ADVICE: Bigger amp, still good tone at lower volume?

[JahRiddim]

@cableguy - That is good advice, too! Maybe focusing on an amp head with ability to test different cabs or power 2 cabs when needed is the best way to go.

Too many darn options!

 

[Downunderwonder]

You want a bit more firepower than any of those to gig anything more than coffee shops or cocktail lounges, unless you are straight into playing with professionals on proper stages with big PA out front.

In between is rousing bar gigs with vocal PA where you need to keep up to the maxed out vocals hopefully with Animal on drums and James Page.III on guitar not drowning it all down.

Look for something used local to you.

 

[farace]

I would put a GK MB210 on your shortlist for sure. I have the 212 and it suits every situation I've thrown at it so far.

I also have the MB212-II (500 watts) and while it's never been lacking for volume when needed, I've been surprised at just how good it sounds at low volumes. I absolutely love this amp.

 

[Clemouze]

The amp will have pretty much the same response at any volume, unless you're preferred tone relies on overdriving the amp and/or speakers. The subjective tone at low versus high volumes will be very different, with any amp, because what you hear changes with volume. Google 'equal loudness'. Get whatever sounds best to you where it's most important, on stage, and live with it at home. For best results at home you'd boost the low and high EQ compared to how you have them set at high volume.

Nice !
That's why in GK manuals it is said to turn down the contour knob ( 50Hz boost, 500Hz cut, 5kHz boost ) when playing LOUD if you want to be audible.
But works like a charm at low volume to counter those horibles mids your ears are focused on

 

[gelinas666]

Either of these..

 

[lfmn16]

Either of these.. View attachment 3479393

+1

When I only had an SVT I used to practice through it at very low volumes. Besides, as someone else said, great tone in your living room rarely translates into great tone in the mix at a gig.

 

[micguy]

One of the keys to sounding good at any volume is getting the right amount of dirt. For some folks that's none (that's also me part of the time). For some that's just pushed a bit (like a tube amp starting to complain a bit) - that's me some of the time as well. For still others, it's just plain dirty all the time. The point here is, if you can find a pedal that gives you the right amount of dirt, then feeding that into a good, clean, powerful rig can work for you at any volume.

In my case, I'm ampless most of the time - my amp is the PA - big, powerful, and clean. I make my tone just the right amount of dirty on my pedalboard, and the FOH guy controls my volume. What you want to do is conceptually the same, except you own the amp (which replaces the PA), and you control the volume.

Or, just buy a V4B, 3 SVT heads, and 4 810's, and turn on the V4b and as many SVT's as you need for the gig, and call the rest "spares"

 

[Paulabass]

MHO, if your gig volume is at 7or8 out of 10 on your volume, you didn't buy a big enough amp.

 

[lizardking837]

IME a bass sounds better when you dig in at least a little and not just pet the strings. Same is true for speaker cabs. So a 500W amp and cab will not have the same sound and feel at bedroom level as at higher volumes. Despite of that it can give you a very clean and 'hifi' sound.
Any kind of 'loudness' control ('contour', 'voicing', 'aural enhancer', whatsoever) will help. You definitely need different EQ settings with less mids ('smiley EQ') at low volume.

Thank makes so much sense...I've recently had to start using headphones (apartment living), which I'd never had to do before, and I feel like I've had to re-learn how to EQ my bass. My old amp was in a large relatively empty room and I could always push the low mids and cut the treble with out it getting too boomy, now I can't stand mids and have been boosting the treble and contouring the hell out of my sound.

 

[fhm555]

I had a guy tell me a long time ago, you can't shape the room to your sound so learn to shape your sound to the room. Why not keep your cube and continue to use it for practice and get a stage rig that will handle you needs when playing out.

 

[bobyoung53]

You want a bit more firepower than any of those to gig anything more than coffee shops or cocktail lounges, unless you are straight into playing with professionals on proper stages with big PA out front.

In between is rousing bar gigs with vocal PA where you need to keep up to the maxed out vocals hopefully with Animal on drums and James Page.III on guitar not drowning it all down.

Look for something used local to you.

I've played with all those guys plenty of times, lost some hearing in my right ear because of Animal.

 

[Thumpin6string]

My 900 watt Streamliner through my 410 cab sounds great at any volume. I think any "quality" amp should do what you want.

 

[gelinas666]

+1

When I only had an SVT I used to practice through it at very low volumes. Besides, as someone else said, great tone in your living room rarely translates into great tone in the mix at a gig.

Truth in that quote!

 

[whatever4]

Big amps probably aren't designed to sound their best when the volume is at 1, but you could try plugging a passive bass into the padded active bass jack to attenuate the input, which would allow you to crank up the amp a bit without getting louder or changing your favorite volume tone settings on your bass.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Big amps probably aren't designed to sound their best when the volume is at 1, but you could try plugging a passive bass into the padded active bass jack to attenuate the input, which would allow you to crank up the amp a bit without getting louder or changing your favorite volume tone settings on your bass.

Unless big amp has magical overdrive all that attenuation before the preamp does is add noise.