Well, after 100’s of gigs and 12 years, my Fender Rumble 500 is done for. It was great amp for what I needed. My question is what should I buy next. I bought a little ELF for small gigs, my quartet, and rehearsals and it works great, but doesn’t quite cut it for outside gigs of any size. I pay jazz mostly, and what I used my Rumble for was playing bass guitar and sometimes DB in a Big Band. I liked the Rumble which was only 36 pounds. I need something that I can double with, is relatively light, but can handle a Big Band and other outside gigs. I think it might be time for something other than the Fender sound. Suggestions? Thanks all.
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Fender Rumble 500 crapped out
- Thread starter thandy81
- Start date
One of the members here was recently evaluating portable rigs and settled on the Markbass Little Mark 500 head and matched 2x10 cab. Pretty portable, power comparable to the Rumble500, but definitely a different sound. I think total cost was a little over a grand, including a discount he got for buying Markbass (coupon)?
Pretty open ended question. Genzler, Mesa/Boogie, Hartke, Peavey, Quilter, Ampeg, Aquilar all have offerings as well, and there are many others.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,985
- 5
- 220,761
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Maybe get your Rumble repaired by a Fender authorized service center?
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,985
- 5
- 220,761
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Was he a factory authorized service center? They are relatively straight forward for a (truly) qualified, experienced tech.
Same thing happened to me recently, I ended up going with a Peavey MiniMax 600 and am loving it.
Rumble 800 combo. Yeah, you said you're ready for a change, but consider...
- Way lighter than the 500 (Neo speakers)
- Louder than the 500
- Quarter-power switch for small venues or home
- Familiar controls
- Way lighter than the 500 (Neo speakers)
- Louder than the 500
- Quarter-power switch for small venues or home
- Familiar controls
This might be overkill for your application but the complete “new” set up sells for around $3100 before taxes. You could use one cab and the head and sell the other cab.
For sale Mesa Subway Rig - D800 Head and 2x 112 Cabs
Selling as complete system only, will not split up.
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- Category: For Sale: Amps, Preamps, and Cabinets
- 112 d800 mesa subway
$1,500.00
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I'd recommend getting a second opinion on the repair before buying a new amp. If it's fried, I'd probably just get another R500 seeing as it worked so well for you.
If the Rumble really is beyond repair, I would suggest the Warwick Gnome Pro 600 as a compelling value proposition.
If you can stretch your budget, then the world is your oyster - there are so many fine amps out there it's hard to go wrong! For weight saving, GR aerotech combos and cabs are worth a look. You'll struggle to find anything else as light.
For similar music I use an Aguilar TH500 and either a 2x10 or 1x12 GR cab (or both).
If you can stretch your budget, then the world is your oyster - there are so many fine amps out there it's hard to go wrong! For weight saving, GR aerotech combos and cabs are worth a look. You'll struggle to find anything else as light.
For similar music I use an Aguilar TH500 and either a 2x10 or 1x12 GR cab (or both).
And toggle for DI-out to be independent of master volume.
If you liked the Rumble 500, then the Rumble 800 makes sense, and as SharpCat mentioned, it’s lighter.
If you’re looking for something that can be really clean but also sound good loud and growly, I have two you might want to check out.
I switched to a GK Legacy 800 combo. Took some time to get used to the EQ, but after a couple of months, I’ve come to love the range I can get from it. Slightly heavier than the rumble though not terribly.
Genzler Magellan was my other finalist at the time, which is worth looking at.
If you’re looking for something that can be really clean but also sound good loud and growly, I have two you might want to check out.
I switched to a GK Legacy 800 combo. Took some time to get used to the EQ, but after a couple of months, I’ve come to love the range I can get from it. Slightly heavier than the rumble though not terribly.
Genzler Magellan was my other finalist at the time, which is worth looking at.
You can look into a Fender Rumble 800. Only 28lbs and plenty of punch.
with enough cabs 200 watts is plenty, like a couple of loud 410s.
if you were talking about the 1x10 combo, right, it's a tiny combo. adding an additional 1x10 cab will make it louder, my guess would be like several decibels quieter than your r500. but sometimes several decibels is what we need, a difference between a 500W head and a 250W is also only 3dB.
the worst part of a combo dying is that you need to buy again both the amp and the speakers. maybe, a modular setup this time: a head and a cab?
provided, you were good with a r500 without additional cab, a 500W head and a 210 8 ohm cab seems like a good starting point, you can add a second cab later. maybe, a 350W head could also work, but you'll need a second cab a tad sooner.
which one? well, it's a popular niche and many good stuff around. and they sound differently, both heads and cabs.
