hello everyone, i've got a question for you : are 45/50W bass heads enough for little gigs with a drummer, a guitarist (with a 22W Fender amp) and a keyboardist (with an unknown wattage lmao) so, we're playing little gigs and i have now a Fender Rumble 200 (1×15", 200W bass combo) but I want to "upgrade" with a more vintage sound (an all tube vintage sound to be precise) like Fender Bassman or even Fender Bassbreaker 45 Head (I know it's a guitar head but hey why not?) i just want your thoughts about it cheers
If the space is small &/or quiet and the drummer can lay off a little and your cab isn't garbage, then yes. It'll have pretty limited utility unless you have a sizable or efficient cab to pair with it, though, IME.
I use a 40w Traynor head with a 2x12 and it keeps up fine with 15-30w guitar amps and is more than enough for small to medium sized stages.
well i think that I'll buy a Fender Rumble 115 or 210 (or 410 but hey I'm not thta rich lmao) we're playing little/medium sized gig so.. thanks for your answer tho
Vintage Bassmen and Showmen can be very expensive nowadays. Have you checked out the new Ampegs? If you're not set on the fender tone, these are lighter and cheaper and the V-4b is 100 watt.
Promise not to make fun, but how about the VOX Mini Superbeetle bass rig for four Benjamins? It’s a 50-watt head that Premier Guitar said “surprisingly powerful” in a review a couple days ago. The dug the tone as well, plus you get a cab that might work for small gigs if miced. Yeah, it may not sound as serious as an all-tube head, but I love my NuTube combo because it’s got some tubey vibe to it, IMHO, and is a cool-looking piece of kit.
yes i've already looked on Reverb, Bassman, Showman and Bandmaster are like 1300$ the problem is that I only have 900$ (i'm in Europe so it's like 750/800€) and yes I've checked out the Ampeg Cabs but how expensive (but awesome) they're! like 1000€ just for the head (plus 400€ for a 1×15" cab) it's not in my budget (sadly) but yes Ampeg was my first go to
If you can live with only a preamp tube why not check out some Hartkes? Cheap, Fender tone stack, and 10 times the power.
oh and i forgot to say that I've already thinked about a diy bass head (because my Jazz Bass is diy, it's Homemade ) but it looks more dangerous because of the electricity, the wattage or whatever
If you are going to have low wattage for the head, you need efficient cab(s) to be heard over an acoustic drum set. Ive been runnin the PF50T since it came out (2015?) with various cabs and have had great success! Cabs ive used: SVT212AV Aguilar SL212 Aguilar DB412 Bergantino NV610 If you do NOT have FoH support, i wouldnt recommend anything less than a solid 210 cabinet.
I believe the Ampeg Portaflex PF-50T would do the job. I played small-medium sized gigs with mine and a Barefaced Two 10s, and never had any issues with volume. A plus is that if you're at a larger gig with PA support, you can feed the post-power-tube line out to FOH and still get all that tubey goodness.
I would look for a used V4b & 212av. I wouldn't be comfortable with a tube rig smaller than that. Plus it's future proof.
I've gigged an Ampeg B25 with a single 12 and have done fine. I was competing with a 40 watt Fender 212 combo, 50 watt Marshall half stack, and a loud drummer. The key is having a sensitive and efficient cab.
DV Mark Micro 50 CMT https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amp...-cmt-ciro-manna-signature-50w-guitar-amp-head I know this is a guitar amp, but it really works well as a bass head! And it has that vintage feel you are looking for These DV Mark guitar heads have a lot of bass response for a guitar amp. I have plans to include this in a Youtube video, but have not had time.