I play Mesa Boogie cabs and i used to use ampeg heads and now I use GK heads. I was very pleased with the 'peg/mesa combo and I'm extremely pleased with the GK/mesa combo.
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The 800RB and a sealed Ampeg cab (or the 610HLF I bet) sounds NASTY. If I trade in my current Ampeg head some day, it may well be for an old GK warhorse to sit on top of my 410HE's.
- Oct 18, 2012
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- Endorsing Artist: Fender, Spector, Ampeg, Curt Mangan, Nordstrand Pickups, Korg , Conquest Sound
Does this rig need to be able to fill a hall, or just a practice room? If it's only a practice room, any cab over a 2x10 is going to be overkill, ditto any head listed over 500 watts. If this rig needs to fill a hall it's a different story, but you still might be better off having a modular rig so that you can have "practice size" and "show size."
Personally, I would recommend you go for either a Gallien Krueger Neo cab (pick whatever speaker config you like) or a Hartke HyDrive cab. In my experience both cabs are affordable and will do a good job of reproducing the tone of whatever amp you put through them. As for the head, a GK MB500, Markbass Little Mark or Ampeg PF500 would do fine, and represent different points along a sound spectrum. If you plan to run two GK cabs off a non-GK head you may have to put in a little more work to do it, but that's only a problem if you plan to go modular. It's a bit of an unpopular opinion here, but I would avoid anything Fender Rumble. I used to own the 350 combo and saw a band use it last night, and it's just mud, mud and more mud. Orange is fine, but their heads are designed for more of an overdriven crunch that's common in metal, and are not as flexible as some of the others I mentioned.
Sounds like a fun project. Maybe you could get a local music store to let you audition some gear before you buy. For some promotional consideration they may find it worthwhile.
One thing to always remember is that playing a rig by yourself, in a music store or at home, will sound a bit different than in a band situation.
Take someone with you and listen in different parts of the room. For this reason, flexibility in tone shaping is always nice, whatever rig you end up with.
One thing to always remember is that playing a rig by yourself, in a music store or at home, will sound a bit different than in a band situation.
Take someone with you and listen in different parts of the room. For this reason, flexibility in tone shaping is always nice, whatever rig you end up with.
After reading through everybody's comments, it sounds like you're looking for directional advice and some suggestions for places to start. Love what you're doing by the way, always great to get kids into music!
Anyway, not sure if you saw a trend. There's plenty of good combinations, but one that has always stuck out that works (versatile) is any amp + Mesa cabs. Personally I love their 12's. They seem to sound great with any amp I've seen/tried. New they're a bit expensive, but you can find em used at excellent prices for some reason. I picked up a 2x12 for $400 used...still had stickers on it and looked practically new. The cab is over $900 new.
Just my thoughts, oh and check out Ashdown ABM's especially EVO models, they have a wide spectrum of sounds and I've never been able to get a bad sound out of em.
Anyway, not sure if you saw a trend. There's plenty of good combinations, but one that has always stuck out that works (versatile) is any amp + Mesa cabs. Personally I love their 12's. They seem to sound great with any amp I've seen/tried. New they're a bit expensive, but you can find em used at excellent prices for some reason. I picked up a 2x12 for $400 used...still had stickers on it and looked practically new. The cab is over $900 new.
Just my thoughts, oh and check out Ashdown ABM's especially EVO models, they have a wide spectrum of sounds and I've never been able to get a bad sound out of em.
Back in the 70s' a lot of people were puting Ford 289's in Chevy Vegas. It was the perfect "front to rear" power to weight ratio muscle car solution.
That being said, it was a lot more difficult to plug a Ford drive train into a Chevy than it is to plug a GK speaker into an Ampeg amp.
That being said, it was a lot more difficult to plug a Ford drive train into a Chevy than it is to plug a GK speaker into an Ampeg amp.
To answer seriously: The only time I ever used the same brand of amp and speakers was when I got a Carvin Redline stack a couple of years after I started playing. It was the worst sounding system I ever had. I mean, awful.
I don't even consider the brand regarding parts. I now use a BBE BassMax Preamp into a Crown class D PA amp. I currently only have a couple of 15" PA speakers for gigging, and the whole thing uses stereo effects from my Boss GT6B. It sounds fine, but I want a single 15" 3 way, but I'm not motivated enough to do it, yet. The FOH is what the crowd hears anyway.
I have a gig tonight, and I'm using an Acoustic 200W bass amp into one of the PA speakers for me, and the FOH will handle what the crowd will hear. I'm fine with it. My speaker is a floor monitor shape and It will be in front of me. If I can get away with it, I'll just plug the GT6B into the PA and use those floor monitors for the bass on stage (man I'm getting lazy about this)
It's funny how, when playing classic rock and new country, this just isn't that important. I would like more depth out of that PA speaker, but it's coming out of the FOH, so I'm good.
But the brand doesn't matter. I've had Acme, Acoustic, Carvin, Peavey, Kustom and Avatar. And I've played through a lot of others. I'm kinda looking at the Avatar 15" three way right now, both for depth of bass and the fact that I can get a cool orange cabinet with wheat grill cloth.
And a lot of my tone comes out of the GT6B.
I don't even consider the brand regarding parts. I now use a BBE BassMax Preamp into a Crown class D PA amp. I currently only have a couple of 15" PA speakers for gigging, and the whole thing uses stereo effects from my Boss GT6B. It sounds fine, but I want a single 15" 3 way, but I'm not motivated enough to do it, yet. The FOH is what the crowd hears anyway.
I have a gig tonight, and I'm using an Acoustic 200W bass amp into one of the PA speakers for me, and the FOH will handle what the crowd will hear. I'm fine with it. My speaker is a floor monitor shape and It will be in front of me. If I can get away with it, I'll just plug the GT6B into the PA and use those floor monitors for the bass on stage (man I'm getting lazy about this)
It's funny how, when playing classic rock and new country, this just isn't that important. I would like more depth out of that PA speaker, but it's coming out of the FOH, so I'm good.
But the brand doesn't matter. I've had Acme, Acoustic, Carvin, Peavey, Kustom and Avatar. And I've played through a lot of others. I'm kinda looking at the Avatar 15" three way right now, both for depth of bass and the fact that I can get a cool orange cabinet with wheat grill cloth.
And a lot of my tone comes out of the GT6B.
In the interest of downsizing, I tried to use it as a pre-amp directly into my PA amp. It is too weak. I actually thought about a sansamp or similar, but moved on. Meanwhile, in my primary band now, we just had our first gig together. From here on in, it will go directly into the mixer and I'll have a monitor in front of me that gives me everything, including my bass. My monitor volume needs are very modest and the other two pieces of the band use in-ear. One of the reasons the band sounds so good is that the FOH is not competing with monitors or backline. i.e. the guitar player has a newer guitar version of the GT6B also plugged directly into the PA. He gets all of his tone from that. The guy is pure pro in his playing ability and doesn't waste load time with cabinets.
I confess that I love how easy loading in and out is with a three piece that uses in-ear monitors and no back line. Also, the "purity" of the FOH sound is a big plus. It has actual live dynamics. In a real way, it is a big secret to sounding as good as you can.
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I don't think I've ever had matching brands of head and cab in like... 18 years of playing bass.
Actually that's not true. For a very short period I had an Ampeg Micro VR head to go with my 210AV cabs. That combination sounded good, but I sold the Ampeg head almost immediately to try a GK MB800, and then sold that a short time later for an Aguilar Tonehammer 500.
All combinations sounded good in their own way, some better than others at certain things. They also all had (have) things I don't like about the sound, too. Depends on the situation you're playing them in, and what's important to you.
If I could afford to own one of everything, I probably would.
These days, if an amp turns on and the speaker cab makes sound, I can probably find something that will work. May not be the best tone mankind has ever heard, but I'm pretty sure I'd be able to limp through any gig with (almost) any rig.
Actually that's not true. For a very short period I had an Ampeg Micro VR head to go with my 210AV cabs. That combination sounded good, but I sold the Ampeg head almost immediately to try a GK MB800, and then sold that a short time later for an Aguilar Tonehammer 500.
All combinations sounded good in their own way, some better than others at certain things. They also all had (have) things I don't like about the sound, too. Depends on the situation you're playing them in, and what's important to you.
If I could afford to own one of everything, I probably would.
These days, if an amp turns on and the speaker cab makes sound, I can probably find something that will work. May not be the best tone mankind has ever heard, but I'm pretty sure I'd be able to limp through any gig with (almost) any rig.
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