Different Setups for different sounds

[timmyc]

I havn't really had a lot of experience with trying out many different types of heads and cabs, the only one I have tried (which is mine) is an Ashdown MAG stack.

I was wondering whether some people could give their experience of which amps, cabs suit different types of music.

E.g. Valves for Rock, SS for funk/ jazz etc.?

Also what sort of cone sizes suit different music genres

E.g. 18" for Reggee 8x10" for rock

Basically I want to narrow down what I try out when going into a music store.

Thanks

 

[seamonkey]

I contend you can't try a typical bass amp in a store and know how it's going to work for you in real life. You'll need to practice and play it out live. To your liking that day in the store it may sound great but lack horribly when played with a band.

Or if you buy internet - go flat/transparent and rely on preprocessing to give you the different sound characteristics for the different styles.

 

[Bassman62]

My personal preference is for as much tonal variety as you can amp and speaker wise, single type speaker systems cannot do this that is why I prefer the 15" + 2x10+Horn set up, I use an Ashdown pre amp into the two powered cabs.
No two venues will sound the same for Bass guitar so it is important to have the ability to cater for changing accoutics.

 

[Kenny Allyn]

Over the last several years the 4x10 cab kinda became an industry standard ... I still see that used more than any other rig from small clubs to bigger venues with a signal also sent to the board ... for the bigger places.

That said there are many new configurations that more and more bassist are using ,,, 12s for example, 10 years ago the SWR "Big Foot" was about the only one I was aware of in a 2x12 cab. Likewise 8s (my personal favorite) ... and you will find about as many opinions as configurations concerning this subject.

I would second what "Bassman62" has said ..


... I also recommend the 2x10 plus a 1x15 setup ... mix-n-match as needed.

 

[chaosMK]

I like the idea of a 2x10/1x15 setup for versatility. If you need a huge wall of sound, you might need something bigger. I was pretty impressed with the range of the 2x12 I recently picked up.

If you have the money and love collecting gear, it might be fathomable to have totally different amps for different styles (might as well use different basses too). You could probably use a power amp and switch between two very different preamps.

A Genz-Benz head might not be a bad choice with the SS/Tube channels.

 

[Shindig]

I contend you can't try a typical bass amp in a store and know how it's going to work for you in real life. You'll need to practice and play it out live. To your liking that day in the store it may sound great but lack horribly when played with a band.QUOTE]

+1 on that! Definitely try it on a gig or at practice before you buy. There are many that sound great in the store and not-so-great at stage volume.
Get something with a good full clean tone. You can always put a pedal in front to dirty up your sound. You can't go the other way. Good luck.