Fender rumble 15 vs Ampeg BA-108

[megasniper123]

So Im buying a home practise amp, I would appreciate some advice, I thought about Fender rumble 15 or Ampeg BA-108, what do you think?

Thanks for advice

 

[PrietoBass]

I have the Rumble 15. I'd get the Ampeg, or better yet (and for the same coin), an Acoustic B20, as the 12in driver will sound more like you're actually practicing bass.

 

[megasniper123]

well what do you mean acoustic? (I dont know much about amps )

 

[PrietoBass]

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[JimmyM]

BA108 for me. I love mine and I'll even gig with it on my very smallest stuff. Despite having an 8" speaker, it has a very rich and full sound with plenty of bottom IMHO.

 

[megasniper123]

ow I see, its an amp brand well, and oculd you explain the 12 in driver? I dont really understand what you mean by that (Im really sorry for being stupid but I dont know much about this yet)

 

[JimmyM]

Drivers, or speakers, come in all different sizes. The BA108 uses an 8" driver, and the Acoustic B20 uses a 12" driver. The prevailing common thought is that the bigger the driver, the bassier your cab will sound. This is not true, as there are several different factors that determine bass response of a cab, and the cab itself has as much to do with it as anything, and speaker size is the least important factor. So at this stage of the game, I wouldn't worry about it. I'd just worry about getting a good sounding little combo that fits in your budget. Which one you decide on is up to you, but pick it with your ears and not your eyes

 

[megasniper123]

Thanks very much

 

[PrietoBass]

I play a 5 string and a 4 string. If getting the amp for the 4 string primarily, both the Ampeg and the Acoustic are good practice amps.

If practicing with a 5 string, I'd get the Acoustic.

Jimmy is a brave man to gig with his BA 108 (although I don't doubt that when he says it sounds good, then it sounds good!).

I wouldn't take either of these to gigs... if you plan on doing that I'd recommend you save more and get something portable enough and gig-worthy. (My recommendation here, because I'm extremely happy with it, is an Ampeg PF-350 and PF-115HE cab).

However, keeping the topic on track, as practice amps, both the Ampeg and the Acoustic should do well, IMHO.

 

[PrietoBass]

The prevailing common thought is that the bigger the driver, the bassier your cab will sound. This is not true, as there are several different factors that determine bass response of a cab, and the cab itself has as much to do with it as anything, and speaker size is the least important factor.

This is very true. However, ceteris paribus (all other things being equal), I'd take a single 12 over an 8, if for no other reason that to my ears it sounds better (edit: in this case, the Rumble 15 8" vs the Acoustic B-20 12"). Caveat: since I'm hearing impaired and I play with hearing-aids with a custom curve my audiologist programmed for me, all other things are not equal to me; my hearing aids are part of my EQ'ing process (I have different music curves that I use).

I heard someone at GC some time back, and he was plugged into some sort of MarkBass with (I believe) a 6" driver, and the thing sounded phenomenal.

 

[JimmyM]

Sorry about your hearing loss. And there are reasons to get larger speakers over smaller ones for sure...mostly related to efficiency. All other things in the speakers being equal, bigger speakers will move more air than smaller. So maybe that's what you respond to. Or maybe it's that the Rumble doesn't sound as good as the Acoustic That's how I feel about it.

And as far as gigging with the BA108, I should mention that it's an old timey jazz band I play with sometimes with a banjo, a trumpet/trombone player/singer, and a drummer who plays extremely light. Was using the Micro VR and was told repeatedly to turn down by management. I got the BA108 and I still get told to turn down by management