What do you think about this Bass and Amp?

Hey People,
This is my first post on talkbass, not sure if this is the correct sub-forum but oh well.

I'm thinking of purchasing a new Fleabass Model 32, purely because of it's low action, great size(20 frets)/shape and warm tone. I have been looking to play this through a new Fender Rumble 75, because it's louder than my rumble 15, and has more controls and functionalities. I'm only going to be using it for practice and small gigs (ie. the pub and small room venues).

I want a new Bass and Amp that can acheive a Flea tone and sound without breaking my budget which is $1000.
What do you think?

Cheers Anthony

[Aspidites]

Originally Posted by Anthony_

Hey People,
This is my first post on talkbass, not sure if this is the correct sub-forum but oh well.

I'm thinking of purchasing a new Fleabass Model 32, purely because of it's low action, great size(20 frets)/shape and warm tone. I have been looking to play this through a new Fender Rumble 75, because it's louder than my rumble 15, and has more controls and functionalities. I'm only going to be using it for practice and small gigs (ie. the pub and small room venues).

I want a new Bass and Amp that can acheive a Flea tone and sound without breaking my budget which is $1000.
What do you think?

Cheers Anthony

For $1000 you call you a heck of allot better than a Flea Bass. I would look into Acoustic brand amps and there are a multitude of basses that you can get that are leaps and bounds better than a Flea Bass and I would get used as you will get allot more bang for your buck that way.

Getting a signature bass will not make you sound like the artist in question unless you play identically to that person.

A few brands to look at.

Yamaha
G&L
Peavey
Ibanez
Warwick
Fernandes
Sterling Ball

[bass-flyer]

[/quote]new Fender Rumble 75, because it's louder than my rumble 15, and has more controls and functionalities. I'm only going to be using it for practice and small gigs (ie. the pub and small room venues).[/quote]

Depending on the small rooms (gigs), I'm not sure 75 watts without PA support would work.
BUT .... you know the rooms you'll be playing ..... not me.

[SurferJoe46]

Yeah - think 300 Watts and then double it for safe overhead and extra capacity for when you will need it. You need the extra horses to be ABLE to keep the Vol pot below 50% or so and that way you have control over the system a lot better.

Like mentioned (^) the Acoustics are fine - they just aren't as tough for tossing them in a truck and hauling them to international gigs as an SVT/Ampeg/GK etc. I own several Acoustic amps and cabs - some are combos and they can keep up with a drummer and several guitarists with full-stack 412s and mega-Wattage heads.

They kick some serious butt and don't cost two arms and a leg. You don't want to be crippled by lack of punch and power - EVER!

That Flea- although OK - isn't as versatile as you will find you need later on.

[DeanT]

Buying a bass because it has low action is like buying a car because it has Michelin tires. The action can easily be changed, it's not specific to the bass.

[Lucho.Metal]

buy this amp : http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ampeg-BA...39-i1145714.gc

[Spleenface92]

You could do what I/my dad did:
Used Fender MIM P- $250
Hartke 2115 Combo amp- $300
Used Hartke 4x10 Cab- $50
That's for $400 less than $1000

Originally Posted by DeanT

Buying a bass because it has low action is like buying a car because it has Michelin tires. The action can easily be changed, it's not specific to the bass.

Yeah, I currenlty have a Squire Affinity Jazz, can't get the action any lower than 5mm or else the frets buzz. I played a Cort Curbow 4 in store and it was set real low like 3mm..but i dunno.

Originally Posted by Aspidites

For $1000 you call you a heck of allot better than a Flea Bass. I would look into Acoustic brand amps and there are a multitude of basses that you can get that are leaps and bounds better than a Flea Bass and I would get used as you will get allot more bang for your buck that way.

Getting a signature bass will not make you sound like the artist in question unless you play identically to that person.

A few brands to look at.

Yamaha
G&L
Peavey
Ibanez
Warwick
Fernandes
Sterling Ball

Cheers, Thanks for the help.

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Yeah - think 300 Watts and then double it for safe overhead and extra capacity for when you will need it. You need the extra horses to be ABLE to keep the Vol pot below 50% or so and that way you have control over the system a lot better.

Like mentioned (^) the Acoustics are fine - they just aren't as tough for tossing them in a truck and hauling them to international gigs as an SVT/Ampeg/GK etc. I own several Acoustic amps and cabs - some are combos and they can keep up with a drummer and several guitarists with full-stack 412s and mega-Wattage heads.

They kick some serious butt and don't cost two arms and a leg. You don't want to be crippled by lack of punch and power - EVER!

That Flea- although OK - isn't as versatile as you will find you need later on.

Cheers, I'll take that into consideration.

[etechstan]

Originally Posted by Anthony_

Yeah, I currenlty have a Squire Affinity Jazz, can't get the action any lower than 5mm or else the frets buzz. I played a Cort Curbow 4 in store and it was set real low like 3mm..but i dunno.

I was about to buy a Curbow but a better deal on my Warwick got in the way. Look at the Peavey Max 112 combo amp.

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by Anthony_

Yeah, I currenlty have a Squire Affinity Jazz, can't get the action any lower than 5mm or else the frets buzz.

I dunnow about this. There's just too many variables to make that broad of a statement.

You could be asking too much by digging in.
The neck might need to have the truss adjusted
The frets may be outta whack
The p'ups could also be getting hit by the strings

Theoretically you should be able to get the strings to .010" if you wanted to - IF the neck's right and set correctly and the strings aren't bad and you don't whack on them too hard - but we know all that's just what I said: "THEORETICAL" and not practical.

Practical use of the guitar requires better clearances than that - but if all the aforementioned criteria is met, then any bass can be made correct.

I'm also responsible for making broad, all encompassing (sometimes, nasty) statements from time to time, but I try to be more selective than that when and if I catch myself doing it.

See? How's that? I just caught myself gonna make a nasty comment - but I refrained.

[MRDOOM]

If you like the fleabass, then get it, especially since it will get you alot closer to Flea's tone than alot of the other stuff. However, I must suggest something a little bit bigger than a Rumble 75 if youre going to play gigs(even small ones). I second the suggstion of acoustic amps as I have found them reliable and great sounding, and I would say a b200 would be suited better.

[savit260]

Have the Squier proffesionaly set up, and see if they can adjust the action to your liking. Much less expensive than a new bass... even if they have to level the frets. (unless the neck is warped or something like that.. then that can get expensive)

As for small relatively quiet gigs, 75 watts will probably get you by if you don't have a real heavy handed drummer. A little more would probably be better though. Look used and you'll get more amp for your money.

Can't recomend Accoustic, as I had read some decent stuff about them, but in reality they aren't well built. This particular friend smoked two or three of their 4x10's in short order (thankfully under warrantee) before she ponied up for an ampeg 4x10 that solved that problem. The amp was rated well under what the cab was rated for as well.
Might be o.k. for very light duty, but I woudn't push any of that stuff too hard. I would thing an older used Peavey would hold up much better for about the same money.

[Aspidites]

Originally Posted by savit260

Have the Squier proffesionaly set up, and see if they can adjust the action to your liking. Much less expensive than a new bass... even if they have to level the frets. (unless the neck is warped or something like that.. then that can get expensive)

As for small relatively quiet gigs, 75 watts will probably get you by if you don't have a real heavy handed drummer. A little more would probably be better though. Look used and you'll get more amp for your money.

Can't recomend Accoustic, as I had read some decent stuff about them, but in reality they aren't well built. This particular friend smoked two or three of their 4x10's in short order (thankfully under warrantee) before she ponied up for an ampeg 4x10 that solved that problem. The amp was rated well under what the cab was rated for as well.
Might be o.k. for very light duty, but I woudn't push any of that stuff too hard. I would thing an older used Peavey would hold up much better for about the same money.

That has not been my experience at all.

[Dark Horse]

You might look into a Ibanez ATK and one of the larger Acoustic amps - you should still be WAY under budget.

[TreetarDed]

drop the whole fleabass idea, because honestly you can get a much better bass and much better amp than the fleabass and fender 75 for much less than $1000. I would definitely recommend buying used, but if you HAVE to buy new I would say buy these:

GK MB115
http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....Amp?sku=581052

Awesome, lightweight combo with quite a bit of power and good tone for the price. will do you much better than the rumble 75.

For basses, I would personally grab a used MIM jazz or P, but if you are willing to spend a bit more ($500-600) you could probably find a used geddy lee jazz either here on the classifieds or on craigslist. This all should be within your $1000 budget and will last you a lot longer than the fleabass and rumble 75 would. I have a feeling if you bought those two you would be feeling the lack of power in the rumble 75 and want to upgrade and would eventually notice the shoddy quality of the fleabass and want to upgrade that as well. Just my 2 cents.

[TreetarDed]

Originally Posted by savit260

Have the Squier proffesionaly set up, and see if they can adjust the action to your liking. Much less expensive than a new bass... even if they have to level the frets. (unless the neck is warped or something like that.. then that can get expensive)

As for small relatively quiet gigs, 75 watts will probably get you by if you don't have a real heavy handed drummer. A little more would probably be better though. Look used and you'll get more amp for your money.

Can't recomend Accoustic, as I had read some decent stuff about them, but in reality they aren't well built. This particular friend smoked two or three of their 4x10's in short order (thankfully under warrantee) before she ponied up for an ampeg 4x10 that solved that problem. The amp was rated well under what the cab was rated for as well.
Might be o.k. for very light duty, but I woudn't push any of that stuff too hard. I would thing an older used Peavey would hold up much better for about the same money.

You can only polish a turd so much. I just couldn't see him paying for a setup on a cheap plywood affinity squier with junkie electronics and hardware being worth his time or money considering you would probably spend near the amount you paid for the bass just to get it set up.

[bassyRyan]

For $1000 you can do much better. If you are gigging already and have a bass, a wise investment might be to put the bulk of the money toward the amp. Save up for the bass afterward. If you are gigging regularly, hearing yourself is much more important then a few millimeters of neck relief.

[savit260]

Originally Posted by TreetarDed

You can only polish a turd so much. I just couldn't see him paying for a setup on a cheap plywood affinity squier with junkie electronics and hardware being worth his time or money considering you would probably spend near the amount you paid for the bass just to get it set up.

The modern Affinities are Alder, not ply, and pretty with a decent set up, will preform at least as well, if not better than the Flea Bass.

Any budget level bass is most likely going to need a set up , if not initialy, then after the first time you change the brand or gauge of strings. This is routine matinence. Of course it's best to learn to set stuff up yourself eventually.

Those Affinity Squiers can play pretty well with a little attention, and it's far less expensive than stepping up to a $500ish dollar bass, that will also most likely need set up work.