Fender Rumble Club

[fourstringbliss]

Yes, the R500c weighs 36.5 lb.s and the R800c weighs 29 lb.s. Those who have lifted both say that 7.5 lb.s is quite noticeable. Especially, if weight is a particular concern for you! I'm old, and lazy, so I would definitely get the R800c if I didn't already have a near 12-year-old, tried & true R500c.​

Yes I believe the consensus I've read is that the Neo speakers of the R800c are more articulate and modern sounding than the ceramic ferrite speakers of the R500c. But, yes, you should try both to see which you prefer.​

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ALSO, the R800c has an Output switch that let's your reduce the power to ¼ the normal 400W alone/800W with an 8 ohm cab to just 100W alone/200W with cab. The R800c can also run two 8 ohm cabs, if you want (still 800W either way). But the R500c can run only one 8 ohm cab for 500W. I like this feature very much for home practice versus a loud gig.​

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Please come back and tell us which you get, preferably with pix, to get your free membership to The Club.​

I've been debating between a Rumble and an Ampeg RB210, and the general sense from what I've read is that the RB210 is clearer. I wonder if the Rumble 800 kind of gives a more Ampegie Rumble? Lighter and more articulate sounds good to me.

 

[John D Harris]

I've been debating between a Rumble and an Ampeg RB210, and the general sense from what I've read is that the RB210 is clearer. I wonder if the Rumble 800 kind of gives a more Ampegie Rumble? Lighter and more articulate sounds good to me.

To me, the Ampeg would have a warmer sound, not necessarily clearer.

I think clearer would go to the R800c (EQ'ed to whatever tickles your fancy).

 

[fourstringbliss]

To me, the Ampeg would have a warmer sound, not necessarily clearer.

I think clearer would go to the R800c (EQ'ed to whatever tickles your fancy).

Gotcha, thanks!

 

[G-Dog]

I've been debating between a Rumble and an Ampeg RB210, and the general sense from what I've read is that the RB210 is clearer. I wonder if the Rumble 800 kind of gives a more Ampegie Rumble? Lighter and more articulate sounds good to me.

Have you seen the comparison of Rumble & Rocket Bass features here? They are pretty close!

But, of course, the tone is what you really want to go for. For that you'll have to try them out with your own ears. You might make a note of these Rumble settings for an Ampeg tone to try, too.

 

[rodak]

View attachment 7055790
Swapped in the mini witch-hat knobs. I like this look.

Replying to an old post (hope that's ok!). I just became the proud owner of a Rumble 800 combo. I love it, but I reeealy would like to have witch-hat knobs just like those that Sox used. First question - are these just knurled-shaft push-on knobs? Takes a good bit of prying to get them off? I've seen other posts in the Wiki where they're called "sticky" knobs - what's the deal with that? I didn't want to risk breaking anything without checking it out first.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Replying to an old post (hope that's ok!). I just became the proud owner of a Rumble 800 combo. I love it, but I reeealy would like to have witch-hat knobs just like those that Sox used. First question - are these just knurled-shaft push-on knobs? Takes a good bit of prying to get them off? I've seen other posts in the Wiki where they're called "sticky" knobs - what's the deal with that? I didn't want to risk breaking anything without checking it out first.

Of course it’s ok!
My Rumble 100s have smaller D shafts; the knobs pull right off. They appear to be 3/8”. I assume all Rumble V3 series use this type/size.

 

[G-Dog]

... ... I just became the proud owner of a Rumble 800 combo. I love it, but I reeealy would like to have witch-hat knobs just like those that Sox used. First question - are these just knurled-shaft push-on knobs? Takes a good bit of prying to get them off? I've seen other posts in the Wiki where they're called "sticky" knobs - what's the deal with that? I didn't want to risk breaking anything without checking it out first.

Okey-dokey, rodie! @rodak, you are now member #1889 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

The "witch hat" knobs you seek are specified in the BlackFace It! - The Kevins1701 Mod link in the Rumble Modifications section of the Rumble Club Wiki page, and are currently sold out Sticky Knobs Cleaning - the SamBassPlayer mod but available here, instead.

The "sticky knobs" is an intermittent random malady that befell some OEM equipment, which Fender replaced for some, and others replaced them with very different things! But, I never saw it personally, and haven't seen any more incidents of this in quite a while. There is also the BlackFace It! - The Kevins1701 Mod for a DIY resolution to the stickiness.

So, how about telling us a bit about yourself, rodie, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular? You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!​

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Has anyone come up with settings to emulate a Marshall Major or a Marshall Super Bass 100?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

At church we recently switched to running the bass through the PA. We added spot monitors but they’re pretty useless for bass. Last time I couldn’t really hear what i was playing. Today I used a Rumble 100 leaned back on a stand as s bass monitor. Volume down, bass up. It worked perfectly.

 

[rodak]

Okey-dokey, rodie! @rodak, you are now member #1889 in the Fender Rumble Club. Congratulations and welcome. Put that number in your TalkBass Signature for safe keeping. Then make yourself at home here and on your Rumble Club Wiki page, the repository of all Rumbling wisdom and knowledge.

The "witch hat" knobs you seek are specified in the BlackFace It! - The Kevins1701 Mod link in the Rumble Modifications section of the Rumble Club Wiki page, and are currently sold out Sticky Knobs Cleaning - the SamBassPlayer mod but available here, instead.

The "sticky knobs" is an intermittent random malady that befell some OEM equipment, which Fender replaced for some, and others replaced them with very different things! But, I never saw it personally, and haven't seen any more incidents of this in quite a while. There is also the BlackFace It! - The Kevins1701 Mod for a DIY resolution to the stickiness.

So, how about telling us a bit about yourself, rodie, such as your bass experience in general and your Rumble journey in particular? You'll fit right in here since we have all kinds. But we all love to ... ... ...

Rumble On!​

Well, thanks for the welcome and info. I've been playing bass off and on since about 1971. Never owned a Fender amp of any kind til now. I was always drawn to the tuck&roll Kustom amps, and until recently my main amp was a K200B2/3x12 cab, which I love because it looks so awesome, but my last gig it started acting up on me, so I figured a) I need something reliable b) I need something much lighter weight (I'm 69, not getting any younger!), and c) the Kustom is in excellent cosmetic shape, and I'd like it to stay that way. Soooo, after doing some research, including reading and soliciting opinions here, I narrowed the search to the Rumbles, and sprung for the 800, mainly because of the weight, the "low power" switch, and the pre/post DI output. So far I'm very happy with it. Our next gig isn't til March 30 (we only play four times/year, every 5th Sunday, at a local prison ministry), so it'll be a while before I can really put it to the test, but I'm confident it'll be great.

Kevin's Blackface mod looks great. I'll be looking into that, thanks!

 

[fourstringbliss]

How reliable are the 500 and 800? I'm considering getting one of these and was going to finance through Sweetwater, but I just missed the promotional deal. Musiciansfriend has them both on 48 month financing but don't include the extra warranty that Sweetwater offers. I don't want to pay the extra $120 to get the same thing that Sweetwater gives for free.

 

[fourstringbliss]

How reliable are the 500 and 800? I'm considering getting one of these and was going to finance through Sweetwater, but I just missed the promotional deal. Musiciansfriend has them both on 48 month financing but don't include the extra warranty that Sweetwater offers. I don't want to pay the extra $120 to get the same thing that Sweetwater gives for free.

I guess I'm answering my own question. Having looked into it a bit Fender offers a 2 year warranty on the Rumble and Sweetwater offers a 2 year warranty. The warranty Sweetwater offers would be the same term and end the same time that the warranty from Fender ends, so there's no added value to buying from Sweetwater in this case.

 

[G-Dog]

How reliable are the 500 and 800? I'm considering getting one of these ... ... ...

My Rumble 500 combo is nearly 12 years old without a moment's worth of problems.

Browse the V3 Rumble Reliability Data thread for anecdotes both ways. For problems 7ender is very true to their 2-year warranty.

 

[DWA2469]

How reliable are the 500 and 800? I'm considering getting one of these and was going to finance through Sweetwater, but I just missed the promotional deal. Musiciansfriend has them both on 48 month financing but don't include the extra warranty that Sweetwater offers. I don't want to pay the extra $120 to get the same thing that Sweetwater gives for free.

I have used my 500 2 gigs a weekend for ten months now and it has operated flawlessly

 

[shoot-r]

View attachment 773046 View attachment 773047

BLACKFACE IT!

I like my Rumble 500 Combo, but it had a little cosmetic dissonance going. Fender borrows styling details from various eras of its history for these amps, but to my eye black Tolex and silver grille cloth recall the classic mid-'60s look. And the flat logo, cutout corners and cream knobs didn't hang with that. The handle also looked a little foreign. Turns out they're all easily and cheaply fixed, using genuine Fender parts, and the changes are all reversible.

The signature lipped corners to use are the "flat" ones, without the dished screw holes, Fender part #0991348000. They like one of their screws in a slightly different spot, and they're shaped for slightly thicker cabinet lumber, but I like the change. I looked at lots of pictures of '60s Fender amps to get the right orientation of the Blackface logo (#0994093000), and of course, logo placement from the factory was all over the map! The skirted 1-10 knobs (the small ones, 7/8-inch across the base, #0054419049, not the common 1-3/16 size) push right on to the Rumble pot shafts. I oriented mine with the mid-point ("5.5") straight up beneath the control label. Finally, the proper Blackface handle (#0990947000) fits right on using the original Rumble screws.

I have a set of tilt-back legs (the large, 19-inch size, #0990713000) and they will probably go on eventually. But those change the rules by requiring holes drilled in the amp sides. For now, the better integrated Blackface theme makes me smile.

I try to never judge equipment by their cosmetics, but Kevins that looks great!

HUGE improvement to my eyes!

 

[G-Dog]

I try to never judge equipment by their cosmetics, but Kevins that looks great!

HUGE improvement to my eyes!

That really is cool looking, isn't it!? If it just didn't blend into the dark of a stage so much! But, as it is, I find the stock white knobs easier to see on a dark stage.

shoot, don't you have any Rumble(s) that would get you into The Club? You seem like such a fan.

 

[MadJack]

That really is cool looking, isn't it!? If it just didn't blend into the dark of a stage so much! But, as it is, I find the stock white knobs easier to see on a dark stage.

shoot, don't you have any Rumble(s) that would get you into The Club? You seem like such a fan.

I see the Rumbles to have several eras styling.

The looks of the control panel is that of the Blackface era. They used the numbered witch hat knobs with a pointer/indicator point silk screened on the faceplate over the top of the knob. That pointer/indicator over the top of the knobs isn't present on the Rumbles. Also, the control labels were underneath the knobs, where on the Rumbles, the labels are above the control knobs.

The cream knobs are the tuxedo or brown to black transition era (late '63? to mid '64). If they screen printed the numbers around the knobs, then it would have been more Tuxedo era correct.

The top controls are more like the tweed era amps. A few of the late '63 5F1 Champs came in black tolex, but had the prior chrome and black chicken head chassis. Everything that I've seen had front mounted controls from the Brown/Cream eras and later.

The flat faced 7ender logo is a Brown/cream era logo style. Not seen on later models (that I know of or have seen).

Of course none of these are hard-fast rules, as 7ender was notorious for mixing and matching components and styles with whatever they had in stock, during transitional periods. They would use up whatever they had left, letting nothing go to waste. That makes early '60's 7ender styled amps much fun to build or style, you can mix and match to your heart's content and not really be wrong!

 

[G-Dog]

I see the Rumbles to have several eras styling.

The looks of the control panel is that of the Blackface era. They used the numbered witch hat knobs with a pointer/indicator point silk screened on the faceplate over the top of the knob. That pointer/indicator over the top of the knobs isn't present on the Rumbles. Also, the control labels were underneath the knobs, where on the Rumbles, the labels are above the control knobs.

The cream knobs are the tuxedo or brown to black transition era (late '63? to mid '64). If they screen printed the numbers around the knobs, then it would have been more Tuxedo era correct.

The top controls are more like the tweed era amps. A few of the late '63 5F1 Champs came in black tolex, but had the prior chrome and black chicken head chassis. Everything that I've seen had front mounted controls from the Brown/Cream eras and later.

The flat faced 7ender logo is a Brown/cream era logo style. Not seen on later models (that I know of or have seen).

Of course none of these are hard-fast rules, as 7ender was notorious for mixing and matching components and styles with whatever they had in stock, during transitional periods. They would use up whatever they had left, letting nothing go to waste. That makes early '60's 7ender styled amps much fun to build or style, you can mix and match to your heart's content and not really be wrong!

Thanks, Jack! You have perfectly congealed my much more vague mental speculations on the Rumble V3 styling(s). 7ender has had a long and distinguished history of styles and technologies that are fun to peruse in recollection. (Although I haven't quite figured out 'what up' with the 4-screw flat faced logo they sell online, but not the 2-screw logo currently used in the Rumbles!) But, I'm very glad to see you're not one of those OCD fans that takes personal offense at "period incorrect" items. Thanks, again.

 

[GonePlaid]

Thanks, Jack! You have perfectly congealed my much more vague mental speculations on the Rumble V3 styling(s). 7ender has had a long and distinguished history of styles and technologies that are fun to peruse in recollection. (Although I haven't quite figured out 'what up' with the 4-screw flat faced logo they sell online, but not the 2-screw logo currently used in the Rumbles!) But, I'm very glad to see you're not one of those OCD fans that takes personal offense at "period incorrect" items. Thanks, again.

They 'stole' those ideas from Gibson(try to figger out anything from Gibby/Epi: serial numbers[my 67 TBird's # says it could be a 66, 74, or 90-something]; changes in hardware, control knobs, jack, whatever).

 

[fourstringbliss]

Black or Ivory for a Rumble 500?