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Fender Rumble Club

I have almost exactly those same settings on my R100 as well. And I like the looks of those black knobs. I need to look into that.
Kaish on Amazon(or ebay?).
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So I jammed with a few people recently. Big enough company building/warehouse place. Social distancing and all. I was excited as this would be the first time I could get my Stage 800 up to some real volume. I was very disappointed in how muffled it sounded! I tried every 'bright' preset that I could and still no improvement. I have a Sire so I turned all the treble and mids up and still sounded like the speakers were being smothered by pillows.

Next week I will try again. But this time I will bring the external cab to get it off of the ground.

Has anyone experienced this?
If so how did you work it out?

Thanks for reading any advice will be appreciated
 
Well I did it. After month of hem-hawing I just said the heck with it and bought a Rumble 500. My bedroom says it sounds great with a stock Fender Jazz. I have a Fri and Sat gig which will pair it with a modified Fender Jazz.
Can't wait!View attachment 4216383

BTW who uses the 115 extension cabinet and who uses the 210?
Awesome brother! I use the 210 with my 200c. Love it.
 
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So I jammed with a few people recently. Big enough company building/warehouse place. Social distancing and all. I was excited as this would be the first time I could get my Stage 800 up to some real volume. I was very disappointed in how muffled it sounded! I tried every 'bright' preset that I could and still no improvement. I have a Sire so I turned all the treble and mids up and still sounded like the speakers were being smothered by pillows.

Next week I will try again. But this time I will bring the external cab to get it off of the ground.

Has anyone experienced this?
If so how did you work it out?

Thanks for reading any advice will be appreciated
I got my Rumble 500 yesterday and at first the (bright) sound I got put all of my worries to rest. That was just a minute or so with my stock Jazz Bass. Later in the evening I plugged in my gig basses and started dialing things in. Everything I did sounded cheap and boxy as has been described before. So I rolled off the amp Gain and Bass but turned up the treble...it got better. One thing I noticed is that my basses with on board preamp (J Retro and Audere) easily over power the amp. This thing likes stock basses better. I know that my WT400 sounds great set flat, no matter what I plug into it. This Rumble takes a lot of fiddling for each different bass. I talked to a friend and Fender fanatic who said all of the Class D amps are like that. I'm not giving up though. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. Tonight and Saturday I'll be gigging with it.
 
I got my Rumble 500 yesterday and at first the (bright) sound I got put all of my worries to rest. That was just a minute or so with my stock Jazz Bass. Later in the evening I plugged in my gig basses and started dialing things in. Everything I did sounded cheap and boxy as has been described before. So I rolled off the amp Gain and Bass but turned up the treble...it got better. One thing I noticed is that my basses with on board preamp (J Retro and Audere) easily over power the amp. This thing likes stock basses better. I know that my WT400 sounds great set flat, no matter what I plug into it. This Rumble takes a lot of fiddling for each different bass. I talked to a friend and Fender fanatic who said all of the Class D amps are like that. I'm not giving up though. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. Tonight and Saturday I'll be gigging with it.
Please let us know how it goes, I'm interested to hear more.

In other news I have a day and a half off coming up so maybe I'll paint the corner of my stealth rumble again to make it look nicer :)
 
I got my Rumble 500 yesterday and at first the (bright) sound I got put all of my worries to rest. That was just a minute or so with my stock Jazz Bass. Later in the evening I plugged in my gig basses and started dialing things in. Everything I did sounded cheap and boxy as has been described before. So I rolled off the amp Gain and Bass but turned up the treble...it got better. One thing I noticed is that my basses with on board preamp (J Retro and Audere) easily over power the amp. This thing likes stock basses better. I know that my WT400 sounds great set flat, no matter what I plug into it. This Rumble takes a lot of fiddling for each different bass. I talked to a friend and Fender fanatic who said all of the Class D amps are like that. I'm not giving up though. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. Tonight and Saturday I'll be gigging with it.

Not to be contrary, but this has not been my experience with the 500c at all...in fact, its the first combo I have found in years that did not sound "boxy" to me and that could reasonably handle a B string. To be fair, I own a 212 cab, a 215 cab, and a 412 cab as well...however, I have no delusions that this 210 combo can compete with any of them, it can't. BUT in its class, it is fantastic! And I did add the 210 ext cab just so I could get it up off the floor to ear level, and get all the extra power/low end from it.
I think the key to the Rumble is to use the GAIN knob very carefully. I have no problems running an active Spector or a Cirrus through it (I have no experience with the Audere or J Retro though...just the above basses, and EMG and Bart pre's), nor do I have any issue with any of my passive basses but I do have to adjust the gain accordingly...and too much gain, IME, does make the tone become thin and muddy when you start cranking the master volume knob. I personally do feel that the majority of Class D amps do not have the "balls" of the many SS/class AB amps I have owned, but I am sure there are some Class D's out there that do. I have a Peavey MiniMega that comes VERY close. But for a lightweight, grab and go, one trip load in gig machine, its really REALLY hard to beat!
 
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I got my Rumble 500 yesterday and at first the (bright) sound I got put all of my worries to rest. That was just a minute or so with my stock Jazz Bass. Later in the evening I plugged in my gig basses and started dialing things in. Everything I did sounded cheap and boxy as has been described before. So I rolled off the amp Gain and Bass but turned up the treble...it got better. One thing I noticed is that my basses with on board preamp (J Retro and Audere) easily over power the amp. This thing likes stock basses better. I know that my WT400 sounds great set flat, no matter what I plug into it. This Rumble takes a lot of fiddling for each different bass. I talked to a friend and Fender fanatic who said all of the Class D amps are like that. I'm not giving up though. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. Tonight and Saturday I'll be gigging with it.
Ok, so this morning I plugged my gigging bass in and got a sound that makes me happy thus reducing the stress of tonight. Gain = 0, Bass = 11 oclock, Lowmid = 11:30, Highmid = 12:30, Treble = 2:30, Master 10:00.
On Jazz Bass slight plus in Bass and Treble. Mid at detent. Volume slightly less than full. Sounds great with fingers, a bit too bright (too much treble) with pick. No bass in a box. So I have a start point. Note this is with the amp off the ground as it will be at the gig. OH BOY!
 
Well I did it. After month of hem-hawing I just said the heck with it and bought a Rumble 500. My bedroom says it sounds great with a stock Fender Jazz. I have a Fri and Sat gig which will pair it with a modified Fender Jazz.
Can't wait!View attachment 4216383

BTW who uses the 115 extension cabinet and who uses the 210?
I'm a 2 210 guy, never found the 210 to be lacking in the low end dept HOWEVER there's some folks here who favor the 112. I like the power handling capability of the 210s. That's me, I have to say, and I'm not about to argue with any of the Rumble Club members over it. We all RUMBLE!
 
I've regularly run an 18v Dimension and what's said to be a ridiculously hot Sterling Ray5 through my Rumble 500 without issue. The Dimension hasn't gotten to band volume(close though) but the Ray has. No mud or boxiness IME. I've also never had my Rumble on the floor or had to push it at all to overpower the band.

For a Rumble 500 it's all going to come down to your gain structure. Less is typically more here (I'm currently having a fling with my gain at 0).

For the Stage 800 I'd be interested to hear what settings were used. There's so many different amps, presets, settings, and different effects that it could be any number of things. I'd almost certainly not use a straight up preset. I like to treat modeling amps with a less is more attitude. So I tend to set up 1 amp to use with a band. In a Stage I'd either go for a Rumble/Bassman or an SWR/GK emulation, keep the EQ flat, add a splash of transparent compression, and maybe a tiny splash of OD for a good bassic tone. Then try it with the band and tweak the EQ from there.

It's also important to find your sonic slot. What some call playing in the pocket. Which I don't mean to say play 2 notes all night. I mean your main sound should slot between the kick drum (or else it's going to muddy your low notes) and the guitar. If your guitars or keys are dialing in extra bass then they're stepping on your territory and need to move back to their lane. Otherwise you'll be loosing a lot of your details in the upper harmonics and your sonic textures, leaving you with mud. Bad stages and rooms add mud too so amp placement can help alleviate some of that.

Good luck to you both!
 
Not to be contrary, but this has not been my experience with the 500c at all...in fact, its the first combo I have found in years that did not sound "boxy" to me and that could reasonably handle a B string. To be fair, I own a 212 cab, a 215 cab, and a 412 cab as well...however, I have no delusions that this 210 combo can compete with any of them, it can't. BUT in its class, it is fantastic! And I did add the 210 ext cab just so I could get it up off the floor to ear level, and get all the extra power/low end from it.
I think the key to the Rumble is to use the GAIN knob very carefully. I have no problems running an active Spector or a Cirrus through it (I have no experience with the Audere or J Retro though...just the above basses, and EMG and Bart pre's), nor do I have any issue with any of my passive basses but I do have to adjust the gain accordingly...and too much gain, IME, does make the tone become thin and muddy when you start cranking the master volume knob. I personally do feel that the majority of Class D amps do not have the "balls" of the many SS/class AB amps I have owned, but I am sure there are some Class D's out there that do. I have a Peavey MiniMega that comes VERY close. But for a lightweight, grab and go, one trip load in gig machine, its really REALLY hard to beat!
Your last sentence is why I am determined to make it work! And it will I'm sure! Thanks
 
I got my Rumble 500 yesterday and at first the (bright) sound I got put all of my worries to rest. That was just a minute or so with my stock Jazz Bass. Later in the evening I plugged in my gig basses and started dialing things in. Everything I did sounded cheap and boxy as has been described before. So I rolled off the amp Gain and Bass but turned up the treble...it got better. One thing I noticed is that my basses with on board preamp (J Retro and Audere) easily over power the amp. This thing likes stock basses better. I know that my WT400 sounds great set flat, no matter what I plug into it. This Rumble takes a lot of fiddling for each different bass. I talked to a friend and Fender fanatic who said all of the Class D amps are like that. I'm not giving up though. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. Tonight and Saturday I'll be gigging with it.
With active basses, start with GAIN all the way OFF-unlike some amps, GAIN doesn't have to be on at all. I almost never have my GAIN above 10(see post 44498). (I have 3 passive basses and 1 active-rarely used).
 
I was considering getting plastic knobs for mine as well. The white ones have gotten sticky and ugly. Can you post a link to where you sourced them? TIA
This is the main 'address'. They have a ship sp? load of different knobs, etc.: Kaish Music @ Amazon.com
 
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