Double Bass Backline Amp for Smallish Jazz Room

[dylanjohnson]

The model name of the Markbass combo is the CMD 121p. I used one for a while and it was pretty solid. Maybe not the most elegant amp for double bass, but it will get the job done and has a lot of head room to match that Steinway D. Is this gonna be for Vibrato up in Paso? I want to make a trip up sometime to check out that club before I move out east.

Karl is such a great player and sweet guy to boot. I met him on a wedding gig we were on in Los Alamos last October and was very impressed by his playing. It was great to play with him again, and he was able to get my girlfriend's dinner comped by the club that night which was really nice of him. You guys in SLO are lucky to have him!

Yeah, Karl is great. We have a weekly hit at Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo and used to play at Seaventure in Pismo, where you gigged on NYE, for years. Yes, the amp will be for Libretto, the club in Paso. It's a stunning joint. Most of the bands playing come up from LA. I play there every couple of months.

 

[Ric Vice]

I have a feeling the downfiring woofer would be a boomy mess in this club. These aren't sold new any longer, right?

Agreed, If down firing amps worked
as well as Acoustic Image had hoped
Rick Jones would still be building and selling them. The truth of the matter is
Rick listened to his customers and completely redesigned his speaker cabinets first with the Upshot and then the Double Shot. The AI Heads were always good.

 

[longfinger]

an amp for a jazz club, that would stay in the club right?
So lightweight and portable isn't the primary concern. Consider things a bit larger than one would want to carry. 15" speaker perhaps? Or 12". Since no schlep is involved, I suggest passing on 10" speakers.

GK MB115
GK MB112

Traynor SB115
Traynor SB112

Check out, and try out the Fender Rumble series too. Bring your pre-amp pedal if you use one. I've heard good things about them even for double bass.

However, lack of a MUTE button for the above is irksome to me.

Markbass as well.... but depends on budget.. and think 15" instead of 12"
CMD 151P
CMD 121P

 

[Brad_Pearson]

the Traynor sb112 is, in my mind, the perfect backline amp. Nothing fancy or confusing. Good di. Plenty loud and neutral voicing. Built like a tank. Can be found used dirt cheap.

 

[DannyW]

Agreed, If down firing amps worked
as well as Acoustic Image had hoped
Rick Jones would still be building and selling them.

Yet he built and sold them for twenty years. Failed design indeed!

 

[oren]

The CMD-121P is the most often seen Markbass combo. I’ve been using one for a number of years for both upright and electric and I like it a lot. It’s light, has a well balanced full sound (though it doesn’t have thunderous low end, which I think is actually in its favor for upright use), flexible enough eq to get a good sound in most situations, loud enough for fairly raucous occasions, and plays nicely with the piezo pickups I’ve tried with it (Full Circle and Lifeline). I never use the VLE or VPF controls on upright. There are new versions of the amp just coming to market, one with a new tweeter and one with the piezo tweeter. I haven’t heard those yet. I think it’s a solid choice for a small club.

 

[Ric Vice]

I’ve played CMD 115 twice at outdoor festivals, which is not a good place to judge a amplifier. The last time I used one it was just backline for the amp out
on my Grace Felix, with a Remic DB5400 LB. I could coax a respectable sound out of the amp running into the front end and zeroing out the EQ on the amp. The older red Nano Mark was great but they recently discontinued it.

 

[Ketbass]

For a business to spend money, thinking mine, the Fender Rumble series can be a good choice. I recently started playing out of an older one in the rehearsal space and didn’t know what it was at first, but was surprised at how good it sounded with my Ischel X3. It does not sound great with my Rev Solo. But I’m also finding my Ischel is the go to jack to plug into when no good acoustic amp is around and the Rev Solo piezo plays better with LP/HP filter availability. If I can’t get good sound in the room with one, combining both is the trick. For the money (think business), I’d try out the Rumble. I’ve never bonded with anything Fender has made, but this I could do.

 

[Ric Vice]

While it is true that that the Fender Rumbles sound great with double bass, I think it’s important to understand that
they are essentially a throwaway amp and as far as I know cannot be repaired. That may also be true for the Markbass CMD 121 or 115.The one advantage with the Traynor SB line is you have access to a full schematic and component parts list for their SB combos on the Traynor website.
Something that’s worth considering. Just my take.

 

[robassable]

GK mb112 works good for both upright and electric for me, and I have tried many. Full range with plenty of power and lends itself particularly well to upright, at least for me.

 

[james condino]

 

[Ric Vice]

Yet he built and sold them for twenty years. Failed design indeed!

Not failed for sure, but very room dependent IME. I’ve had long conversations with Rick at several ISB conventions. He’s was working on a different

cabinet design, for at least 7 years. At the Rochester ISB, he showed a prototype of a 2x8 cabinet with an up firing and down firing speaker, which he never

put intro production. At Ithaca College he showed the New Claris Head and the UpShot, by the time of Indiana University convention he had the

Double Shot and the Claris Dual Channel. All along the way he was listening to his customer bass and striving for a cabinet that wasn’t as room dependent as the

Down firing Contra or Ten 2 ( front firing + down firing). The decision to go with the new cabinets, was based on research and feed back over several years. If the

Contra is suited to your needs then it’s a good fit. Just my take. Please note that the word “failed” does not appear in my original post.

 

[rickwolff]

Not failed for sure, but very room dependent IME. I’ve had long conversations with Rick at several ISB conventions. He’s was working on a different

cabinet design, for at least 7 years. At the Rochester ISB, he showed a prototype of a 2x8 cabinet with an up firing and down firing speaker, which he never

put intro production. At Ithaca College he showed the New Claris Head and the UpShot, by the time of Indiana University convention he had the

Double Shot and the Claris Dual Channel. All along the way he was listening to his customer bass and striving for a cabinet that wasn’t as room dependent as the

Down firing Contra or Ten 2 ( front firing + down firing). The decision to go with the new cabinets, was based on research and feed back over several years. If the

Contra is suited to your needs then it’s a good fit. Just my take. Please note that the word “failed” does not appear in my original post.

Hey Ric, I've been trying to reach you by PM, are you online?

 

[CryingBass]

Why does Jazz always have budget constraints?

 

[CryingBass]

And I would think a SuperFlightCase would be a great choice, if you can find one.

 

[DannyW]

Not failed for sure, but very room dependent IME. I’ve had long conversations with Rick at several ISB conventions. He’s was working on a different

cabinet design, for at least 7 years. At the Rochester ISB, he showed a prototype of a 2x8 cabinet with an up firing and down firing speaker, which he never

put intro production. At Ithaca College he showed the New Claris Head and the UpShot, by the time of Indiana University convention he had the

Double Shot and the Claris Dual Channel. All along the way he was listening to his customer bass and striving for a cabinet that wasn’t as room dependent as the

Down firing Contra or Ten 2 ( front firing + down firing). The decision to go with the new cabinets, was based on research and feed back over several years. If the

Contra is suited to your needs then it’s a good fit. Just my take. Please note that the word “failed” does not appear in my original post.

Sorry, didn't mean to read more into your post than you'd intended. I view things from a different perspective, being a guitar player rather than a bass guy. Have been using AI for 20+ years, first an early Clarus head with RE cabs, then worked with a bass player using a Contra, plugged into it and liked it, bought one for rehearsals, soon started gigging with it, repurposed the RE cabs for home use only. I've had several generations of Coda, used the Corus+ and Ten2 for ten years. I've never had issues with my sound regardless of the venue, except on dirt or grass, which luckily are rare occurrences. Even on those surfaces, I found that a sheet of Masonite under the amp fixed the sound.

Let me also point out that I've been doing all my rehearsals and gigs with a Doubleshot/SL-R for eighteen months. I will say that it's rare when my big band remarks about my sound, but the first time I used it the bass & drums both swiveled around to see what I was playing and the leader said "Are you using a new amp? It sounds great!" They all told me to keep using it. At our next concert the first trumpet told me he really liked my new amp because of how well the band could hear me.

DannyW

 

[Ric Vice]

Why does Jazz always have budget constraints?

We’ll, when I look at touring professionals like Larry Grenader, Christian Mc Bride, Martin Wind, Drew Gress, et.al.Generally go amp dejour so
it’s not often here in St. Louis to see someone with their own amp. On concert stages, I have seen John Pattuci, Christian Mc Bride and Dave Holland
Use their own amplifiers. But in general, they don’t always tour with their own amps. That’s a long winded way of saying most folks don’t consider what amps their using. I do but I’m not a touring professional bassist.

 

[BobDeRosa]

Does this have to work for electric bass too? I say go bigger than what most are suggesting, got an Aguilar Tone Hammer head and some sort of 2x10 cab.

Not sure about this. For the uninitiated user (as most visiting bassists probably will be), Tone Hammer EQing isn't exactly instinctive and the Mid controls can be tricky. For Aguilars, I'd prefer the AG series, which are more user friendly.

 

[koricancowboy]

Constellation in Chicago has an SVT Pro with a 4-10. I would have never thought to plug into something like that but damn does it sound awesome. 2-10 would probably work as well. I’ve played through it and have seen many others do the same and it never sounds bad regardless of bass or pickup. Having said that, it’s huge and Constellation has a lot of space. The Genzler stuff is pretty great. The acoustic array is clear and articulate and a true combo if that matters