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Fender Rumble Club

#9,601
They're set at a regular height (around 3 mm when string pressed on last fret). And they're classical Fender pickups, so not hot output.
But again I don't think there's a problem, I just like better the tone I get with my pedals if I want some dirt.
It took me time to figure out how I liked low drive in my tone. Really I was just saying that external drive sound nice with the rumble if someone wants another flavor than the one present in the rumble.
And I really also love the clean tone of the combo.
 
#9,602
ticol07 said:
I have to add that I really like the tone of my 200c with the gain around noon (the compression sounds nice to my ears). This may explain that when I engage the overdrive there's already a hot level of overdrive.
In fact I think I could use the rumble overdrive but then I may have to adjust gain and eq when I switch between my clean tone and my ligthly dirty tone.
Click to expand...

I agree! There are a few tunes where I use overdrive but 90% of the time I set the gain up noonish and no drive active. I also use my zoom b3 for a Sansamp tone/tuner too.
 
#9,604
Lync said:
I agree! There are a few tunes where I use overdrive but 90% of the time I set the gain up noonish and no drive active. I also use my zoom b3 for a Sansamp tone/tuner too.
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The gain knob is really active on the punch of the tone I find. The compression it adds is really nice !
I too use the zoom B3 for various effects and it works very well.
By the way that its flip top model is in the same ball park than the 200c for clean tones. Gain acts the same way.
 
#9,605
I just figured out how to record silently using the XLR out.

You can stick your headphones or a dummy plug into the 1/8th" headphone jack and it silences the speaker but the XLR works perfect. Also would work if you don't want to use the amp as a monitor on stage. Probably not news but I didn't see it posted here.
 
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#9,606
I figured that also not a long time ago. Very convenient for silent recording !

By the way, I played a bit more with the Rumble overdrive and could found the setting that would work well for me, but it needs some tweeking between clean and dirty tone, so not very convenient during a gig.
If I set the gain and the eq at noon for clean tone with my bass tone wide open, I have to set the Drive at min, its level at 3 o'clock, then shut a bit my bass tone knob, and set high mids and highs around 11 on the Rumble to get a tone that matches well (to my ears) with my clean tone.
So, a usable solution if no other choice, but not the best option for a gig :)
 
#9,607
ticol07 said:
I figured that also not a long time ago. Very convenient for silent recording !

By the way, I played a bit more with the Rumble overdrive and could found the setting that would work well for me, but it needs some tweeking between clean and dirty tone, so not very convenient during a gig.
If I set the gain and the eq at noon for clean tone with my bass tone wide open, I have to set the Drive at min, its level at 3 o'clock, then shut a bit my bass tone knob, and set high mids and highs around 11 on the Rumble to get a tone that matches well (to my ears) with my clean tone.
So, a usable solution if no other choice, but not the best option for a gig :)
Click to expand...

G'day ticol, there is a tone pool within the thread somewhere that may assist you. Or not.
 
#9,608
I will say this, my P and J basses sound very very different out of the Rumble. The P can come out woolly, and the drive with it can be HEAVY, especially with the vintage button on. The J bass needs the bright button (IMHO) and the combo of the bright and drive gives the J bass a really rocking sound. The J really barks with the drive on a touch, and the P hits hard all the time.

What I've discovered is that I can simply roll off the volume on the bass after I've turned the drive on. It won't perfectly match volume levels, but it's not a big deal for me. Gain can stay up to get the compression without the drive, and rolling off the volume at the bass end brings it down just enough to stay pleasing if I do need some drive.
 
#9,609
JakobT said:
It's true that my overdrive was defective, however, it went the other way. I had practically no distortion, just a lot of hiss and noise.
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I have a 500c that SEEMS to be behaving the same way. I took it in to an authorized Fender repair shop and the tech said that it was normal. I questioned him on the loud hiss and he said that it was an acceptable level given the price point of the amp. He even called the Fender rep and validated with him that it was normal. Therefore, I accepted it as normal. What I still have questions about is when the overdrive is engaged I don't notice any appreciable distortion. Comments on this board indicate that the overdrive circuit is downright dirty. I went to the local GC and messed around with a 200c overdrive circuit and it sounded the same as my 500c (no distortion and loud hiss). Therefore, I figured the techs were right and I was expecting too much out of my amp. I am tempted to go the a different repair shop and get a second opinion but I really don't want to waste anybody's time. Opinions?
 
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#9,611
The OD on mine goes from kinds subtle (with the gain and drive low, vintage off, bright off) to a full on distortion (gain+drive at noon or higher, vintage or bright added).

It can be downright gnarly.

I don't get much hiss. I do get (a bit) of noise when everything is dimed.
 
#9,612
papa-bravo said:
I have a 500c that SEEMS to be behaving the same way. I took it in to an authorized Fender repair shop and the tech said that it was normal. I questioned him on the loud hiss and he said that it was an acceptable level given the price point of the amp. He even called the Fender rep and validated with him that it was normal. Therefore, I accepted it as normal. What I still have questions about is when the overdrive is engaged I don't notice any appreciable distortion. Comments on this board indicate that the overdrive circuit is downright dirty. I went to the local GC and messed around with a 200c overdrive circuit and it sounded the same as my 500c (no distortion and loud hiss). Therefore, I figured the techs were right and I was expecting too much out of my amp. I am tempted to go the a different repair shop and get a second opinion but I really don't want to waste anybody's time. Opinions?
Click to expand...

I've had 3 separate Rumbles that had similar results with the built in O/D. I just started using dirt pedals with much better results. I will say that I liked the overdrive on the V2 better than the V3's I had. Others here have had the same experience as well.
 
#9,613
papa-bravo said:
I have a 500c that SEEMS to be behaving the same way. I took it in to an authorized Fender repair shop and the tech said that it was normal. I questioned him on the loud hiss and he said that it was an acceptable level given the price point of the amp. He even called the Fender rep and validated with him that it was normal. Therefore, I accepted it as normal. What I still have questions about is when the overdrive is engaged I don't notice any appreciable distortion. Comments on this board indicate that the overdrive circuit is downright dirty. I went to the local GC and messed around with a 200c overdrive circuit and it sounded the same as my 500c (no distortion and loud hiss). Therefore, I figured the techs were right and I was expecting too much out of my amp. I am tempted to go the a different repair shop and get a second opinion but I really don't want to waste anybody's time. Opinions?
Click to expand...
IMHO, you have the same problem I did. I got a new amp out of it, one that didn't exhibit the same symptoms. I've subsequently aquired two Rumble amps, one 40 and one 500, that dont't exhibit those symptoms either.
 
#9,616
PERFORMANCE REPORT - BI-AMPING RUMBLES:

I did it! I connected my J-Bass to the INPUT on a Rumble v3 200C, then an instrument cable from the EFFECTS SEND on the 200C to the EFFECTS RETURN on a Rumble v3 500C and it worked exactly as expected (pre-amp out to power amp in).

Then I reversed the connection: I connected my J-Bass to the INPUT on a Rumble v3 500C, then an instrument cable from the EFFECTS SEND on the 500C to the EFFECTS RETURN on a Rumble v3 200C. Again, it worked exactly like the block diagram suggests it would.

And it was glorious to behold, my brethren! 490W of Rumble bliss.

I had both amps with EQs all centered (noon), no overdrive, no tone buttons engaged, Horn Switch ON. Both MASTER knobs set to 9:00 (I got neighbors.) (Of course, the 2nd amp in the chain (the slave) does not use any of the tone or volume controls.) I very much liked the smooth, clean tone.

Sometime I'm going to have to fill out the rig with extension cabs for the full 700W insanity mode.
 
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#9,617
Scott Truesdell said:
PERFORMANCE REPORT - BI-AMPING RUMBLES:

I did it! I connected my J-Bass to the INPUT on a Rumble v3 200C, then an instrument cable from the EFFECTS SEND on the 200C to the EFFECTS RETURN on a Rumble v3 500C and it worked exactly as expected (pre-amp out to power amp in).

Then I reversed the connection: I connected my J-Bass to the INPUT on a Rumble v3 500C, then an instrument cable from the EFFECTS SEND on the 500C to the EFFECTS RETURN on a Rumble v3 200C. Again, it worked exactly like the block diagram suggests it would.

And it was glorious to behold, my brethren! 490W of Rumble bliss.

I had both amps with EQs all centered (noon), no overdrive, no tone buttons engaged, Horn Switch ON. Both MASTER knobs set to 9:00 (I got neighbors.) (Of course, the 2nd amp in the chain (the slave) does not use any of the tone or volume controls.) I very much liked the smooth, clean tone.

Sometime I'm going to have to fill out the rig with extension cabs for the full 700W insanity mode.
Click to expand...

Can you explain the benefits of Bi-amping the Rumbles? Are both amps playing at the same time (So that you could use one as a monitor, or use both as a de-facto stack)? If both were putting music out, could you then couple both with extension cabs and really bring the pain?
 
#9,618
jp58 said:
Can you explain the benefits of Bi-amping the Rumbles? Are both amps playing at the same time (So that you could use one as a monitor, or use both as a de-facto stack)? If both were putting music out, could you then couple both with extension cabs and really bring the pain?
Click to expand...

Yes, both amps are playing at the same time. One pre-amp is driving two power-amp/speaker combos. The effect is like you have two bass players playing the exact same notes perfectly in sync, each playing into their own amp.

The benefit is more power and more speaker area.

Seeing how the Rumble line can already put out obscene power/$$$ and drive 4x10 or 2x15, the reason for doing so is mostly of academic interest, though I see no reason why you couldn't gig with this given the need. The output volume is controlled by the master amp (the one where the instrument is plugged in) so unless you want the monitor to be as loud as the back line, this might present a problem. If you had a stacked back line and a single monitor, that might work. Dunno; haven't tried it. But as a stack, if you really need that much power, that is where you would use such a system. Me, personally, I do not need that much power and never will.

I could also see such a rig running in GD Wall of Sound mode where you only use a fraction of the available power, just loafing along, cleanly moving massive amounts of air. No monitors needed.
And yes, with extension cabs you could REALLY annoy your neighbors!
banana.gif

I can get noise complaints with the Rumble 500 combo all by itself without the extension cabinet. So again, as far as I'm concerned, this is just an academic exercise. It can be done and it operates as the block diagram suggests.
 
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#9,619
Bodeanly said:
Rumblers, what is the biggest gig you've played your Rumbles with no FOH support? (Also include which Rumble rig). Thanks.
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Without FOH support? A small club, maybe a capacity of 200 people. I used my 500 watt combo with the 210 extension cab, I don’t recall how high the master was set, but it wasn’t very high at all. I wanted to see what I could do with it at a large club, but every one I’ve gigged at with the Rumble has had FOH support.
 
#9,620
Scott Truesdell said:
Yes, both amps are playing at the same time. One pre-amp is driving two power-amp/speaker combos. The effect is like you have two bass players playing the exact same notes perfectly in sync, each playing into their own amp.

The benefit is more power and more speaker area.

Seeing how the Rumble line can already put out obscene power/$$$ and drive 4x10 or 2x15, the reason for doing so is mostly of academic interest, though I see no reason why you couldn't gig with this given the need. The output volume is controlled by the master amp (the one where the instrument is plugged in) so unless you want the monitor to be as loud as the back line, this might present a problem. If you had a stacked back line and a single monitor, that might work. Dunno; haven't tried it. But as a stack, if you really need that much power, that is where you would use such a system. Me, personally, I do not need that much power and never will.

I could also see such a rig running in GD Wall of Sound mode where you only use a fraction of the available power, just loafing along, cleaning moving massive amounts of air. No monitors needed.
And yes, with extension cabs you could REALLY annoy your neighbors!
banana.gif

I can get noise complaints with the Rumble 500 combo all by itself without the extension cabinet. So again, as far as I'm concerned, this is just an academic exercise. It can be done and it operates as the block diagram suggests.
Click to expand...

I call for for a challenge - all you multi rumble owners; get to it - who can drive the biggest Wall of Rumble ?

(Will the mixed cab police visit?)
 

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