YO!
Full disclosure: I'm a guitarist, but starting to take bass seriously (if only because it makes my guitar sound amazing
). This means I have an idea of what I'm looking for, but don't have enough experience\knowledge with bass amps to figure out what I'm into.
My "main" bass amp is a 1970s Silverface Fender Bassman. It DOES sound amazing and I really love it. But it's big, heavy, temperamental, loud, and generally a pain in the ass. I ALSO use it in my studio for recording clean guitars because it's the absolute best clean guitar sound I've ever heard. This means I have it living on top of my guitar cabs instead of my bass cab, which is on the opposite side of the room...
I'm not gonna lug that heavy bastard back and forth across the room depending on which instrument I feel like playing. When I record, I just run an extra long speaker cable from the amp, across the room to the bass cab
but yeah, even though it's killer, my setup means it's not terribly convenient.
ERGO:
I would like a good bass head that I can have sitting on top of my bass cab that I can gig with, or just plug into and jam without having to move my bassman or drag cables all around the room.
PRIORITIES:
- My Bass Cab is an Ampeg SVT 112. 300 Watts @ 8Ohm
- Since I already have something big and tubey, I'm relatively okay with something solid-state. BUT:
- I use OD\Distortion\Fuzz pedals fairly regularly. Coming from guitar world, I like to set amps edge-of-breakup and push it into roaring fun with OD\Distortion\Fuzz. In guitar land, trying to do this with a non-tube amp generally ends in tears. You normally get something harsh and spikey, but you also feel like you're slamming into a brick wall. While I know that bass is a different world and a more "strident" attack\saturation is actually better for tightness rather than something woofy and luxurious, I'd be keen for something that maybe has a tube preamp? (But at the same time, a lot of "tube preamps" are preamps that have a glowing 12ax7 that actually does sweet shag all)
- Alternatively: If it's a solid-state amp that handles distortion\fuzz really well and doesn't feel like you're slamming into a brick wall, I am keen.
- I play real basic-bitch blues (12 bar in Am for life!) and metal. I generally prefer punch over out-right aggression, but...aggressively punchy is good
- Favourite bass players in terms of noise include Justin Chancellor, James Jameson, Jean Michel Labadie, Lemmy, Jason Newsted, Roger Waters (which technically might be David Gilmour more often than not but shhhh), Paz Lenchantin, Marcus Miller...aka: Basic Bitch favourite bass players
- Budget: Around $750USD ($1000AUD)
- While this bass amp is kinda meant more for gigging and jamming, I would like something that sounds good enough to record with as an alternative to the Bassman. Which is why I'm leaning to solid-state. Sorta a "Hmm. The Bassman isn't working here. Let's try this one"
THINGS I HAVE TRIED:
- Ampeg SVT3 Pro. It was an bass amp. It definitely didn't sound bad but it never did anything that made me go: "Oh shag yeah"
- Ampeg Venture. It was an bass amp that wasn't as good as the SVT3 Pro. To me, this amp sounded like a loud DI. People are definitely into that, and the form factor was great. It's a good thing, but I don't like amps that sound like a loud DI
- Darkglass. If I'm blunt, I kinda hate the Darkglass stuff. It does sound great! But every darkglass sounds exactly the same. It does absolutely nothing to interest me.
THINGS I AM KEEN ON?
- Markbass Little Mark 250
- Markbass LIttle Mark Vintage (pushing it's luck with price...)
- GK Legacy 500
- Open to other suggestions?
Note: I will play these amps in person to see what I like, but I would like to know what to keep an eye out for
Full disclosure: I'm a guitarist, but starting to take bass seriously (if only because it makes my guitar sound amazing
). This means I have an idea of what I'm looking for, but don't have enough experience\knowledge with bass amps to figure out what I'm into. My "main" bass amp is a 1970s Silverface Fender Bassman. It DOES sound amazing and I really love it. But it's big, heavy, temperamental, loud, and generally a pain in the ass. I ALSO use it in my studio for recording clean guitars because it's the absolute best clean guitar sound I've ever heard. This means I have it living on top of my guitar cabs instead of my bass cab, which is on the opposite side of the room...
I'm not gonna lug that heavy bastard back and forth across the room depending on which instrument I feel like playing. When I record, I just run an extra long speaker cable from the amp, across the room to the bass cab
but yeah, even though it's killer, my setup means it's not terribly convenient.ERGO:
I would like a good bass head that I can have sitting on top of my bass cab that I can gig with, or just plug into and jam without having to move my bassman or drag cables all around the room.
PRIORITIES:
- My Bass Cab is an Ampeg SVT 112. 300 Watts @ 8Ohm
- Since I already have something big and tubey, I'm relatively okay with something solid-state. BUT:
- I use OD\Distortion\Fuzz pedals fairly regularly. Coming from guitar world, I like to set amps edge-of-breakup and push it into roaring fun with OD\Distortion\Fuzz. In guitar land, trying to do this with a non-tube amp generally ends in tears. You normally get something harsh and spikey, but you also feel like you're slamming into a brick wall. While I know that bass is a different world and a more "strident" attack\saturation is actually better for tightness rather than something woofy and luxurious, I'd be keen for something that maybe has a tube preamp? (But at the same time, a lot of "tube preamps" are preamps that have a glowing 12ax7 that actually does sweet shag all)
- Alternatively: If it's a solid-state amp that handles distortion\fuzz really well and doesn't feel like you're slamming into a brick wall, I am keen.
- I play real basic-bitch blues (12 bar in Am for life!) and metal. I generally prefer punch over out-right aggression, but...aggressively punchy is good
- Favourite bass players in terms of noise include Justin Chancellor, James Jameson, Jean Michel Labadie, Lemmy, Jason Newsted, Roger Waters (which technically might be David Gilmour more often than not but shhhh), Paz Lenchantin, Marcus Miller...aka: Basic Bitch favourite bass players
- Budget: Around $750USD ($1000AUD)
- While this bass amp is kinda meant more for gigging and jamming, I would like something that sounds good enough to record with as an alternative to the Bassman. Which is why I'm leaning to solid-state. Sorta a "Hmm. The Bassman isn't working here. Let's try this one"
THINGS I HAVE TRIED:
- Ampeg SVT3 Pro. It was an bass amp. It definitely didn't sound bad but it never did anything that made me go: "Oh shag yeah"
- Ampeg Venture. It was an bass amp that wasn't as good as the SVT3 Pro. To me, this amp sounded like a loud DI. People are definitely into that, and the form factor was great. It's a good thing, but I don't like amps that sound like a loud DI
- Darkglass. If I'm blunt, I kinda hate the Darkglass stuff. It does sound great! But every darkglass sounds exactly the same. It does absolutely nothing to interest me.
THINGS I AM KEEN ON?
- Markbass Little Mark 250
- Markbass LIttle Mark Vintage (pushing it's luck with price...)
- GK Legacy 500
- Open to other suggestions?
Note: I will play these amps in person to see what I like, but I would like to know what to keep an eye out for
