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Buying my first amp, looking for an opinon

C

ckunke002

Oct 13, 2012
20
0
Portland Oregon
#1
I've decided that I'm either going to get an 8 inch or 12 inch Orange amp.. the price difference is about 90 bucks. I can afford either one, but i am on a budget so if getting the 50 watt 12 inch over the 25 watt 8 inch would be unjustifiable, then I don't want to spend the extra money.

I have no experience yet but plan on playing quite a bit and imagine I will improve quickly.

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#3
Do you plan on playing with a band? The 8" simply won't cut it except for acoustic jams. The 12" might not be good for anything more than a low to medium volume three piece. If you could expand your budget to $350, there are plenty of lightweight and powerful combos that will carry a small show available.

ckunke002 said:
would it be better just to go bigger now?
Click to expand...

Yes. That's just what I was getting at.
 
#5
christw said:
Do you plan on playing with a band? The 8" simply won't cut it except for acoustic jams. The 12" might not be good for anything more than a low to medium volume three piece. If you could expand your budget to $350, there are plenty of lightweight and powerful combos that will carry a small show available.
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I don't plan on playing with a band at the moment. I will probably just be playing alone for some time, but i guess it could change. The thing I don't understand is when people factor amp size into playing gigs and with bands, don't you normally mic your amp in these situations already? Or are people just referring to non-mic situations when they say you need a bigger amp? Otherwise it seems to me that any size amp would work. But I don't have experience with this
 
#6
1954bassman said:
I cannot see buying either at those prices $179 for the 8" combo. $269 I believe it was for the 12" combo. check Craigs list or ask some of your musician friends and buy used. For a total beginner amp, I would say stay under $125 used.
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Thanks for the advice! It would actually be 20 bucks off so 250 shipped for the 12 combo. I've heard nothing but good things about that line of amplifiers though, so i just figured I would go for it. Is it not a good deal?
 
#7
Most bass players will eventually settle with an amp that will do the job in small-to-medium venues without PA support, because that is often the reality for many venues.

A 12" will do fine for bedroom jams and even playing with a band that isn't ridiculously loud. I've gigged with a 120-watt 12" combo in a medium sized venue and it kept up, but it was struggling and farting out a bit at the end of the night.

You could get more for your money buying used, but there are also many other brands that can give you more amp for your buck than Orange. They are good, yes, but comparatively expensive and you'll inevitably want/need more than a 50w 12".

Check out Gallien Krueger (GK) and Hartke for starters. They do some affordable but awesome combos.
 
#9
If you want to play by yourself then either of those Orange amps is fine. If you want to jam get the bigger one. When you are hooked up with another guitar and drummer then you can decide if its loud enough or whatever. Its at this stage that the first amp becomes someones practice amp and then they buy another amp. Then another bass. Then another amp, then another bass.

I refuse to play with less than 400-500 watts into a 4x10. Ive gotten to this point (B) from that point (A).

Other options for point A:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/gallien-krueger-mb115-1x15-200w-ultralight-bass-combo-amp

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http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/ampeg-ba115-bass-combo
 
#10
If I was just starting, I'd either get the cheapest thing I could find for between 50 and 100 bucks, or get something I could play with in a band. For me it would be nothing less than a 100 watt combo, but really at least 200 watts into a 12 or 15 inch speaker.

If you stay with it, your sort of in no man's land with this 25 or 50 watt thing. You will move up.....why not either get what you will have eventually, or go cheap and save your money for it? That's just my logic, but I'm sort of tightwad.

Maybe you have the money to play with and that's great, get a 50 watter and have fun. I'd love to have one, just to play around with. Then get a bigger amp and keep a practice amp in your room or whatever.

But I'm just giving you my opinion, not trying to confuse. I'd go with an amp I could play out with. or a little piece of junk that I could get by with for a while, and not get stuck in between.
 
#11
I'll just pitch in with the majority and say that any 25w 8" bass amp is gonna be worthless. A 12" speaker and 50w should be a bare minimum if you plan on buying a new Orange but other than as a practice amp that won't get you heard in a jam with other players in at rock volumes or at a gig.

The lower frequencies played on a bass require far more power to amplify than a guitar so where 50w might be sufficient for a guitar you'll need 3x to 4x that much for a bass amp to keep up with that 50w guitar amp if you ever plan to gig with it or even rehearse with others especially where a drummer is involved.

If you want something that can grow with you a bit as you play and can be used in a band setting look into a 150w to 200w 1x12" or 1x15" combo at the very least. You should be able to find them used for $300 or less so I'd really suggest that you stretch a little and go this route. You're also far more likely to get your money back out of them if you sell them.

The GK MB112 or MB115 are two of the best mid priced lightweight combos out there. They may be tougher to find used but they make great practice amps and yet they're still powerful enough for a medium sized gig with a band and have a direct out to connect you with a PA. I've used my MB112 that way for over a year.

You don't mic a bass amp live you run a line from it's direct out straight to the mixing board. Then the amp plays through the PA where it's re amplified and your rig becomes a stage monitor for you and possibly the rest of the band. Low cost practice amps don't have a direct out so you'd never be able to run them that way.

Bottom line is that while I realize cost is a factor getting something too small to use if you do decide to play with other musicians only leaves you needing to buy something else as soon as you do. You won't get much out of a 50w practice amp because it is so limited as far as it's use. Spending a little more now will save you down the road.

JMHO
 
#12
Which bass do you own?

What type of computer do you own?

Though I have lots of equipment, I play through my laptop (with extension sub/sats) and at low volume through the mic input to learn lots of tunes (and use slowdowner software) and for general practice. Most of the time I don't use an amp for home practice.
 
#13
Buy once cry once. A 25-watt, 8-inch combo would be good for playing while you're in the bathroom. With the 50-watt, 12-inch, you can move into the living room. Don't expect to play "pretty loud" with a 50-watt amp.

Bottom line, neither combo is suitable for gigging. Either way, you probably will be buying another amp in 6 months if your bass playing gets to the point where you want to get into a band.
 
#14
Stumbo said:
Which bass do you own?

What type of computer do you own?

Though I have lots of equipment, I play through my laptop (with extension sub/sats) and at low volume through the mic input to learn lots of tunes (and use slowdowner software) and for general practice. Most of the time I don't use an amp for home practice.
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+1

Add a nice preamp like VT Bass in front of your computer and you have a great practice tone. Speaker sim on vt bass is awesome for playing straight into your computer.
 
#15
Munjibunga said:
Buy once cry once. A 25-watt, 8-inch combo would be good for playing while you're in the bathroom. With the 50-watt, 12-inch, you can move into the living room. Don't expect to play "pretty loud" with a 50-watt amp.

Bottom line, neither combo is suitable for gigging. Either way, you probably will be buying another amp in 6 months if your bass playing gets to the point where you want to get into a band.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

I really am only planning on playing by myself for some time. I don't imagine I will be good enough to play with a band or know how to compose anything for some time, I see myself just playing by myself in my rather small bedroom.

I never quite considered the fact that lower freq.s require much more power to become audible than mids and highs but it makes perfect sense...
 
#16
mouthmw said:
+1

Add a nice preamp like VT Bass in front of your computer and you have a great practice tone. Speaker sim on vt bass is awesome for playing straight into your computer.
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I have an m-audio fast track which is I believe what would be considered an external usb soundcard. I use it to connect studio monitors to my computer. It does have inputs, however I don't have software to record or anything into.
 
#18
OK here's the formula I read in a book in the late 60s and it hasn't changed a bit because drummers still hit the drums as hard now as they did then. It's really simple. You need to deliver 200 watts to a 2x15 cabinet. That's it. Well most 2x15 cabs are 4Ω so you would need an amp capable of putting out 200w at 4Ω. Simple.

Now with GC you have to have your card right in front of your computer and pounce because the good deals evaporate as soon as they hit the page. I see there was a Behringer BXR1800H there, 180w into 4Ω, really there's no audible diff between 180w and 200w, it's gone but it's just our example, it went for $59.99, OK? Let's get a couple more examples so you can be confident that was no freak.

Behringer BX3000, that's 300w into 4Ω also $59.99, better yet! Now Behringer has a bad rep, much worse than they deserve, but GC backs their stuff up, so take it home, work it out, bring it back if it's not right. Also it's used so you know it's not one of those things where it doesn't work right out of the box.

Behringer BX4500H, hey I never looked at these, this is 450w into 4Ω and yes, it's also $59.99, I swear I'm not making this stuff up! Yeah well that's enough of Behringers, look, here's an Acoustic B200H, 200w into 4Ω for $60.

Yeah, have to add that the 300w and 450w heads are a steal, but you don't want to fry your speakers. Limit the head to 200w for this project.

Now think about it, say, just say you're having doubts about reliability, not that your Orange practice amp was gonna do anything but go up in smoke when you try to keep up with a drummer. YOU CAN BUY 2 OF THESE SUCKAS FOR $120! Backup!

OK, on to the cabs. Two Peavey 215 cabs, each listed for $139.99, that's a good cab, played many a gig with just 100w into it, it's a 4Ω cab like you want. One looks like it has good Tolex but needs new grill cloth. Most folks freak about changing grill cloth. There are how to articles all over the web, I used one a couple weeks ago to do my first with a staple gun. $10 for grill cloth, $5 shipping if there's none nearby. Don't blow it off. Make sure your gear looks presentable enough to go on stage tonight.

So think it over man. Yeah you pay tax and if you pick it up in one GC but it is shipped to another I think the charge is real cheap, like $15 or $25 even for a 215 cab, last time I got far enough in the checkout process to find out. And I don't know what it would be for the head. But OK, say you pay like $30 shipping.

Now you have your basic gig rig, 200w into a 215 cab, butt-twitching bottom for days, and it's $60 amp + $140 cab + $30 shipping + $15 grill cloth shipped + say $10 tax = $255 and you have $15 change, how 'bout that?
 
#19
ckunke002 said:
I really am only planning on playing by myself for some time. I don't imagine I will be good enough to play with a band or know how to compose anything for some time, I see myself just playing by myself in my rather small bedroom.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought when a gig jumped up and slapped me in the face out of nowhere. I frantically called everywhere trying to borrow an amp and lucked out at the last minute. The gig lasted the better part of a year and took me out of state. More importantly, I learned giant chunks of stuff fast. I was drinking out of a fire hose, and all the stuff I had learned by listening, all the stuff I had learned by practicing, finally came together.

I would not say I was a bass player before then because I had not played with (or in front of) enough people who could really challenge me, but backing up 2 vocalists, one of them on acoustic guitar, with a 1200-song memorized repertoire from medieval to top 40, wow. I really learned percussive playing. In a sense, I was their drummer too. To that point, I just did what I felt like doing and blew off the rest. Later, I had tons of day gigs, went to school off and on, plenty of playing, not always on bass, but that first real gig was my springboard.

Eventually I ended up passing a Class 2 flight physical so I could try out for Pararescue, then in Basic, they told me I couldn't even try out because of my flat feet, that my recruiter had lied to me and I could go home. But I hung out, and one day a guy wandered into the barracks and asked if anyone could read music, and I spent 28 years playing bass for the Air Force, everything from big band to combo jazz, horn rock band to country, and definitely grew as a bass player.

So I want to say to you that you never know when that all-important first real gig is going to happen or where it will take you. Since it costs no more to be prepared than unprepared, why not be ready?
 

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