Fender Rumble Club

[John Stephen]

Well, my Rumble 500c continues to impress. Our first gig in what must be a year by now, though we did sort-of practice outdoors at a place a few weeks ago. But this was an honest, PAYING gig! Woohoo! I posted a short gig report so the pic below is probably redundant, but you can just see the Rumble behind me up on a stand. Stage was kinda ridiculously small for a 5 piece with full drum kit, but we made it work. As always, I recorded all on a little Tascam hand-held recorder and I must say our mix was actually good! When I started playing with this band, you could barely hear the vocals over the too-loudness. But somewhere along the line we've really worked that out. No feedback, vocals clear as a bell. I tell you, though the Rumble put out more than enough at about 11:00, I think another key part of the sound is mic-ing that bass drum. I've told the band I wouldn't play out without it anymore. That THUMP of the bass drum just punches my bass lines through so nicely.

Now, granted the owner did ask us to turn down about 2 songs in. (not surprised there, esp. in this relatively small space.) But we must have done well because he kicked in an extra $150. We had a great turnout and I really think I earned more from the tips than from the actual gig $. We did bring in a pretty sizable group on our own, which was gratifying.

But damn I love that little amp. I cannot imagine playing without it anymore. It just does it's job perfectly every time. Let the guitar players have their finicky antique tube amps - I'll take lightweight, reliable Fender Class D bass power any day. And I've decided that I'll no longer care about adding an extension. I simply won't ever need it.

And here, for the first time ever, is a picture of me on TalkBass (excepting one from 1975) Oh, I don't normally wear a Hawaiian shirt. We were technically hired by a guy throwing a party there with a tropical theme. At least we all refused to wear cargo shorts!

View attachment 4274815

Sounds great -- congrats! Glad you've got the sound worked out and the Rumble rumbling on. I'm with you, it's hard to imagine a more efficient and effective amp than the Rumble. Here's to many more gigs with it.

 

[trseal]

I'm sure that this is horribly cynical of me, but I think if Fender let people keep the "broken" amplifier,sa many would find ways of taking advantage of the warranty system: bogus claims, selling out parts, etc.

And, without this wasteful policy, our litigious society would actually file suits against Fender for not preventing DIY repair-attempts that resulted in electrocutions! I've seen more frivolous things.
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I guess there are many ways to "explain" this away but I find the practice despicable on so many levels.

Tim

 

[BBassBassington]

I guess there are many ways to "explain" this away but I find the practice despicable on so many levels.

Tim

Same here. I don't want to drag policy onto Talkbass but let's just say I tend to advocate for an economy that's shaped more like a circle than a line.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Baseball gloves.

Bassball

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I work for a global electron company. Years ago we could buy "B stock"--stereo equipment that had been returned by customers--at a great price. The bean counters decided it to be more cost efficient to sledgehammer the gear and discard it. Blame the bean counters. They suck.

The problem is more the policy makers. Bean counters have to work within policies. And stockholders who demand the highest possible profits as quickly as possible, above anything else. And customers who want the cheapest possible products.
Oh, and the tax code (government policy makers).

 

[BBassBassington]

The problem is more the policy makers. Bean counters have to work within policies. And stockholders who demand the highest possible profits as quickly as possible, above anything else. And customers who want the cheapest possible products.
Oh, and the tax code (government policy makers).

Exactly. Companies rarely operate outside the law, which means we often are just letting them do wasteful and stupid because it helps their bottom line. Which is all their designed to do, make mo money. Pesky things like recycling, paying people, ethical sourcing of materials and labour, etc. all get cut as fast as possible under the guise of improving profitability or increasing value if you're that companies marketing department.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

The problem is more the policy makers. Bean counters have to work within policies. And stockholders who demand the highest possible profits as quickly as possible, above anything else. And customers who want the cheapest possible products.
Oh, and the tax code (government policy makers).

I work for a Japanese corporation, the bean counters are the policy makers. Cut cost! Hai!

 

[nabilhuakbar]

Well, my Rumble 500c continues to impress. Our first gig in what must be a year by now, though we did sort-of practice outdoors at a place a few weeks ago. But this was an honest, PAYING gig! Woohoo! I posted a short gig report so the pic below is probably redundant, but you can just see the Rumble behind me up on a stand. Stage was kinda ridiculously small for a 5 piece with full drum kit, but we made it work. As always, I recorded all on a little Tascam hand-held recorder and I must say our mix was actually good! When I started playing with this band, you could barely hear the vocals over the too-loudness. But somewhere along the line we've really worked that out. No feedback, vocals clear as a bell. I tell you, though the Rumble put out more than enough at about 11:00, I think another key part of the sound is mic-ing that bass drum. I've told the band I wouldn't play out without it anymore. That THUMP of the bass drum just punches my bass lines through so nicely.

Now, granted the owner did ask us to turn down about 2 songs in. (not surprised there, esp. in this relatively small space.) But we must have done well because he kicked in an extra $150. We had a great turnout and I really think I earned more from the tips than from the actual gig $. We did bring in a pretty sizable group on our own, which was gratifying.

But damn I love that little amp. I cannot imagine playing without it anymore. It just does it's job perfectly every time. Let the guitar players have their finicky antique tube amps - I'll take lightweight, reliable Fender Class D bass power any day. And I've decided that I'll no longer care about adding an extension. I simply won't ever need it.

And here, for the first time ever, is a picture of me on TalkBass (excepting one from 1975) Oh, I don't normally wear a Hawaiian shirt. We were technically hired by a guy throwing a party there with a tropical theme. At least we all refused to wear cargo shorts!

View attachment 4274815

Hey cool, my first real gig with my 500 was also outdoors, and it looks like most of the ones we've got scheduled will also be outdoors. I'm super impressed with how loud the 500s are. I'm in the same boat, I never had to crank the volume louder than about 10

 

[GonePlaid]

Hey cool, my first real gig with my 500 was also outdoors, and it looks like most of the ones we've got scheduled will also be outdoors. I'm super impressed with how loud the 500s are. I'm in the same boat, I never had to crank the volume louder than about 10

I kinda prefer the sound of the 15 in my 200c. Outdoor gig this Saturday-weather permitting. It's always been enuff in the past. VOLUME maybe 11.

 

[JakobT]

The problem is more the policy makers. Bean counters have to work within policies. And stockholders who demand the highest possible profits as quickly as possible, above anything else. And customers who want the cheapest possible products.
Oh, and the tax code (government policy makers).

Sweden did a cool thing a couple of years ago - they slashed the VAT on all repairs in half, to make it more attractive to consumers to have broken stuff fixed instead of throwing it away.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

Sweden did a cool thing a couple of years ago - they slashed the VAT on all repairs in half, to make it more attractive to consumers to have broken stuff fixed instead of throwing it away.

That's super cool. I hate how much our culture has shifted to "throw it away and buy another one for cheap". It's a garbage mentality that ends up being super destructive in a ton of different ways.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

200 bucks
Plugged it in, everything works, 15 isn't blown, nice and loud. I'm happy with it.

 

[GonePlaid]

200 bucksView attachment 4275364

Well, ya won't get confused on the rear mounted controls.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

200 bucks
Plugged it in, everything works, 15 isn't blown, nice and loud. I'm happy with it.

View attachment 4275364

The red underlight on those amps is pretty rad

 

[trseal]

Wait. My R200c are rear-mounted controls....? Oh, yeah! It's much louder now!

Tim

 

[RL5]

Wait. My R200c are rear-mounted controls....? Oh, yeah! It's much louder now!

Tim

Pretty amazing how much louder these things are when you turn that knob marked "Volume" or "Master" clockwise.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

Wait. My R200c are rear-mounted controls....? Oh, yeah! It's much louder now!

Tim

RTFM!

 

[Katoosie]

How does it sound with your new EBS Reidmar head?

Update!
Sounds great, nor boomy at all like my rumble was. So pretty sounding, too.

 

[John Stephen]

Update!
Sounds great, nor boomy at all like my rumble was. So pretty sounding, too.

That is good news indeed. Very glad to hear you like it.

 

[G-Dog]

200 bucks
Plugged it in, everything works, 15 isn't blown, nice and loud. I'm happy with it.

Yowsa! Very clean looking, Blackie! Is that the 115 or 210? Either way, it should be a gigging machine! Good score.

The red underlight on those amps is pretty rad

Unfortunately, this is a V2 Rumble when they stopped putting the pulsing red light in the bottom port.

I gotta admit I used to have a pretty low opinion of the V1 & V2 Rumbles back when I was (more of) a Bassman snob. My R500c then won me over, tone & volume-wise. And then hearing a Strat played thru a red-pulsing Rumble V1 25 a couple years ago won me over to that illuminating feature!
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