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Best Bass Amp

#41
I just watched a old school video of Flea and Chad from the RHCP's on improv jamming and one of the things Flea said was that you don't need the best gear to make you a good player.

I won't lie, it helps but all it doe's really is change the sound of you. Tone is personal. Find what you like. Read reviews to get a broad understanding them go listen to find what you want. There's no set rule. Go explore and have fun.
 
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#42
My favorites are Orange and Phil Jones, because I can get great tone and the sound i want from those rigs. Your favorite sound may come from something totally different. We've finally come to the point where there are dozens of great bass rigs out there. Try to get out and try a few to pick your favorite. A local bass player using a Phil Jones rig is what sold me on PJB bass gear, but it may not be your cup of tea. Or it may be.
 
#43
JimmyM said:
I'm sure he'll say Ampeg. I don't get it, and I think this "rawness" rap that Ampeg gets is mostly from people who never touched one.
Click to expand...

You can EQ an Ampeg to be raw, but it doesn't have to be. I find my D-180 to have way more inherent "rawness" than an SVT, which can also sound really smooth.

In any case, there is no "best." Everyone likes something different.
 
#44
I think you need smart, versatile gear...then it becomes the best.

Right now i am using a Yamaha P3500S power amp through a Sans amp rack mount pre-amp (forget the model...Sa-1?) through a BBE Sonic Maximizer 662.

I play in an 80's era crossover/thrash/hardcore band, but have also used the set up in a jazz band, and in pit orchestra settings. The amp rack is versatile b/c I can get inbetween the bass and the rack with any effects I want (though I tend to not like any effects at all in any music I play)

What I SWEAR BY though, are my Avatar cabs. soooo light and CLEAN. The B410 Neo is all I need, but I have an old Hartke 2x15 cab fitted with the Avatar 15's.

I am GASING for a B210 neo for the smaller gigs, mostly due to space.
 
#45
MysticMichael said:
Obviously none of this is carved in stone. But in general terms, you're not going to find many players of hi-tech fusion, for example, using Ampeg...any more than you're likely to find a bassist in a retro rockabilly band using Euphonic Audio. :hmm:
Click to expand...

One of the best retro/rockabilly bass players in the world plays Euphonic Audio...and he sounds great! The so called 'hi-fi' rigs can be very beneficial to get an upright to sound like...an upright...only louder :)

Personally, as a doubler, I use a ShuttleMax and fEARful/greenboy cabs...works for me.
 
#46
Naturally there will be exceptions, deviations, and specialty applications - and probably plenty of them. I think I've already conceded as much... :hmm:

While "bass gear" in a generic sense can be made to work for a surprisingly diverse set of playing circumstances & requirements, it doesn't necessarily follow that all bass gear is qualitatively equal to, or interchangeable with, all other bass gear - regardless of the application (i.e. genre, style, etc.). Nor does it follow that all bass gear has been equally optimized for any given specific requirement.

Certain makes are just better - virtually across the board - than certain other makes (i.e. Acoustic Image vs. Behringer). And certain makes just happen to be especially well-suited for certain, particular musical applications.

That's just the way it is... :hmm:

MM
 
#47
I know this topic is old...and I haven't been in here in ages.
Did I miss anyone mentioning Mesa Boogie?
Since I own one, I swear by it.
If I have to play another back line bass amp at a festival or something, I try not to be so biased. Mesa Boogie (high end) amps and cabinets is how the bass guitar is supposed to sound!
I don't work for Mesa, but if they want to indorse me, I'll gladly accept it!
 
#48
The quantifiably best bass cab in the world is the Barefaced Big Twin. it is the most linear bass cab on the planet :P it also weighs 26kg and has a max power handling of som 1500 watts. /badass.

For the best bass amp. If it's about linearity and huge clean headroom and a studio grade EQ section the Warwick Hellborg amp is probably the way to go. otherwise EBS makes a great head, again super high fidelity. And if you like tubes maybe aggie 359 if you can find it? or a Matamp
 
#52
No one voted Mesa Boogie? I'm looking for a new bass rig and I really like the MB tones I have played with recently....I'm going back on bass after a few years on guitar and I'm pretty sold on what those guys were playing, I wish now I had paid better attention to models and specs - but every Boogie amp I heard had awesome tone and headroom.
 
#53
BASS4TOS said:
No one voted Mesa Boogie? I'm looking for a new bass rig and I really like the MB tones I have played with recently....I'm going back on bass after a few years on guitar and I'm pretty sold on what those guys were playing, I wish now I had paid better attention to models and specs - but every Boogie amp I heard had awesome tone and headroom.
Click to expand...

zombies2.jpg
 
#54
JimmyM said:
Half of it's not in dispute ;) I happen to think the most refined and hi-fi sound I ever heard came out of a SVT. Not so much the cab ;) but pair it with a cab like the fEarful or run it direct and clean with a speaker DI and you'll see what I mean.
Click to expand...

That's because when Ampeg (the original Ampeg) initially designed the SVT, they designed it to be a high fidelity amplifier that produced huge amounts of power. Their focus on HiFi sound reproduction is evidenced by the fact that the calibration procedure for the original SVT included balancing the phase inverter. Look at an old (original Ampeg) SVT and you'll see that there's a phase inverter calibration procedure silkscreened onto the chassis. It tells you to adjust the phase inverter balance to produce minimal distortion using a distortion meter.

Things became different in the SLM era. SLM disposed of the phase inverter calibration procedure, and replaced the 10% carbon comp resistors with much higher tolerance CF resistors that don't drift as much. This made the PI calibration procedure unnecessary. But then the SLM guys also started adding things like Master Volume controls to the SVT circuit. That was a watershed event. It indicates that in their eyes, the SVT was no longer designed to be just a HiFi amplifier. With the advent of the MV it became evident that SLM was thinking about dialing in distortion, so the SVT was now being thought of according to guitar amp standards instead of being just a HiFi product.

The good news is that if you just crank up the master volume and use the gain control to adjust volume, then you get back to the original HiFi SVT sound.
 
#56
You ask what is the "best" bass amp. It's like saying what is the best car, or the best house...

Most will tell you the best is what they have, or wish they had. Who knows what you need, what you play, what you expect, who you play with, what venues you play with, etc?

I would narrow the search down using power, tone, size and weight. If it were me, I'd love an SVT (again) and 8X10, but I'm 60, am plagued with arthritis and play small venues.
 

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