Amp recommendation for a fretless jazz bass

[Chicoalexi]

Hi Talkbass, I've been stalking these forums for about a decade and am now actually going to start learning electric bass guitar.
I picked up a fender fretless jazz bass and am interested in finding an amp for practicing at home. My goal is mainly to play along with songs while at home.

Do you have any amp recommendations that have articulate warm tones that would pair well with the passive fretless bass?
I have a rumble 100 which works pretty well but is a little muddy even after playing around with all of the settings.
I'm am wondering if a more hi-fi amp might help speed me along or have me play more.

Since my main goal is to play mostly at home I am looking for something that sounds really good at the lower practice volumes so I can get my practice in.
If larger amps sound good dialed down too I wouldn't mind a bass that might help eventually play in some local jazz trios or similar. While saving money is always nice I am more interested in evaluating the sound with price less of a consideration than the sound quality.

I mainly listen to straight ahead jazz, brazillian jazz etc. I do have a background of playing cello in high school so I think I might pick the fretless up a little more quickly.

From marketing and my searches best it looks like might be gaillen kruger or a phil jones amp. Maybe paired with a tone hammer pre-amp?

Cheers

 

[Geepers]

“All the way with Gallien K”. Buy right, buy once

 

[GrowlerBox]

The Genzler Magellan would be perfect, I think. I use the preamp version with my fretless. The 350 W head mounted to the 110 cab would be a great combo, expandable as needed. The Genzler people (@Jeff Genzler and @agedhorse) are ubiquitous contributors here and extraordinarily knowledgable and helpful.

 

[Kevin Hailey]

what you have already is more than adequate for what you are using it for.
The voicing of the rumble amps is inherently muddy/wooly but dialing back the bass and mid controls can clean it up. There’s threads on here about the “flat” setting for a rumble amp.

 

[getrhythm]

I bought a Phil Jones BG-120 Bass Cub Pro and ext. cab for the same purpose, just for practice at home playing along to my stereo. It has a very nice tonal range and is perfectly adequate for that purpose. I was hoping it would have enough volume for playing along with a soft touch drummer and others but it doesn't.

 

[roccobass]

I play out of my Markbass Minimark 2x6 combo at home and get a great sound.

They’re discontinued, but the 2x8 version is still out there. I hear that sounds good too. They get about 150 watts by themselves and both versions are good enough for small gigs too and I have done quite a few with mine.

Both are very toteable and you can plug in an 8 ohm extension speaker. Then they put out 250 watts.

Btw, I love the way my fretless basses sound through them.

 

[chrisbmets]

Since you’re just starting I wouldn’t break the bank on anything super expensive. I think the rumble 100 is perfect for what you need at this time. Once you know that bass is something you love and plan on really digging in and eventually get to the point where you wanna get into a band situation then you’ll definitely want to upgrade your amp. At that point I’d look at Bergantino, Epifani, Aguilar, GK, etc. I’ve had rigs from pretty much every higher end maker and my personal favorites are Epifani (my current rig is a UL901 amp through a DIST 3 4x10 and I love it.) I also had Bergantino for many years and I also love Jim’s amps and cabs. I like to switch it up now and then but weight is big for me and I finally found a neo lightweight 4x10 cab that I absolutely love. Good luck and enjoy playing bass. In my humble opinion there’s no better instrument to play in a band! And I’m impressed you’re starting with fretless.

 

[JRA]

it has never occurred to me that a fretless ax might need special amp consideration. IME, if the amp/cab is competent = it'll work!

your rig is fine for at-home use. if you hook up with a band, you may want to increase your firepower --- and there are almost limitless ways to do that.
good luck with your fretless playing!

 

[RColie]

I can get a decent fretless sound out of my Rumbles, but in my experience a Genzler Magellan amp and a Bass Array cabinet with its mid/high line array, just let a fretless sing,

 

[aero58]

I think you already have a good amp. Have you tried different strings?

 

[Ggaa]

I do band rehearsals with a Rumble 100 elevated on a milk crate. It sounds lots less muddy off the floor.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

A Gallien Krueger MB110ii or MB112ii or even the 08 would be awesome, but they're not inherently warm, unless you know how to massage the eq and get the feel from your hands. A GK with a pedal tube preamp might be perfect, but I think that with eq and touch a GK is perfect for what you want.

I play fretless through a GK Plex preamp and aux in to a GK MB combo or powered cabinet, depending. I can message you sound clips if you like.

Oh yeah welcome to fretlessness and bassdom too!

 

[Deleted member 271037]

It depends on how loud you can actually play at home.

If you need to keep the volume low:

Home practice + warm articulate tone = get a good pair of headphones.

Combined with a suitable amp or preamp with a headphone output of course.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Markbass is usually not my style (punk rock p bass player here !) but for a fret less, when you want to hear the little sound variations and mooah, that would be my first choice. Very detailed and punchy but delicate enough when you play smoothly.

A 112 combo, a 2x8 or a 2x10 are all good IMO.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Hi Talkbass, I've been stalking these forums for about a decade and am now actually going to start learning electric bass guitar.
I picked up a fender fretless jazz bass and am interested in finding an amp for practicing at home. My goal is mainly to play along with songs while at home.

Do you have any amp recommendations that have articulate warm tones that would pair well with the passive fretless bass?
I have a rumble 100 which works pretty well but is a little muddy even after playing around with all of the settings.
I'm am wondering if a more hi-fi amp might help speed me along or have me play more.

Since my main goal is to play mostly at home I am looking for something that sounds really good at the lower practice volumes so I can get my practice in.
If larger amps sound good dialed down too I wouldn't mind a bass that might help eventually play in some local jazz trios or similar. While saving money is always nice I am more interested in evaluating the sound with price less of a consideration than the sound quality.

I mainly listen to straight ahead jazz, brazillian jazz etc. I do have a background of playing cello in high school so I think I might pick the fretless up a little more quickly.

From marketing and my searches best it looks like might be gaillen kruger or a phil jones amp. Maybe paired with a tone hammer pre-amp?

Cheers

The Rumble100 is fine for bedroom practice. I suggest you experiment with different placements of the amp in your room space, also as already mentioned, elevating the amp a bit. Move it away from the wall, don't put it in a corner. I don't play fretless but I play a variety of strings, from flats to tapes, pressure wounds, and I have no problem getting good tome out of the Rumble. When you get to the point that you are going to take your gear to larger venues you can reexamine your choice of amps then, in the meantime save your money.

Here's my Rumble100 with Jazz bass doing bedroom detail. It's in the corner but still sounds very clear.

 

[DuluthDank]

When I got back into electric bass after focusing on upright for a while, I started out with a Rumble 40 at home and Rumble 100 at rehearsal. They both had a baked in tone, and lacked detail in the mids in a way I found pretty unsatisfying. The 100 is actually a fair bit worse than the 40. Don't listen to people saying your Rumble 100 is fine and can be EQ'd. Maybe for them it is, but I was never able to find a sound I liked either.

The GK MB110 and Ampeg RB110 would both be a massive step up, and sound great at practice volumes. Although both do have some "signature sound", they let way more of the personality of your instrument through. I'd actually recommend the Ampeg between the two...it seriously is extremely musical, and also surprisingly full range, although not uncolored as I said.

If you want more transparent, you could try to pick up a used Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0 10t. To me this is the ultimate transparent small combo, at least for sub 600 dollars used. I got mine for about 400 USD shipped a couple years ago, and knowing what I know now, I'd spend a fair bit more if I needed to replace it. The Genzler bass array MG350 combo is a modern take on that Shuttle 3.0 10t with some advancements, and can be found new, but for more money. If spending a bit more isn't a concern, I think this might be the best choice. I'd also consider some Phil Jones stuff, although I have no personal experience with that brand.

And low wattage for practice is good, IMO. Taking a high power amp and turning it down is often pretty unsatisfying, although some are actually pretty decent.

 

[nonohmic]

what you have already is more than adequate for what you are using it for.
The voicing of the rumble amps is inherently muddy/wooly but dialing back the bass and mid controls can clean it up. There’s threads on here about the “flat” setting for a rumble amp.

I wholeheartedly disagree.

My playing experience got exponentially more enjoyable once I moved on from the mud of the Rumble 100 and invested in a good setup. No EQing could stop it from sounding like it was covered in a wet blanket.

 

[DuluthDank]

I wholeheartedly disagree.

My playing experience got exponentially more enjoyable once I moved on from the mud of the Rumble 100 and invested in a good setup. No EQing could stop it from sounding like it was covered in a wet blanket.

This was my experience as well. The 100 was uniquely bad out of the Rumble lineup too, which overall tends in the direction of making every bass sound the same. If you like that baked in tone though, that's cool. It's all subjective.

 

[Kevin Hailey]

This was my experience as well. The 100 was uniquely bad out of the Rumble lineup too, which overall tends in the direction of making every bass sound the same. If you like that baked in tone though, that's cool. It's all subjective.

Interesting. The rumble amps are very common here in NYC, I’m pretty sure I’ve played through most models. There’s one place I play at where it’s always hard to get a good sound, the house amp is a 100.

 

[BassicJazzy]

This was my experience as well. The 100 was uniquely bad out of the Rumble lineup too, which overall tends in the direction of making every bass sound the same. If you like that baked in tone though, that's cool. It's all subjective.

I alternate between an Ibanez SR1350B with D'addario Black Tapes, Fender Jazz Plus with Pressure Wounds, and Sire P5R with Low Tension Flats. I never play the same bass two days in a row, never change amp's EQ, not using active EQ on the first 2 basses, and they never sound anywhere near the same, so just saying......

I do not doubt that a GK will sound better, for twice the price. It is a superior amp. I think the RB will sound different, but not "better." I guess it's a matter of taste?