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Bass to amplification price ratio
- Thread starter Bassdrifter
- Start date
This is the kind of consideration that people make when buying seperates hifi systems. "How should I split my budget between source (CD player or turntable and cartridge), amplifier and speakers to get the best overall system?"
I think for hifi it is a valid question but for bass guitar and bass amplification it is pointless for the reasons already mentioned.
I think for hifi it is a valid question but for bass guitar and bass amplification it is pointless for the reasons already mentioned.
First decent bass 1966 Fender Jazz @ $475.00 First decent amp 1964 Ampeg B15N @ $450.00. both about the same.
I was not going to bring up pedals.. Just over 1:14 here. I do not know about Danish, but in Norwegian we do not even have a word for "hoarding". It is just called "collecting".
'My Eden gear in my avatar probably retailed new for about $4-$5k. I'm estimating MIA Fender PB retailed at about $1,000. Over 50 years of playing bass, I have spent way more on amps and speakers than instruments. Mainly because amps and speakers degrade faster, not to mention the technological advancements in sound development. Pretty much, basses are still strings over a magnet like the've been since the 1930s.
No such thing as a sensible rate for a bass or an amp or the difference in price between them. "Affordable" is about all that applies, and a lot of us ignore that to some degree, or at least elevate our "want" to a "need", and then work on a justification for the debt….
OP, I'm not sure that pondering a ratio of amp/instrument really gets you all that much budget insight. I'm thinking that the goal is a bass that you want to play (tone and feel, both), and an amp that comfortably handles the performance situations you find yourself in.
For me that winds up, these days, being a Sandberg TM-5 into a Mesa Subway TT-800 pushing a pair of Subway 1-15 cabs. Eh, I guess that's pretty close to 1:1 amp/bass. But a couple years ago I was using an NYC Sadowsky with the same rig--and that ratio is more like 1:3.
That's why I say the ratio doesn't really offer much guidance.
For me that winds up, these days, being a Sandberg TM-5 into a Mesa Subway TT-800 pushing a pair of Subway 1-15 cabs. Eh, I guess that's pretty close to 1:1 amp/bass. But a couple years ago I was using an NYC Sadowsky with the same rig--and that ratio is more like 1:3.
That's why I say the ratio doesn't really offer much guidance.
My amp setup is almost always more expensive then my basses and I have some basses in the $2k range
If we are to engage in such useless speculation, I'd say the math is a lot more complicated, since volume doesn't increase at the same proportion to watts, the ratio should reflect that, or at least be based on dB instead of watts. 1,000 watt amp is only 2x as loud as 100 watts, but we all know that 1,000 watt amp is gonna have tons more headroom as if that were quantifiable, and even if it were some people would still be better served by the 100watt amp. To Jack up this equation even more that gap closes significantly if the the 100watt amp is tube and the 1000 solid state because tube amps can generally sound good and even desirable at THD numbers that would cause the solid state amp to meltdown. If we look at it as dollars:dB buying any more than 100 watts looks to be financially ridiculous. Dollars:watts looks more reasonable on paper, until you think about how many more dB those watts get you and we haven't even mentioned the THD any of those are rated at so we can't even really compare them accurately.
All of that is to say this whole way of thinking is a fools errand because it doesn't result in any meaningful conclusion. There's no "rule of thumb" or anything you can take to the store that results from this. When it comes time to buy an amp, play a bunch and buy the one that sounds the best with the features you like in the most wattage you can afford. That's it. You can never have too many watts as long as there's a volume knob of some variety, but you can have too few.
All of that is to say this whole way of thinking is a fools errand because it doesn't result in any meaningful conclusion. There's no "rule of thumb" or anything you can take to the store that results from this. When it comes time to buy an amp, play a bunch and buy the one that sounds the best with the features you like in the most wattage you can afford. That's it. You can never have too many watts as long as there's a volume knob of some variety, but you can have too few.
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I honestly don't think it matters.
You might play a $50 yard sale Ibanez into a $2000 bass rig. Or plug into an alley-found Peavey with a new $2000 Fender and get the sound you want.
Funny coincidence in my case though. In 1977 I was in a start-up Top-40 dance band and needed a full set up because I didn't think I could play my Japanese fretless with the fast songs we played. So I got a Rickenbacker 4001 for $450, an Ampeg V4B for $350 and an ampeg B25B 2x15 cabinet for $100, so the bass and amp combo cost exactly the same.
You might play a $50 yard sale Ibanez into a $2000 bass rig. Or plug into an alley-found Peavey with a new $2000 Fender and get the sound you want.
Funny coincidence in my case though. In 1977 I was in a start-up Top-40 dance band and needed a full set up because I didn't think I could play my Japanese fretless with the fast songs we played. So I got a Rickenbacker 4001 for $450, an Ampeg V4B for $350 and an ampeg B25B 2x15 cabinet for $100, so the bass and amp combo cost exactly the same.
I think the responses so far leans toward it being random.
I just spent $2K on an Ampeg PF-50T/Mesa Boogie Subway SW115 rig. My basses range from a 53-year old Telecaster Bass I bought in 1969 for $300 to $3K+ for a Fender CS Jazz Bass I bought a year or so ago. On the other hand my Phil Jones Bass Double Four practice amp is a $450 little hifi wonder that cost less than what any of my basses are worth.
I could add another cab if I were gigging, but I'm not. So the guitars collectively will always be of greater value.
I just spent $2K on an Ampeg PF-50T/Mesa Boogie Subway SW115 rig. My basses range from a 53-year old Telecaster Bass I bought in 1969 for $300 to $3K+ for a Fender CS Jazz Bass I bought a year or so ago. On the other hand my Phil Jones Bass Double Four practice amp is a $450 little hifi wonder that cost less than what any of my basses are worth.
I could add another cab if I were gigging, but I'm not. So the guitars collectively will always be of greater value.
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Just get the gear you need for the task at hand. They're really just tools. It helps to have the right tool for the job. Nothing more.
I'm at 10 basses 2 amps 1 pedal board and a pod go with iem's but pedal board rig has one of the amps built in and the whole thing almost cost as much as all 10 of my basses
Like a lot of members I own and use multiple instruments and multiple amps.
If I compare the purchase price of my most expensive amp against my most expensive instrument, it would be about 1:1.
Since I own more basses than amps, the total amount over the years I spent was much more on basses than amps.
If I compare the purchase price of my most expensive amp against my most expensive instrument, it would be about 1:1.
Since I own more basses than amps, the total amount over the years I spent was much more on basses than amps.
Amp is a generic term. I use a nice powered bass cab and tube preamp. Easily 2x my Fender American Pro pbass. A bigger rig would easily be 1:3 or 1:4. Producing good tone with adequate volume takes a lot more $$$ than "good hands."
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