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Fender Upgrade question.....

A

AHbassist

Sep 22, 2005
102
0
Kennesaw, GA
#1
I love the sound of Fender amps and basses. I have an American Hot-Rodded P that I use through a Rumble 100 1x15 combo.

The amp gets the job done when paired with my MXR Direct Box, and I hadn't planned on an upgrade until today. I played a Fender Bassman 250 amp through a Fender Bassman 4x10. I used a Squire frettless and it sounded pretty good. I hadn't even thought about buying it until I saw the price(s): $250 each, regular $399. Apparently they'er on clearance and are no longer shipped to stores in my area.

My only question: It's only 250 watts, how smart is it to buy it as a seperate head and cabinet? Should I look at more power? Do I really need more power?
 
#3
Depends on what style/size etc gigs /stuff U play.... The 250 combo IS a NICE amp IMHO. & U can always go thru PA if needed more FOH volume. Can U run a separate/extra cab from it as well as the internal spkr? If not & U do play loud stuff....may be worth checking out the higher wattage Bassman....or the 300PRO!!!!!!!!
 
#6
rodl2005 said:
Depends on what style/size etc gigs /stuff U play.... The 250 combo IS a NICE amp IMHO. & U can always go thru PA if needed more FOH volume. Can U run a separate/extra cab from it as well as the internal spkr? If not & U do play loud stuff....may be worth checking out the higher wattage Bassman....or the 300PRO!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

actually its the seperate head and cabinet (4x10)
but yea loudness isn't the issue at all, it just sounded so nice and the price was something I could live with. Tube amps are to warm for my taste tho:smug:
 
#8
AHbassist said:
actually its the seperate head and cabinet (4x10)
but yea loudness isn't the issue at all, it just sounded so nice and the price was something I could live with. Tube amps are to warm for my taste tho:smug:
Click to expand...

Sorry.....as I've said 2 many on here @ TB... I'm ALWAYS in a hurry:mad: -not s'posed 2 be on net at work :hiding:
If U like the sound....good price, they're NICE amps. These the ones w/ the 'room balance' control? I like 'em.:bassist:
 
#14
I have Fender Bassman 410 and 115 cabs and have a Fender Bassman 250/115 combo (which I have used at 200-300 crowd gigs and it works great!) Love the tone of this amp.

I liked the sound with other heads I had running into the Bassman 410 and 115, but I am not happy with running a Bassman 300 Pro which I have now and looking to get another cab(s). They don't seem to handle the big balls this tube amp puts out. They respond but lack the Low Notes.

Either way I also have a Rumble 60 for home practice, very easy to use, and back when I first started to play my first Bass amp to play out was a Fender BXR 300C with a 15. The 15 ripped and replaced it with an EV-Proline...WOW what a difference that made.
But now the Bassman Combos and cabs come with Eminence speakers which hold there own.
YOU will be very happy!!!!:hyper:
 
#15
AHbassist said:
I love the sound of Fender amps and basses. I have an American Hot-Rodded P that I use through a Rumble 100 1x15 combo.

The amp gets the job done when paired with my MXR Direct Box, and I hadn't planned on an upgrade until today. I played a Fender Bassman 250 amp through a Fender Bassman 4x10. I used a Squire frettless and it sounded pretty good. I hadn't even thought about buying it until I saw the price(s): $250 each, regular $399. Apparently they'er on clearance and are no longer shipped to stores in my area.

My only question: It's only 250 watts, how smart is it to buy it as a seperate head and cabinet? Should I look at more power? Do I really need more power?
Click to expand...

Man, I'll tell you, the tone out of these things is great, but they just aren't powerful enough for me.

To play 100+ venues without PA support is next to impossible for me without clipping the amp. I can't run the Pre-Gain (Volume) past 11 o'clock without clipping, and around 12-1 o'clock on the master before clipping. Its just not loud enough. Maybe the solution will be fixed with something like a 4x10/1x15, but the 2x10 Combo and 1x15 Cab aren't loud enough.
 
#16
Aight so I bought the amp and 4x10 yesterday. Overall I'm very happy with it. The room balance is a very nice touch, and the semi-parametric eq was killer to put it lightly. I'm havin a hard time figuring out the effects loop, but I can just direct-in for now. I appreciate all your suggestions once again.:D

-------edit------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay so it was like 5 in the morning, my reply really didn't offer a valid opinion of the product, so lets try this again.

This is a great looking amp first of all; it just looks mean! I love the compression ratio knob, mainly because it actually does something. I've never played an amp where compression was actually worth anything. The treble response sounds very crisp, the low end could use some work, although it could be because I prefer a treble-ish sound. The feedback is very minimal, except on my lower-quality basses, but that is more of an issue with the bass than the amp. The semi-parametric eq allows me to get just about any sound I want, while the room balance allows me to deal in the right amount of punch.

As for the cabinet, it's decent. Maybe I'll go ampeg when I need a new one. Although I did get it for a good price, so I shouldnt complain. As with the head, it's built very sturdy.
 
#17
SnakeAnthony said:
Man, I'll tell you, the tone out of these things is great, but they just aren't powerful enough for me.

To play 100+ venues without PA support is next to impossible for me without clipping the amp. I can't run the Pre-Gain (Volume) past 11 o'clock without clipping, and around 12-1 o'clock on the master before clipping. Its just not loud enough. Maybe the solution will be fixed with something like a 4x10/1x15, but the 2x10 Combo and 1x15 Cab aren't loud enough.
Click to expand...


yea I noticed the amp clipping a bit when I had the low mid cranked, but luckily thats not exactly my style. On my hotrod (which is a P+J setup) I use mostly the bridge J pickup. That and the high mids set little louder than the low mids.
 
#18
AHbassist said:
yea I noticed the amp clipping a bit when I had the low mid cranked, but luckily thats not exactly my style. On my hotrod (which is a P+J setup) I use mostly the bridge J pickup. That and the high mids set little louder than the low mids.
Click to expand...

Well, I actually have my low mids set to 800, with a very mild boost, my high mids at 1.5, boosted liberally, treble flat-2 o'clock depending on string life, and bass boosted to maybe 2 o'clock.

I don't do anything crazy with is, it just seems to overload too eairly. I hope that you get much better luck with yours than I did mine. Cangrats on your purchase.
 

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