I have a 320 watt combo I use for small gigs ( up 50 people) with a drummer that isn’t habitually testing the strength of his drum heads. Keep in mind, deep lows need more wattage to generate.
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Bass amp wattage for 3pc. gig?
- Thread starter timh28
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I have a 320 watt combo I use for small gigs ( up 50 people) with a drummer that isn’t habitually testing the strength of his drum heads. Keep in mind, deep lows need more wattage to generate.
I'd get 2 8-ohm 210 cabs (or 212 if you prefer), matching. ideally.
Then you can bring one, get your 300 watts, it'll be enough for nearly every situation ever.
If you really want more, bring both, run them both, it'll be 4 ohms drawing 500watts and also will be more drivers giving more output level, so that'll be more than you'd ever need. Since, if you ever needed more, you'd be miking it up or using a DI.
If you are playing a place big enough that this isn't loud enough, you NEED good pa support. And every venue will offer pa support, unless it's really cheezie, in which case you're good with your 2 cabs and one 500watt head I'm nearly certain.
if you're drowned out by your guitarist, then your guitarist needs to move his amp the hell further away from you guys if he wants to be that loud, and he needs to stand next to his amp so he gets that super loud feeling without killing the overall mix.
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I think 300 watts would work fine. Any less and you might be working it harder than necessary. Unless we're talking about an all-tube amp where you're getting grit from the amp, I try to never use an amp that I have to turn the master up much over halfway. If I do, I'll add more power and speakers rather than crank it. I don't know if I'm right, but it just seems hard on gear to run it hard. Amps get hotter, speakers get worked harder, unwanted distortion happens more often, I just try to avoid it where I can. If nothing else, it's always good to have more headroom if you need it.
If you're just going to play small to medium-sized clubs, you should be able to get by with a 210. The 410 is great for large clubs and outdoor venues. I actually worked my way up over the years to a DNS-410 by DNA, which was supposed to be the last cab I'd need to buy. Besides the amazingly good sound, it is really loud and a little power goes a long way with it. It will handle 1400-watts rms, has a max SPL of 137db, and I have an Eden amp that will feed it up to 800-watts. But the highest I've can usually run it indoors is 9:30. I can run it up to 10 o'clock at outdoor festivals. It sounds great whether it is playing softly, or burying Marshall full stacks when the lead player gets unruly. But it scares the be-jeepers out of small club owners.Well I am more than likely going to look into the rumble 500 head, PMT have them on clearance at the moment as I believe fender have discontinued them! Then for time being I think I will look at a 410 to go with it and look to expand with a 115 to push the low end a bit further!
And you absolutely cannot argue with Lemmy when it comes to mighty bass in a trio
Cheers again folk
I would be inclined to suggest that you get an 8 ohm 210 cab with a 500-watt amp. Presuming the 500-watt rating is @ 4ohms, that will give you 250-watts into an 8 ohm cab, which should be fine in small and medium-sized venues. Then when you need more for a large venue, add a second 210, which effectively makes it a 410. For convenience, the Class D amps are great. However, they may well be out of your budget cost-wise. If you look for used standard Class A/B amps, you can get into 500-watt amps with enough room to add a decent cab to it.
The Eden WT550 amps show up for sale used quite often. Many are ~$500 though I saw one once that was only $350. It produces a clear, clean, warm, and articulate sound. It will put 300-watts rms into 8 ohms, 500-watts into 4 ohms, and either 620-watts (earlier ones) or 750-watts into a 2 ohm load. You could actually hook up to four 8 ohm cabs to it if you really wanted to get carried away and had roadies to schelp it all around.
The head would be a good choice but given what you've described, I hardly think two 410 cabinets would be needed, let alone 1. A 210 would be more than adequate. I personally like modular approaches - say 2 - 112 cabinets, or 2-210 cabinets, using one for most gigs if smaller and doubling up when needed. You can start with a head and one cab and add a second as needed and as budget allows.
Just took a look at some listings on Reverb and the Eden TN-501 (class D 500-watt rms amp) has a good number of listings. New these guys are usually ~$649 new and ~$325 used. They have a "brand new" one listed there for $449. That's a very good price on this 5.3-lb, 500-watt amp. I have its little brother the TN226, which is a 225-watt @4 ohm amp. I power a single EX112 4 ohm cab with it for a little brew pub we used to play 3 to 5 Fridays per month (scared them when I first showed up with a 410).
It has that great Eden sound and I just throw it in my shoulder bag to carry it with me. It has 2 semi-parametric controls for the low mids and high-mids as well as the normal bass and treble controls. One nice thing they also have is a "bass boost" button that allows you to boost the bass in low-level playing without scooping the mids out like the enhance control does. I honestly wish I had bought the 500-watt one instead of the 225-watt one so I could use it at medium-sized venues. It also has a much more usable auto-compressor. It's really a pleasure to bring in that 5-lb amp instead of my main amp which weighs ~36-lbs. in its rack.
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I reckon 300-500w and an efficient 210 would be enough. If you have PA support, even better.
I use an Aguilar TH500 and a Bergantino HD210 for these types of gigs.
I use an Aguilar TH500 and a Bergantino HD210 for these types of gigs.
Just commenting on this issue, not on amp recommendations ... Imo it's never rude to ask a general question, both to the venue and to the other bands, like "Is any equipment being backlined?" That way you're not saying "hey, can I borrow your amp," but if another band is fine with letting their amp be used by others they can respond by offering. Also, sometimes communication gets lost - I've shown up at shows with my rig only to find that the venue has an Ampeg 810 and an SVT, and no one remembered to tell anyone.
If something *is* being backlined, politely ask for details about it. I've also been told "bass rig is provided," then shown up and it's a 50 watt combo that wasn't a good match for our volume needs. Anyway, my $0.02. Hope you have a blast on the gig!
I played all my gigs from 1971 to 1977, 3 to 6 nights a week, 5 sets a night, with just 50 watts: a 1964 black-face Fender Bassman head. Small clubs, big clubs, and outside gigs. But I was pushing that 50 watts into a Sunn 200S cabinet with two JBL D140s. It's more about speakers than watts. More speaker equals more sound. All the watts in the world won't help if you don't have enough speaker area.
To keep up with a loud-azz drummer and a guitar player with a 15w tube amp, I won't travel with less than 350 SS watts into a 1X15 or a 4X10. Tried, failed, learned.
Keep in mind the difference between tube and solid state watts. I play a lot of guitar on small to medium stages, I never bring more than 15-20 tube watts through one or two speakers, and I run the risk of being too loud.
Keep in mind the difference between tube and solid state watts. I play a lot of guitar on small to medium stages, I never bring more than 15-20 tube watts through one or two speakers, and I run the risk of being too loud.
My new rule of thumb is 100 watts per band member.
If any two members have leather jackets it goes up to 150 watts per member.
Two long hairs = One leather jacket + 50 watts for each pair of combat boots. Face scars = two pairs of combat boots.
If any two members have leather jackets it goes up to 150 watts per member.
Two long hairs = One leather jacket + 50 watts for each pair of combat boots. Face scars = two pairs of combat boots.
So, what are you using for rehearsal? What do you have experience with (in regards to what works) for this band?
IMHO choosing cabs is a matter of volume vs convenience, and matching the rig to the band. You won’t truly know what works until you try it, but you can make educated guesses.
Personally I used to haul a 410 to everything. But a 410 can be heavy, and they sure don’t fit in my trunk! I now use 2x 112. And 112 is enough for 99% of what I do. The 112 was chosen specifically for my 2 bands though- I think a 210 is a better all-purpose cab. (And 2x210 a great all-purpose modular option.) Sure a 2x410 is loud and fun, but most likely not necessary. Are you confident you want to take a 410 to every gig? Not to talk you out of 410s, just something to think about
@bherman and @dkelley said a lot of what I was gonna say, saved me some typing mates
IMHO choosing cabs is a matter of volume vs convenience, and matching the rig to the band. You won’t truly know what works until you try it, but you can make educated guesses.
Personally I used to haul a 410 to everything. But a 410 can be heavy, and they sure don’t fit in my trunk! I now use 2x 112. And 112 is enough for 99% of what I do. The 112 was chosen specifically for my 2 bands though- I think a 210 is a better all-purpose cab. (And 2x210 a great all-purpose modular option.) Sure a 2x410 is loud and fun, but most likely not necessary. Are you confident you want to take a 410 to every gig? Not to talk you out of 410s, just something to think about
@bherman and @dkelley said a lot of what I was gonna say, saved me some typing mates
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Wow the responses to this thread have been amazingly helpful and really insightful, thank you once again everyone! Judging by some of the recent comments it would seem that a good place to start is a 500w head into a 210 and then add more should the need arise, so I think this will most likely be what I go for.
But that’s great advice to take on board, I know there’s no harm in asking and generally bands will be helpful but I suppose it varies from person to person and band to band!
Wow you really did have some communication issues! On our first pub gig our guitarist hired an amp (only £15 for the night) but it was a damn heavy thing and when we got there the other band playing that night asked if we wanted to use their gear, should have seen his face!
But that’s great advice to take on board, I know there’s no harm in asking and generally bands will be helpful but I suppose it varies from person to person and band to band!
Regarding rehearsal I use amps provided by the practice space as they have them set up in the different room, it’s luck of the draw what you get thoughSo, what are you using for rehearsal? What do you have experience with (in regards to what works) for this band?
IMHO choosing cabs is a matter of volume vs convenience, and matching the rig to the band. You won’t truly know what works until you try it, but you can make educated guesses.
Personally I used to haul a 410 to everything. But a 410 can be heavy, and they sure don’t fit in my trunk! I now use 2x 112. And 112 is enough for 99% of what I do. The 112 was chosen specifically for my 2 bands though- I think a 210 is a better all-purpose cab. (And 2x210 a great all-purpose modular option.) Sure a 2x410 is loud and fun, but most likely not necessary. Are you confident you want to take a 410 to every gig? Not to talk you out of 410s, just something to think about
@bherman and @dkelley said a lot of what I was gonna say, saved me some typing mates
. But they have hiwatt, rumbles, orange and even behringer combos, as well as hiwatt stack which I’ve used a few times. All have generally worked however I’ve noticed with a few of the amps that I’ve had to crank the master quite high.That’s interesting know about the different options and I will more than likely go with a 210!
But when folks say what ya say - and I understand but ... - that make me wanna do it more ...
And what about the correlative tattoos?
Piercings?
Attendant speed freaks?
Skanky groupies?
There are so many possible factors ... I reco back to the lemmy standard: see above.
I used to play guitar before I discovered I was meant to play Bass. Haha. Anyway, these guys that used to treat me like crap in High School call me out of the blue and ask if they can borrow my Marshall 100 watt Head cuz they have a gig and there amp just blew up. I said, "no way, man." I believe in only helping people that deserve it. Paybacks, man.
300,400,500 or more watts how loud is loud.
I played for 2000 plus with a HA2500 with 15 and a 410 cab and it was loud and clear.
we also had a large PA.With most large gigs a large PA is needed.
OR you can use this setup.
Must amps are going into a PA on large GIGS.
You to can get up to 1kw bass amp BUT HOW LONG CAN YOUR EARS TAKE THAT KIND OF POWER.
I use my large amps for outside for looks (yes I do like power to burn) .
A 100 watter and a good PA can cover anything.
If your band is playing with out a good PA get the 500w plus amp.
Here's a Markbass kickbass 210 combo on Thomann's. Power and light weight under $800 Euros.
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I played plenty of small and medium rooms with a four piece band. The drummer knew how to play and how to take it easy. The magic combo for me was a Stingray and a SWR Working Man's 12. I think that combo was only 100 or 120 watts. Loud AF though. Bigger rooms were DI-ed into the PA with the SWR as a monitor. I now use the Fender Rumble 12 inch, but it is not as loud or clear as I remember the SWR to be. I used.to ride trains to my gigs, so, I needed the most compact combo to do the job. If you can use a car, get two 2x10s and an amp that can handle the combined impedance. You can leave one cab home or....essentially have that 4x10 plus a little extra gain from having two cabinets.
