I think I might have goof'd today and I figured this would be the best forum to figure out what I did wrong.
A little back story:
I've been trying to acquire a bass rig recently as playing through a guitar amp wont cut it for obvious reasons. I'm sort of a noob when it comes to bass gear so please bear with me. I've sort of set my mind on Ampegs as most of their SVT models (especially the older models) have the nice warm fuzzy drive that I've grown to love. A bit of researching here and there and I decided I wanted at least a 410HLF (Ported gives better low end, right?) and would settle with what ever compatible (and cheap) amp head that I could use until I saved enough money to buy an SVT-3 Pro or maybe even an old SVT-VR. Today while I was back in my hometown to visit family, I decided to go around to the pawn shops and see if I couldn't find something that would suit my tastes. One Pawn shop had an acoustic model 230(neat!). It sounded alright, but I wasn't able to play it through a bass cabinet, just some sort of Peavey Valve King 4x12, so I'm not sure if I heard the amps full potential. The amp also had some odd noise when I turned the pre-volume(?) beyond 12 o'clock and the master volume knob didn't work at all so I ruled it out.
Off to the next shop.
I started to get super giddy when I saw an Ampeg VT-40 sitting under a pile of random cables and junk. I figured it was a bass amp because of a few things; The Brightness button, the treble ultra high [- 0 +] rocker switch and, my general ignorance of thinking Ampeg only made bass amps. So I grabbed my bass from my car and plugged in and started playing a bit and messing with all the knobs to see if it was in working order. As I turned up the amp I noticed a slight rattle that I was sure was coming from the amp its self and not vibrating the junk that was around me (I know how that sounds from playing very loud in my bedroom
). I looked at the price tag and saw it was $500. After blasting a quick google on my phone I noticed that they usually went for anywhere from $600 to $800 in decent condition. I talked the guy down to $400 and was on my way home with what I thought would be my solution to my lack of an amp!
When I got home I did as any young player would do, Plug it in, let the tubes warm up, and start blasting Geezer Butler and Bootsy Collins Riffs! Oops, the rattle was still there and got worse as I turned it up. I figured one of the speaker cones was torn and popped off the grill, but all of the speakers seemed to be in great shape. After doing the research I should have done, I found out I had just dropped $400 on a guitar amp and my heart dropped. Although the fuzzy channel did sound pretty neat, I couldn't turn the volume up very much before the amp started to rattle and sort of fart out noise. (The speakers did seem to have alright low range though).
Is there a way I can use this for bass, or should I find a way to get rid of the amp and keep looking for a good bass rig? Im kicking my self in the foot for being so hasty and ignorant.
Thanks in advance!
(P.S. I also posted this in the Ask a Pro section, im not sure if thats cool or not but I need any help I can get for this situation)
A little back story:
I've been trying to acquire a bass rig recently as playing through a guitar amp wont cut it for obvious reasons. I'm sort of a noob when it comes to bass gear so please bear with me. I've sort of set my mind on Ampegs as most of their SVT models (especially the older models) have the nice warm fuzzy drive that I've grown to love. A bit of researching here and there and I decided I wanted at least a 410HLF (Ported gives better low end, right?) and would settle with what ever compatible (and cheap) amp head that I could use until I saved enough money to buy an SVT-3 Pro or maybe even an old SVT-VR. Today while I was back in my hometown to visit family, I decided to go around to the pawn shops and see if I couldn't find something that would suit my tastes. One Pawn shop had an acoustic model 230(neat!). It sounded alright, but I wasn't able to play it through a bass cabinet, just some sort of Peavey Valve King 4x12, so I'm not sure if I heard the amps full potential. The amp also had some odd noise when I turned the pre-volume(?) beyond 12 o'clock and the master volume knob didn't work at all so I ruled it out.
Off to the next shop.
I started to get super giddy when I saw an Ampeg VT-40 sitting under a pile of random cables and junk. I figured it was a bass amp because of a few things; The Brightness button, the treble ultra high [- 0 +] rocker switch and, my general ignorance of thinking Ampeg only made bass amps. So I grabbed my bass from my car and plugged in and started playing a bit and messing with all the knobs to see if it was in working order. As I turned up the amp I noticed a slight rattle that I was sure was coming from the amp its self and not vibrating the junk that was around me (I know how that sounds from playing very loud in my bedroom
). I looked at the price tag and saw it was $500. After blasting a quick google on my phone I noticed that they usually went for anywhere from $600 to $800 in decent condition. I talked the guy down to $400 and was on my way home with what I thought would be my solution to my lack of an amp!When I got home I did as any young player would do, Plug it in, let the tubes warm up, and start blasting Geezer Butler and Bootsy Collins Riffs! Oops, the rattle was still there and got worse as I turned it up. I figured one of the speaker cones was torn and popped off the grill, but all of the speakers seemed to be in great shape. After doing the research I should have done, I found out I had just dropped $400 on a guitar amp and my heart dropped. Although the fuzzy channel did sound pretty neat, I couldn't turn the volume up very much before the amp started to rattle and sort of fart out noise. (The speakers did seem to have alright low range though).
Is there a way I can use this for bass, or should I find a way to get rid of the amp and keep looking for a good bass rig? Im kicking my self in the foot for being so hasty and ignorant.
Thanks in advance!
(P.S. I also posted this in the Ask a Pro section, im not sure if thats cool or not but I need any help I can get for this situation)
