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Fender Rumble 800 Combo Thread for the NEW 2022 800 Combo

Here I am, after a month of using the Rumble combo + 2x10" cabinet in the rehearsal. I'm posting my impressions.

Premise. I play in a stoner band, quite loud in terms of volumes, in which one guitarist has 100W tube Orange + 4x12" Orange cab, the other one, instead, a Peavey tube amp of 30W, 12" cone + handcrafted 12" cabinet.
The sound requirements of the band are for a bass that is not ringing, but rather dark enough and with a certain belly, so as to act as a "carpet".
Before talking about the amp, I wanted to report that I set the fuzz with tone at 9 o'clock, sustain at 11 o'clock, while on the VT Bass I boosted the bass at 13 o'clock, cut the treble at 11 o'clock, flat mids, drive at 11 o'clock, character at 10:30, which allows the sound to be darkened a bit, while still maintaining a certain presence on the mids: this will be the crucial point of my post.

Until I brought my stack to the rehearsal room, I was using an Ashdown Electric Blue, with a 12" 100W cone, which, I'll tell you the truth, surprised me a bit in terms of sound and perceived sound pressure : not too swollen on the basses (which in other amps of the constructor contributes to mixing the sound), well present on the mediums. With the volume I was practically always at the limit of the amp, but fortunately it has an amp that never sat down.

About my stack, things have changed dramatically and sadly not all for into better way.
Basically, I use a 10-14-14-10 equalization in order to have a slightly flatter response from the head, and from there I adjusted slightly and progressively.

I did the first test in "low" mode, so, given the presence of the additional speaker, I went with 200W. In this situation I was at the limit of the amp's possibilities, so the clip light sporadically turned yellow, which signals that the limit had been reached. The "carpet" was well developed, but I felt the lack of presence in our fundamental frequencies, let's say between 300Hz and 1000Hz, so much so that with every little boost of the guitars, I'm not saying that I disappeared completely, but let's say that I was noticed much less. From the next test I then set the amp to "full" mode, therefore with a maximum output of 800W. The situation has improved significantly. Obviously I have more volume and more headroom to get out of the mix, but, and this is my hypothesis, probably since the amp is no longer "neutered" in a certain way, everything sounds just better: honestly, I can't tell if the harmonics stand out more or that, but on medium frequencies the response improves a lot, however staying fat as in the previous case.

Note: for those wondering, given the difference between the magnets of the combo and those of the cab (the former neodymium, ferrite the latter), the combo and the cab sound substantially the same, the cab perhaps has slightly more accentuated bass, but the "imprint" is in a mid scooped tone.

Going back to the stack... and coming to the slightly less positive points...
Despite the overall improvement in "full" mode, I still have the feeling of having the need for more presence in the midrange, also combined with greater definition and, probably, greater compactness in the low frequencies, which IMHO are the point of strength (along with some nice crisp but not strident or intrusive mid-highs) of this system, but which for my tastes and overall feeling probably isn't 100% what I'm looking for.
In terms of volume, there's enough output volume. If I was playing in my old punk bands, this would be an excellent stack and I would certainly have had different sensations: for example, less fatter, drier guitars, like the guitarists used in my previous punk bands, would have given more space to a sound like this one of this Rumble stack, which would have completed and filled the spectrum of available frequencies, enveloping the resulting band sound.

Unfortunately for me, my last amp experience was with GK, keeping fixed the NEO 212-II cabinet, I switched from a 1001RB-II to a MB Fusion 800, in retrospect preferring the former. Punchyness, definition, volume... It was a flash of lightning. Due to the sars-cov-2 and the period of inactivity (which however started in October 2019) I sold everything. In the meantime I rented a new apartment, which does not have an elevato.
So, when I started searching for an amp in November 2022, the tone needs of the band, combined with my need to get something light and easily to transport up 3 flights of stairs, led me to this Rumble combo.
Only later did the band rent a rehearsal room shared with other bands and, hence, the possibility of parking the amp in the rehearsal room: having known it before...

In any case, concluding, I realized that GK is "my home", I found an incomparable feeling. I also realized that, always "unfortunately for me", I like traditionally designed amps more than class D ones: even about the GK heads I've had, the MB Fusion 800 sounds great, nothing to say, with the gain at 11 o'clock it has a nice grit and a nice growl, but... I still had that feeling that something was missing compared to the RBs, which however I didn't know and I can't define. What I predict is that I will replace my Rumble stack with a 700RB-II, either with 2 CX115 or CX115+CX210 or 2 NEO115.
 
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Besides free membership - any incentives?

31749-lemmy-lol-meme-hilarious-motor-H1b4.jpeg
 
Yo, Mo, you oughta come tell us about it in the Fender Rumble Club and get a free membership! :thumbsup:
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Besides free membership - any incentives?

View attachment 5015720


Naw! :smug: Just a bunch of Rumblers posting pix and telling stories about how their Rumble(s) is(are) better'n anything else, or answering quexxions about the best EQ settings for this or that tone or mods from Rumbling noobs, or about shopping specs from Rumbling wannabees, debates over the best Rumble for metal, and bragging rights from a Rumble number in your TalkBass Signature, and a comprehensive repository of Rumbling wisdom and knowledge. :cool: Oh and, if we can save up enough from the dues of the non-free memberships, we're gonna build a clubhouse! Of course the non-free members will get first choice of amenities there. (Can you say, "top shelf"?) :rolleyes: Nope, no real reasons, just fun, information, and sharing in good fellowship and ... uh, ... woman-ship(?), ... too. (Axially founded by a woman!) Oh, and we just had our 10th Anniversary as a TalkBass club as we inducted our 1600th member with over 2,600 pages of posts. Uh, uh. Not much going on there. :whistle:
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What’s the difference between turning the master volume down as opposed to flipping the switch to the low setting?


With the Output Switch in Low mode you can get "more tube-like response" at a lower volume without blasting so loud. Just turning the Master Volume down in Full mode doesn't get the same "compression, harmonics and sustain."

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I used the 800c with the 210 cab yesterday on a gig outdoors. More than enough power, floor shaking lows and clean. Gain at 12, ran the master about 10, Flat eq on the amp, I have Bass boosted at to about 1 o’clock on my Aguilar Tome Hammer DI. It reproduced the low B stuff and octave pedal tones no problem. Lots of good comments on the sound. I really like this setup.
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At the risk of asking a dumb question-when you hook up an 8 ohm cabinet to the Rumble 800C, do you leave the impedance switch up to the 8 ohm setting, or down?


The Impedance Switch labeling is intended to be very simple and taken literally when it says "Set switch to match ext. speaker impedance". So, yeah, set to 8 ohm for a single 8 ohm cab, and set to 4 ohm for a 4 ohm cab (even though the internal speakers's impedance does make the total load math more technically complicated. But I won't bore you with that here.)

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However, I will mention that if the ext. cab(s) don't meet, or surpass, the recommended wattage rating on that label, say for example the 300 watt 8 ohm Rumble 115 cab, then setting the Impedance Switch to 4 ohm can possibly lower the internal voltage (and therefore the wattage) to use a single 115 cab safely! :thumbsup:
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G-Dog. You won't bore me go on. Are you going to hurt either the rumble 800 or a cabinet if you mess with the impedance like that? I did do a gig with acoustic bass using the rumble 800 into an 8 ohm 200watt TC electronic cabinet. I just kind of did that to point some sound the to the drummer and didn't push it volume wise.
I left there at 8 ohm. But what would have happened if I would have put it @ 4ohm
The Impedance Switch labeling is intended to be very simple and taken literally when it says "Set switch to match ext. speaker impedance". So, yeah, set to 8 ohm for a single 8 ohm cab, and set to 4 ohm for a 4 ohm cab (even though the internal speakers's impedance does make the total load math more technically complicated. But I won't bore you with that here.)


However, I will mention that if the ext. cab(s) don't meet, or surpass, the recommended wattage rating on that label, say for example the 300 watt 8 ohm Rumble 115 cab, then setting the Impedance Switch to 4 ohm can possibly lower the internal voltage (and therefore the wattage) to use a single 115 cab safely! :thumbsup:
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G-Dog. You won't bore me go on. Are you going to hurt either the rumble 800 or a cabinet if you mess with the impedance like that? I did do a gig with acoustic bass using the rumble 800 into an 8 ohm 200watt TC electronic cabinet. I just kind of did that to point some sound the to the drummer and didn't push it volume wise.
I left there at 8 ohm. But what would have happened if I would have put it @ 4ohm


Yes, Randy, the 200 watt cab could easily get more than 200 watts, maybe a lot more, up to 400 watts!! Be very careful and keep your volume way down with that cab!!

Since the R800c is 800 watts with either one 8 ohm cab OR one 4 ohm cab (or two 8 ohm cabs, something else must change. That something is the Impedance Switch "telling" the amp which you have.

Since 4 ohms is less "restriction" (impedance) it takes less voltage to reach the same wattage. Setting the switch to 4 ohm with a single 8 ohm cab, then, gives less voltage so that it won't reach its total potential 800 watts split equally between combo & cab (not sure how much less, but probably still potentially more than 200w into the cab!!), and therefore less power gives less volume.

Setting the switch to 8 ohms with one 4 ohm (or two 8 ohm) cab(s) gives too much voltage and the amp will overheat and could possibly damage the amp and/or cab(s)!!!
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I used the 800c with the 210 cab yesterday on a gig outdoors. More than enough power, floor shaking lows and clean. Gain at 12, ran the master about 10, Flat eq on the amp, I have Bass boosted at to about 1 o’clock on my Aguilar Tome Hammer DI. It reproduced the low B stuff and octave pedal tones no problem. Lots of good comments on the sound. I really like this setup.
View attachment 5025343
Before seeing this I would never have considered a combo amp for an outdoor gig. Very interesting.
 
Thanks for all good data everyone. Truly appreciate it. I have the 200c and it starting to run out of gas with my band. We're starting to play a louder. It's definitely a rock sound (see link below). Slightly aggressive. Two guitar players & a drummer. One guitar is a Fender Princeton and the other is a blues deluxe. Seriously considering the 800c. My question is regarding an addition 210 cab.. Obviously this makes a difference, but is difference significant. Do you always gig with both or just outdoor or big rooms? I play in small rock bars around Portland, Oregon with crappy PA's. Less than 100 people. I love the idea of just taking the combo. It's simple and easy. I normally put it up on a stand so it's up higher. But I also love the idea of a bigger fatter sound, not necessarily a lot louder, just fatter. Not too boomy either. It's all so overwhelming. Thanks for any or your thoughts.

 
The Impedance Switch labeling is intended to be very simple and taken literally when it says "Set switch to match ext. speaker impedance". So, yeah, set to 8 ohm for a single 8 ohm cab, and set to 4 ohm for a 4 ohm cab (even though the internal speakers's impedance does make the total load math more technically complicated. But I won't bore you with that here.)


However, I will mention that if the ext. cab(s) don't meet, or surpass, the recommended wattage rating on that label, say for example the 300 watt 8 ohm Rumble 115 cab, then setting the Impedance Switch to 4 ohm can possibly lower the internal voltage (and therefore the wattage) to use a single 115 cab safely! :thumbsup:
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Now all I have to do is unload my 2 Ashdown cabs, so I can get a Rumble 2X10 cab!
 

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