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Buying my first bass amp for gigging.

#22
Floyd Eye said:
Absolutely. It also depends on what kind of music you play. I have a 400 watt amp and one of those old Peavey 2x15 cabs and it is perfect for classic rock, blues etc. In my band now we are playing a lot of Rage, Tool, hard rock stuff. I have 2 good loud cabs and a lot of power pushing them.

It might be helpful if the OP told us what music he is playing.
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In the band with the guitarist who has a 150 watt amp, I play metal. I'm just lucky to play with a guitarist who likes a balanced sound. Our volume is set to match how loud the drummer is (so very very loud). For years, though, I played in that band just using a single 15" cab. It really depends on what your sound is, and who you play with.
 
#23
Downunderwonder said:
I gave band1 guitar player a bit of a flea in his ear about being too loud when he came off the stage. By the time he heard band2 I think the dark look on his face was about knowing I was right.
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Or it could have been about being irritated that you told him after his set, rather than when he could have done something about it.

Though maybe you did, and he didn't listen, and only afterwards realized that maybe he should have.
 
#24
dog1 said:
OK. My wife has a 100 watt Marshall Valvestate head and a 70's Fender Dual Showman cab (2-15 JBL D-130's). She can blow me and all the dogs right out of the house with very little effort. My 500 GB watts and 2-112's struggle. Guitar is easier to amplify.
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She's using a 2x15 and you're using two 1x12"s? I guess she really has to control her volume then. :S

I have no doubt that the guitarist in either band could blow me out of the water, volume-wise. But it's in the interest of the band that they don't.

Edit: Sorry, I'm not trying to sound combative. Just I tend to think that how much power one needs really depends more on how willing the people one plays music with are to listen to the whole band.
 
#27
Sartori said:
In the band with the guitarist who has a 150 watt amp, I play metal. I'm just lucky to play with a guitarist who likes a balanced sound. Our volume is set to match how loud the drummer is (so very very loud). For years, though, I played in that band just using a single 15" cab. It really depends on what your sound is, and who you play with.
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Yeah, you're probably right. If anything though it's my fault rather than my guitar player's, Usually I am the one telling him to turn it up a bit. My drummer is also very, very loud. He has a high end Mapex double bass kit and we mic it. I like it loud. :D
 
#28
Sartori said:
She's using a 2x15 and you're using two 1x12"s? I guess she really has to control her volume then. :S

I have no doubt that the guitarist in either band could blow me out of the water, volume-wise. But it's in the interest of the band that they don't.

Edit: Sorry, I'm not trying to sound combative. Just I tend to think that how much power one needs really depends more on how willing the people one plays music with are to listen to the whole band.
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Shoot man, I'm grinning from ear to ear. I would not PLAY in a band with my wife!! And anyway, it's only because of me that she has any gear at all. She wanted to stand in front of an amp that was as big as she is, and I made it happen. Shoot. She is 52......a kid compared to me. And, I am a gear junkie.

A photo for the asking
 
#29
If you are playing in your bedroom then get a combo. I do like Peavey. I have (2) of their 15" monitors that can easily handle bass. Havn't used their bass heads or cabs but they do have a good rep.....................300w head plus a 410 cab is a great way to get going...................:)
 
#30
Going to agree with most here. Go for a 300+ watt head. But make sure that is RMS, not max. Most manufacturers are pretty straight about it though. That 30 watt guitar amp is going to be loud, in just a 12. If it's a 2x12 or 2x10 even louder. That 70 watt guy us probably a 2x12 and plenty loud too.

Note that with a lot of "300" watt heads, at 8 ohms ( a lot of 2x10 and even 4x10 cabs) you will only get a portion of the total max power. Like 150 to 200 watts out of the 300. Which is one reason it may be wise to go with a higher rated head so when you play an outdoor gig with just a vocal PA or something, you can push enough air. People all differ on cab choices, but if you are running more than one cab it is best that they match. I like using 2 2x10's or 2 2x12s. On your budget I would get a more powerful head (500 or so) and a high rated 8 ohm 2x10 so you can more than double your sound later if need be, just by adding another matching cab. Plus, 2x10s are very portable and don't look too out of place next to that blues jr or ac30 your buddy is using.
 
#32
Thanks again for the replies.

Downunderwonder said:
Looking at the Peavy rig, your guitar players would be a little afraid of it for sure. You could get to play benevolent dictator of stage volume :D The 2x10 better be 8 ohm and the 4x10 4 ohm, or you won't get much from the 4x10 before the 2x10 is farting out. Many of the Peavey amps do 2 ohm but that's something to check out as well.

Still I'm curious of these relatively low wattage guitar players who got you a gig already, maybe they are real professional players?
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I think both are 4ohm, but it's not specified. I asked the seller. From what I see elsewhere, the 2x10 is 4ohms and the 4x10 is 8 and 4.

And I'm curious too:D.

Floyd Eye said:
It might be helpful if the OP told us what music he is playing.
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If you's asked me last week I'd have said something like alternative rock or something. We're working on original stuff mostly. But yesterday the guitarist unveiled a song and now we've got a 70's proto metal/doom kinda song. I don't think anyone else hears that in the song though, but it's possible we could be playing metal. When I asked everyone what we'll be playing, they just said they didn't really want to play any one type of music.

Personally I like rock, blues, metal, punk, The Cure and some other stuff.


seansv said:
Going to agree with most here. Go for a 300+ watt head. But make sure that is RMS, not max. Most manufacturers are pretty straight about it though.

Note that with a lot of "300" watt heads, at 8 ohms ( a lot of 2x10 and even 4x10 cabs) you will only get a portion of the total max power. Like 150 to 200 watts out of the 300. Which is one reason it may be wise to go with a higher rated head so when you play an outdoor gig with just a vocal PA or something, you can push enough air. People all differ on cab choices, but if you are running more than one cab it is best that they match. On your budget I would get a more powerful head (500 or so) and a high rated 8 ohm 2x10 so you can more than double your sound later if need be, just by adding another matching cab.
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I think @2ohms the Nitrobass is 450watts. And yeah I'll keep looking. There is other stuff, but I'll have to work at looking at them.
 
#33
I looked through the thread a couple times and keep missing if these guitar combos are indeed tube?

I would go with the Peavey + 4x10 - heck maybe they will do less if you leave the 2x10 - while it could be useful to leave at the practice space...they won't be that great together.

while it goes against the common sentiments - if budget does matter, a used 200-300watt, 1x15 combo would (ime, imho, ymmv) do the trick for now and leave cash to put towards set-up, future rigs etc.... :)
 
#34
The Dude is selling his Peavey Firebass 700 head and a 4x10 Cab. Is this the one to tie my room together? He's asking for 280 for the head. I'm sure I can get him down to 250. I just realised The Big Lebowski came out on blu-ray and I haven't gotten around to getting it yet.

I'm still not entirely sure about Cabs though. I'll need a small one for practice. Would a 2x10 do for practice and small gigs? If so I'll be well within my budget and set for a long time Also does loudness have to do with wattage, impedance or number of speakers? I could get another 2x10 when I need it as seansv said.
 
#36
pudgychef said:
I looked through the thread a couple times and keep missing if these guitar combos are indeed tube?

I would go with the Peavey + 4x10 - heck maybe they will do less if you leave the 2x10 - while it could be useful to leave at the practice space...they won't be that great together.
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No I don't think they're tube. Sometimes solid state amps are have tubes though? Anyway one has spring reverb and is fun to kick.

And why is that? I'm still learning. It seems to be the most common configuration. There are some 1x15's floating around too.
 
#39
The reason you want 8 ohm 2x10 is to match its power per driver with the 4x10. This is a bit of a leap as I'm assuming Peavey would make sure the cabs were in phase. At that level of design intent they should have offered both 8 and 4 ohm 2x10.

You could do a straight swap most days, 4x10 for another 2x10. The 4x10 vertical stack of two 2x10 has a lot going for it sound quality wise.
 
#40
JayBoog said:
No I don't think they're tube. Sometimes solid state amps are have tubes though? Anyway one has spring reverb and is fun to kick.

And why is that? I'm still learning. It seems to be the most common configuration. There are some 1x15's floating around too.
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If they are solid state guitar amps - then they are much easier (ime, imho, ymmv) to deal with from a volume perspective.

one each of 30w and 70w SS guitar amps could easily be dealt with by that Peavey head and either the 4x10 or 2x10 imho :bassist:
 

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