Fender Rumble Club

bassingeorge said:

Just got myself a really nice used Rumble 500! $300 bucks for it! I can only say this is one of the best combo bass amps I’ve tried! It sounds amazing! I was kinda skeptical about the 2x10’s being a 1x15 fan, but it’s s super tight, punchy and surprisingly a lot of low end! The push buttons for modeling your sound are so usefull, and heck I even liked the distortion in this thing. I see myself using it just by itself, without my pedalboard, but heard that it takes pedals very well…speaking of that, how do you rumble owners find yourself using pedals, straight to the input or using the effects loop? I honestly never use the effects loop of an amp. Thanks!

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Yo, geo! @bassingeorge, you are now member #1723 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

Ya sound just like me, nearly 10 years ago, georgie! Doubting the 10" speakers just cuz I'd always had 15"s, liking the Overdrive (which not everyone does), using it without pedals, etc. So, how about telling us a bit about yourself, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular. You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

G-Dog said:

Yo, geo! @bassingeorge, you are now member #1723 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

Ya sound just like me, nearly 10 years ago, georgie! Doubting the 10" speakers just cuz I'd always had 15"s, liking the Overdrive (which not everyone does), using it without pedals, etc. So, how about telling us a bit about yourself, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular. You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!
.​

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thanks for the kind words! Will mess with it later today with my pedalboard!

bassingeorge said:

Just got myself a really nice used Rumble 500! $300 bucks for it! I can only say this is one of the best combo bass amps I’ve tried! It sounds amazing! I was kinda skeptical about the 2x10’s being a 1x15 fan, but it’s s super tight, punchy and surprisingly a lot of low end! The push buttons for modeling your sound are so usefull, and heck I even liked the distortion in this thing. I see myself using it just by itself, without my pedalboard, but heard that it takes pedals very well…speaking of that, how do you rumble owners find yourself using pedals, straight to the input or using the effects loop? I honestly never use the effects loop of an amp. Thanks!

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Both, actually. I have never encountered any aberrant noise from my Rumbles by plugging in to the front. Based on doing my own research--blogs, forums and YT, etc--I found that there seemed to be somewhat of a consensus to plug your drive/distortion pedals into the front and your "effects," eg. chorus, octave, whathaveyou into the loop. So that is what I do. I don't use a compressor or inline EQ so I can't address those. I don't really know if one way or the other is necessarily better, but this way works well for me. I have found, on rare occasion, the need to repurpose the FX loop so I just put everything into the front with no ill effects. In that case it was to "chain" another Rumble for the drummer to have a bass monitor when the setup required the bass amp be set in front of the drummer.

Tim

bassingeorge said:

Just got myself a really nice used Rumble 500! $300 bucks for it! I can only say this is one of the best combo bass amps I’ve tried! It sounds amazing! I was kinda skeptical about the 2x10’s being a 1x15 fan, but it’s s super tight, punchy and surprisingly a lot of low end! The push buttons for modeling your sound are so usefull, and heck I even liked the distortion in this thing. I see myself using it just by itself, without my pedalboard, but heard that it takes pedals very well…speaking of that, how do you rumble owners find yourself using pedals, straight to the input or using the effects loop? I honestly never use the effects loop of an amp. Thanks!

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Bass => pedalboard => amp. Works great for me.
Then again, I'm usually daisy chaining two Rumble 100s, so that's really the only option. But I did mess around when I just had one R100, and found no reason to use the FX loop with FX (oddly enough).

Miles_ONeal said:

Bass => pedalboard => amp. Works great for me.
Then again, I'm usually daisy chaining two Rumble 100s, so that's really the only option. But I did mess around when I just had one R100, and found no reason to use the FX loop with FX (oddly enough).

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Although I've never tried going bass => R100 => pedals => R100. I'll have to try that.

bassingeorge said:

how do you rumble owners find yourself using pedals, straight to the input or using the effects loop?

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I have my pedalboard going into the Effects loop return to bypass the Rumble's preamp.

Miles_ONeal said:

Although I've never tried going bass => R100 => pedals => R100. I'll have to try that.

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Interesting... However, it appears that that way would result in only one of the Rumble getting effects. And with no control of the 2nd Rumble, your only balance ability would be what you could do at the pedal level. No?

Tim

bassingeorge said:

Just got myself a really nice used Rumble 500! $300 bucks for it! I can only say this is one of the best combo bass amps I’ve tried! It sounds amazing! I was kinda skeptical about the 2x10’s being a 1x15 fan, but it’s s super tight, punchy and surprisingly a lot of low end! The push buttons for modeling your sound are so usefull, and heck I even liked the distortion in this thing. I see myself using it just by itself, without my pedalboard, but heard that it takes pedals very well…speaking of that, how do you rumble owners find yourself using pedals, straight to the input or using the effects loop? I honestly never use the effects loop of an amp. Thanks!

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I made the change to a Rumble 500 recently as well. Sold off a nice Aguilar rig, pocketed the difference, and don’t notice the tone difference at all while I’m on stage. I’ve been plugging my board straight into the input but am still in the experimenting phase myself.

bassingeorge said:

how do you rumble owners find yourself using pedals, straight to the input or using the effects loop? I honestly never use the effects loop of an amp

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So far I've been straight into the amp with pedals if using pedals at all. My Traynor SB115 has no loop so I am used to it. Maybe tomorrow I will mess around with the loop and see if its any different. I have not given the Rumble overdrive much of a chance yet but my secret weapon is a JOYO Taichi, which is a very cheap yet accurate Zendrive clone. Dialed in just right, I get that warm tube-like saturation I haven't been able to get from the Rumble drive circuit just yet. Plus it holds the low end quite well, even with the Zeus-tier low end you get from the Traynor SB115

Thanks for the replies y’all! I’ve been playing this thing for the past 2 hours, and wow, i am impressed! I ran my pedalboard in front of the amp, like I always do, and it sounds incredible. The compressor (joyo scylla) really helps define and refine the tone, and I even, took out my sansamp bddi! Of course, just to try different things, but I absolutely didn’t miss it, which is super weird to me as I am so used to it. I will keep playing with settings, buttons and pedals of course, but so far I’m loving this amp.

Ps. I am finding myself pushing all three buttons, the bright, countour and vintage and it absolutely slaps!

E Buzz said:

Just for the record, I picked up another 100 cuz, well, like, ya never know...
View attachment 5328377

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One o' these days...

trseal said:

Interesting... However, it appears that that way would result in only one of the Rumble getting effects. And with no control of the 2nd Rumble, your only balance ability would be what you could do at the pedal level. No?

Tim

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Yes. Still an interesting experiment. Don't worry, I'll report back!

trseal said:

Interesting... However, it appears that that way would result in only one of the Rumble getting effects. And with no control of the 2nd Rumble, your only balance ability would be what you could do at the pedal level. No?

Tim

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It is a valid option, the "pros" call it wet-dry setup, so some (or all) of your effects (usually modulation and such and/or only one is drven while the other stays clean to blend the two sounds) are only going into one amp.
Another use case would be a "stereo" setup if you have any stereo effects, but that's another story... (gotta split the signal before it goes to any amp/back into each efx returns) and for bass... it would be "interesting"

Rookie Rumble owner question time! Apologies if this is better left to areas other than the Rumble club..

I have an internet forum's half-knowledge of the limitations and difference of certain cab configs, and I am not asking one of those "can I EQ a 1x15 out of my 2x10" type of questions specifically.. I am also aware of what adding a second cab can do, but for now, we are focusing on the Rumble 800 (not stage) by itself.

For the heck of it, I tossed my helix in front of the Rumble 800 just to see what I can do with it on bass (no amp models, just the other stuff). I have been able to seemingly unlock a whole new world of super low end sounds from the amp similar to what I can get with the Traynor SB115. Obviously the Rumble 800 is a 2x10 and not the 1x15 of the Traynor, but its getting there. The Traynor is 200w standalone with no external cab connection, where the Rumble 800 is 400w without the external cab but one can be added.

1) since this is at a rather low volume, will this damage the speakers on the rumble in any way if I increase volume or will the amp simply block this from happening?
2) Is this amp capable of this level of depth normally, just purposefully unreachable at lower volumes with the Rumble's EQ and tone shaping options?
3) Am I correct in thinking I wouldn't need that type of sub-bassy low end goodness in most applications?
4) Does the deeper low end become more noticeable the further away you get from a 2x10, versus the depth I get from a 1x15 much closer?
5) Are my ears tricking me and should I have a nap?

As far as adding a second cab, the whole debate on mixing speaker sizes is eating me alive. I would THINK that adding a Rumble 1x15 cab would do the trick, and the internet is a whole pile of "works for me" and "don't do it, get the 2x10 extension instead for x reason"

1) Will block. Power lamp will blink while it's blocking, or may turn off completely if it overheats.
2) I think it's capable normally--not sure why the Helix was needed to 'unlock' things. Did you try turning on Vintage or just turning up the bass control?
3) Yes. Ultra-low sounds saps power but doesn't contribute in a stage situation.
4) Not sure. Another 2x10 stacked should improve the sound.
5) Yes. And some cookies.

All IMHO, of course.

Dipaolo said:

Rookie Rumble owner question time! ... ... ... I tossed my helix in front of the Rumble 800 just to see what I can do with it on bass ... ... I have been able to seemingly unlock a whole new world of super low end sounds from the amp ... ... ...

1) since this is at a rather low volume, will this damage the speakers on the rumble in any way if I increase volume or will the amp simply block this from happening? ... ...

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Dipaolo said:

... ... ...
2) Is this amp capable of this level of depth normally, just purposefully unreachable at lower volumes with the Rumble's EQ and tone shaping options? ... ...

Click to expand...

Dipaolo said:

... ... ...
3) Am I correct in thinking I wouldn't need that type of sub-bassy low end goodness in most applications? ... ...

Click to expand...

Dipaolo said:

... ... ...
4) Does the deeper low end become more noticeable the further away you get from a 2x10, versus the depth I get from a 1x15 much closer? ... ...

Click to expand...

Dipaolo said:

... ... ...
5) Are my ears tricking me and should I have a nap? ... ...

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Dipaolo said:

... ... ...
As far as adding a second cab, the whole debate on mixing speaker sizes is eating me alive. I would THINK that adding a Rumble 1x15 cab would do the trick, and the internet is a whole pile of "works for me" and "don't do it, get the 2x10 extension instead for x reason"

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G-Dog said:

I wouldn't expect the Helix to damage your Rumble, especially at low volume. Rumbles, like many amps, do have some protective circuits to prevent damage, yet people do find ways to blow the speakers. ​

I don't think very many, if any, amps can easily match the depth of most modeling processors. Nor the highs. Nor, certainly, the other effects. Otherwise, the modelers would be out of a market! ​

I think you're correct. Definitely, if you play multiple genres of music, that should be the case. Certain types of music will use it more often than others. ​

IMNSHO, that is just one more in the very long list of 10" vs 15" myths. The many variables of room acoustics betray such simplistic considerations. And today's modern speaker, and cab, designs blur the lines so much that such generalizations are simply no longer valid. In ye olden dayes they seemed to hold some more, but even then not absolute, truthe. ​

They sure can, and certainly do, more often than we think! Also, the mind is often lulled into endorsing simple generalizations for complex phenomena, because we want, desperately, to believe that we can, indeed, somehow, maybe, possibly, Master the Magick if we but studye (google) enough. ​

Blasphemer! Doth not the wisdome of studye, yaye, verily, be it google or other'n engines, shine brightly upon "the one and singular undisputed waye"!?!? 'Tis but your unbelief that undoest thou! Pray regularly to the Holy Rumblings for enlightenment and you shall surely, Shirley, find The Waye. Remember the beatitude: "Truste your ears and thou doest thine own thinge!"


ps: perhaps more Helix studye can help?

Line 6 Helix (LT, Rack, Floor) - All Things Line6 Helix
Line 6 HX Stomp​

.​

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Thanks for that! Very helpful

My problem is I come from the guitar world and have a pile of analog gear, and more recently I have the helix pretty much mastered in terms of guitar and frfr. I don't actually plan on using the helix with Bass, and one of the nice things about bass is it seems much more welcoming to just get down and play tunes.

Guitar suffered badly due to the pandemic and the youtube gear review rush and all that. Apparently mind numbing option paralysis is also known as the "new golden age of guitar playing".... ouff..

I just need to get over my obsession with dubby low end. Picking up my 4 string PJ style Yamaha rather than my 5 string J bass has helped a bit, haha. I really need to take the plunge and get a head so I can have different cab option, but these 30 pound combos are so nice, especially since I don't have experience playing through an 8x10 SVT so that benchmark doesn't really bother me

SharpCat said:

1) Will block. Power lamp will blink while it's blocking, or may turn off completely if it overheats.
2) I think it's capable normally--not sure why the Helix was needed to 'unlock' things. Did you try turning on Vintage or just turning up the bass control?
3) Yes. Ultra-low sounds saps power but doesn't contribute in a stage situation.
4) Not sure. Another 2x10 stacked should improve the sound.
5) Yes. And some cookies.

All IMHO, of course.

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I suppose my wording wasn't too accurate with "unlock", haha. I have realised that I like the sound of a 1x15 quite a bit, though practically I am not sure if I should stick with it. In an ideal world I would have a head/cab config and I could go from there.

I guess I meant "I can get the helix with its various EQs and other offerings to sort of mimic the 1x15 at low night volume whilst sitting close to it" which is kind of pointless and unnecessary, and is not an end goal of mine. As far as actually using the Rumble 800, it sounds amazing and its pretty much all I need. Its also future proof where its already 400w on its own and 800w with the extension cab. BUT, with the way stages are these days, will I ever need that kind of power?

Sorry, just the ramblings of a former guitar player/drummer, haha

Dipaolo said:

... ... I just need to get over my obsession with dubby low end. Picking up my 4 string PJ style Yamaha rather than my 5 string J bass has helped a bit, haha. ... ...

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Dipaolo said:

... ... I really need to take the plunge and get a head so I can have different cab option, but these 30 pound combos are so nice, especially since I don't have experience playing through an 8x10 SVT so that benchmark doesn't really bother me

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Pimped out my cabs with some trippy spandex