Double Bass Cheap, good combo for DB

[Rvl]

Personally I would keep the 400RB and get a Wizzy 10, very lightweight and very popular with DB players
I think a guy in London , Ont. still has one wizzy10 for sale
And when you get some more money upgrade the head
I use a PJB Flightcase for indoors and an old 400RB with an Avatar 12 for outdoors.
I too am looking for a wizzy 10 for outdoor shows
I used a SWR Basic Black for 15 years and sold it last year when I got the PJB. I always felt the SWR was too bright. And the SWR cabs and combos are not really light enough to carry with one hand.

Thanks

Robert VanLane

 

[SAlcott]

Absolutely try before you buy. As far as SWR goes, I've had a couple of their combos and one cab and have found them to be pretty much useless for EB or URB. The sound is very colored and the combos are not at all loud enough for their claimed power ratings. They're too heavy as well. I'd look for a cab to go with the 400RB as advised in Rvl's post for greatest bang for the buck considering what you already own. EA stuff is great.

 

[John Wentzien]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Acoustic-AB50-1x10-Bass-Combo-Amplifier?sku=481621

Have you tried one of these?

 

[brivello]

A good inexpensive one I've used is the Eden Nemesis N28S. 120W, 2x8-inch speakers. I've used one even on big band gigs and got by just fine. It is discontinued now, but still available a few places. In fact, I see that it is only $299 at Musician's Friend right now because it is on clearance. I think they normally retailed more in the $450 range, so that's a pretty great deal.

I have one of these as well. Good sound, very easy to carry around. I would highly recommend it.

 

[nathanmcnathan]

Well, I think I'm going next week to try it out. If I like it, I'll get it, if not, I'll just hold on to my gear until I find something better.

 

[Francois Blais]

It's true the WM12 is heavy though, and not well balanced with its carrying handle...

 

[McGryff]

I got a WM12 used for $200. It's not my first choice, but it's what I could afford at the time, a few months ago. It's decently loud, and I can manage to get a very workable tone out of it, though I agree that it's not ideally-suited for DB. Pretty modern sounding to me. I bought a $20 luggage cart to tote it around due to the weight & single handle arrangement. It'll do fine until I can afford to upgrade to something else.

On the budget mentioned by the OP, I'd also suggest a used GK MB150, as they appear in your range on ebay fairly regularly (as was also mentioned by others). Maybe the GK isn't the pinnacle of DB amplification, but it's done pretty well for 20 years, and the endorsements of Dave Holland, Ron Carter, et. al. carry at least a little weight.