• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Fender Rumble Club

No, not really, and yes Fender Rumbles are better than anything solid state from Sunn; SWR, or Genz Benz.
Redface bass350 excepted, even I won't go that far, as long as weight wasn't a factor. Without SWR rumbles would be BXR series. Now comparing class d offerings, sure I think rumbles are better in many ways compared to say an swr headlite (a fender product), and I would rather have a rumble than a markbass too, tone wise. As much as I like the rumble, I think saying better than anything swr or genz Benz ever out is a bit extreme. Better value for dollar I agree 100% across the board, as well as tone features, where the rumble stands unique among all micro heads from carvin to peavey to gk to eden to Benz, Aguilar etc...

But it never would have happened if sunn and swr were not usurped by fender. Fender and solid state bass prior to swr takeover, bleh (m80 was decent tho). Nothing against the tube side, a bassman is a bassman, but we all have to admit, amps like the svt and the sunn 200t/2000 etc, set the bar higher, which fender of course answered in turn.

We have to respect pioneers like Steve w. Rabe and Bob Gallien for what they did in the 70s and 80s with acoustic, gk and swr. Without those we would all be playing peavey Mk iv and fender BXR amps, which at least in my opinion, are the types of amps which chased me into SWRs arms. And I liked my bass350 better than any gk or solid state ampeg, though the svt pros had much more power. I toured with an svt4pro, and that thing was a monster. I never had to touch anything but the knobs when I dialed it in, otherwise all bets would be off, too heavy. The bass350 was more reasonable, but 1/3 the power.

But all that aside, my rumble kicks butt, though there still are certain subtle qualities of the 90's high end MOSFET amps and heavy premium cabs have that the class d/neo/ceramic don't quite yet equal, but at much higher weight and cost that more than tip the scales over to the rumbles.

But robustness wise, I can't see this rig surviving 20years like my older swr did, and likely still does in the hands of whoever got a great deal on them from our high desert shaved head theives.

Our backs all prefer the rumbles that is for certain.

I guess what I am also saying is, a rumble v3 IS an SWR amp, indirectly, and had swr stayed independent and relevant like gk has, and fender was still on fender and sunn life force alone. We would not be here today raving about this product. It is just the right blend of usurped knowledge and experience and fender big corporate mass production.
 
Last edited:
Without SWR rumbles would be BXR series.
Wrong. Fender Rumbles have been 'clean sheet' engineered by FMIC. Fender's Principal Engineer Dave Lewis has been intimately involved with Fender Rumbles since day one. He and his design team are the brain trust behind the Super Bassman/100t and Bassman 500. Not to mention the acoustic engineering behind all the Bassman Pro & Rumble speaker cabinet designs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 99Z3
Technically was endorsed by ampeg over 10 yrs ago, but at a discounted but not free gear level. I was so happy with my swr rig that I did not want to pay for ampeg at direct discount. Also, the other guys in the band would have had to downgrade to crate blue Voodoos, they weren't hip to that.

A year earlier I was trying to get through to fender for a fender/swr endorsement, but either my connection didnt successfully get the rep to see us, or she was just unimpressed with us being on a warped tour side stage without much of a crowd, and passed on unnoticed. Also I got buried on that show since the svt4pro/810 was not there so I used my swr and made the mistake of not lugging the 2nd cab (long way to the trailer), so was underpowered and that year the soundguy on that stage was all about full blast bass rig to not have to put it in the PA. 220w 410 was undergunned, she probably couldn't hear me anyway. 350w and the added 15 would have made a difference, but 1000w 810 is extreme, and the soundguy was an idiot not adapting to the conditions and giving me a little love. As much as I was an idiot for being lazy and leaving the Bertha in the trailer. Maybe that's why she left me for a skinhead with Chevy lock picking abilities 11 years later?

In a parallel dimension I am a fender and former SWR endorsee and in a mid level epitaph band and still running audio on the side for even bigger bands. Troof! As one of my old college sound class buddies is guitar tech for just about everyone, another guy from the class is panic at the disco's FOH, as was a member of avenged sevenfold. 2004 warped tour would have been my foot in the door, and 2005 I got accepted by ampeg. I wish I had kept in touch with that at least.

Nowadays I would gladly take a low level endorsement from fender, rumble, not even bassman, and MIM with USA pickups and free strings would be gladly accepted. I have a lot of steps to reclimb still, and it is much tougher in at 41 than 29/30.
 
Wrong. Fender Rumbles have been 'clean sheet' engineered by FMIC. Fender's Principal Engineer Dave Lewis has been intimately involved with Fender Rumbles since day one. He and his design team are the brain trust behind the Super Bassman/100t and Bassman 500. Not to mention the acoustic engineering behind all the Bassman Pro & Rumble speaker cabinet designs.

Correct, as swr was not even swr for years before fender bought them, the death spiral had begun.

But what they did get from swr is experience in building SWR amps, and it surely influenced fender bass amps from then on out. Also largely in the realm of speaker design that eminence had taken over to try to match the swr spec from the former PAS and other high end vendors. While the rumbles may technically be clean slate from swr designs (as everything class D is by default since pre fender swr didn't use it), the Entire fender bass amp line got a boost when they acquired SWR, as apparent in the 410 bassman cabs post swr, and the start of swr redhead style combos which gradually improved over the last decade. The rumble being the culmination of such. The V4 is likely to be even better yet.

My point is that it changed fenders direction in bass amps and cabs in general, the foundation of that leap forward is totally independent of later designs. And you can't manufacture a product line you bought, without learning something or at least having it influence further design tweaks for the competing line under the same umbrella.

In a parrallel dimension, I clued some investors into boosting swr back in 1999 before rabe sold it, SWR is bigger than GK and fender is still making sunn beta bass amps with fender tweaks. :) And I am sure I have significant shares of such, and the connections I made with the artists changed my playing and engineering career, and I also am a talk bass sponsor, see that SWR banner? ;)

Even better, SWRs success affected GK and fender bought them out instead, and still has a decent rumble line. Everyone and their brother copied the modern 410 from the Goliath anyway... GK included. The redhead was a ground breaker for sure, and the bassman 210 combos were basically like poor man's redhead after the swr aquisition, they looked surprisingly similar, as the v2 350 continued. Etc etc...

I stand firm, fender acquiring SWR was the best thing for the future of the fender bass amp line, regardless of how many generations removed the rumble is. It still has the spirit of David Nordschow and Steve Rabe as its great great grandpappies.

It is an example of DNA and spirituality/reincarnation, rather than grandson engineers.

With all due respect, big business is big business, and intellectual property and OEM specs influence future generations.

I consider it more of a hybrid many generations removed actually, but a small percentage of that DNA came from SWR (which also came from eden cab wise).

Heck that even relates to Acoustic because Rabe was there in the 70s.

They still remain in ancestral genetics.

And we can agree to semi agree, because we are both right, but just have different biases.

Rumble is the great uniter. :)

FMIC is a great big music gear aomeba like LOUD, the same kind of thing goes on in the land of ampeg Mackie crate etc... The aomeba grows and grows and homogenizes over time.

Eventually there will be a loud/fmic merger, just the same as ALL restaurants are taco bell after the franchise wars and the big one.

;)
 
Last edited:
Better yet, Fahhhsters, it's Canadian for beer eh!? (My original satire of "fosters, its Australian for beer mate!") Copyright 1999 Ubernator, brought to you by brawndo.

Yes, that famous Australian lager, as sold here in USA, brewed in Toronto.

Rest assured, I will never let my side of a fender vs anything debate with linnin escalate to the likes of linnin and jimmy in an ampeg vs fender debate, as each is way more passionate about their brand of choice than I am about swr, that's for sure ;)

I saw that during my decision rumble vs micro VR period. The product itself made the decision, not the brand name, but linnin surely made it clear that no decision should be made without trying the rumble, which I was able to do at the same time at least.

Man those ampeg vs fender debates can get brutal when the reigning heavyweight champs get in the ring. :). I try to stay neutral even though I may dig a hole for myself like I did when I challenged linnin on his " better than anything solid state swr ever made", however TECHNICALLY, if that excludes tube preamps, then I am arguing moot, though a workingman's 15 blew away any fender combo BACK THEN, they are underpowered overweight dinosaurs now, my rumble 200 would destroy a wm15. All swr pro series amps had a 12ax7 tube in them. The workingman's series was a step down, though still better than many other solid state amps at the time. They were not allowed to evolve with the time, and under fender the line did spiral down to where "pre fender" became synonymous with "pre CBS"

Set the way back machine 20 years and I would side with ampeg while holding my swr above, but ampeg has gone down while fender keeps going up, fender BOUGHT swr, ampeg was bought by crate, and then loud. Do the math hah. Still have respect for ampeg personally regardless, I never balk at an ampeg svt back line, solid state or tube. I just am not planning on buying them unless I was again offered an endorsement that fender denied.

And I am not much of a beer drinker, but there is a hurricane in my fridge, the most fun you can have for a buck thirty nine! I might crack it as a peace offering after all. Though a Molson or Labatt would taste better.

I like a good heff or a shiner bock.
 
Last edited:
Redface bass350 excepted, even I won't go that far, as long as weight wasn't a factor. Without SWR rumbles would be BXR series. Now comparing class d offerings, sure I think rumbles are better in many ways compared to say an swr headlite (a fender product), and I would rather have a rumble than a markbass too, tone wise. As much as I like the rumble, I think saying better than anything swr or genz Benz ever out is a bit extreme. Better value for dollar I agree 100% across the board, as well as tone features, where the rumble stands unique among all micro heads from carvin to peavey to gk to eden to Benz, Aguilar etc...

I'm a little wary of the word "better", myself. It is the sort of word that always needs further information to be meaningful. "Better" for what? It all depends on what sort of tone you're looking for, what features you find useful, and how fat your wallet is. For my own part, I would say that the Rumble is better for ME, as I was looking for something very specific: A powerful, lightweight amp with great tone that didn't break the bank. The Rumble has delivered this in spades, and so it works better for me personally than anything else I've tried. Other people have other priorities, so the Rumble may or may not work for them. YMM, as always, V.
 
Here’s a minor mod that I made to my Rumble 500 combo. I liked the vintage look of the v3 cloth grill but it is easily damaged and doesn’t really protect the speakers. The cloth grill does fit over the new metal grills so I could put it back on but I’m leaving it off.

I was able to attach the new grills through the same holes that attach the speakers themselves. I wanted to use black screws so they would blend in but I couldn’t find any in the correct size. Other than that I’m very happy with how it turned out.
Nice! Where did you find them?
 
Nice! Where did you find them?
They look like mtx style grille's, actually car audio or marvac/fry's type electronics stores are probably the best bet, what you would put over a subwoofer box in a car stereo. That's my guess at least, I didn't take a close look.

Though the old style from 20 years ago had these ugly plastic tabs that held them down, not sure where ones with matching holes can be found, I never looked. I'm sure we will be enlightened shortly.
 
Small chance I might get to try the 112 in a guitar application soon, replied to a local "punk rock" 40+ band looking for a guitarist and at least a dialog opened, and just sent a reply to a hard Rock/metal guitar ad, however they could all be 25, and since I have no guitar clips and explained why, and that I am 41, and rock only 2 12s instead of 4, they might not even reply.

Plus still pending results from last Wednesday audition and opened yet another bass band dialog last night, with one or 2 others pending further replies.

Sawed off shotgun approach, but at the same time, all the birds flew up at the same time, what could I do?

Since I have more time than $, I would be down with trying 2 different bass bands and one guitar band. Or I could end up nowhere.

3 bands and a full time job with 100 miles of commuting helped my brain explode before, but this time there is no pesky dollar slave job to get in the way, I slaved enough to ensure base survival as long as the politicians don't have their way with social security, so they can divert the funds to their personal luxuries.
 
Hey guys, I could use a little direction with my 500 combo.
I've been hearing rave reviews about these rumble amps so I picked one up last weekend. Used it for practice Sunday evening and it sounded great. Very happy. And 36lbs!
Anyway, jumping forward to my Wednesday night gig. I couldn't hear my bass very well at all. It's new to me so I figure I need to learn the EQ section a little better to get the sound to cut through the mix. My main rig is a genz head through an Ampeg 410hlf. Punchy and loud as hell. But weighs a ton. And I'm done with toting that thing around. And it's too big for a lot of my gigs. Hence the 500 combo.
So, last night's gig was the same thing. Still had trouble hearing it. I set it up at ear level and that helped a bit, but the mids just weren't there. I'd read that someone said they dime the mids and cut the bass which is somewhat helpful, but I'm thinking that the speakers are throwing too far into the room for me to be able to hear it on the stage. Could that be? My percussionist checks our levels on our warm ups and says it's super loud out in the room. I'm just not sure what to do here.
Admittedly, last night's room is difficult to EQ.
I don't engage any contour as I'm a mid forward player. It does seem to me that the EQ section requires a lot of tweaking for noticeable results compared to my genz or Eden or even my GK. These amps only take a little to get a lot of results.
I really really really want this combo to work for me, so any help will be very much appreciated.
Thanks, Chris.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yahboy and Linnin
Welcome to the Fender Rumble Club @gjohnson441496! :woot:
You are member #650 :hyper: :laugh: Rumbles Rock! :smug:
Thank you very much! Honestly, I only bought this amp for low volume practice and the headphone jack. Fender packed in a ton of quality in a small lightweight package. Every now and then I make decisions that I'm absolutely happy about. This was one of them... and it didn't break the bank!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Linnin
Hey guys, I could use a little direction with my 500 combo.
I've been hearing rave reviews about these rumble amps so I picked one up last weekend. Used it for practice Sunday evening and it sounded great. Very happy. And 36lbs!
Anyway, jumping forward to my Wednesday night gig. I couldn't hear my bass very well at all. It's new to me so I figure I need to learn the EQ section a little better to get the sound to cut through the mix. My main rig is a genz head through an Ampeg 410hlf. Punchy and loud as hell. But weighs a ton. And I'm done with toting that thing around. And it's too big for a lot of my gigs. Hence the 500 combo.
So, last night's gig was the same thing. Still had trouble hearing it. I set it up at ear level and that helped a bit, but the mids just weren't there. I'd read that someone said they dime the mids and cut the bass which is somewhat helpful, but I'm thinking that the speakers are throwing too far into the room for me to be able to hear it on the stage. Could that be? My percussionist checks our levels on our warm ups and says it's super loud out in the room. I'm just not sure what to do here.
Admittedly, last night's room is difficult to EQ.
I don't engage any contour as I'm a mid forward player. It does seem to me that the EQ section requires a lot of tweaking for noticeable results compared to my genz or Eden or even my GK. These amps only take a little to get a lot of results.
I really really really want this combo to work for me, so any help will be very much appreciated.
Thanks, Chris.
Welcome to the Fender Rumble Club @jchrisk1! :woot:

You are member #651 :hyper: :cool: Rumble On! :cool:

One thing you have to do is raise your combo up off the floor and closer to your ear. There are a lot of good ways to do this, some better than others. My Rumble 200 combo (same size as the 500) works very well on a standard wooden chair. Getting that 20" of height really makes a difference. It also decouples your combo from the floor or stage. Try it and see. :bassist:
 
  • Like
Reactions: 99Z3
Welcome to the Fender Rumble Club @jchrisk1! :woot:

You are member #651 :hyper: :cool: Rumble On! :cool:

One thing you have to do is raise your combo up off the floor and closer to your ear. There are a lot of good ways to do this, some better than others. My Rumble 200 combo (same size as the 500) works very well on a standard wooden chair. Getting that 20" of height really makes a difference. It also decouples your combo from the floor or stage. Try it and see. :bassist:

He mentioned he had it set up at ear level. So that's odd.
Maybe the guitars are eq'd low, and it's washing out your sound?
 
Nice! Where did you find them?

I ended up getting them on ebay:
Speaker Grill 10" (1 Pair) Waffle Metal Car DJ Audio Woofer With Screws Clips

It came with those ugly clips but I didn’t need them. I also had to get some longer screws. The size of those screws are M4-.70 and I went with 35mm long. The holes in the grills didn’t line up perfectly with the screw holes so I had to do a little bit of filing. I also used a metal washer and a rubber washer between that and the grill.
 
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
  • Like
Reactions: lowsideonacurve
Maybe the guitars are eq'd low, and it's washing out your sound?

I did consider this as well. We are using subs for three or four gigs as our guitar player is out of town. I'm thinking I will look at their settings on their amps next time. I don't have this problem with my regular guitarist. I've pounded into his head the difference between bedroom tone and live tone. So, we get a good mix across the spectrum.
 
Ok all,

I am going to try one myself and I stink at covering with tolex.

So I was thing paint on finish with a metal grille(will help with cooling) I will still put a "fender Logo" on the metal grille.

PIC has tolex but think paint on

Let me know what ya'll think.

TKS

Rumble Head Cover 2 copy up.jpg