Best bass head for an active bass, aguilar or gk

In that crowd the TH500 is the odd man out. It anchors one end of the tonal spectrum, the MB800 the other, and the AG700 and Fusion are in the middle with the AG being more in the MB800 direction and the Fusion quite close to the AG700 but more towards the middle of the pack (all tonally/voicing-wise). Any of these heads can handle a hot bass.

The real question that precedes yours is what kind of sound are you looking for? All of these, plus many other fine heads are small and compact. Choosing between an MB800 and a TH500 is like night and day IME (I actually own both heads).

 

For the money, GK gear is hard to beat. They have good quality, great tone (if you like the GK sound), it's made in the USA, and customer service is top notch. As a long time bass player I own a lot of heads and cabs. If I were asked to only have one, as much as I like the TH500, it might be lacking a tad in brightness for the occasions I want more top end. It is also top notch in every regard and US made with excellent customer support.

FWIW, the TH500 is the most tube sounding amp that has no tubes I've ever heard, but it does take some experimenting to master its highly interactive and innovative tone shaping capabilities. The GK is much more intuitive IMO.

The MB800 top end can be dialed back if needed and the GK tone stack is musical and effective, not to mention a little iconic/legendary. It's a great head! The nice thing is that if you have extra brightness you don't need, you can dial it down. If you have a head that's too dark for a situation, it's hard to create brightness that's just not part of the native voicing.

I would also recommend looking at the Mesa D-800 and 800+. I own a D-800 among many other Mesa heads and cabs. I find Mesa to be a good voicing for rock type material and the categories you mentioned. Mesa gear is top tier, designed and built in the US, has outstanding customer support, and it comes backed with 5 year transferable warranty (that's confidence building IMO). Mesa and GK would be obvious first choices for auditions in my mind. The AG700 will come close to their voicing and that TH500 will be most different.

 

No offense... with the choices you've listed being all over the map, why rule out other amps?

Check out a Quilter Bass Block 800... they've been around a couple of years now but people are still unaware of that option. It only has two two controls which are flexible but not intuitive for many bassists but aren't that hard to figure out. I have no issue dialing in whatever tone I'm after and they handle active basses very well. Available under $600. Made in the USA.

 

Each choice will be a nice upgrade from the rumble 500.

Please keep us posted.

 

Of the choices you gave both the MB800 and AG700 can deliver with ease, the Fusion (I assumed you meant 550) is larger and heavier, but sounds pretty sweet. If you meant MBF500/800, they will deliver as nicely as the MB800 IME.

 

Since you're new to bass you should bear in mind that a big part of your results will be what you do. So if you have a relatively bright bass and have too much treble it could be at the expense of thickness. Bright gets loud fast.

 

I preferred the Rumble over the Tone Hammer... not that I use either one.

 

I'll just leave this here....

 

That bass will sound great through any head IMO.

 

YouTube is a lousy avenue for evaluating audio devices, for lots of reasons. So don’t do that. Audition in person, preferably with your bass and your cabinet(s).

 

Based on my own experience with owning and/or playing each of those heads (and brands) I can honestly say there isn't a bad choice in the group. They're not all the same breed of dog, but they will all hunt.

However, since you're new to bass I strongly suggest you audition some other heads as well and make a decision that you can live with. The rest of us can share some perspectives about our own experiences that might help you narrow things down a bit, but at the end of the day your ears and those of your band mates and audiences are the only ones that count!

 

This is true... depending on your idea of great. I've played through a couple of the listed heads and they didn't appeal to me without some serious tweaking. I go for more of a plug and play solution. When I start off in the ballpark it saves a ton of time on a gig.

 

GK MB800 Punchy, growly & Loud.
The Aggy tone is more like an Ampeg, soft , wooly.

 

Yes yes yes to the Mesa D800. Great tone, useful and easy controls and DI options, rock solid build quality and fab customer support. I rarely gig without mine.