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Fender Rumble100, VERY nice!
- Thread starter BassicJazzy
- Start date
Try this:
Stuff socks in the ports and the low end will be a lot less muddy. Use tube socks for better tone of course.
I'm serious.
Ok the last sentence might be a joke but you do need thick fabric.
Stuff socks in the ports and the low end will be a lot less muddy. Use tube socks for better tone of course.
I'm serious.
Ok the last sentence might be a joke but you do need thick fabric.
I got a good deal on one a few years back. It was the Stealth, limited run with the black grille. I thought it did a great job as a home practice amp. Warm thumpy, and musical, for lack of a better term. It had a hard time keeping up with a fairly loud 2 guitar and drums 4 pc Cream-esque band though. I think the 200 might have got me there, but I've never had one of those. One other thing that would be a negative opinion is that the DI was Post everything, if I recall, and that would be problematic, in my opinion. I passed the deal on after a few months as I had other options. As a home practice amp though, my overall opinion is very favorable.
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I just glued in some pieces of foam from an old mattress, it fully removed the boom. First tested in one of my two R100C:s, that way I could really compare the difference.
These are my ”grab and go” amps, either one of them or the two chained. For bigger gigs I use my R500C or/and R200C.
And here is my 500 and 200 chained at a gig last Saturday.
Rumbles are highly competent, just not glamorous. I’ve had a couple. They perform well in their various price points.
I gig mine quite a bit. I don't play really loud rock but once did an outdoor gig with a loudish band with 2 guitars, drums and 3 singers. It's not a bass driven band so I didn't need to fill the space with lows but it kept up well, I was perfectly happy with it.
It is a small amp, it has it's limits and the sound is not as refined as more expensive stuff, but it's great super portable, convenient amp that can handle small clubs and moderate volumes.
It is a small amp, it has it's limits and the sound is not as refined as more expensive stuff, but it's great super portable, convenient amp that can handle small clubs and moderate volumes.
Congratulations on your new amp!
I recently got a Rumble 500 combo amp, and I still find it remarkable at how light and loud it is.
I had associated the Rumble branding as lower quality or entry level gear, but it seems that this has not really been the case for several years.
I recently got a Rumble 500 combo amp, and I still find it remarkable at how light and loud it is.
I had associated the Rumble branding as lower quality or entry level gear, but it seems that this has not really been the case for several years.
The rumble 100 is my rehearsal amp. Lightweight, good sound and loud enough to hang with a drummer.
I was seriously considering getting the 500 and just keeping it turned down but it would have been way more amp than I need. Really, I don't need an amp that could do more than a small coffee house environment, since I only play jazz and some light prog, maybe a little fusion if I get better? I was really surprised at how good this amp sounds for the price point. I am playing it at about 15% volume with my bass turned to 75% on passive mode, no enhancement buttons, and it is still almost too loud. Yesterday I punched in the "vintage" button and turned it up to 25% and my wife came in from 2 rooms away and said the walls were shaking in the other bedroom. If I had gotten the 500 I'd be evicted in about a week!
D
OP, how do you get away with playing out loud in an apartment? Given the way bass carries through walls and floors, I would have thought you'd annoy someone no matter what time of day you try to practice.
I'm on the top floor of a relatively new building, on the corner, so I have on common walls with the units around me in the corner bedroom. Also, there is a 6 lane very busy roadway out in front of the building, about 100 feet away, which masks a lot of the noise. Our floors are concrete insulated, windows are double paned, so not much goes through. All that said, I make sure to only use enough volume so that I can hear clearly what I am playing, and only play in the middle of the day, when everyone is at work. I don't start until 11am and am done by 4pm.
When I watched the demos on the Rumbe200 and could see the mic physically moving, and the camera shaking, I knew the 15" speaker was not meant for me. I used to have an 18" speaker in the cabinet that accompanied my Road 440 amp (300watts) back in the '70's, played in my apartment with that, but I was a kid then and didn't care. I just hope a kid like that doesn't move in next to me, unless perhaps he plays guitar, and plays it well?
The Rumble 100 is an S-tier studio/practice amp. Rumble On!
@G-Dog please chime in!
@G-Dog please chime in!
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Great amp! I use one for practice and for a small restaurant gig we play. Works perfect. Plenty of volume for this setting.
I agree - for jazz or acoustic gigs, I can make do with my Fender Bassman 25 which is 25 watts into a 10" speaker in a tilt back cab/combo. or a GK MB150s which is 100-ish watts into a 12" speaker (150 watts into 4 ohms).
I got the Rumble 500 because it's what was available on my local Craigslist, and I plan to use it for some rock or funk gigs/auditions. It's pushing 350 watts into the 2x10 cab and gets to 500 watts with an additional 8 ohm extension cabinet.
My other gigging amps are GK 400RBs which are 200 watts @ 4 ohms, and I've had good luck using them with 2 Bag End S15 cabs or a 4x10 for many gigs.
My "big" amp is a GK 800RB which isn't much more powerful : 300 watts @ 4 ohms plus another 100 watts @ 8 ohms with the "high" amp.
Truth is, these wattage specifications are nice and all, but the proof is really when you use them and see if the amp and cabs work for you and the space and your band. I always felt like the GK 400RBs seemed louder than expected.
The Rumble 500 gets pretty darn loud by itself. It feels like it is all I would need for a decent sized gig, and for larger gigs, I'd ask to be in the PA and use the amp as a monitor.
It should definitely provide a different sound than your more transparent Baby Blue, which is good for the sake of variety. I had both a Rumble 100 and 40 and preferred the 40 for sound, but the 100 can just about hang with a band, which is nice. I ended up moving in the direction of more transparent amps, but with the two you have now, you should be in a good position to decide which type of sound signature you prefer.
I did the same thing with foam in the ports on my Rumble 100 after reading about it on here. It definitely cleaned up the tone. I still need to put some black over the white spots. I used the foam from a memory foam pillow, no glue needed.
NYE 2024
Unfortunately the SWR BB2 started going south on me so I put it out in our complexes common area with the manual and a note saying anyone was welcome to it but it needed work. It was gone in 2 hours, someone accepted that challenge. Everything was starting to go bad due to age, and even replacement speakers cost half of what the amp was worth, plus it needed work in the power section. The BB2 had a distinctive, really rich sound but not a lot of volume. SWR's Aural Enhancer was a pretty nifty circuit that added distinctive tone and presence. It was a sweet amp, but in addition to not being loud it weighed a ton. They claimed 42 lbs, I'd say more like 50. My 70 year old back sure appreciates how light the Rumble is in comparison!
Huh? ... Wha... xzSft! Oh! There you are. Go ahead, say my name two more times!!
Well, I'll eat a bug if that li'l box didn't blow that whole dang band away! (Heck! I'll eat a bug anyways.) Yeah, I hadda add a 8 ohm 15" cab to get the full 500, but so what? I had one laying around already. So, after winning the next battle of our ongoing volume war the rest of the guys settled down, ya know? After that I never needed the extension cab anymore since they knew they couldn't push me around anymore, know what I'm sayin'? Yeah! A very loud, real 350 watts in a little 35 lb. box! None too shabby, I'll tell ya.
The 100? Yeah some love it "as is", alright, but some want a li'l sumpin' sumpin' extra, ya know, like a sock in the port or some lining inside. And some like chainin' 2 together. Like, whatever floats yer boat, OK?. Yeah, no, the li'l Rumble Studio 40 has enough 'juice' for me to handle an acoustic jam with 2 dozen guitars, mandolins, fiddles, dobro and banjo!!! Plus it's modeling really fits my personalities, all 50 of 'em!!!
Hey! All you Rumblers here oughta go to the TalkBass Fender Rumble Club and tell 'em I sent ya. (Remember to say it 3 times.) You can score a free membership and get the VIP backstage all-access pass to the "Hall of Rumble Secrets"! But, hey! You didn't hear that from me, ya know what I'm sayin'?
So, Aki, is that enough chime for your dime?
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Rumble on! As you requested, @G-Dog , @G-Dog. And one more time, thanks @G-Dog! That makes three times.Huh? ... Wha... xzSft! Oh! There you are. Go ahead, say my name two more times!!
Rubbles?! Yeah, they're good. I mean, really good! Naw, man, that was 20 years ago they were just for practice or beginners. But they are some serious shiznit now! I'm talkin' I used to be a hardcore big iron 15" snob, I'm tellin' ya. But I was drownin' in this really loud, I mean way TOO loud, country cover band, ya know what I mean? Then this little box with 2x10" appears braggin' 500 watts!! Well, you know, I'm thinkin' ... yeah, right ... as if, ya know!?! But, I hadda try it out just for, like, gits and shiggles.
Well, I'll eat a bug if that li'l box didn't blow that whole dang band away! (Heck! I'll eat a bug anyways.) Yeah, I hadda add a 8 ohm 15" cab to get the full 500, but so what? I had one laying around already. So, after winning the next battle of our ongoing volume war the rest of the guys settled down, ya know? After that I never needed the extension cab anymore since they knew they couldn't push me around anymore, know what I'm sayin'? Yeah! A very loud, real 350 watts in a little 35 lb. box! None too shabby, I'll tell ya.
The 100? Yeah some love it "as is", alright, but some want a li'l sumpin' sumpin' extra, ya know, like a sock in the port or some lining inside. And some like chainin' 2 together, like. Whatever floats yer boat, OK?. Yeah, no, the Studio 40 has enough 'juice' for me to handle an acoustic jam with 2 dozen guitars, mandolins, fiddles, dobro and banjo!!! Plus it's modeling really fits my personalities, all 50 of 'em!!!
Hey! All you Rumblers here oughta go to the TalkBass Fender Rumble Club and tell 'em I sent ya. (Remember to say it 3 times.) You can score a free membership and get the VIP backstage all-access pass to the "Hall of Rumble Secrets"! But, hey! You didn't hear that from me, ya know what I'm sayin'?
So, Aki, is that enough chime for your dime?
