Fender Rumble Club

[Miles_ONeal]

In my time here on TB, I’ve seen this sentiment a lot. Those voices have been quiet for a while, as it has become increasingly clear that the Rumble is an excellent budget option. But as soon as someone starts a thread like this, all the haters come out of the woodwork.

However, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and there are many who don’t care for the Rumble tone. That’s fine, and there are plenty of other options out there for them. That doesn’t change the fact that the Rumble line is still the most popular line of bass amps out there, and does a great job for a great many players all over the world.

Some of my favorite music on the planet was made with the bass through Ampegs. Some still is. Yet there are lots of people who don't want Ampeg tone. I totally get that. What I don't get is people disparaging Ampeg (or Rumble or ...) tone as garbage, horrible, etc. It's just your (my) taste, and that's ok.

 

[dORSY]

What I don't get is people disparaging Ampeg (or Rumble or ...) tone as garbage, horrible, etc. It's just your (my) taste, and that's ok.

Indeed. Neither any Fender amp (/n/or Ampeg) was made to be clean or transparent. If anyone wanted a "clean transparent" tone, they'd go straight into a console w/o any preamp or EQ (been there done that when I had/wanted to). But it's quite rare in the wild.

 

[JakobT]

Some of my favorite music on the planet was made with the bass through Ampegs. Some still is. Yet there are lots of people who don't want Ampeg tone. I totally get that. What I don't get is people disparaging Ampeg (or Rumble or ...) tone as garbage, horrible, etc. It's just your (my) taste, and that's ok.

Exactly.

 

[Enrique M]

I am still a noob on this whole gear journey. I like the sound I get out of my Roland 30w Bass Cube w/ the built in effects. If they were still in production (and at higher wattages), I probably would have simply uprgraded when I decided to get more serious about bass.

After a lot of internet searching, I decided on a Rumble 500c. Love the weight, the volume, and most of the time the tone. But I am still figuring out how all the tone knobs on the amp and my bass work. But as far as an amp that makes it possible for me to gig a wide variety of music. No complaints.

I just picked up a YYZ shapeshifter that I am running through the effects loop on the rumble 500c. I think I am really gonna like this pairing as far as new clean and distorted tone options go.

 

[FearNoEvil65]

I'm surprised at the popularity of the "I hate the rumble 100" thread currently going on.

I suggested he get a different brand, I personally like my Rumble 200 a lot and have done lots of gigs with it, sometimes with a 115 ext cab included and I get a big, punchy tone and usually get a lot of compliments on my sound. Some posters there said that's completely not possible.
I had a 100 combo and didn't like it as well as the 200 and up combos but I think the tone he doesn't like may have more to do with his basses, the room he plays in and how he uses his EQ, etc.
Maybe I just have some good sounding basses!

 

[SharpCat]

I suggested he get a different brand, I personally like my Rumble 200 a lot and have done lots of gigs with it, sometimes with a 115 ext cab included and I get a big, punchy tone and usually get a lot of compliments on my sound. Some posters there said that's completely not possible.
I had a 100 combo and didn't like it as well but I think the tone he doesn't like may have more to do with his basses, the room he plays in and how he uses his EQ, etc.
Maybe I just have some good sounding basses!

Any product anywhere, you’ll find people that don’t like it. I shouldn’t have used the word ‘hate’ probably. OP is certainly entitled to their opinion.
I just found the large river of agreement with the OP eye opening. Like the Rumble? Great! Don’t like it? Fine too! But vehemently badmouth it?!? It’s just an amp and not that expensive. Move on.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I suggested he get a different brand, I personally like my Rumble 200 a lot and have done lots of gigs with it, sometimes with a 115 ext cab included and I get a big, punchy tone and usually get a lot of compliments on my sound. Some posters there said that's completely not possible.
I had a 100 combo and didn't like it as well as the 200 and up combos but I think the tone he doesn't like may have more to do with his basses, the room he plays in and how he uses his EQ, etc.
Maybe I just have some good sounding basses!

I like two R100s better than one. For one, I have a tube sock stuffed in a tube. Some day I'll get around to putting foam inside the cab. Maybe.

 

[SoulReflection]

I like two R100s better than one. For one, I have a tube sock stuffed in a tube. Some day I'll get around to putting foam inside the cab. Maybe.

So... that's what tube socks are for .

I just searched the TB Classifieds and the last valid sale for a used one was Feb./23, asking $200 including a cover. I say valid because there was one other, more recent, asking $300. Being $30 less that list is hardly valid considering loss of warranty and potential extra for shipping.

A quick review of Reverb offerings is similar. Point being...if they were that bad and unpopular, no one would pay more than $200 including a cover.

To me, that post is merely click-bait and has resulted in whipping a dead horse. I have "unwatched" it and hope the next person to post something similar supplies the popcorn.

 

[dORSY]

So... that's what tube socks are for .

I just searched the TB Classifieds and the last valid sale for a used one was Feb./23, asking $200 including a cover. I say valid because there was one other, more recent, asking $300. Being $30 less that list is hardly valid considering loss of warranty and potential extra for shipping.

A quick review of Reverb offerings is similar. Point being...if they were that bad and unpopular, no one would pay more than $200 including a cover.

To me, that post is merely click-bait and has resulted in whipping a dead horse. I have "unwatched" it and hope the next person to post something similar supplies the popcorn.

oh, well, meanwhile here in Europe:
4/5 of the most popular Rumbles are out of stock at the biggest EU music store (thomann), and there is hardly any on the used market (and they sell super fast) I wonder why.

And Yes 27% VAT SUCKS! (ty, government!)

 

[Ottertail]

And Yes 27% VAT SUCKS! (ty, government!)

“value added tax”

Yeah where’s the value. I’ve never heard of a more insultingly named tax. All it represents is extra cost to boost gov malfeasance and waste. But we have plenty of that that here too!

 

[SoulReflection]

oh, well, meanwhile here in Europe:
4/5 of the most popular Rumbles are out of stock at the biggest EU music store (thomann), and there is hardly any on the used market (and they sell super fast) I wonder why.View attachment 5386639

And Yes 27% VAT SUCKS! (ty, government!)

Thanks for your comments, @dORSY. I couldn't "like" your post because 27% VAT does suck. If incomes were 27% higher, that would be different but, I suspect they are not. But, I do like your reference to those products selling well, even at higher prices.

Although I could have also posted my criticisms towards other manufacturer's products I have bought and sold, I thought it would be flaming and against the rules. In addition, it would be against my belief that everyone's ears and sound preferences are different and their choices should be respected...

 

[SoulReflection]

“value added tax”

Yeah where’s the value. I’ve never heard of a more insultingly named tax. All it represents is extra cost to boost gov malfeasance and waste. But we have plenty of that that here too!

In Canada there was GST (General Services Tax). That was elevated to Harmonized Tax. Didn't see any Harmony in that. I don't think it mattered what they called, the result was the same. At least in the US, we can pay somewhat the same as if these products were actually produced here...!

 

[dORSY]

Although I could have also posted my criticisms towards other manufacturer's products I have bought and sold, I thought it would be flaming and against the rules.

Criticism can be valid. As long as You do not ignore facts.
Criticism biased by opinion is a whole another story.
While opinion is always "valid", criticising based on it... is bull*#!.
At least to me.

 

[G-Dog]

... ... ... I immediately bought a Studio 40, ... ..., I found the GR Bass carbon fiber combos and cabs made in Italy. .... ..., My 500 combo (250 watts into its custom 12" speaker) weighs only 17.2 lbs. ... .... If I want it to sound like an Ampeg 8x10 fridge, for example, I just plug my Studio 40's FX Send into the FX Return on the 500 combo.

AT Cube 350/500/800 – GRBass

AT Cube 112 – GRBass

Maarti, do you just connect the Studio to the GR 500 for bedroom levels? Remember, it was determined that the Stage & Studio FX Send levels don't get very loud with Rumble FX Returns, so they need to go into Rumble Inputs instead. I assumed the same to be true with other brand's FX Return. Or are you able to get loud Studio tones out of your GR that way?
.

 

[G-Dog]

"How long can you tread water?"-Bill Cosby as God(a LONG time ago)

*ding

“ N O A H ”

Noah: What?

No answer:

"Voo-pah, voo-pah, voo-pah, ... "

" N O A H "

Noah: What?!?
.

 

[Ottertail]

Whaddya want, I been good!

 

[GonePlaid]

Whaddya want, I been good!

Mildly surprised how many of us remember that [stuff].

 

[GonePlaid]

I like two R100s better than one. For one, I have a tube sock stuffed in a tube. Some day I'll get around to putting foam inside the cab. Maybe.

I did put some foam in my R40 and R100. Then, following in the footsteps of Combo Club FL1, I took some back out.
I went with the Rumbles for a few reasons. 1-I wanted to come close to the tone I got from my 63 Piggyback Bassman(go to the source); B-weight(s)-I'm too old and decrepit to move heavy @$$ amps around; #-cost-best value for the buck, IMNSHO.
In order, I got the R200c first(11/2015), partly because of its extension speaker capability[didn't know the daisy chain trick-if I had I would've gotten 2 100s]; then the R40 ('cos my 2000 Bassman 25 took a -later fixed); then the R100 since the 200c was really too much for some of the rooms we play. I have played a few times through 2xR100. About as close as I can get to the sound of that 63 Bassman, but with a lot more 'oomph'. Potentially 4x more!
I like a mostly 'clean' tone and I don't use any effects 'cept maybe an octaver occasionally. I always have VINTAGE in/on and sometimes add BRIGHT for presence depending on the room acoustics.
I owned an SVT/810 rig for ~3 years. After lotsa experimenting with settings, I never got the sound I wanted out of it. Happily sold it. Didn't know the term 'baked-in sound' at the time, but that pretty much describes what I didn't like. I don't "hate" them, they just aren't for me.

 

[Jon Avedian]

Cool! What type of wood is the body? (Off-topic in an amp thread, I know..).

Body is low trunk heartwood ash I milled from trees taken down at my house, which was built by my grandfather. Added Birdseye maple veneer to an Amazon neck. Finally got the nut, action, and intonation set. It's cool feeling the low E vibration even unplugged.
I know 40 watts isn't much in the bass world for performing, but it definitely works in a bedroom with hardwood floors!

 

[GonePlaid]

Body is low trunk heartwood ash I milled from trees taken down at my house, which was built by my grandfather. Added Birdseye maple veneer to an Amazon neck. Finally got the nut, action, and intonation set. It's cool feeling the low E vibration even unplugged.
I know 40 watts isn't much in the bass world for performing, but it definitely works in a bedroom with hardwood floors!

I played a gig last night using my Rumble 100 at a retiree condo. I coulda easily used my R40.