Bass Tone

[Flabass]

Disagree. We've all heard this, over and over again, but it's not true. My P basses sound great, ALL the time, band or no. Subjective.

+1

 

[billoetjen]

Go buy a tech21 VT and call it a day. Instant cheap SVT.

BOB

That'll give you enough really good tone options to last you a couple years. Bonus - the Yamaha PA is clean so it'll just reproduce faithfully what the VT Bass puts out. Extra Bonus - the VT Bass will give you plenty of gain to boost the Yamaha preamp.
The only drawback is that the speakers won't give you the authentic "flapping pants leg" of a good bass amp/cab.
I have a small PA (vintage Yamaha) and sometimes I use it and a VT Bass if I want to practice quietly.
Oh and, there is NOTHING lacking in tone from a passive P. It's the dank!

 

[Wes Whitmore]

I use the VT bass on just about all the time now. If it can make an Ibanez SW65 sound really good at practice, it's doing it's job well. Add it to that small combo and give it a try. I also use it through an 400RBIII with Ampeg 410HLF at gigs currently.
Wes

 

[tdub0199]

You got that right. You can't judge a bass by the way it sounds through a cheesy PA.

Running a bass through a P.A. = suck

 

[Hinto]

Thanks everyone for your input. I decided on the Marshall MB30. It wasn't what I thought I would get, I was looking for something smaller, with more power. I went into the store thinking I'd get the Line6 110. But the Marshall sounded better and louder, and was $100 cheaper, if a bit bigger. But, sounds MUCH better than my PA, and lots of tone shaping options, which is nice.

So, not the best I'm sure, but given the price, was the best value and had plenty of volume for my purposes.

Cheers!

Well, my moment of bass bliss was short lived. After only one day of use, the Marshall has developed lots of hiss and distortion. I'm very disappointed, I never turned it up past a third of the volume. So, it's back to the store today. Again, I'd like some opinions. Some of the other models they had that I was considering (in my price range under $300 - but mostly a bit bigger than what I wanted):

Fender Rumble 75

Ampeg BA112

Line 6 LD110

Behringer BX1800

Hartke A70

Peavy Max 112 and 115

SWR LA15

I'm basically just looking for a good practice amp, that doesn't take up too much space, with a good, bright, punchy tone. Any input is appreciated!

Cheers.

 

[gregoire1]

I've never tried the Behringer, but, I have the other models you listed and I think they are ALL great options. I ended up with the Line6 studio 110 and have never regretted it.

 

[gregoire1]

Sorry, just reread and you were talking about the LD110. I bet you get a chance to try them out. I think I would pick one, try it out at home for a day or so, then return it if it wasn't right.

 

[Hinto]

I just found a Canadian online retailer that I can order GK amps from, the MB112 is just a little over my budget, but has lots more power. Is this an amp I should be considering as well? The size and power look great.