First serious amp purchase, upgrading from a Fender Rumble 100

[TheDutch47]

I recently made a switch from swearing by Eden and Ampeg stuff to a complete fanboy of GK. I got an MB Fusion head on here under $500 and a CX210 locally for $250. I have found perfect tones from punk to funk. Can't recommend GK enough. Just not their cheap stuff.
For $1000 you can get a whole lot from the classifieds in here.

 

[Wasnex]

If you're not in a hurry, make an effort to try as many amps and cabs as you can. Eventually you find combinations that better meet your personal tone goals. Before buying, make sure they meet your volume requirements and budget constraints.

Many like a modular rig. The idea is you can tailor the rig to the gig. For low volume gigs bring one cab (less effort). When you need lot's of volume, bring two cabs.

If you are happy with the Rumble, a Rumble 500 210 combo and Rumble 210 extension cab are only $150 over your budget. You could get the Ruble 500 combo first and have the option of buying the cab later if you need it.

Regarding volume. Many companies post a sensitivity rating for the cabs. How loud a rig can play is a function of usable power and how efficient the cab is. Use a more efficient cab and it needs less power to get loud. If you know the useable power and the cab's sensitivity rating expressed at 1W and measured at 1m, then you can estimate how loud the rig can play.

Unfortunately I don't believe sensitivity ratings are available for the Rumble line, but I will provide the following example so you see how to do the estimate.

Formula: Calculated SPL = [Log(Usable Power) x 10] + (Sensitivity at 1w/1m)

Usable power is the smaller value between how much power the amp can deliver and how much power the cab(s) can handle

Let's a assume an amp rated for 500W at 4 ohms and 250W at 8 ohm. Also, let's assume we have a pair of matching 8 ohm, 350W cabs with a sensitivity rating of 97dB 1W/1m.

With one cab the amp makes 250W at 8 ohms. Since the cab is rated for 350W, usable power is 250W.

Calculated SPL = [Log(250) x 10] + 97 = ~121dB

When you add a matching cab, usually the connection is in parallel. The combined impedance is 1/2, the power handling is 2X, and the combined sensitivity goes up +3dB.

Example: Parallel connection of two 8 ohm cabs, each rated for 350W with a 97dB 1W/1m sensitivity rating

Combined Impedance 8/2 = 4 ohms
Combined Power Rating 350 x 2 = 700W
Combined Sensitivity 97 + 3= 100dB 1W/1m

Since the amp makes 500W at 4 ohms, the usable power is 500W.

Calculated SPL [Log(500) x 10] + 100 = ~127dB

In my experience there are many gigs where a 121dB bass rig will lack headroom. 127dB is pretty darn loud. It may not always be loud enough for you to hear well, but at some point I would choose to just deal with it rather than turning up more.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

You'll have to try as many amp, cab, combos as possible to get a sense of what works for you.
What's "Ultimate" for one person, is "trash" to another.
We can tell you what works for us but your tonal desires and requirements and volume levels are your conditions, not ours.

The only other bit of "advice" I could offer is;
Do not take it for granted that there will be PA/FOH available at bigger venues.


I always accept the premise that I will have to be responsible for my own sound and volume.
With this in mind, it is better to have the capacity and not need it rather than need it and not have it.
Experience has been costly.

You may end up having one rig for practice/rehearsal, one rig for small, medium venues, another rig for larger venues. I'm yet to discover a one size fits all solution.

 

[PiquetBass]

Gigging bassist here. I've been using my rumble for practice and gigging for two years now and it's time for an upgrade. I like the sound of markbass amps, but haven't tried much else besides Darkglass, which I tend not to like the sound of. I tend towards a more classic bass sound, sort of flat I guess. Any thoughts on speaker size? I definitely don't need more than 500 watts, and I'm trying to stay around $1000. Combo vs. head and cab?

Also I like the look of a 2 x 10 because it's taller and I could probably hear it better behind me, but not sure if that'll make too much of a difference from a 1 x 12.

I play country mostly, but I'm also in a band with some college buddies and we occasionally play weddings as well as some on campus gigs where we play Bruno Mars type covers. Just kind of not sure what I want.

This will likely be my only amp for the forseeable future, so I want to know what I'm getting is a good value. Unless of course, I hit the lottery.

Anything helps, thanks!

So.... lots of good options and suggestions provided by the good brethren of TB.

A lot of love for "go out and try some" at your local music store!

Shall we expect an update after the weekend, when you've been out to try some, and made a decision? (Or more likely, like all the rest of us, gone home with something from a brand you hadn't even considered and went "big" on with the funds, or a dusty second-hand "bargain" sitting in the corner of the shop)?

 

[John D Harris]

Fender Rumbles are anything but flat, there's quite a bit of color there to my ears. Markbass amps do sound "flatter" to me. As others have said, no substitute for trying something out to see what your ears tell you.

As for 1x12 vs 2x10, there is a big difference in speaker-cone area. All things being equal, a 2x10 simply moves more air.

The consensus on the newer Rumble heads & combos, seems to be that the 'flat' setting is:
Bass @ 10 o'clock;
Low Mid @ 2 o'clock;
High Mid @ 2 o'clock;
Treble @ 10 o'clock.

When some people say flat, they really mean neutral (the sound that goes into the rig = the sound coming out of the rig, only louder).
For each pair of ears, there's a different idea of what sounds neutral.
Then there's what sounds great soloing in your practice room, may not sound great in a live band mix.

 

[groove pump]

Gigging bassist here. I've been using my rumble for practice and gigging for two years now and it's time for an upgrade. I like the sound of markbass amps, but haven't tried much else besides Darkglass, which I tend not to like the sound of. I tend towards a more classic bass sound, sort of flat I guess. Any thoughts on speaker size? I definitely don't need more than 500 watts, and I'm trying to stay around $1000. Combo vs. head and cab?

Also I like the look of a 2 x 10 because it's taller and I could probably hear it better behind me, but not sure if that'll make too much of a difference from a 1 x 12.

I play country mostly, but I'm also in a band with some college buddies and we occasionally play weddings as well as some on campus gigs where we play Bruno Mars type covers. Just kind of not sure what I want.

This will likely be my only amp for the forseeable future, so I want to know what I'm getting is a good value. Unless of course, I hit the lottery.

Anything helps, thanks!

I'm a 2x10 guy and my band does primarily rock and dance covers. I often play without PA support for my sound, so I use a pair of 2x10's in a vertical stack (end on end they stand about four feet tall and they're easier to hear like that). I can easily make all the sound I need with these cabs and nothing more than a GK MB 500, even when we're playing outdoors.

I got lucky when I went shopping for decent cabs a little while back. I found an Acme Low B2 and an SWR Goliath Jr. - both used. They share the same resistance and power ratings and they also run together fine without any punky phasing issues that can sometimes happen when using multiple cabs from different brands.

This whole amp/cabs rig cost me about $1000 (I'm actually rounding up a little bit) and that includes buying the GK head new. I've also picked up another head as a backup/alternative that I'll often use for a show depending on my mood. That one is a used Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0. Both are great heads and the GK only gets preference when I'm playing outdoors - it's a potentially very loud 500 watt head.

I can also say that I get to practice with the band (at our guitar guy's house) through a Markbass CMD 102 he has in his basement - that's their 2x10 combo that's remarkably portable and plenty loud for our practices. It's made to either sit "flat" on the floor or tilt back like a monitor with the speakers pointed more upward toward your head if you're standing out in front of it. I've never gigged it, but I'd probably want to add a 2x10 extension cab if I needed to push my sound without any PA help. The eq section of the amp in this combo seems to be nicely flexible for dialing in what I want (same with both of my heads - the Shuttle's eq is a little more tweak-able than the GK).

Just my story. More or less what I was doing when I got these pieces was buying them to try them. Hard to know what one thing or another will really deliver for me until I put it to work at a couple of gigs. Whatever you find might need a few shows or practices with the band to really give you some idea of how it will work for you and what you do.

In your case, there are probably several "right" answers for what you're wanting in a rig. I like to use a modular setup, but you might consider a GK MB 2x10 combo (if you spot one) that should either be able to do a lot by itself or give you the option of eventually adding another 2x10 if you need to push more air. I respect the folks who go ampless and run their sound through their PA, but the system my band uses now isn't enormous and I'm loving the sound I generally get from my own setup... and it's not a major issue for me to load in/out by myself

 

[Kenny056]

I use my Rumble 100 for rehearsals and then this is my big rig. The 500c + 2x10 extension gives me all the volume I'll ever need. Honestly the 500c is more than sufficient. I just happened to find the extension cabinet used but like new for a great price. My recommendation is to try out the Rumble 500c.

Good luck with your search

 

[lug]

Peavey MiniMax + any decent 2X12 cab. MiniMax is 600 watts for $400, leaving a good amount for a good (but not great) cab.

 

[John D Harris]

Traynor SB112 Combo [~$720 new]

 

[John D Harris]

Fender Rumble 500 Combo
Or
Bugera Veyron BV1001M Head into a
Orange OBC-112 cab.

I heard a decent recording of the Orange OBC-112, I would no longer recommend that cab.
It's not terrible, but there are better cabs for about the same money, like the RevSound RS112.