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Good, Mid-Tier amp head Recommendation

#21
H13 said:
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 :roflmao: 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 ;)
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Im assuming you are in Australia since you gave currency in $AU..
Im going to suggest an Australian made Lab Systems bass amp.
The VP600HP has a tube front end and very versatile.
The VP600S does too but its a bit more mid focused.
The SS600 doesn't but it has a nice warm, full round vintage tone to it.

Well worth a look at and shouldn't be hard to find.
 
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#23
Orange has some good alternatives in this segment, as others have already mentioned. The Terror 500 is a good amp and has a tube preamp. Personally I went for the Orange Little Bass thing, mostly because I hate the lunchbox design of the Terror 500. Its just so &%#" ugly :) Before this I had a darkglass alpha&omega 900, but I did not like the clean sound in it. So shrill and sterile. Im very happy with the orange amp. Great, warm natural sounding cleans and I get my dirt from a darkglass pedal.

Hope you find the amp you are looking for!
 
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#26
H13 said:
Speaking of which, a used GK1001RB has come up for sale.

Sometimes GK can sound a bit like a "Loud DI" for me, but it's well in my price range. Concerned about running 700W into a 300W cab though.

Not convinced it's the right choice, but I wouldn't be doing the right thing if I didn't ask about it?
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Mesa would also be a fantastic choice, but I have to throw my hat in on the GK stuff and ESPECIALLY the 1001RB. The RB series heads take pedals very well on the front-end and the boost knob is usable even if you bypass the preamp (part of that classic "Hitting the Rails" GK sound).

If you're worried about the wattage, keep in mind the GK does ~460w into 8 ohms, so less dangerous than the full 700w (need dual 8-ohm cabs or a 4-ohm to get that from the 1001RB-II), just keep your Master Volume in-check and you should be ok with that Ampeg cab. I'd recommend taking a look at a GK 700RB-II if you can find one, it's 480w into 4 ohms and 320w into 8 ohms, should be a good fit for the Ampeg as well.

The GK mini heads are also great, I had an MB500 that was insanely capable and incredibly light too. I haven't used the new Legacy series, but I'm sure they are great heads too.


This isn't to say there aren't any other good heads, but since you mentioned the GK I wanted to weigh in on my experiences with them. I love the amps and will have to be buried with my 700RB-II :roflmao:
 
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#27
Everyone is going to recommend their own favorite brand/sound of amp. Amp voicings are subjective. Everyone has their own taste, none of which is right or wrong, just a matter of taste. I'm included in those of having a subjective taste.

My taste leans to Ashdown bass amps. I like them for their mid forward voicing, which responds well with overdrive, distortion or fuzz. The mid forward voice also helps to cut through well in a mix, often requiring less output to achieve the appropriate volume levels.

Going by what you've stated, in the Ashdown line the Root Master series would most likely meet your needs. Looking at your budget, the RM-500 EVO III should fit your goals. This model is being phased over to the UK-RM series models. The new one is essentially the same, except it's being assembled in the UK, along with some minor fine tuning tweaks.

The OriginAL series are essentially the same but with fewer of the bells and whistles of the RM series amps. Stripped down models. The EVO model is only available in 300 watts, but the forthcoming UK line will be available in 300 or 500 watts. They'll be more budget friendly.

If you don't mind used, look into the ABM series amps. These are phenomenal amps with great tone and flexibility. These are class AB hybrid amps. They weigh more than the Class D amps above, but are still a little lighter than an all tube amp. Because of their design, they are easier to handle than a big blocky all tube amp. They use a tube in the clean preamp, and the dirt channel is mixed into the clean signal. This creates the warm tube tone, but allows for a layer of dirt to be mixed in. They came in many forms over the years and the output can be anywhere from 300 to 1200 watts. They're all great sounding amps and the pricing is all over the place, depending on the model.

There is also the older MAG series, which are similar to the ABM series, but with a solid state preamp. These were replaced with the Root Master series amps. To my ear, they sound somewhere between the ABM and RM series amps.

As for effects, many guitar effects work great on bass. The drive pedals with warmer/deeper/bass-ier tones can often work as is. The RAT and MOJO-MOJO are two I've used that are good. I recently ordered the new JHS Morning Glory Clean Other which has a CLEAN blend control, that the tone caught my attention.

Many drive effects may benefit from running a parallel signal chain. This will help maintain the lower frequencies, while adding the midrange drive. Splitting the signal chain could be as simple as splitting with a volume pedal (VP Jr) with the clean going out the tuner output and and the dirty/wet signal going out the volume controlled output. Doing this will allow for fading in from all clean up to a 50/50 mix. Reverse the outputs and you can go from the 50/50 mix to all dirty/wet mix. To mix it back together, a pedal with stereo inputs (many delay and reverb pedals have this) can be used to mix the signals back together, using a mono output. This could potentially have phasing issues, with some pedals or pedal combinations.

Other ways to parallel signal chains are effects loop pedals with mixing/blending/parallel capabilities. And ABY can be used to split the signals, or parallel them. You'll still need a way to mix them back together at the end of the chains.

JHS has an ABY, Buffered Splitter and Summing Amp, which could be used to run parallel signal chains. Josh Smith has a number of videos mixing them, with both guitar and bass.
 
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#28
COOL so I went on a rabbit hole yesterday.



I think the Orange Terror Bass has won for me.

I didn't notice huge differences in terms of tone with the other bass heads which is kinda why I made the thread. None of it sounded BAD, but none of it jumped out at me. The one that was winning was the GK Legacy, because it sounded spanky and sometimes like Tool. However I've played with a bunch of GK Amp sims and sometimes a GK can sound a little bit like a "Loud DI." I get why people would like that, but it's not a thing I want out of an amp.

The criticism for this Terror Bass is that it's a bit hard to keep it super clean. TO ME, that means it's probably gonna react well with whatever dirt pedal I throw at it. It also means it's likely to be fun to play at home volumes. Also, my Bassman can be UNBELIEVABLY clean. Ergo, this thing will probably be a great recording alternative to the Bassman.

There were also a few tones in that video above (especially the boosted one with the P\J) that I legit thought sounded fantastic. My main priority here was getting a bass amp that played the way I wanted to and I reckon this'll do the trick.

If I genuinely can't get it clean enough (which...I kinda doubt), I can always just split my signal and run a clean DI from my bass to go along with the amp.

$1400AUD so it's pushing its luck with cost ($1200 was my max), but I'll keep an eye on the used market.

Some bloke on FB Marketplace is selling one for a good price, but he says he's replaced all the caps? He's only "had it for six months" and is selling it for a few hundred bucks cheaper than anybody else. This feels suss. Why would you need to replace the caps on an amp that's 6 months old? How do I know he's done the job correctly? I am suspicious.
 
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#33
H13 said:
COOL so I went on a rabbit hole yesterday.



I think the Orange Terror Bass has won for me.

I didn't notice huge differences in terms of tone with the other bass heads which is kinda why I made the thread. None of it sounded BAD, but none of it jumped out at me. The one that was winning was the GK Legacy, because it sounded spanky and sometimes like Tool. However I've played with a bunch of GK Amp sims and sometimes a GK can sound a little bit like a "Loud DI." I get why people would like that, but it's not a thing I want out of an amp.

The criticism for this Terror Bass is that it's a bit hard to keep it super clean. TO ME, that means it's probably gonna react well with whatever dirt pedal I throw at it. It also means it's likely to be fun to play at home volumes. Also, my Bassman can be UNBELIEVABLY clean. Ergo, this thing will probably be a great recording alternative to the Bassman.

There were also a few tones in that video above (especially the boosted one with the P\J) that I legit thought sounded fantastic. My main priority here was getting a bass amp that played the way I wanted to and I reckon this'll do the trick.

If I genuinely can't get it clean enough (which...I kinda doubt), I can always just split my signal and run a clean DI from my bass to go along with the amp.

$1400AUD so it's pushing its luck with cost ($1200 was my max), but I'll keep an eye on the used market.

Some bloke on FB Marketplace is selling one for a good price, but he says he's replaced all the caps? He's only "had it for six months" and is selling it for a few hundred bucks cheaper than anybody else. This feels suss. Why would you need to replace the caps on an amp that's 6 months old? How do I know he's done the job correctly? I am suspicious.
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Sounds Nice.

Friend of mine has the Orange 1000W (discontinued) :sour:. Man that thing sounds SWEET. (I played it through a 410). Before this, I never really looked at Orange, but after playing it, I'm like dude, *** is this? That's when he told me they're discontinued (although ya can still find em used, but not cheap).

Anyway, Keep us posted as to what ya choose. :thumbsup:


T$
 
#34
H13 said:
Ooooh...

I DO like the noise that makes.

...but the ambiguity surrounding the whole "tube" thing irks me

I don't think it has tubes. But they want everybody to think it does.
Click to expand...

Yeah there's more and more of that happening with amps, companies are trying to pass off solid state "modeling" as tube or tube-like in scummy ways. The Laney isn't even the most recent offender. Ola Englund just reviewed an EVH "6L6" that even he was fooled into thinking was a tube amp when it was really a modeler. He had to post a followup video with a correction: youtube.com/watch?v=lQtcppudw4A

For the record, the Laney is not a tube amp in any way.
 
#35
Bassdirty said:
Sounds Nice.

Friend of mine has the Orange 1000W (discontinued) :sour:. Man that thing sounds SWEET. (I played it through a 410). Before this, I never really looked at Orange, but after playing it, I'm like dude, *** is this? That's when he told me they're discontinued (although ya can still find em used, but not cheap).

Anyway, Keep us posted as to what ya choose. :thumbsup:


T$
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The 500 is sufficient for most of us. The 1000 is just Ade trying to outdo himself like he likes to do. He just did the same thing with the OR30 and OR60. People told him (rightly) that the OR30 was the loudest 30 watt amp they had ever heard, and his stated response was, "Hold my beer." Obvious why the guy's an amplification legend at this point and why we love the brand so much.

I run an OB1-500 and it's so loud that it never really gets a workout past 5 or 6 on the dial. Even that is... pushing it, so to speak.
 
#36
humbuckaroo said:
Yeah there's more and more of that happening with amps, companies are trying to pass off solid state "modeling" as tube or tube-like in scummy ways. The Laney isn't even the most recent offender. Ola Englund just reviewed an EVH "6L6" that even he was fooled into thinking was a tube amp when it was really a modeler. He had to post a followup video with a correction: youtube.com/watch?v=lQtcppudw4A

For the record, the Laney is not a tube amp in any way.
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I can't help but think: "How hard would it have been to throw a 12ax7 into the preamp like most other amps at this price point?"

Sure, it's...semi-ceremonial, but then it wouldn't be dodgy. Would probably make the OD sound a fair bit better too.

But also: I can't find any store that stocks Laney around me so...yeah.
 
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