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Bass amp needed from a guitarist perspective

L

lhrocker

Oct 5, 2006
59
2
#1
I'm a guitarist who also plays bass (who doesn't, right?) and I need some help. I have a Warwick $$ five string as my main bass and I always used my friend's SWR 280/Ampeg 4x10 cab. Last month my friend finally took his rig back, so I'm without an amp. I am looking for something that is good for practice/jamming and rehearsals as well as gigging to replace the SWR and have at least the same power handling capacity. I play rock/pop/motownish music and would like something versatile, but not over the top.

I have tons of guitar heads and 4x12 cabs, but nothing that is bass only. Without spending tons of xtra cash (well maybe not tons), what would be a good rig to get? I have the following options:

1. Buy a head and cab or combo.

2. I have 1 1000 watt power amp. Buy a preamp and get a 4x10 cab?

3. Just buy a 4x10 cab and run a pod/power amp thru it.

I think that the cabinet would be the most important part of the sound. If possible, I'm looking to stay under $700 for the entire rig.

Thanx,
Pete
 
#2
Are you planning on gigging or are you looking for something to just jam on or record with ? If you have a good 1000 watt power amp I would grab a used Tech 21 RBI or RPM preamp. $200 - $250 used. That will leave you $500 for a cabinet. Lots of good cabs in that price range both new and used. SWR, Hartke, Ampeg, GK. Take your pick,
 
#3
Personally, I would buy a bass cab and use a guitar head.

I have had great success with a Hiwatt Custom 100 and Orange Thunderverb 200. Lots of Marshalls, Fenders, Mesa, etc. sound great for bass.... As long as you use a bass cab.

Also, a rack Sansamp RBI/RPM is approx $300 and sounds killer. These would work perfectly with your poweramp.
 
#5
AdamR said:
Are you planning on gigging or are you looking for something to just jam on or record with ? If you have a good 1000 watt power amp I would grab a used Tech 21 RBI or RPM preamp. $200 - $250 used. That will leave you $500 for a cabinet. Lots of good cabs in that price range both new and used. SWR, Hartke, Ampeg, GK. Take your pick,
Click to expand...

All three. I have a good power amp. Could possibly use one of my rack guitar pre's but I think a good 2x10 or 4x10 would make all the difference.
 
#8
Thanx for all the info so far. I think I will work from the cabinet point of view. If I wanted to keep the weight down (from a loading/unloading perspective), would 2 - 2x10 cabs work as well as 4x10 cabs? Would there be any impedance issues?
 
#9
Everyone says guitar 4x12s are no good for bass but that was all we bass players had available in the 60s / 70s and they sounded good then. Why don't you give it a try and you might be surprised and if you don't like the sound, nothing lost but if you do like the sound, you save yourself a load of cash.
 
#10
Most power amps have two channels do at least 4 ohms on each, so probably no problem. 2x 2x10 is way better in every way than a 4x10 aside from cost. Get side by side oblong ones, not diagonal cubes, stand them up tall and reap everyone hearing everything similarly.
 
#11
I came to bass from guitar, also, and over the years have used a Marshall Superlead, a Marshall JCM800, and couple of Peavey combos and halfstacks for bass. Lots of tube guitar heads sound killer for bass, and contrary to popular myth the speakers don't immediately shred. The JCM800 and 1963 cab was used for years for bass, a Peavey Classic 50 quarter stack has been on bass duty for months, and the Superlead and basket weave cab I bought FROM a bass player.

Try whatcha got first, then try a bass cab with one of the heads if you must. Chances are something you already own will work perfectly.

Or maybe not.
 
#12
Buy a Tech 21 VT Bass as your preamp ($150 or $250 for the deluxe version, worth it IMO). That'll get you all the classic Ampeg Motowny/Stax tones as well as a good gritty rock tone. Then check out your local used market, and get the most cab you can find for your money. I agree that two matched 210s beats a 410 any day of the week.
 
#13
I picked up a Behringer Vamp bass pro really cheap yesterday and I ran it thru the power section of my Randall RM100 head going into a 4x12 Marshall w/greenbacks. It sounded pretty righteous after I took all the fx out of the mix.

Tonight I'm gonna run the preamp thru a crown 1000 watt power amp thru 2 vintage Mesa Boogie 4x12's. I'm hoping to shape the house.

I also have a line on a Harke 2x10 and 4x10 stack for under $500. The 2x10 has no tweeter, but the 4x10 does and they they're both XL series. Would that be a good setup for the price?

Too much stuff to research and play with... :)
 
#14
Re: the Hartkes. If both are 8ohm cabs, run one off each side of you power amp so you can adjust them independently. Running both off a mono amp and they will recieve equal power, but the 210 has half the speakers to take that power. Probably a non issue at lower volumes or when running one of your guitar heads. Cranking things up or running big amps and the 210's handling will become the limiting factor as to what the whole rig can take.

Assuming you like the tone of those Hartkes, the 610's would handle about anything you'll encounter and you'll find situations where you only need one cab or the other = versatility.

+1 to trying some of the stuff you already have. Then if that doesn't get you there, try a bass cab with some of your current amps. Then if that doesn't get you there, put a pre in front of your poweramp and call it a day.
 
#15
Did you like the sound you were getting out of your friend's rig or was something lacking? Since you've got a preamp now, I'd say if you liked the tone you were getting from the Ampeg cab, get another Ampeg cab :-). Was the 410 that you were using the ported HLF model or the sealed HE? I ask because with that kind of power, you'll be limited to the 8 ohm 410he, as the 4 ohm HLF won't handle 1000W. I own the HLF, and it's practically a subwoofer. However, the HE is sealed, so it won't put out as much bass as the HLF; I've seen a few reviews on here that describe it as lacking. You'll be running it near it's wattage limit though, so YMMV. Anyway, you can pick up a 410he for around $350 or less, depending on the shape it's in, and if you're not playing huge gigs, it should be enough. A band came through town with one, and it was plenty enough to fill the decent-sized sports bar we were at. The HE also has an adjustable tweeter, whereas many newer cabs in that price range do not. You may find that you don't like playing with a tweeter.
 
#16
The tone was adequate, but nothing great. I'm not sure if it was the head or the cabinet... I guess that I could always put the pre and power amp into a case and schlep it down to a GC to play with their new and used stuff.

Thanx for all the helpful tips so far. Also, what is the consensus on Avatar cabs? They seem to be a good value used also.


Pete

Tall Steve said:
Did you like the sound you were getting out of your friend's rig or was something lacking? Since you've got a preamp now, I'd say if you liked the tone you were getting from the Ampeg cab, get another Ampeg cab :-). Was the 410 that you were using the ported HLF model or the sealed HE? I ask because with that kind of power, you'll be limited to the 8 ohm 410he, as the 4 ohm HLF won't handle 1000W. I own the HLF, and it's practically a subwoofer. However, the HE is sealed, so it won't put out as much bass as the HLF; I've seen a few reviews on here that describe it as lacking. You'll be running it near it's wattage limit though, so YMMV. Anyway, you can pick up a 410he for around $350 or less, depending on the shape it's in, and if you're not playing huge gigs, it should be enough. A band came through town with one, and it was plenty enough to fill the decent-sized sports bar we were at. The HE also has an adjustable tweeter, whereas many newer cabs in that price range do not. You may find that you don't like playing with a tweeter.
Click to expand...
 
#17
lhrocker said:
Also, what is the consensus on Avatar cabs? They seem to be a good value used also.
Pete
Click to expand...

When I started putting together a bass rig I was lucky enough to have access to a number of different cabs: a Peavey Tour 215, Peavey Tour 410 Neo, Hartke 410, Avatar 212, an Eden 410XLT, and a few others. The Eden XLT and Avatar sounded the best by far ... punchy, round, warm, and thundering. The price of the Avatars sold me, now I own a pair of the B212 ceramics and love them. Best bang for the buck I've ever found.
 
#19
So I am almost there. I think I will work with the Vamp/Crown for the tone section for now. Tried it with my Mesa 4x12's and it's not bad. I just scored an older Avatar 2x10 Neo for $170.

The last piece is possibly a used 4x10. I saw a SWR Goliath 3 for $329 and an Eden Nemesis NSP410 for $349. I think that the SWR is the heavier of the two amps. Of the two, would it matter which one would sound better with the Avatar? Each cab will get it's own channel on the power amp.

Thanx again - Pete
 

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