Double Bass Ashdown amps

[fcleff]

I'm thinking of getting an Ashdown MAG300 1x15 combo. It will be great for my electric bass but I'm concerned about how my double bass will sound through it.

I just tried it at the store and was able to get an acceptable tone with my crappy old Fishman (will be getting and/or making a new one soon). The shop guy recommends an outboard preamp. Any suggestions/feedback? What say you?

 

[TroyK]

Great amps. Not optimal for double bass. I had one for a while. Played someone else's recently and it really didn't sound natural.

Really can't recommend it for doublebass unless you're going for a very unacoustic sound.

 

[jobo4]

A friend of mine used his upright through my MAG300 115 for a good sized gig. It sounded very good. Just dial out any potential boominess.

 

[fcleff]

My double bass did sound kind of unnatural but I think that I may be able to work around this (I also don't do many amplified upright gigs). Do you think that an outboard preamp might help?

jobo4, how big was this gig. That was another concern that I had. Does your MAG 300 handle ANY size gig?

 

[SteveS]

Don't know anything about this amp combo, but I have found that smaller speakers are much better able to deal with double bass, counterintuitively. Also, in addition to tone being better, smaller seems more reponsive. Of course if you are not trying to sound like an unamplified bass, size might not matter.

Steve Schuster

 

[fcleff]

Don't know anything about this amp combo, but I have found that smaller speakers are much better able to deal with double bass, counterintuitively. Also, in addition to tone being better, smaller seems more reponsive. Of course if you are not trying to sound like an unamplified bass, size might not matter.

Steve Schuster

It's starting to sound like I might just need to get a separate amp for my upright. I would rather sound like an unamplified bass; the tone is just more natural. The trick is, I don't have a whole lot of $$$ to throw down.

Sometimes I need to use both BG and DB at a gig and I was just trying to make things easier.

 

[Peck_Time]

Euphonic Audio has a good reputation for being able to cover DB and BG, as do a few high-end manufacturers (Bergantino, Acme, others I can't recall).

I have a Whizzy 12, and it works very well for both.

 

[fish slapper]

It's starting to sound like I might just need to get a separate amp for my upright. I would rather sound like an unamplified bass; the tone is just more natural. The trick is, I don't have a whole lot of $$$ to throw down.

Sometimes I need to use both BG and DB at a gig and I was just trying to make things easier.

I don't need both at the same gig but I was trying to get one rig to do both a DB gig (coffee house Jazz combo) and BG gig (bar classic rock). I got an AI Clarus and Schroeder Mini 12+ cab. Great tone but isn't cutting it for rock volume. I need more speaker area (you can't defy the laws of physics, Captain). So I'm considering eventually getting one of the larger Schroeder cabs to pair with the Mini 12+. But for now I've gone back to my full stack of Bassman for the rock stuff.

 

[winnets]

I have the MAG 300 4x10. It works well for both upright and slab and does sound close to the acoustic tone of my bass, I also use an old Marshall 1x15 (1555) cab as well to take adavantage of the full power of 4 ohms. I find that the Marshall works well to fill out the bottom end while the 4x10 takes care of the high mids and highs, together they sound great for pizz or slap (I play in a rockabilly band, so no arco), and just mean for slab.

Oh, and they are built really well, mine has fallen off of my trolley many times and the worst it has suffered is a chipped knob.

 

[jimclark68]

I used an Ashdown 130 watt combo with a 12" speaker for a while with my URB. I used a Fishman Platinum preamp and bypassed the Ashdown eq, and it sounded pretty good. Without the Fishman it was very colored and sounded horrible with URB, but the Fishman tamed it very well. It also held up well at higher volumes given it is only 130 watts. I'm still using it as a practice amp.

 

[fcleff]

I'm starting to think that the MAG 300 at 8 ohms with an outboard preamp would do for the DB gigs (more often country than jazz). If I need more punch for a big BG gig then I can have another 2x10 8 ohm cabinet to run and pull the full 300 watts. These Ashdowns are right in my price range and sound good. I tried a Bergantino and was floored by the sound and the price...maybe one day

What are some good suggestions for preamps? I am on shaky ground there as I have never used one.

 

[bolo]

Euphonic Audio has a good reputation for being able to cover DB and BG, as do a few high-end manufacturers (Bergantino, Acme, others I can't recall).

I have a Whizzy 12, and it works very well for both.

I was gonna suggest the same thing, until I caught the remark about "don't have a whole lot of $$$ to throw down."

As you might already know, EA makes 3 combo amps. I have the smallest (iAMP-200 C). For an "all in one" package that's well suited for doubling, I like it a lot. I am not sure how well it would do for a high volume rock or country gig w/out PA reinforcement, but for my purposes, I think it works great (90% jazz on DB, remainder jazz/blues/church on slab).

[ One note - If you want to add an extension cab at times, you can't run an extension off the iAMP-200 C unless it is a powered Wizzy WZ-112P. ]

As far as outboard preamps for DB go, I think jimclark68's suggestion re: the Fishman Platinum and (optionally) bypassing the combo amp's front end seems to work really well for a lot of folks, so I've read. If you are gonna do a lot of gigs on DB, this might be worth the investment.

If you are into DIY, you might could contact fdeck and check out his preamp design too.

 

[fcleff]

I was gonna suggest the same thing, until I caught the remark about "don't have a whole lot of $$$ to throw down."

As you might already know, EA makes 3 combo amps. I have the smallest (iAMP-200 C). For an "all in one" package that's well suited for doubling, I like it a lot. I am not sure how well it would do for a high volume rock or country gig w/out PA reinforcement, but for my purposes, I think it works great (90% jazz on DB, remainder jazz/blues/church on slab).

[ One note - If you want to add an extension cab at times, you can't run an extension off the iAMP-200 C unless it is a powered Wizzy WZ-112P. ]

As far as outboard preamps for DB go, I think jimclark68's suggestion re: the Fishman Platinum and (optionally) bypassing the combo amp's front end seems to work really well for a lot of folks, so I've read. If you are gonna do a lot of gigs on DB, this might be worth the investment.

If you are into DIY, you might could contact fdeck and check out his preamp design too.

Hey Bolo, thanks for all that input. This is all slowly coming together. I really do appreciate the responses.

 

[jobo4]

My double bass did sound kind of unnatural but I think that I may be able to work around this (I also don't do many amplified upright gigs). Do you think that an outboard preamp might help?

jobo4, how big was this gig. That was another concern that I had. Does your MAG 300 handle ANY size gig?

Sorry so long to get back, but I'm on the slab side of things. The gig I refered to last was about 75 people outside, but I use mine at church and it keeps up with a Leslie speaker and a drum set at 8 ohms. With an extension cab, I'm happy about anywhere. Good value for the 115. They are going for $399 right now.

Good luck!

 

[fcleff]

Sorry so long to get back, but I'm on the slab side of things. The gig I refered to last was about 75 people outside, but I use mine at church and it keeps up with a Leslie speaker and a drum set at 8 ohms. With an extension cab, I'm happy about anywhere. Good value for the 115. They are going for $399 right now.

Good luck!

Thanks man. I think that it will end up being the MAG 300.

 

[Jazzin']

I own a MAG300H, but I have not been able to try it out with my DB yet because I have not received my pickup yet. A Fishman FullCircle. I ordered it a week ago.

EDIT: I actually just brought in my bass to the luthier to get the FC installed. I'll let you all know how it sounds with my Ashdown Mag300 tomorrow.

 

[fcleff]

I own a MAG300H, but I have not been able to try it out with my DB yet because I have not received my pickup yet. A Fishman FullCircle. I ordered it a week ago.

EDIT: I actually just brought in my bass to the luthier to get the FC installed. I'll let you all know how it sounds with my Ashdown Mag300 tomorrow.

Thanks man. The shop guy actually pointed out the Fishman Full Circle and I have been cogitating that move, too. I am also considering the homemade piezo that was posted on TB a while back ($$$ concerns, you know). But please do let me know how the rig sounds.

 

[musicman5string]

I dunno about using Ashdowns for upright, but I use a 4x10 combo for electric and really like it. I would not use that rig for upright, but the quality of the amp is great.
I would probably look elsewhere for an upright amp that's also good for electric; alot of guys use Walter Woods heads and some such cab.

 

[Jazzin']

So I tried it out with my Ashdown. It was very bassy; the house was shaking when I hit any note lower than the D string. After lower the bass on the EQ of the amp I was able to get pretty close to the real sound of the bass. I used my Boss TU-2 as a cut-off switch so I can quickly compare the amplified vs. unamplified. It wasn't perfectly the same.

If I wanted to perform live in a small coffee house or something, I might want to buy myself a small GK 110 or 210 combo amp as it has less color. Maybe even a pre-amp if needed. But I am just a beginner at DB, and performing live on DB is not something I need to worry about.

 

[fcleff]

So I tried it out with my Ashdown. It was very bassy; the house was shaking when I hit any note lower than the D string. After lower the bass on the EQ of the amp I was able to get pretty close to the real sound of the bass. I used my Boss TU-2 as a cut-off switch so I can quickly compare the amplified vs. unamplified. It wasn't perfectly the same.

If I wanted to perform live in a small coffee house or something, I might want to buy myself a small GK 110 or 210 combo amp as it has less color. Maybe even a pre-amp if needed. But I am just a beginner at DB, and performing live on DB is not something I need to worry about.

Cool man. That's good info. Thanks for that. I had kind of the same scenario in the shop but couldn't get the instant compare like you did.