As an extremely mediocre guitar hobbyist, I have always played through combos and never really understood why someone would want to use a separate head and speakers. I loved my tube amp and was only interested in analog gear. When I started playing bass at the beginning of 2022 I started to pay more attention to tone and have been experimenting with both my amp and bass controls to get different sounds. I also started watching a ton of YT gear reviews and now I 'get it'!
I've been going down an amp head rabbit hole to learn more but I keep hearing about digital modeling combos like the Fender Rumble Studio 40/Stage 800, or the Boss Bass Katana 110/210, and was wondering if anyone makes a modeling amp head for bass? If not, I guess I'll need to start down the modeling pedal rabbit hole...
Being in a pop/rock Dad band myself, there aren’t really any good modelling heads out there other than the discontinued VT Bass head, which only attempted an SVT or B15 vibe. As someone else here said, it was basically a Sansamp with a power amp.
You’re looking for a modeling pedal, in which case you should read the Effects forum here on Talkbass for threads about Line 6, Neural, Zoom, etc. best bet is get a used loud clean amp and either put the pedal into the preamp or in the effects return, and invest in good speaker cabs, which can also be used.
However, what I’ve found is that they’re a PITA. YMMV. I prefer just setting up a useful pedal board with two good ODs (one set for heavy OD, one for light), a fuzz, a comp, and then the lesser used ones like Octave, Chorus, Phaser, Envelope Filter, etc. I only use the latter stuff for like one song each, so I can just set them and not twiddle knobs between songs, and everything is just click on and click off. For me - so much easier. Because I’m a bass player with a large pedal board, had a few hairy eyeballs from old school singers, guitar players and even a sound guy who was a self-styled “failed bass player” who all seemed to think bass players should just have a bass, a cable, and an amp, and any amp will do, but when you’re playing covers and you care about tone, you need variety.
Each of these pedals is a research rathole in and of itself. I have a wide and tall shelf full of pedals I like but don’t currently use and should probably sell.
Another route is the DI/preamp style of pedal, like the Origin Effects Bassrig, the VT Bass DI, Darkglass Ultras, or the Ampeg SGT-DI. With these, you can send a signal into your amp as well as one into the PA, usually with IR or a cabsim for the XLR channel. I have a VT Bass DI as the last pedal on my board, which also serves as one of my OD pedals, and it’s mostly always on.
I’m also using a Darkglass M500v2 head, which gives me an awesome clean tone, and two other OD voices, plus another DI with cabsims. So lots of options at my fingertips or toes as the case may be.
Other pedals I’m using currently on my board are a SGFX Beta, an EHX Green Russian fuzz, a DemonFX Alpha Omega, a Small Stone phaser, a Darkglass compressor, an OC-5, a strobostomp tuner, and a Boss wireless receiver.
All this through two Aguilar DB210s, and using DI from the Darkglass head. At rehearsals, we use IEMs so I only show up with my bass, my board, and my head, and could potentially leave the head at home.
We do mainly hard rock danceable songs from the 80s through to stuff from the past ten years, so I like a lot of dirt options.
Hope that helps! Good luck!
), although, you would need power amp/speakers to finish it off proper. (unless just for recording, she'll hook right up) lots of amp types/effect AND even cabs to choose from.
