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Fender Rumble Club

#2,241
Mr_Martin said:
...All of it, except playing in stadiums. If i ever will fill a Stadium with my music, i'm sure there will be some Roadies, Groupies and a suitcase full of Dollars :)

2.000

Most indoors, when we play bigger (and outdoor) gigs, we play ampless with our in ear monitoring system.

Ok, but i love 15" Speakers, the Rumble 500 has 2x10.
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If you use IEM's for big gigs, then you don't need to worry about a modular rig or lugging a big stack.

I still strongly recommend that you try the 200 and 500 back-to-back before you decide.

You've still got those small to medium club gigs to worry about, and the possibility of playing with other drummers over the life of that 5-year factory warranty. I don't know anywhere else in ampdom where you can get so much potential loudness increase for only $100...

Also, the V3 Rumbles don't sound like the old ones, and loving 15's is less relevant these days than at any other time in history. High-powered 15's can sound "faster" and "more modern" than most 10's, and some modern 10's go deeper and are punchier than any old school 15 rig.

I say this having owned and gigged both, and IME you can't make generalizations by cone size any more. For example, I have two single 12's sitting in my living room right now. One (Rumble 100 V3) sounds like a quieter version of an old-school twin 15 stack. The other (AudioKinesis TC112) has custom drivers, can go deeper with EQ than most cabs of any configuration, and is neck and neck with a Rumble 410 for maximum volume (when driven with enough power).
 
#2,246
Linnin said:
?.. Fender’s new Eminence woofers in the Rumble 100; 200, and 500 combos, along with Rumble 115 & 410 speaker cabinets are all custom designed and manufactured especially for a very specific application.

Both the Rumble 200 1x15 combo, and the Rumble 115 cabinet have gotten a lot of love...

...It is the very same driver in both. The tone of which was found to be so pleasing that Fender decided to go ahead and use it in the combo even though the 300/600 watt power handling rating far exceeded the need...
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Linnin, I don't doubt you, but I wonder about your source.

The 115 extension is only a little bigger than the 200 combo. It doesn't have the extra lumber out back for the amp enclosure, and there's no electronics in there either. I'm guessing that the extra weight is at least partly due to a heavier driver.
 
#2,248
steve_rolfeca said:
Linnin, I don't doubt you, but I wonder about your source.

The 115 extension is only a little bigger than the 200 combo. It doesn't have the extra lumber out back for the amp enclosure, and there's no electronics in there either. I'm guessing that the extra weight is at least partly due to a heavier driver.
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My source is as reliable as they come, but must remain anonymous.
 
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#2,251
steve_rolfeca said:
A few questions to help narrow down your decision:

About that "semi-decent" PA:
1. What does your bass sound like when you DI into the system?
2. Does it have a sub? If not, how much would it cost to buy one?
3. Do you ever drive the system hard enough that the treble starts to sound a little harsh?
4. Do the woofers ever start to break up on transients, especially on the lower register of the guitars?
5. Is everything direct, or are the guitars or ukes ever mic'd?

I ask, because keeping your bass out of the top bins will help them to stay clean when you push the system. However, a sub on the PA might be a better investment than a bigger bass amp, depending on how prices work out. Cranking a big bass amp on an acoustic stage can make things worse, rather than better.

About the occasional outdoor gigs: do you take your PA system, or is sound provided? If it is provided, do they have good monitor support?

About the gig odd gig with drums and two guitars: Electric or acoustic? If everything you do is acoustic and the drummer is gentle, the Rumble 500 might be overkill.

About a brighter sound with the Ukes: How bright are we talking? Jeff Schmidt on YouTube with his piccolo-tuned MTD's, or Norm Stockton on YT in his G-K demo videos? Either way, the tweeterless 100V3 is probably out of the question. As you would expect from a large cone driver, the highs are a bit peaky, and there's not much dispersion.

Australian pricing distorts the value equation.

The price gap in North America is about 20-25% per model, and Rumble prices undercut their main competition (mostly Ampeg and G-K) by a wide margin. The price gap between the 200 and 500 over here is about the same as renting a bigger rig a couple of times, so we need to be REALLY sure we'll never need more juice before committing to the 200.

According to your numbers, the gaps as you go up are closer to 40% in Oz. If you've always got decent PA coverage and you're mostly playing gentle acoustic music, the 200 might make the most sense.

I'm also wondering about pricing on other brands. How do G-K, Markbass and others compare to the Rumbles over there?
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The bass sounds pretty good DI'd when I can get out front and have some time to play around with the sound..... not only do i effectively play drums on the Woodskin and bass at the same time I also usually do all the mixing on stage. Who said men can't multi-task!!! It's usually two RCF ART 312 300w boxes out of a Mackie PPM 608m powered mixer plus an EV powered 18 sub. The other rig is a Behringer powered desk with behringer 15 and horn top boxes with the sub (probably should have said "one semi-decent and one not-so-good). I tend to get a much better all-round sound and more clean power out of the RCF system..... unsurprisingly.

Have never had to drive the system to break-up. Being an ex-roadie from the late 80's with some of Australia's bigger names I tend to be very aware of any strange sounds and act accordingly.

The four piece would be one electric and one acoustic....... both my daughters who have yet to acquire Typical Guitarist Syndrome. (you can see some oldish crappy vids of them here, here and here with some friends ) They are only 13 and 11 so are pretty tame at the moment however the potential drummer does need to learn to play with feel and not bash the living s**t out of his skins.

All acoustic guitars are DI'd and the ukes generally go straight into the desk (still trying to get them all to buy DI's)

I only DI the bass at the moment(just got into bass last December when the kids no longer needed me to play guitar) and currently have no bass amp.

As for brightness probably in the middle of those two examples with the ukes but leaning a little more towards Stockton on the gigs with guitars.

GK and Markbass are much more expensive for similar (or lesser) spec.

Thanks to everyone for such quick replies. You people are brilliant!!!
 
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#2,255
Looking for some advice here - I play in a bluegrass trio so I don't need a ton of volume, less is usually better. We tend to play small clubs, parties, etc. For louder gigs I tend to put a little in our FOH to keep my stage volume lower. I have a v2 150 head and a 1-15 cab I use for larger gigs and a Bronco 40 for practicing. The Rumble 1-15 cab is 8 ohms so I am just getting 75 watts which has always been plenty. The 1-15 has a really good low end which I like. I've used the Bronco for a few smaller gigs but am worried about ragging it out at gigs. The Bronco is a great little amp but I always wished they made a more powerful version. I would love a small rig that would fit in my Miata and be powerful enough for gigging. We have a couple gigs coming up where a smaller, more portable rig would be a great advantage. I am thinking about the Rumble 100, which should have more power than my larger rig. I play a Fender P and an NST NX4 EUB which goes through an Eden preamp. Part of me says the 100 combo would probably do just fine. Part of me wants an Aquilar TH500. Then I wake up and say that is ridiculous.

Any thoughts?
 
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#2,256
jthisdell said:
Looking for some advice here - I play in a bluegrass trio so I don't need a ton of volume, less is usually better. We tend to play small clubs, parties, etc. For louder gigs I tend to put a little in our FOH to keep my stage volume lower. I have a v2 150 head and a 1-15 cab I use for larger gigs and a Bronco 40 for practicing. The Rumble 1-15 cab is 8 ohms so I am just getting 75 watts which has always been plenty. The 1-15 has a really good low end which I like. I've used the Bronco for a few smaller gigs but am worried about ragging it out at gigs. The Bronco is a great little amp but I always wished they made a more powerful version. I would love a small rig that would fit in my Miata and be powerful enough for gigging. We have a couple gigs coming up where a smaller, more portable rig would be a great advantage. I am thinking about the Rumble 100, which should have more power than my larger rig. I play a Fender P and an NST NX4 EUB which goes through an Eden preamp. Part of me says the 100 combo would probably do just fine. Part of me wants an Aquilar TH500. Then I wake up and say that is ridiculous.

Any thoughts?
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If ever there was "The Little Engine That Could", the Fender Rumble 100 combo is it. The rave reviews and gig reports are truely astounding. If you haven't auditioned one you're missing out. Since you already have a Rumble 115 cab, the Rumble 200 combo is a compelling choice as you can run them both together for a very sexy 2x15 stack. It gives you versatility that you can't get with the Rumble 100; double the available the watts and moves more than twice the air when stacked.
 
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#2,257
Linnin said:
. Since you already have a Rumble 115 cab, the Rumble 200 combo is a compelling choice as you can run them both together for a very sexy 2x15 stack. It gives you versatility that you can't get with the Rumble 100; double the available the watts and moves more than twice the air when stacked.
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Thanks,

My mistake, the 1-15 cab is not a Rumble, it is an '80's Fender Bassman Compact 50w combo. The head in it is unstable so I installed a jack in it and a heavy-duty Dayton Pro Audio 15" driver, so I only use it as a cab. With the new driver the thing is dang heavy, I put wheels and new handles on it to help deal with that. So I am really looking for smaller and lighter. We don't have drums or electric guitars so I really don't need to move that much air.
 
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#2,258
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1412258100.185156.jpg


Just bought this beauty. I'm officially a rumble owner thanks in large part to the information obtained in this thread!
 
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