Hello all 
I'm new here and want to say thanks so much for all the invaluable information you share on this forum! I've been off the bass for too many years and after unsuccessful attempts at singer songwriting and a lot of time travelling, I've remembered that all I ever wanted was to play music for a living. And the most comfortable, expressive contribution I ever made was playing bass on my ****** (bless) Cort 5-string and Jade (do they still make those?!) 75 (combo) head I'd wired into a Sovtek 4x10 cabinet.
I'm backing myself in to find a band or five that'll have me (with a bit of rust remover) - not being cocky, just hopeful! So I figure I need to gear up properly because my playing could use the all the assistance it can get. That, and I don't want to fall short on power or quality if/when I hook up with a gigging band. There's so many two-piece drummer,guitar/vox arrangements playing around my area that I hope to jam with!
After playing a Warwick Thumb 5, Musicman Stingray, Fender Jazz Standard and Geddy Lee, Cort A5, Lakland 5 and extensive reading of this site I have come to decide on a second-hand 2007 US made Fender Highway One Jazz i felt I lucked into when I was looking. The feedback on this guitar on Talkbass tipped the H One Jazz in favour over saving more for a Stingray. I got it for half the price of the new Fender American Special Jazz, and it looked to me from the opinions here and specs on line that this was slightly better built?
Anyway, I'm hoping to get an amp that will manage rehearsals and small to medium gigs, and will most likely be playing alongside acoustic guitarists and drums. I played a few amps when I looked at basses, and liked the ones that sounded fuller and rounder, warmer even. I'd rather invest more in an amp now that will last me a long time, but am getting a bit lost with all the reading I'm doing. The TC RH450 dragged up some pretty funny threads, after about 20 pages of one I decided not to go for it because I got the impression that the way those amps worked meant a tonal variance (for better or worse) with volume because of all the compressions going on, which made me look at the Markbass 102 Combo, it seems such a stripped-back design that that may not be an issue? I can't crank these amps to what I want to hear in the stores...
The Fender Rumble 350 is so cheap for the power - is it not gig-worthy? I'm leaning toward getting the TC BG250 115 for two reasons, the Aux input so I can brush up on covers, and, it's cheap and could buy me time to shop around more for a decent full size rig. Are there any other amps that have the Aux input? Does the tone suffer that much at higher volumes with the BG250? Any reasons I shouldn't look at second hand amps? Also, are all heads capable of powering multiple cabinets, or is this something I need to know, should I decide to get say a head and 2x10 that I can add to later?
Sorry for all the questions guys, but I really appreciate all your knowledge being available here. If I should pull my head in and start with a small combo, please tell me and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
I'm new here and want to say thanks so much for all the invaluable information you share on this forum! I've been off the bass for too many years and after unsuccessful attempts at singer songwriting and a lot of time travelling, I've remembered that all I ever wanted was to play music for a living. And the most comfortable, expressive contribution I ever made was playing bass on my ****** (bless) Cort 5-string and Jade (do they still make those?!) 75 (combo) head I'd wired into a Sovtek 4x10 cabinet. I'm backing myself in to find a band or five that'll have me (with a bit of rust remover) - not being cocky, just hopeful! So I figure I need to gear up properly because my playing could use the all the assistance it can get. That, and I don't want to fall short on power or quality if/when I hook up with a gigging band. There's so many two-piece drummer,guitar/vox arrangements playing around my area that I hope to jam with!
After playing a Warwick Thumb 5, Musicman Stingray, Fender Jazz Standard and Geddy Lee, Cort A5, Lakland 5 and extensive reading of this site I have come to decide on a second-hand 2007 US made Fender Highway One Jazz i felt I lucked into when I was looking. The feedback on this guitar on Talkbass tipped the H One Jazz in favour over saving more for a Stingray. I got it for half the price of the new Fender American Special Jazz, and it looked to me from the opinions here and specs on line that this was slightly better built?
Anyway, I'm hoping to get an amp that will manage rehearsals and small to medium gigs, and will most likely be playing alongside acoustic guitarists and drums. I played a few amps when I looked at basses, and liked the ones that sounded fuller and rounder, warmer even. I'd rather invest more in an amp now that will last me a long time, but am getting a bit lost with all the reading I'm doing. The TC RH450 dragged up some pretty funny threads, after about 20 pages of one I decided not to go for it because I got the impression that the way those amps worked meant a tonal variance (for better or worse) with volume because of all the compressions going on, which made me look at the Markbass 102 Combo, it seems such a stripped-back design that that may not be an issue? I can't crank these amps to what I want to hear in the stores...
The Fender Rumble 350 is so cheap for the power - is it not gig-worthy? I'm leaning toward getting the TC BG250 115 for two reasons, the Aux input so I can brush up on covers, and, it's cheap and could buy me time to shop around more for a decent full size rig. Are there any other amps that have the Aux input? Does the tone suffer that much at higher volumes with the BG250? Any reasons I shouldn't look at second hand amps? Also, are all heads capable of powering multiple cabinets, or is this something I need to know, should I decide to get say a head and 2x10 that I can add to later?
Sorry for all the questions guys, but I really appreciate all your knowledge being available here. If I should pull my head in and start with a small combo, please tell me and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
I'll play in the next couple days if it's still there!
