First time poster. I am a guitar player who has been playing over 40 years now and have decided to move to playing bass at least half the time simply because there are more gigs open to bass players and, quite frankly, I love grooving instead of playing leads all night.
That being said I have a PA that will handle vocals, even outside, but I am a little concerned about introducing the bass into it. So... I am looking for a bass amp that will carry my sound at mostly indoor gigs, but the occasional outside gig as well. I play mostly blues/rock stuff with some funk and fusion type jazz as well.
The caveat is that I don't want to break the bank in case I decide that playing bass half the time really isn't what I expected and go back to guitar, leaving a bass cabinet mostly sitting in the garage.
I've looked at the Hartke HD150 (played it also a t a local music shop) and on 2 it was pretty freaking loud. I have also looked online at the Rumble 100 V3 and the Ampeg RB-112 Rocket Bass amp.
Anyone think these would fill my need? I know they all have direct out which if I "did" have to connect to the FOH I could.
Oh, and my bass is Fender J-Bass.
Again, I really don't want to invest a TON of cash until it looks like I am gigging more playing bass and feel the need to upgrade my bass gear.
Thanks for the input!
Well...I hate to say it, but none of the above. Be aware that you need about 8 times more watts with a bass amp than you would with a guitar amp in any venue. It takes a lot of watts to move the speakers enough to produce those really low tones.
Small venue:
I have one small set-up that I use for small brew-pubs. It has a 225-watt Eden TN-226 amp running into an Eden EX112 cab (300-watts handling power, weighs 4.7-lbs). It works good for those small venues but it's not enough for medium-sized venues, let alone an outdoor venue. I got this because small venues would freak when I'd roll in my DNS-410 cab (by DNA) and typically make me play through their 112 combo amp backline. So don't count on taking a 410 everywhere. I did and got quite an awakening. I bought that small Eden set up because it had the sound I was used to and we hosted Open Mic Nights at that brewpub more than 40-times each year.
Medium venue:
For medium-sized venues I run my DNA-800 class D amp (800-watts into 4Ω or 2Ω, 400-watts into 8Ω, weighs 4.8-lbs.)) into my DNS-210 cab by DNA (handles 700-watts rms with max SPL of 134db) It is a crazy loud cab and I actually use it for both my medium and large indoor venues. That's unusual for a 210 cab though. Normally you'll want to have a 410 set-up for large venues though. A decent 210 cab should be able to handle all your small and medium-sized venues. Not really suitable of outdoor venues unless you have FOH reinforcement of your bass.
Large venues, outdoor venues, and Music Festivals:
It's unusual to use a 210 for large venues though, although my DNS-210 covers large venues just fine. Again, that's unusual, and most 210's aren't loud enough to handle that. I used to use my 410 for large venues and that is really "normal".
I do indeed use my DNS-410 for all my outdoor venues and music festivals. It handles 1400-watts rms and is a crazy louder cab than my 210. I'll run either my DNA-800 amp into it, which will only put out 400-watts into it, but since this is an even louder cab than my DNS-210, 400-watts will drive it as loud as I need it in most situations. With very few exceptions a 210 is not really enough for outdoor venues because there are fewer walls to contain the sound so less reflected sound. The 410 will handle that just fine though.
On music Festivals though,I do make a concession to amp weight and bring out my Big Eden WT500/800 amp (weighs ~36-lbs in its rack). I run that bridged at 800-watts into my 8Ω DNS-410. Then I get told to turn down if I run my master on that big Eden amp up to 10:30. If I want to get crazy, I'll stack my 210 on top of my 410 and drive the two of those with my DNA-800, which will feed 400-watts to each cab. But I get told to turn down with just the 410, so I certainly don't need to stack them...It does look cool though!
Recommendations:
Unless you want to be buying new gear every time you play a larger club, I'd recommend getting an 210 cab in 8Ω and an amp that will put out 500-watts into 4Ω. That amp will put out at least 250-watts into the one 8Ω cab and if you add a second 8Ω cab when you need to fill a larger area, it will put 500-watts out, which gives you a de facto 500-watt 410 rig. That will let you play virtually any indoor or outdoor venues as well as Music Festivals.
I like separate amp and cab components, but both Fender and Ampeg make 210 combos that will put out 500-watts if you add a second 210 cab to them and that would probably get you the best bang for buck to get going.
I believe they are both around $650 for the combo, which will get you playing most of your venues. They'll put out enough power using their internal speakers - 250-watts rms for the Ampeg Rocket Combo 210, and 350-watts rms for the Fender Rumble 500 - to handle small and medium sized venues. When you need to play large venues, outdoor venues, and music festivals adding the second cab will give you the ability to do that.
Both of those are good choices to get going with a good sound comparatively inexpensively. They do pretty well lock you into Fender or Ampeg upgrades, but as long as you like the Fender sound or the Ampeg sound, that's fine.
