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Amp question...

Papideaaron

Papideaaron

Aug 24, 2017
12
2
#1
I have an Ampeg BA-115 combo. It has more bass than I'll ever need, but D an G strings don't sound too good on it.
I want to buy a Marshal MG Series 100HDFX and MG412B half stack.
Can I connect the Ampeg to it so I have both a clear sound with mid and highs and the thump of the lows?
Thanks in advance.
 
#2
You should be able to use the line-out XLR (which I believe both versions that I've seen of the BA115 have) along with a 1/4" adapter if I'm not mistaken to take a feed from your Ampeg into the Marshall. It might be a good bit hot, so you may need to find a way to pad it back down to instrument level to work with the Marshall preamp... and you also won't be able to use the XLR then to provide a feed to the house board for live work, but IMO those would be the least of your concerns with that setup...

Again, just IMO of course, and I'm not sure what kind of a deal you've found on them, but you may be better served by taking the money that you have set aside for those Marshalls, and putting it towards some combination of upgraded bass rig and bass setup.

A decent quality bass cabinet should be more than capable of providing you with "clear sound with mid and highs and the thump of the lows" as you noted, across the entire range of your instrument - assuming it is set up well and the issue isn't with the bass itself. YMMV.

Just my 2c.
 
#3
The Marshall rig you speak of is for guitar. The MG line of products are their lowest end heads and cabs. Chances are you would wreck the speakers in a very short time playing bass through them.

What are your Eq settings like on your Ampeg? Maybe we can help you get a tone that works better for you. Are you using anything in front of the amp that may actually be the culprit? Have you tried adjusting the pickup height on your bass?
 
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#4
Kro said:
You should be able to use the line-out XLR (which I believe both versions that I've seen of the BA115 have) along with a 1/4" adapter if I'm not mistaken to take a feed from your Ampeg into the Marshall. It might be a good bit hot, so you may need to find a way to pad it back down to instrument level to work with the Marshall preamp... and you also won't be able to use the XLR then to provide a feed to the house board for live work, but IMO those would be the least of your concerns with that setup...

Again, just IMO of course, and I'm not sure what kind of a deal you've found on them, but you may be better served by taking the money that you have set aside for those Marshalls, and putting it towards some combination of upgraded bass rig and bass setup.

A decent quality bass cabinet should be more than capable of providing you with "clear sound with mid and highs and the thump of the lows" as you noted, across the entire range of your instrument - assuming it is set up well and the issue isn't with the bass itself. YMMV.

Just my 2c.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I just started playing bass January 15th. I don't have a clue about any of this.
I appreciate the feedback.
 
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#5
basscooker said:
The Marshall rig you speak of is for guitar. The MG line of products are their lowest end heads and cabs. Chances are you would wreck the speakers in a very short time playing bass through them.

What are your Eq settings like on your Ampeg? Maybe we can help you get a tone that works better for you. Are you using anything in front of the amp that may actually be the culprit? Have you tried adjusting the pickup height on your bass?
Click to expand...
basscooker said:
The Marshall rig you speak of is for guitar. The MG line of products are their lowest end heads and cabs. Chances are you would wreck the speakers in a very short time playing bass through them.

What are your Eq settings like on your Ampeg? Maybe we can help you get a tone that works better for you. Are you using anything in front of the amp that may actually be the culprit? Have you tried adjusting the pickup height on your bass?
Click to expand...
Wow! Thanks! The store had it labeled as a bass amp. I truly appreciate your feedback. This saves me time money and aggravation. I will have to learn about the settings on my current amp.
 
#6
It's an easy mistake for an inexperienced salesperson or player to make, having that "B" in the cabinet model number. The B just means it's a bottom cabinet with no slant front.
Although it isn't ideal, or a bass amp, the head may be alright for your situation, but I would still suggest you pass.
Contrary to its name, the bass guitar actually lives in the midrange. I don't know what the tone controls are like on your amp, but try playing with all of them straight up at noon, of course setting gain and or master volume knobs very low to start. If you do have both a gain and master volume control, dial in the master fairly high at first, and use the gain as your actual volume. Your midrange knob(s) are your friends. Try not to use any "contour", tone shaping, or special enhancing buttons or switches yet. Don't boost any lows yet either.
If you have any eq on your bass, or multiple pickups with a fader, start with an even split on the pickups and tone controls flat or center. Raising the pickups under your d and g string, and lowering them under your e and a string may be of help in addressing the problem you mentioned in your original post, too.
 
#7
Papideaaron said:
Thanks! I just started playing bass January 15th. I don't have a clue about any of this.
I appreciate the feedback.
Click to expand...

Ah, cool! I didn't want to be one of those guys that completely disregarded your question before offering up an alternate suggestion, but given what you said, yeah I'd strongly advise AGAINST (thanks @basscooker) going the Marshall route.

As others have mentioned, EQ and a proper bass setup should be able to take care of most of your issues. Just out of curiosity, which BA115 do you have? Is it the older kickback version, or the newer version with the controls on the front?
 
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#9
Papideaaron said:
I have an Ampeg BA-115 combo. It has more bass than I'll ever need, but D an G strings don't sound too good on it.
I want to buy a Marshal MG Series 100HDFX and MG412B half stack.
Can I connect the Ampeg to it so I have both a clear sound with mid and highs and the thump of the lows?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Is your BA-115 (is this the BA-115v2?) sitting direct on the floor? Try elevating it about three feet and then fool around with placement in the room it's in.

Try elevated, tight against a wall...and then try elevated with it out and way from a wall.

You also could try raising the D and G pickup on your bass and lowering the E and A pickup ( if you have the split P type pickup in your bass...but even on a J pickup you can elevate ones side and lower the other.)

On the amp try, for example, setting all EQ knobs at noon and then roll the "bass" knob back to about ten a.m.

That amp has a "low enhancer" on it which you could turn off. It also has "high enhancer" which you could engage.

A compressor can help.

Then there's also the EQ's on your bass as well.

What bass is it you have?
 
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#13
Are the basses in you avatar the ones you use? Do they have active electronics? (Do they need a battery) If the bass is active then there should be knobs which allow you to boost or cut specific spots in the frequency range (usually a bass and treble adjustments, or bass mids and treble). You might be able to get the sound you want with your bass' controls.

The ampeg is a decent amp, it does have a 15" speaker so it will be deeper sounding than a 2-10" speaker model, but it should produce kids and highs. That amp has a tweeter (high frequency driver) I wonder if it is not working? That would make the amp sound overly bass-y.
 
#14
I had that very same amp. It took me a while to get used to TURNING THE BASS DOWN. (literally the bass - range knob). I know. Seems wrong. Get that bass knob into the negative. Use your bass guitar knobs to mix pick-ups in order to get the thump you like. Not enough? Turn the bass knob on the amp up just a tad. Spend some time getting used to that. It's a lot psychological. It's a G R E A T amp, but it's easy to cover up the mids by having the bass set too high.
 
#15
I think two things:

1. Your pickups need to be set correctly to balance the output from each string.
2. You just need to learn how to EQ a bit better.

And just FYI 15's don't produce more lows. 10's don't produce more highs. 12's don't split the difference. Those are old wives tales among many a bassist. There's much more that goes into cabinet design and speaker size with respect to frequency coverage.

You have a decent amp, and you don't need some odd combination of cabinets/combos to solve your problem. I think you would be better served to learn the ins and outs of your current combo, then upgrade to something with more fire power at a later time if that's what you need. Mixing a bunch of odd cabs/combos together will likely complicate things further.

Tell us what kind of bass you are using, and I'm sure there will be plenty of users here who can advise you on pickup adjustments. Also if you are testing this all out in a small room, there will be resonant frequencies bouncing around that cloud what you hear vs what is actually coming from the amp.

Don't throw the baby out with bath water just yet.
 
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#16
Jay Corwin said:
I think two things:

1. Your pickups need to be set correctly to balance the output from each string.
2. You just need to learn how to EQ a bit better.

And just FYI 15's don't produce more lows. 10's don't produce more highs. 12's don't split the difference. Those are old wives tales among many a bassist. There's much more that goes into cabinet design and speaker size with respect to frequency coverage.

You have a decent amp, and you don't need some odd combination of cabinets/combos to solve your problem. I think you would be better served to learn the ins and outs of your current combo, then upgrade to something with more fire power at a later time if that's what you need. Mixing a bunch of odd cabs/combos together will likely complicate things further.

Tell us what kind of bass you are using, and I'm sure there will be plenty of users here who can advise you on pickup adjustments. Also if you are testing this all out in a small room, there will be resonant frequencies bouncing around that cloud what you hear vs what is actually coming from the amp.

Don't throw the baby out with bath water just yet.
Click to expand...
+ This.
 
#17
So, if the BA115 that you're using is the one in your avatar (and I assume it is), that's the older kickback version. I spent a good bit of time using one of those at a rehearsal studio I frequented for a few months.

My biggest recommendation: be very careful with what tone profile you have it set to from the 5-way selector switch. IIRC, settings 2 and my 3 were the ones I found most usable (I believe 3 was "flat"). However, as you get to the extremes on that knob, the profiles can get similarly extreme, which you may then be fighting with the actual EQ section.
 
#18
Papideaaron said:
I have an Ampeg BA-115 combo. It has more bass than I'll ever need, but D an G strings don't sound too good on it.
I want to buy a Marshal MG Series 100HDFX and MG412B half stack.
Can I connect the Ampeg to it so I have both a clear sound with mid and highs and the thump of the lows?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Send us a pic of your bass guitar and a pic of your amp with the knobs set where you have been playing. Maybe we can give you some advice on how to set things up to give you more of what you are wanting.

Playing bass through speakers designed for guitar usually ends badly. They are not designed to move far enough in and out for bass. You can however, play guitar through bass speakers with no fear of damage.
 

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