Amp advice needed

[JackLondon]

Hi folks,

I'm in a need of an advice. I'm currently looking into upgrading my stuff from a combo to a proper rig.

Here's my current setup :

Bass : Ibanez556

Effects : Boss GT10B

Amp : Warwick Sweet 15.2 at 150W

I know it's a very open question but what head should I go for with the following :

- My budget is roughly £1300 which is about $2200
- I'm based in the uk so my market might be somehow limited with choice
- The sound I'm looking for is something like Trujillo/Infectious Grooves, basically a lot of low end but with clarity and a crispy mid.

At the moment my combo is good for home practice (I run it flat as all the sound modulation for me is done through effects) but when the volume goes past the half way mark my low sounds becomes a massively muffled fart, my middle becomes very flat, and my high end starts to hurt my ears.

I know there's a lot of stuff out there and I should really go and try it out but I'm tight on time so I was hoping that maybe some of you had some good experience with specific heads or maybe even had identical setup as I have and were looking for the same sound as I am so please help if you can.

On the last note I played a couple of times on Trace Elliot and Ashdown heads in our practice studio and they kind of give the sound I'm looking for but I think that the cabs that are used are not so great.

Thanks for all the help in advance

Jack

 

[the_ruckus]

Your tone could be achieved through a nice semi parametric eq. I know quite a few heads have those built in such as the svt 6 pro. I am fairly certain that Trujillo uses ampeg. For that pricepoint you should easily be able to pick up a nice SVT 3 pro or B4R head (i've owned both). I used to drive a classic 6x10 with either. The 3 pro was fat and distinct whereas the b4r was the better overall "rock / metal" tone IMO.

If you go with used gear, you should still have some funds left over to score a nice compressor to round everything out as the ampeg tends to neglect the mids... well, at least the good sounding ones.

 

[kosmicwizard]

Get a MarkBass LKII, then look at cabs that have low rumble. Like Avatar 2x12 if they are available to you over there. LMII's sound good with a lot of cabs, have a really good crisp sound but in a sweet sort of way (for a SS head). $2200, is enough to give you lots of options. Go to a music store plug the LMII into everything worthwhile and walk out with what sounds best to your ears and makes you happy. All the best. Cheers.

 

[kosmicwizard]

I own a B4r and I am amazed every time I hear someone write off one of the most versatile heads Ampeg has ever made as only good for rock. What sound can't you get by tweeking a 5 tone switch, a 9 band EQ, and a MOSFET tube simulator? My clean tone is totally sweet, the LMII kinda reminds me of it, but at 1/5 the weight. Plus the B4r has 1000 Watts which is enough to drive an 8x10E or a 410HLF and 2 115E's perfectly. A SVT 3 Pro can't do that, ever, it was probably working it's a$$ off just to get the 6x10 moving ... The SVT 3 Pro is a great head (don't get me wrong) I love the fat rich tone, but it can't even come close to the SVT 4 Pro's power whereas the B4r can and does.

AND since you mentioned the 6 Pro, don't you know it also has a built in compressor? LOL.

 

[JackLondon]

bump

 

[IvanMike]

try everything you can. you have a decent budget so you should be able to get a proper rig. depending upon your gigging needs i would get an amp that puts out around 400+ watts at 4 ohms. i'ma big fan of a modular setup and since you're looking for a pretty full tone you might want to experiment with using a couple of smaller 8 ohm cabs. maybe a 2x10 and a 1x15. But honestly, you have to try out a lot.

it might help if you let us know what brands are available where you live.

 

[JackLondon]

Thanks for the advice. With regards to brands you can pretty much get everything you want, unless it's some kind of custom made small compnay type thing. Gigging is the main problem as my guitarist is running and 600W Marshall set and with my combo there's a small fart you can hear somwhere between guitar not playing and drums doing some quiet rythm. I have a massive problem with time as my work is taking the biggest part of it so I do have problems with going somwhere to test stuff around. Reading this forum doesn't help me either as the millions of opinions on different amps just make it worse for me. With regards to my rig I want it to run on a full stereo as well since I have the Boss GT10B I want to put it into a good use. Guess I will have to take some holiday and just drag my bass around for couple of days

try everything you can. you have a decent budget so you should be able to get a proper rig. depending upon your gigging needs i would get an amp that puts out around 400+ watts at 4 ohms. i'ma big fan of a modular setup and since you're looking for a pretty full tone you might want to experiment with using a couple of smaller 8 ohm cabs. maybe a 2x10 and a 1x15. But honestly, you have to try out a lot.

it might help if you let us know what brands are available where you live.