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Giggability of a Fender Rumble 100/210

R

Renard

Dec 11, 2008
26
2
Pittsburgh, PA
#1
Hello All! First post here. Great Forum!

I'm looking to upgrade my combo amp (GK Backline 112) to something that can cover small jamming and gigging. We're talking practice and playing in SMALL sort of coffeehouse settings, all with PA accesability. I own an SCT-CL/HLF 410, so I got the high end big venue covered (not that i'll ever need it!). I'd be playing a variety of music, mostly rock with a Guitarist and Drummer at the very least.

The GK tends to get farty at higher volumes, ie speaker distorts, so I'd like to replace it. Being a college student, I havent much money. The Fender Rumble 2x10 seems to have good reviews in terms of maintaining clarity at high volumes, and would add a little oomph over the GK in terms of overal volume with the extra speaker (I think?). Would it cover the 'middle ground' in terms of playing out? I'd like to not have to lug the Ampeg around. The Fender also has a headphone jack and a cd in, which would be nice for dorm room practice.

I'm also considering the GK Backline 300 watt 2x10 combo, though it doesn'et have the headphone jack that I would like and is a bit more expensive. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated! I can spend up to 400 dollars, and will buy used. I'm not looking for something kickass, just loud and clear.

Thank you all and happy holidays!
 
#2
hey man, i've used a fender rumble 100 with the 15 inch speaker for about 7 or 8 months now, gigging out with it 2 or 3 times a month and it treated me very well until recently. i play in a cover band that plays 3 hours a night in bars. it couldn't really handle the abuse, and it finally died out on me at my last show (no biggie, i had pa support, so...).

the only thing i'd have to say is that if you are trying to keep up with a drummer and a guitarist in a coffee house, you should be fine.... anything bigger... eh... you might have to push it a little more. they do stay very clean as you push them, though. mine didn't have a speaker out on it, so if you are buying the 2x10 in hopes that it does, make sure first!!


edit: mine finally quit, but i had the volume up 3/4 of the way usually... sometimes more. it just couldn't keep up with two half stacks and a loud drummer!
 
#3
Thanks for the input man! If I ever have to play with halfstacks, I'll break out my own. The guitarists I'd be playing with are using combo's as well.

The amp dying is a bit disconverting, even if you kept it at 3/4ths that much. Is that common?
 
#4
Backlines and Rumbles are really practice amps, not meant for gigging. They're definitely not built to play at 75% volume,and arguably no bass amp is meant to do that, but at least a "gig worthy" amp *can* do it for longer before it fails.

Low frequencies take a lot of power to amplify without distortion. Even though your guitar players are using combo amps, a 50-75 watt guitar amp at 30-40% volume will totally blow away a 100 watt bass amp at 75% volume, and even for smaller guitar amps, they louder the push their amp, the more distortion they get which for most rock music is usually a good thing. Bass, not so much.

You should seriously be looking in the 300-400 watt range, IMO. Buy used! There are some great deals around; you can often get an Avatar, Peavey, or Yorkville/Traynor speaker cab for $100 or so, and I often see deals on used amp heads in the $200 range that will give you adequate power.

Keep in mind speaker impedance. An amp may be rated at 3-400 watts, but that rating may be only achieved when you connect it to a 4 Ohm speaker. If you connect it to an 8 Ohm speaker, your actual power will be almost half, 175-200 watts. Which may be enough, again depending on how loud your guitar players and drummer actually play. 3-400 Watts is a safe bet, but 2-250 Watts may be ok.
 
#5
I have the Rumble 2X10 and i have played through the 1X15. My drummer owns the 1X15, so i used that until i decided to buy the 2x10. Both amps will hold there own on small gigs. I think 300 watts is overboard for a coffee house of small bar gig, but that is my opinion. I have owned the 2x10 for a year and a half and have had no problems. I have thought about buying a bigger setup, but i just can't justify it. I would recommend this amp. Buy it from guitar center and try it out. They have a 30 day return policy, so if you don't like it return it.
 
#6
ssbass said:
I have the Rumble 2X10 and i have played through the 1X15. My drummer owns the 1X15, so i used that until i decided to buy the 2x10. Both amps will hold there own on small gigs. I think 300 watts is overboard for a coffee house of small bar gig, but that is my opinion. I have owned the 2x10 for a year and a half and have had no problems. I have thought about buying a bigger setup, but i just can't justify it. I would recommend this amp. Buy it from guitar center and try it out. They have a 30 day return policy, so if you don't like it return it.
Click to expand...

Sorry, my bad, next time I will read the OP more completely. I missed the fact that the gigs will be at coffeehouses, and that he already owns an Ampeg. :)
 
#7
As usual I agree with Bill Mason.

I think another question you have to ask is, are you always going to be playing small coffee house size gigs? If the answer is no, then you might want the flexibility/head room of a rig.

If you have a little more power, also wont have to ever push it that hard with your current gigs.
 
#8
Since you will have PA support, I'd recommend the Roland Cube 100. It has a headphone jack and a DI, and it's quite a bit louder than the 100 watts/1x12 configuration would lead you to believe. It positively destroys the Fender Bassman 150, for example. Plus, with a built in compressor, you can prevent some "farting out" if you push it.

You should also definitely check out the Nemesis N15, which I think is new this year. It also has a DI, and pushes 200 watts into a 1x15. I've tried it, and it provides excellent thick, old school tone. It goes for about $400 new, and might be even better than the Roland in terms of "gig-worthiness." It's relatively light as well.
 
#9
Thanks for the replies everyone, its been very helpful!

I should have made the fact I already own a half stack more prominent in the first post. Anything where that is required, I will used it rather than the smaller amp.

What I need now is a practice/small gig amp so I don't have to cart the half stack around.

With that in mind, It sounds like the Rumble will get the job done, though I do wonder if the Backline 300 watt 2x10 might do it better. What are your thoughts on the backline option??

Thanks again!
 
#11
The Backline would probably be better than the Rumble, but since you have a big rig and just want something for coffeehouse shows, I'd get something smaller. Then again, I'm probably a lot older! For your purposes, either would be fine.
 
#13
In my humble opinion ... I would repeat Bill Mason's opinions. I would add that true coffee/gallery rigs would include a nice used GK MBS150 ($500 or less) that would do fine in any small room and be easy to tote and can be tied to any 8 ohm extension cab for power and flex and which has numerous line out options for PA connections. Solidly pro compared to practice-grade backline/rumble combos.
 
#16
GeneralElectric said:
The Rumble 100 is junk. I've had to sit on one to feel myself at a rehearsal.
Click to expand...

that really blows!:hmm:

i've never not been able to hear myself, and i'm up against a mesa dual into a 4x12 with a near deaf guitarist, and a line 6 spider 2, the 150 watt version. our drummer isn't what i'd call a loud drummer, but he's hard on the backbeat. usually at practice i run it at half volume, but since our practice space is relativley small compared to most stages we play on... i have to crank it.

so anyway, about it frying up... i don't know what's wrong with it... i ran my sansamp thru the effects return and it worked fine for practice... but when i plug into the instrument in, it farts out... anyone know what could be wrong with it?

sorry for the hi-jack and obvious ramble but this thread is about a rumble... ramble, rumble... :)
 
#18
ive played with 2 different bands in bowling alleys, churches, and other various small to medium sized venues who use fender rumble combos. 1 of them had a 1x15 something and the other had a 2x10 combo. im unsure of the wattage but both were able to keep up with the guitarists.

so if your planing to stick to really small venues and quite jams than you should be fine.
 
#19
imho, if you want to play decent shows, you have to have decent gear. go used but get something at least 300w solid-state. the worst thing you can do is to settle for less. when you get it and you start second guessing yourself if its going to cut it, its better to just not skimp out on yourself. i havnt gigged in a while, but my GK 700rbii/210 combo can cut just about any gig. the only time i ever had a problem being heard out of it was in this awful gymnasium with 30ft high celings and the PA of the place was set up 1/2 way back in the gym. we couldnt hear eachother at all from the crazy acoustics of the room. but enough ranting. seriously, dont get something that you know you are going to REALLY like
 

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