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Budget bass amp

#21
Cloud04 said:
Hello everyone!

So I am a guitarist who is very interested in bass and I would like to start playing it more.
I decided to purchase a bass and an amp.
I already pretty much decided I want a Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass, but I am undecided on the amp a little bit.

If possible I would like the amp to be powerful enough to play with a small band (guitar, drums, singer, bass) with some of my friends. I am confused about the wattage though. From what I read, opinions vary very much. Some people told me you can gig with a Rumble 40 with no problem whereas others swear you have to have at least 300 watts to be heard. I am really confused :D :D :D
(Also, many places in my area have PA support, the main place without PA would be the band practice place...)

As for what exact amps I've been looking at:
Fender Rumble 40 or 100
Ampeg RB 110 or 112
Hartke HD50 or HD75
Tech 21 VT Bass 200

I am also open to new amp suggestions.
I will be mainly playing rock, pop, funk, fusion, jazz and similar. No heavy metal and such.

Oh, and in terms of budget I would like to keep it down as much as possible (I am a student). The Rumble 100 is right at the edge of my budget...

Thanks everyone in advance!
Click to expand...

Since you are a guitarist, I could teel you this: if you would take a 100 watt guitar amp to a gig, the bass would get drowned if you take a 100 watt bass amp to that same gig...

I have a fender rumble 100, I think it is enough for a rehearsal room (I've seen a couple of rooms with that same amp) but for outdoors playing, you have to find a way to lift it up or tilti so that you can have it pointing at your ears... outdoors or larger stages would require > 300 watts and have you standing pretty close to the amp if you're not getting any additional stage monitoring... and it would require a bit more if you plan on having that same amp as reference for the drummer...

I have not used IEMs a lot, but if you have or plan to get one, you could get away with that for larger venues...

Having said that, I think the rumbles and the ampeg rocketbass can have some quality amps that could fulfill your needs.
 
#23
Scratch the Rumble 40 off your list. It’s a great home practice amp, but with guitar and drums in a practice situation, it won’t cut it. Unless they play very quietly. But they won’t.

I would second the opinion that a used Peavey would get you the most bang for the buck, as long as weight is not an issue. There’s better amps, and there’s lighter amps, but there’s no better value amps, and they last forever. Theres Peavey amps around from the 80s and 90s that are still going strong, and probably will for another twenty years.

You asked about budget amps. Take that out of the mix and it opens up a lot more options.
 
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#27
Cloud04 said:
Hello everyone!

So I am a guitarist who is very interested in bass and I would like to start playing it more.
I decided to purchase a bass and an amp.
I already pretty much decided I want a Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass, but I am undecided on the amp a little bit.

If possible I would like the amp to be powerful enough to play with a small band (guitar, drums, singer, bass) with some of my friends. I am confused about the wattage though. From what I read, opinions vary very much. Some people told me you can gig with a Rumble 40 with no problem whereas others swear you have to have at least 300 watts to be heard. I am really confused :D :D :D
(Also, many places in my area have PA support, the main place without PA would be the band practice place...)

As for what exact amps I've been looking at:
Fender Rumble 40 or 100
Ampeg RB 110 or 112
Hartke HD50 or HD75
Tech 21 VT Bass 200

I am also open to new amp suggestions.
I will be mainly playing rock, pop, funk, fusion, jazz and similar. No heavy metal and such.

Oh, and in terms of budget I would like to keep it down as much as possible (I am a student). The Rumble 100 is right at the edge of my budget...

Thanks everyone in advance!
Click to expand...
Check out Harley Benton . A 300 watt Harley Benton with a 1x15 can c ost about $360.00 new plus shipping would probably add on a hundred bucks.
 
#28
mr_musica said:
if you would take a 100 watt guitar amp to a gig, the bass would get drowned if you take a 100 watt bass amp to that same gig...
Click to expand...

Tad said:
The rough rule of thumb is that a bass amp needs to have two to four times the wattage of guitar amp wattage in the band.

So they say.

YMMV.
Click to expand...
My Mesa 1x12 all-tube guitar combo: 20 watts. Master almost never past 2/10.

My Mesa 1x15 all-tube bass combo: 200 watts. Master almost never past 4/10.
 
#31
Find a good used bass head with a BARE MINIMUM of 200 watts, and a good used 410 bass cab.

Personally I would start at 300 watts because bass is not so much about volume as HEADROOM and PUNCH.

90's tech for bass amps still sounds amazing, even if it's heavy and bulky by today's standards. Look for SWR and Eden - these were some of the best back in the day, and can be bought on the cheap now due to their size and weight.

Personally, I love Ampegs - Used PF-500 heads run around $350 and they sound awesome. I've got one that I primarily run with either a 210 or 410 8-ohm, ported Acoustic brand cab. At 8 ohms, that's a 350w rig, and while in larger venues without PA support, I'm cranked pretty loud, it still works nicely enough that people get up and dance.

BTW, Guitar Center in Winston-Salem has a used Acoustic B410C, 400w cabinet for $230. These are the newer, ported cabs and they sound fantastic. You might want to check with your local GC and find out how much they'd charge to drop it on a truck.
 
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#32
knumbskull said:
i have used a Rumble 100 at a gig with a drummer and guitarist, it just barely kept up but it was at full blast in a tiny room. really you need something bigger.
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I second this. My Rumble 100 with gain at 2 o clock and volume at 3 o clock barely kept up with a drummer and two tube guitar amps in a tiny room.
Get the Rumble 500. It's the same size and weights as the 200 and much more powerful and louder. Better to have way too much than barely enough.
Get a cheap bass if you need to save money. Those are amazing. Cheap amps are a travesty (not that the 500 is not cheap).

Remember that the Rumbles, despite having a very effective EQ, have a baked in vintage tone: dark, fat and not particularly detailed. The 2x10 in the 500 less so.
If you're into clearer modern tones then look elsewhere.
 
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#33
CTBassGuy said:
Welcome to TalkBass @Cloud04 !

When it comes to bass amps, they tend to fit into 3 categories, but you can only ever get 2 at the same time: "Loud", "Light", and "Cheap", with a caveat that buying used helps the "Cheap" category.

In my experience, your best bet, given your budget, is a used Peavey combo amp. They are boat-anchor-heavy, but you can find them very cheap, depending on where you are, (completing your profile to help us know where you are located will help us help you there).

If you are in a locale where Peaveys are available, and you don't need to move it too often, you can get a decent-sounding, loud and very inexpensive amp that is very hard to kill.

I had a Peavey TNT130 15" amp from the 1980s that was always loud enough for whatever I was doing, and I could not kill it. (I had this exact model shown here: Peavey TNT 130 1x15 bass combo amp | Reverb and it is listed at $150 US). When I tried to sell mine, I listed at $75 and no one was interested. I literally gave it away to a school, whose music department was very happy to receive it.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Great advice!

I have 2 bass amps.

Fender Rumble 40
Peavey TNT-115

The Peavey is a bulletproof beast. It is super loud, and for me, with the graphic EQ, I can get exactly the sound I want. For a while, I got a Peavey 210-TVX as an extention cab, and it was incredible, but the TVX was massive for a 2-10, and weighed a ton, so I sold it. I mounted casters on the TNT which made moving it much easier.

I bought the Rumble 40 as a practice amp. It was all I ever needed for rehearsals, and surprisingly, good enough for smaller gigs. Granted, my band plays at extremely reasonable volumes with a drummer that can play as soft or as loud as the situation calls for.

So, the TNT blows the doors off the Rumble and is gig-worth for reasonably sized places, but the Rumble is lightweight, convenient, and surprisingly loud for its stated specs.
 
#34
Portable- any decent 115 combo. Not so portable- any decent 4x10 cabinet with a functioning head. I practically gave away my last 4x10 cab because no one wants to lug them anymore. (swr Goliath). If the gear can stay in the rehearsal space go 4x10. You’ll never have to worry about keeping up. You can go smaller/ lighter like most of us have done later. Happy shopping!
 
#35
It very much depends on your music, and what the bass is "competing" against. 1 guitar? 2 guitars and a keyboard? Overdriven guitars playing grunge vs a jazz trio with drums and clean guitar?

Something like a jazz trio or blues you don't need much. If you're playing rock with 2 loud guitar players (they're always louder than they need to be) you'll need power.
 
#39
@Cloud04 roughly where are you (country and/or state will help).

Your dollar will go further in the used market. Tell us roughly where you are and we can poke around your area for deals. Our experience will help us help you.

Welcome to TalkBass!!!
 
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#40
You said your a guitarist. So I am assuming you have a guitar amp and other gear. Perhaps a 6 string guitar or two?

Every time I am buying new gear I am looking at what I can live without. And I trade that in.

As always if you trade for another piece of gear you get more value than if your trying to get cash.

So look around. What do you have to sell or trade?

And before you say you want to still have the option to play guitar so you need a guitar amp, I think you would be surprised at how versatile a bass amp can be and how you can play guitars through them. Certainly bass amps are more versatile than guitar amps. It’s not ideal but with the right pedals and careful EQ you can make them work for guitars. Sometimes they can be surprisingly good.

The Rumble series is great but I don’t think the 40 and 100 will hold up at a gig in a rock band. Get as many watts and as much speaker surface as you can in your budget
(2x10” or 1x15” etc)

One important consideration is to make sure it has a line out so you can tap in to the PA if possible.

good luck…
 

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