What to put on top of a fEARful 15/6, different from a LMIII
 

I need an amplifier to use with a fEARful 15/6, I don't need a lot of power.

I have a LMIII, so am looking at something that is different, meaning that the LM does clean sounds verry well, so the new head should also have some not clean sounds.

Portability is not high on my list.

The obvious choices I think are:
GK 400RB or 700RB - only "problems" I see are the bi-amping option and the 4/5 string EQ button causing confusion for users not familiar with the amp.

Ashdown ABM series - Not sure about howmuch grit they actually get. The spyder/DualTube amps seem to be lacking on the drive side. Again the EQ setup might be a bit confusing for some users.
*Have heard, liked

Aguilar TH 350 or 500 - I don't really need the "light and small" but might be a bit easier to use.
*Have heard, liked

TC Electronic RH450 - don't need the light and portable and the interface is not exactly simple : )
*Have used, liked

Orange Terror 500 - Not high on my list due to personal taste I supose
*Have used, didn't like

Fender Rumble - ?
*Haven' heard

Anything I should add to my list in the same pricerange, or could I get something a lot better for some more cash(Ampeg SVT Pro?)

an old ampeg v4b would do what you describe vary well and you can snag one of those in the sub 1000 dollar range pretty regularly.

sunn 200s would do be my number one choice for what you describe (but i'm a sucker for the sunn stuff)

also think about an orange ad200. pricey but they are well worth the coin

and this might sound like a strange choice but I have a randall r300 (cheapo 80's SS head) that i picked out of the trash and it has a (strangely and surprisingly) really kickin' aggressive overdriven tone. I have used it for recording with amazing results.

and you can't argue for free-99!

Most any Ampeg can get you some great not-clean sounds if you crank the gain, or turn the volume up to make the power tubes distort in the case of tube amps. Only amp they make that I'm not a fan of is the B2RE/450H...too polite for my tastes. The best, of course, are the tube SVT's, but they're all very cool IMHO. I like the Aggie heads as well, the GK's are pretty well known entities at this point, and pretty much share your opinion of the rest except the TC...not a fan of digital amps. But for me, the best distorted tones for bass come out of Ampegs. Having said that, I usually use pedals ;)

What about a nice pedal or three?

The pedal option could be a good way to go. Might give you more variation to your sound. If not here are my recommendations for pairings with a fEARful:

Ampeg PF-500/800
Aguilar TH500
Genz Benz Streamliner 900
Gallien Kruger MB Fusion

I recommend going big if you end up with a class D power section. They sound great when in normal operating ranges, but dont pass the clipping threshold very gracefully. Finding that threshold has been easy for me with a 12/6 and a 15/6, not so much with my '66 but I still have to be aware of it.

Personally I went with the PF-500 about a year ago, and I pair a TH pedal with it when I want something different. If I was in the market for a new micro today, the PF-800 would be a no brainer.

I would consider the GK MB800. Massive power to really open up that cab, nice EQ. Stay away from the GK400RB (low power) but the 1001RB would be killer. The 'biamp' tweeter feature can be easily defeated, and the '5 string' button (which is a hi pass switch) would be a good think with that cab.

Hard to beat the GK MB800 for that cab. It is bright, aggressive and big sounding (VERY different from the even, warm LMII, and massive more power). If you want some distortion or whatever, get a pedal like the VT or the Tonehammer.

Streamliner 900 would be a good choice, as would an SVT at the other end of the scale.

My concern with an SVT would be that they dont like 8 loads so much. The 900 otoh is pretty nice with the 15/6.

+1 on the Streamliner.

You're correct. Thanks for the correction, I should know better, but I wasn't thinking..... With that in mind, my vote's for the Streamliner, I use one with my fEARfuls and am quite pleased with it.

I have been running a Mesa M9 into my LDS 15/6 for a few years. Simply amazing ;-)

That is a scary combination, and is at least somewhat similar to the wide, deep, bright, aggressive tone of the GK MB800 (which is the head I recommend to M6/M9 lovers who want to move a bit smaller, or to those who don't have the cash for the M6/M9).

+1 The zero hi passing on the M6/M9 will pretty much destroy most other cabs with all that sub bass cranking out. The larger fEARful cabs just kind of laugh at it!

My personal favorite head with the fEARful builds is the Genz Benz Shuttle Max 9.2. LOTS of EQ (like the M9) to smooth the top end and punch up the low mids (if that is your thing), nice power at 8ohms, very lightweight, and LOTS of tone in there with the dual FET/Tube preamps, voicing filters, and dual semi-parametric mids on each channel. Voiced 'tighter' than the GK or Mesa, but still sounds 'big and fat' with the fEARful.

The Streamliner (which I love) did not float my boat with the fEARful. Big, fat and warm, but for my tone goals, not enough EQ power to really punch it up, and not enough top end EQ control to 'warm/smooth' that aggressive upper midrange to my ear. Pure IMO there... if your tone goal is mostly to put a warm, fat pillow under a band, it is pretty killer. However, the Shuttle Max 9.2 allowed me to put more definition and 'pop' into that cab's response. IMO and IME!

Mesa Walkabout. Perfect with the fEarful cabs.

hmmm.... tone is fine, but that relatively low powered head driving an 8ohm 15/6... not so much IMO. If I was going after that sort of tone with a fEARful 15/6, I'd consider the Aguilar TH500. Some nice clips put up recently comparing that head to the Walkabout, and it held up VERY well, and puts out quite a bit more wump at 8ohms.

how about a pre-amp plus power amp combination. the same, or more, power output and possibly cheaper. plus at a later date if you decide you want more headroom a new power amp seems to be cheaper that upgrading a bass head.

I'm a big fan of the TC amps, but I wouldn't recommend them with that cab. The low end of those cabs doesn't match the low end voicing of the RH heads too well IMO.

Ashdown ABM series have the most musical overdriven sounds I have heard. I'm a clean tone guy myself, and find most overdriven tones to be quite useless, but the ABM is an exception. Which could mean that it is too polite for others of course. :) Personally I dig the ABM heads, very warm and musical to my ear, but still plenty of clarity.

I've never had any issues with sub bass on my M6 or M9 anymore than any other amp I've owned. Perhaps more of an issue of what signal is being fed to the amp.

Per the Mesa manual, there is a high pass in normal mode, pulling out the bass knob to engage the DEEP function bypasses it.

"PULL DEEP (control pulled out) allows the entire range of low frequencies to pass and fill in the curves creating a warm, rich sound that is foundational for smaller groups."

"When the control is pushed in (normal) the bass frequencies are higher and a cut-off is employed so that below a certain point, sub-low frequencies are not part of the mix."

LOTS of sub-bass coming out of that model. Pretty well documented on this site. There might be a high pass, but it is LOW.

An easy way to experience this is by putting an external hi pass on those amps set very low 35hz. It makes quite a bit of difference in 'cone pistoning', even when the bass extension is not engaged.

Another way to experience this is to drive an Acme cab with one of those heads, and watch the driver come right through the grill!

The only other head that I experienced as much sub bass being cranked out was the original SWR SM400, which was hi passed at 20hz.

That being said, they are perfect heads for the 3015LF loaded cabs IMO.

I have both Walkabout and M9. WA will not drive the 15/6 to its' sweetest spot, but the M9 is superb-massive down low if you want it (easily controllable with the GEQ and/or voice knob) with scads of power on tap. Compared to the OP's LM, which lacks oooomph at 8 Ohms, a Carbine would be an enormous breath of fresh air, and pour 1000 liters of kerosene on the fire:bassist:.



edit-just reread the OP saying he doesn't need a lot of power, in which case a Walkabout would be lovely-the tone is all there, in spades, but it won't push the cab anywhere remotely near its' volume capability.