Amps with massive low end

[Major_Rager_4MF]

CREST CA9

 

[agedhorse]

My understanding is that the early SWRs were designed with the advent of 5 and 6 string basses in mind and were thus flat to 10hz, if memory serves. I've played a Modulus neck through into a very large PA that went down very low with a Groove Tubes Studio Bass Preamp (same circuit) and it was a beautiful thing. However in 99% of the circumstances, HPF solves the issues. It's a pretty cool design, with that in mind.

I don't think it's that low, somewhere around 20Hz with a 6dB/octave rolloff is what I recall.

 

[Yahboy]

Custom built 4x18 cab.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Custom built 4x18 cab.

Do you have any crack in your fondation ?

 

[Keithunem]

I don't care how "massive" the low end is, I'm using my Broughton HPF no matter what. The only time I might possibly not use it is outside and we've always got a nice sound system then. However, even in that case I'm setting my HPF at least to 40hz.

 

[lug]

My lowly Peavey MiniMax has a megacrabton of bottom end, especially if you use the "Punch" switch. In a live situation, I don't think I've ever has the bass control past 12:00 and I like a whole lot of bottom. I'm usually at closer to 9:00. Of course the cab you use is the real critical part.

 

[Low Class]

My GBE 1200 with 2 Big Baby 3's does a pretty good job!

 

[JimiLL]

My GBE 1200 with 2 Big Baby 3's does a pretty good job!

You know what I had that very amp with a 610xb2 and I struggled to get enough bottom out of it.

 

[spiritbass]

Reeves Custom 225 or 400. I typically roll the bass control back to 9:00 on my C225 and use a Broughton HPF to control the massive low-end on tap. To quote Tom Bowlus, it has "stadium-filling lows"...

 

[agedhorse]

You know what I had that very amp with a 610xb2 and I struggled to get enough bottom out of it.

That's surprising, both for the amp and the cabinet.

 

[shoot-r]

The old SWR heads had too much deep low end to be usable, many GK heads (e.g. MB-800) and Mesa Carbines are very strong and big in the low end in much the same way to my ear, and the Aguilar DB750/751 heads have incredibly massive low end capability.

IME the Mesa SW 800 series heads can generate some pretty impressive lows when hooked up to the right cab(s). The difference between the SW heads and the ones I listed above is that the low end from these amps is much more controllable and shapeable.

+1 with Al.

Of the amp/heads I've owned over the years, the two that stands out to my hearing as being capable of a "massive lowend", Mesa M-6 Carbines (with the bass boost on), and my present gigging head, G.K. MB Fusion 800 (also with the bass boost on).

I like the bass boost on with the Fusion 800 but in the past year I've incorporated a Broughton "Always On" HPF to help to control those lows.

 

[JimiLL]

That's surprising, both for the amp and the cabinet.

I wanted to love that amp badly. I often wonder if there was something wrong with it.

 

[bobyoung53]

It's not a display unit, but a real thing. Custom built for a Van Halen tour sometime in the '80s. Cabinet is 32x10". The amp itself...can't really recall but it's a monster.

If I'm not mistaken it's currently owned by a TB member @bobyoung53

It was built for a Monsters of Rock tour with Van Halen involved but I can't remember which band was supposed to use it, I know they argued over it and it wasn't used. They made several of those actually. The one above is the 36 speaker cab, they made both a 32 and a 36. The head is basically two 300 watt SVT's combined for 600 watts.