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About to order my first amp - try and stop me!

#21
Echoing what a few others have said, many combos amps in general have a strong, baked-in voicing. Whether that voicing is to your liking or not is entirely up to your taste and needs. The Effects Return on the Rumble 500 (a feature on many larger combo amps) will let you bypass the EQ section of the amp entirely, giving you few variables when tweaking the Helix preamp.

My $0.02 and plenty of people here disagree with me, but having owned the combo and standalone cabs from this series as well...my real beef with the Fender Rumble V3 series was the speakers. There was a very pronounced mid-scoop to them that couldn't really be "dialed out" IME. I mention this only because you brought up wanting flatness/tweakability and intend to use the Helix with your setup. If you hook them all up and love it, more power to you and rock on. Just something to keep in mind during your tonal journey :thumbsup:
 
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#23
Buy the Rumble 500. Even if for some odd reason you don’t like it that much, I doubt you will hate it. I’ve used mine for everything from hillbilly string band to five piece electric blues to modern country/Americana. It won’t do them all perfectly but it will do them well enough to pass.
I like mine because my alternative is a couple of 12/6 speakers and a 500W rack mount head that sounds killer, but a one trip load in is a nice way to go.
 
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#25
neutron619 said:
Thank you for the points you raise. I should probably mention that since I'm in the UK, GC shipping is going to be somewhat dearer than it might otherwise, but money isn't that much of an issue that I have to buy second hand. Probably looking at £600-700, which is enough for a new Rumble 500, but - for example - not the equivalent Markbass amp which would be pushing £1000+.
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For me, that raises the question of what's available to you locally? Isn't Trace Elliot made in the UK? If so, what do they have that might work for you? Or what else is available to you locally?
 
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#28
There's always one and here I am.
I detested the Fender Rumble.
No matter how much I tried, I couldn't dial in a sound I enjoyed or perhaps it's more of the case of I couldn't dial the baked in sound out... I don't know... either way, my suggestion, based solely on this premise, is try before you buy. Even if you check out local classifieds and give a couple a test run.

Hope it works out for you.
 
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#32
FRoss6788 said:
Kinda limiting don't you think?
I also think they sound like poo until you get into the upper echelon of PA mains.
I have put my bass into a Beringer powered PA cab once and immediately took it out. :vomit:
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Op says they'll be running a Helix through the amp, so they wouldn't be running a dry signal to the Powered Monitor, which I agree would sound pretty bad.
 
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#33
neutron619 said:
Thank you for the points you raise. I should probably mention that since I'm in the UK, GC shipping is going to be somewhat dearer than it might otherwise, but money isn't that much of an issue that I have to buy second hand. Probably looking at £600-700, which is enough for a new Rumble 500, but - for example - not the equivalent Markbass amp which would be pushing £1000+.

I do take and understand the point you and Mr Caldwell raise about using a "Helix + Studio Monitors" kind of setup. I actually have an electronic organ sitting in my lounge, with some very large speakers that cover the pedal department and the 16' ranks on the manuals.

I could of course, theoretically, run the Helix into one of those and it would give a good (better) representation of what's coming out of it, but apart from being something of a "fixed installation", I'm not so attached to the idea of perfectly representing the Helix output that I'm wanting to go down that route. I think it's hard to represent the subtlety of "it's important but not essential" without expending a lot of words like I'm doing now, so sorry for not being clear above.

Primarily, I need and want a bass amp which can be carted from place to place (and sold as such, if I end up moving onto something else). I understand that every amp will impart some sonic "signature" on the sound it makes, but the comment above about Rumbles being "safe" pretty much covers my requirement for now.

As far as I'm able to discern, a Fender amp of sufficient power with the gain turned down low-ish and the master a bit further up will be "close enough". Not perfect, probably not exciting - most of what I've read says they're reasonably reliable, middle-of-the-road and boring, in a word, etc. - but that's OK for now. I've read the comments that someone (was it "Linden", "Linny"? can't remember the poster) here posted from their contact inside Fender about the whole gain gain staging of the pre/power amps and that was interesting - but it didn't make me suddenly think "this isn't going to be able to do what I want it to".

In fact, today I've been pleased to read that the Rumble 500s partner well with a J-bass (which is what I usually play) and I'd be surprised if I can't get the tones I want out of it, with (or even without) the Helix TBH. If I can't, an expensive learning exercise, but I don't think I'm so picky that it'll be a problem.

But, in spite of not necessarily choosing to act on your suggestions, I do appreciate the input, thank you. It all helps build up an impression of how my expectations might meet reality and that's valuable when I'm about to blow a £700 hole in my wallet! :thumbsup:
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Pull the trigger. Anderton’s can get it to you tomorrow.
Fender Rumble 500 V3 Bass Amp - Andertons Music Co.
 
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#34
I bought a Rumble 200 to leave at my bands rehearsal space...I have used it 3 times since March. This is a new band for me, we don't rehearse much, but gig quite frequently. Anyway, when I bought it, I wasn't really too worried about how it sounded because it was only meant for rehearsal. But, I will say that it sounds pretty decent and it is very portable because it is so light.

I will also say that assuming you know how to set the EQ on amp before you have the amp it pretty short sighted. Those knobby thingys on the amp are there for a reason, don't assume you know anything about what sounds good.
 
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#37
neutron619 said:
  • I don't want an amp with tonal "character" - just something loud (and preferably "characterless") that I can use with the Helix.
  • I just checked the stock in the only shop I can reasonably get to, and the closest they can get is a Rumble 100 - nothing bigger.
Click to expand...

With that in mind, any combo or class D amp + cab would work Provided it has an effects loop, you could run your helix into the Effects loop and the combo/amp head would effectively become a power amp with a cab since it wont run the helix through the amps Preamp/EQ section.

So maybe it'd be a plus to make sure whatever amp you buy does offer a character you dig, because then you would have the choice to run your bass through the main input and get a sound you actually like, or just run through the effects loop when you just want to run your Helix signal path. Other wise its just getting a power amp + speaker with extra steps.
 
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