I'm thinking about getting a new amp. I am selling my acoustic b100 combo for something a little bigger. I was thinking ashdown? Any opinions?
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Good amp for 4003 bass?
- Thread starter ricbass440
- Start date
If you have the Money, Ampeg and Rickenbacker seem to be a traditional combo. Just my idiotic opinion 
Ricks + a nice gritty tube = earsex
My money's on Orange, but I like it really raw
Just stay away from that nasty solid state stuff
My money's on Orange, but I like it really raw
Just stay away from that nasty solid state stuff
MY Ric sounds great through my Eden WT550, but if you are looking for the trebly kind of Ric tone, GK is very nice.
There are as many amps that are great with Ricks as there are opinions on TB. 
I have yet to own or use an amp that I could not get a Rick bass to sound good to great through, unless it was some POS that no decent bass would sound good through.
Given that, the latest, greatest amp in the known universe to be best with a Rick bass is my Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 through either of my two LDS cabinets, a 286 and a 2126.
I have yet to own or use an amp that I could not get a Rick bass to sound good to great through, unless it was some POS that no decent bass would sound good through.
Given that, the latest, greatest amp in the known universe to be best with a Rick bass is my Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 through either of my two LDS cabinets, a 286 and a 2126.
Damn near anything. I happen to really like mine through my Ampeg SVT6-Pro head and 2 410 Mesa's. It's a can't miss combo.
If you cant afford something like a SVT with lots of tubes, go for a GK (800RB). Although my 4003 sounds great through my Markbass LMII.
Beginning in the early '70s I've played 4001's and 4003's through a lot of different amps like Sunn, Marshall, Ampeg, Fender, GK, Trace Elliot, Mesa and probably some I don't remember and the basses sounded great through all of them so take your choice.
Loved my old 4001 through the V4B and Sunn 2000s the best. Wish I still had it would love to hear it through the Fusion 550, 5 string kills through it.
I play a 1980 4001. In '06 i put brand new 4003 pickups in it when the original neck pickup died. I used to own a couple of 70's Fender Bassmans, used tons of provided backlines with various unmemorable 8x10 rigs. And who knows what else. Most times the performance was so much more important than the brand names of the gear that we often times didn't notice what kind of amps we were using. I usually disliked the new rigs, tone-wise, and almost always liked the old ones, especially ones with tubes.
I've found that I like the vintage Acoustic Control Corp amps by far the best with my bass, especially the 320 since you can use both channels and go Rick-O-Sound into it. The 150 series isn't quite as great, but still sounds good, can be found for super cheap, and can keep up with 2 Marshall half stacks while running at 4 Ohms, if necessary. I probably shouldn't post this, but most people seem to have no idea how loud and good-sounding these amps are, so you can get them super cheap, considering what they are capable of.
Next best sounding, yet powerful-enough-for-gigging amps, in my humble experience, would be the Ampeg V4-B, followed by the SVT. I've never owned either of these, but have loved every single different version of each that I've ever used with my Rick. These amps are fantastic. They are classics for a reason, but everyone already knows this, so they tend to be very expensive.
Next would be old Fender Bassmans - again, tubes, plus 2 channels that can be used simultaneously which is always nice with a Rickenbacker.
After that, this is where different amps I've used become indistinguishable to me. I'm sure that there are tons of great ones, but I was just too ignorant to be able to figure out how to make them sound special and interesting.
I am no expert. I haven't used everything out there. I just love music and these are the amps that stand out and make my Rick sound like the music I like to listen to.
I've found that I like the vintage Acoustic Control Corp amps by far the best with my bass, especially the 320 since you can use both channels and go Rick-O-Sound into it. The 150 series isn't quite as great, but still sounds good, can be found for super cheap, and can keep up with 2 Marshall half stacks while running at 4 Ohms, if necessary. I probably shouldn't post this, but most people seem to have no idea how loud and good-sounding these amps are, so you can get them super cheap, considering what they are capable of.
Next best sounding, yet powerful-enough-for-gigging amps, in my humble experience, would be the Ampeg V4-B, followed by the SVT. I've never owned either of these, but have loved every single different version of each that I've ever used with my Rick. These amps are fantastic. They are classics for a reason, but everyone already knows this, so they tend to be very expensive.
Next would be old Fender Bassmans - again, tubes, plus 2 channels that can be used simultaneously which is always nice with a Rickenbacker.
After that, this is where different amps I've used become indistinguishable to me. I'm sure that there are tons of great ones, but I was just too ignorant to be able to figure out how to make them sound special and interesting.
I am no expert. I haven't used everything out there. I just love music and these are the amps that stand out and make my Rick sound like the music I like to listen to.
Lots of amps will sound good with a Rickenbacker 4003.
Some of the best Rickenbacker sounds I've heard have been through Ampeg SVT's, various GK heads (very different sounds, but both awesome), Electricamp, Marshall (Lemmy), Mesa/Boogie... but there's lots of different stuff out there that sounds great.
Try a bunch of stuff and see what you like.
Some of the best Rickenbacker sounds I've heard have been through Ampeg SVT's, various GK heads (very different sounds, but both awesome), Electricamp, Marshall (Lemmy), Mesa/Boogie... but there's lots of different stuff out there that sounds great.
Try a bunch of stuff and see what you like.
+1 it would be difficult to find a (good quality) bass amp that doesn't sound good with a Ric. My favorites so far, have been an Ampeg V4BH, for tube amps, and the Mesa carbines are pretty sweet too, as is the Walkabout, etc, etc.
