 head and 410 cabinet a few months ago. The project I play in doesnt get together too much, but it runs with a drummer and half stack no problem. The fan never even blows hot air out of the head.

I think I got a lot for the money.

[christw]

The 350/410 is a sweet little rig. A local bassist and friend of mine uses them and always has more then enough oomph to fill the bar.

[msaone]

Yeah, I cant believe how much that little amp has. $700 out the door too!

[tabdog]

I agree with the 350 head being the best and
most versatile of the Rumble line. I think that
Fender screwed up by not putting a speaker
out jack on the 350 combo. That kept folks
from realizing how nice the 350 Rumble amp
really is because of the cheap speakers used
in the combo.

I got mine for $250. It was a display model at
GC that nobody hardly ever played. I bought it
for a practice amp to use with my 8 ohm 1X12
Fender speaker,



If I hook another 8 ohm speaker, it is really loud
and full sounding with great voicing. This looks
silly, but if I hide it in the corner somewhere, it
fills my house with heavy bass and tons of head
room,



Tabdog

[stagefumer11]

First post!.. haha

Ive done 6 gigs with a fender rumble 150combo. Fills large venus quite well. best 700 ive spent . I have found they needed some dacron filler in the cabnet. I did this "mod" and even more improvement.

Great thing is being able to use the line out, or the effects out to power another cabnet (amp required)

[soulman969]

I think a lot depends on how you define "decent". Enough power yep but great tone I'd say no. There are better amps out there to be had for the price.

[saustindavis]

I've never played one I liked. My experience was with a 1x15 combo both times, and while it had enough power at church it didn't compete with my Acoustic B200H/B115, and the tone was flat and boring. The DI output was also week compared to my Acoustic rig.

[sven kalmar]

ive got a little rumble 100 with a 15 inch. I like it. have used it line in a bit and that sound nok too. With a nice bass and touch it sounds nice for a little amp in low voume settings. at least for my sound. ive heard worse stuff..

[62 Vintage J]

+1. Sent my 150 back after 3 days. For me, the sound and quality just weren't there.

Originally Posted by soulman969

I think a lot depends on how you define "decent". Enough power yep but great tone I'd say no.

[pica]

I really like the Fender Rumble heads although they don't seem to get much love on TB.

[gearhead1972]

My friend has the 350 2x10 combo. This summer we had a Blues and BBQ thing for about 500 people outside that I helped with the sound and stage. We did 6 bands in 6 hours and this was the backline bass amp. Full PA A&H board, QSC PL series amps about 3.5k watts, EAW mains and 18" subs. The first band started, the sound man gives me a little elbow and points at the bass guitar fader, it was completely down, and that rumble was fitting in the mix perfectly without any PA support. I really don't care for the tone of it, but it can do the job just fine.

[shaginwagin]

Yeah, the Rumble75 I had was nice. It was pretty loud for a single twelve combo. Had good features. I do miss the overdrive option. But...

I had to force the sound I wanted with very aggressive eq, which it couldn't produce at useable volume. I moved on...

The Rumble stuff probably all sounds about the same. Not my thing.

[Jeff Scott]

The all tube Rumble Bass head was a great amp but unfortunately it did not get the love it deserved. Too bad most people here on TB don't even know it ever existed, it seems.

Anything else by Fender with the Rumble name on it does not compute!

[atomicdog]

I use a Rumble 350 combo for practice and small room gigs. It's tight and punchy and loud. Underrated. And, as you can tell, Rumbles don't get a lot of respect on TB.

[Broadstbully22]

This ^. I love mine. Really underrated.

[Troph]

The Rumble combos are decent entry-level amps for the money. I had a Rumble 75 combo which was about $230 new. It was stout, featuring a nice tilt-back cabinet, which I really liked. The sheer output wasn't bad for a bass amp under 100 watts, but I found that at rehearsal volume, it lacked any headroom whatsoever. I seem to remember that it would cut out occasionally during intense passages at that volume. It also sounded a little thin.

I eventually upgraded to a GK stack with an RB700-II, which is in a completely different league, both sound-wise and price-wise.

If I were just getting started today, and I were looking for a good combo, I'd probably spend a little more and go with the TCElectronic BG250 or the GK MB115-II rather than the Rumbles. These will last you much longer before you feel like you need to "upgrade" to a component system.

And if you're considering the Rumble 350 head, then I'd highly recommend that you consider the Carvin BX500 instead. It's a really sweet head with more power (500W) and features (tube pre, awesome EQ) at the same price point.

[Troph]

I forgot to mention that I do like the Rumble 350 Combo for the price, and I think it would be a decent choice for someone who doesn't care about weight.

However, there are fewer and fewer players these days willing to lug around unnecessary weight, and at 65 lbs for a 2x10, it is somewhat of a dinosaur.

[ErnieD]

Went to a guitarists house to audition. He had a weeks old Rumble 100 for me to use. I own a few bass amps/cabs never thought to own a combo. It sounded OK. He offered it to me for 2 bills a week later so I snagged it.

I keep it under my PC desk. Use it to run a line into my PC, headphones out and I do late nite practices that way. I actually have taken it to a couple small outdoor gigs with a couple bands. Used a P5 or J5, did the job, just no way to control the tweeter so it gets harsh now and then.

Anyway, its served its purpose for a couple years now. I just ordered a BG250 for restaurant gigs I'll be doing. Gonna relegate the Rumble 100 to one of my bands practice rooms where I'll use it once a week. Good starter amp for learning and a couple gigs if need be. Alot of better, lighter gear out there now. But its' worked for me all this time. Oh yeah, bandmates laugh when I turn on the built-in flashing red light. Its' kitchy.