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That's common with other SS amps, notably the GK 400RB/800RB, to get a certain "grindy" tone. If you see someone refer to a SS amp "on the rails", this is what they are referring to. I believe Rumbles are probably best using the gain in a more traditional fashion (adjust for tone and hotness of pickups) while using the master for volume adjustments, though I haven't actually tried "on the rails" with a Rumble.
Sounds good with my Rumble 200 combo. Master volume controls are attenuators by nature. You can only turn the volume down from wide open, but we don't think of it in that way. We say we are turning up the volume, but that is a misnomer. In the days of tube amps with channel volumes and no masters, the power amp was wide open all the time. The only volume control was the pre-amp channel volume. You crank it up louder 'n' hell and you get the tube distortion. There were no little noise boxes until the late 60's and early 70's. Master volumes also came into being and that changed everything and gain structure suddenly became very important.
We've discussed that several times before and the truth is out there.
You know, I want to thank you for your patience, I have been playing around with the settings on the Rumble 500 and I have that P Noir bass. I don't care what anyone says that is a fine version of a P Bass. I was a Jazz aficionado but this P is the real deal. I am really considering the P Bass as the master bass for most applications. Thanks for all your input.
They designed that cab for guys (idiots) like ME that would try to make that cab do more than what it's design to do and I have pushed it too. I have pushed 800 into it (briefly). So I suspect they knew I was buying one
Where as you can only push the 210c only so much because the watts are controlled. All joking aside- I think the 210 cab has better construction/materials maybe for the reason I gave- I'm guessing too
Linnin says that the Chinese wood in the extension cab is heavier than the wood used in the combo (Canadian?).
rumbles make it easy
That was an awesome most invaluable explanation. thanks for the info.A noise gate can help with pickup hum/guitar grounding buzz, especially at high gain overdrive settings. All it does is cut the signal from the guitar when the input drops below the threshold.
It can also quiet a noisy preamp when the gate is used in the effects loop. Again, only when not playing, since when you are playing the gate is open.
If the noise is coming from the power amp, there is nothing a noise gate can do.
Yes I own the boss pedal, since about 1993/93. They are essential for high gain guitar. And I did use mine in my early bass days, where I had a huge pedalboard. The NS was integral, as a power supply for the rest of the boss pedals on the board, and I utilized its effects loop. The way to run it is to put the noisy pedals such as distortion, chorus flange etc in the loop, so when the guitar is gated, the noise and hiss generated from the pedals is also shut off. Delays and reverbs are best used after the gate, and not in the gates loop, so the reverb tails and delay repeats don't get cut off when the gate kicks in.
Using the boss suppressor in a guitar amps effects loop (a specific way to hook it up with the guitar feeding the input of the gate, and the gate loop and amp loop connected) is a good way to calm the hiss common to tube amps with high gain preamps, which is where most of the hiss comes from. But again, no gate or hush can quiet a noisy power section.
That is the correct way to do it on a single Channel guitar amp with master volume. Cranking the master and controlling volume from the gain or input volume control is the correct way to get the loudest clean tone from a guitar amp.
With bass it is a little different, but the same principal would apply to an SVT classic.
With a more modern hi fi type amp (swr etc), it is best to run the preamp gain to just before clipping, for the highest signal to noise ratio. Cranking the master on those is just a good way to amplify the noise floor of the preamp.
It is really different depending on the type of amp. Bass is a more HiFi application and many bass amps are more closely related to PA systems than guitar amps.
Rumbles are different as well. Since the gain is more of a variable attenuator and does not turn off the signal when turned all the way down. There is no need to crank the master on a rumble since the gain control is not prone to introduce distortion or ugly fatty clipping like the gain control on other amps do. Consider it a teenager proof feature perhaps. Personally I would like the option to overdrive the first gain stage, but the rumble does not allow that, at least not with a passive bass in my experience. But I can get close enough with the overdrive.
The rumble truly is a different beast, which is easier for the non technically inclined to get a good standard warm and clean bass tone. Unlike an SWR or Boogie where the good tones take a bit more expertise to pry out of the amp, and there are many wrong ways to dial the amp in that sound like butt
And there you have it. It is exasperating the number of otherwise intelligent bass players that simply cannot grasp this simple concept. They can write iron clad contracts; program computers, fiddle with sub-atomic particles, but gain structure completely eludes them. Same thing with EQ. You can explain until you're blue in the face and they just don't get it.
My experience with most humans I have encountered, and I have encountered many, is that they have the capacity to absorb one or 2 areas of expertise, their career and their main hobby/sport. Expecting them to play an instrument, have a professional career doing whatever it is they do to earn their upper middle class income that affords them to pursue music as a.hobby and buy gear, but also have a full understanding of the workings of the gear, and why things work the way they do, so they can make it do whatever they need it to do without a bunch of trial and error whack a mole experimentation is too much to ask of most.
The odd thing is that while the 210 certainly is heavier than the 500c by about 2.7 kilograms, it actually feels lighter, because of the placement of the handles, plus the fact that there are two of them. In any case it's light as 210 cabs go, so it's all good
