Help Me Pick my Forever Amp

[Jeff Genzler]

Eric, you live in Mesa AZ. You might want to go see Fred at Milano Music. He's a great Pro player and can give you plenty of help to try out what they offer or help guide you in your search.

 

[Elmstreet]

Eric, you live in Mesa AZ. You might want to go see Fred at Milano Music. He's a great Pro player and can give you plenty of help to try out what they offer or help guide you in your search.

Yeah I’ve gone to Milanos all my life, it’s right down the street. I’ve never met Fred but I’ll try to track him down. This is good advice I really appreciate it. Fun fact my dad played high school football with the owner Mike Milano, he’s a super cool guy.

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

...but a long run with the Magellan has taught me that it is the easiest amp for me to get a decent sound from. I use it in smaller venues through a small cab. For some reason, for me, the controls just click and I can always dial in a decent sound very quickly. The WD800 can get to the same place, but for some reason (perhaps too many options for my limited cognitive abilities?) it takes me longer to get there. You can't go wrong with either.

Really easy amp to dial in for sure, that can go louder than you'd likely ever need anymore. I bet the Kinetix is great as well.

 

[ghiggin1079]

I can see this has made it to 4 pages, so if this has been said (I doubt t it) my apologies. It seems that every amp flavor of the month also has a pedal equalivlent. So I say get a crown xli of your chosen wattage and ride the pedal wave..

 

[srayb]

Get a Quilter, GK or Mesa and you’ll be all set.

Forget the cab sim. If you don’t like your cabs, get something else.

Yes, I was going to add not to leave out GK. GK, Genzler, Mesa & Quilter - have fun deciding!

 

[Grapevine921]

Buy a used markbass head. They made a ton of them so they're plentiful and cheap. Use your sansamp with it. Smile when you turn it up.

 

[DionClassic]

Mesa WD800 has my vote

 

[Adjectives]

Go for the Magellan 800. It's such a great amp with an awesome DI. Get yourself some Genzler cabs(only Genzler cabs!!) and run it at 2ohm.

 

[lomo]

The more prone one is to overthinking, the less likely any piece of gear is to last "forever" for said person. Mea culpa. For the Ampeg tone, I reiterate the Quilter BB803, a bit of a sleeper in that category. Another approach is simply to go with a great quality head that has versatile, flexible eq, in which case the Magellan 800 or a Mesa (other than the D350 or 800) would be my faves.

 

[billythec]

No way! That was my first amp!!!!

Still have mine!

 

[PWV]

Go for the Magellan 800. It's such a great amp with an awesome DI. Get yourself some Genzler cabs(only Genzler cabs!!) and run it at 2ohm.

This.

 

[Adjectives]

Totally. I'm so in love with this amp. Sure, I'll drool at a nice Verellen tube situation I can't afford but for the weight, tone, reliability and look you can't go wrong with Genzler. To get a bit of tube involved I run a Sushi Box Underground Accelerator as my "warm tone". My usual tone is through the Genzler 4 on the Floor Overdrive (has it's own lp & hp filter)

 

[shadven]

That's definitely what I'm trying to do.

My keeper amp is a 1965 Ampeg B-15 with a JBl D140 speaker. OMG, the best tone (the ultimate bass tone in my head. The amp can keep up with a moderately loud drummer.

 

[Parzival]

Totally. I'm so in love with this amp. Sure, I'll drool at a nice Verellen tube situation I can't afford but for the weight, tone, reliability and look you can't go wrong with Genzler. To get a bit of tube involved I run a Sushi Box Underground Accelerator as my "warm tone". My usual tone is through the Genzler 4 on the Floor Overdrive (has it's own lp & hp filter)

I do the same running a Sushibox in front. Couple weeks back I was dialing in the amp and messing with the contour, drive channel, eq, etc. and just thought, I can’t get a bad sound out of this thing. Lots of tone options, all good.

 

[Adjectives]

I do the same running a Sushibox in front. Couple weeks back I was dialing in the amp and messing with the contour, drive channel, eq, etc. and just thought, I can’t get a bad sound out of this thing. Lots of tone options, all good.

Agreed 100%. I'm having my old markbass r500 fixed right now and it's our rehearsal space amp 5 bands use with my 2 portaflex ampeg cabs. I moved my Mag800 in for the meantime as I have a shuttlemax 9.2 at home and all the other bassists had things to say about how much better it sounds. One of them said he'd never heard of Genzler but now wants one.

(Didn't I buy the UA from you?)

 

[Parzival]

Agreed 100%. I'm having my old markbass r500 fixed right now and it's our rehearsal space amp 5 bands use with my 2 portaflex ampeg cabs. I moved my Mag800 in for the meantime as I have a shuttlemax 9.2 at home and all the other bassists had things to say about how much better it sounds. One of them said he'd never heard of Genzler but now wants one.

(Didn't I buy the UA from you?)

You did. Was that the HW UA? Those are killer. I just use my Finally now. I switch between 12ax7 and 12au7 in it. Just depends what I am yearning for that month.

Not to hijack the thread, I will say in the last few years I have owned Mesa and GK amps, and have an old SVT-3 Pro, before settling on my Genzler as my #1. IMO, they are all really good amps. Can't go wrong with any one of them. It really just depends on the flavor you really want.

 

[Luther]

Hi, my name is Eric and I overthink everything

I know there's been probably a million of these so I do apologize.

TLDR - Need an amp to pair with my cab (VB212), don't love my current head (Rumble 500), I like the Ampeg sound but am worried about reliability and feel like I might need a cab sim.

I'm in the process of buying an amp to pair with an Ampeg VB212 cab I just got for a good deal used. I’m currently using a Rumble 500 head with it until I can sell gear / save for a head that’s right for me.

Options:

Ampeg Venture V7 - Makes the most sense, not battle tested, no cab sim
Ashdown Rootmaster III 500/800 - Cab sim, no pre-eq di, 5 year warranty, has everything I want on paper, jack of all trades master of none?
Genzler Magellan 800 - Everyone seems to swear by it, but no cab sim
Genzler Kinetix - A little pricey, tube preamp seems awesome

Budget is around 1k USD. If something is $1,300 that’s perfect for me I could definitely save a bit more to get it, not a deal breaker.

Bass influences are Tim Commerford, Matt Freeman, Mike Inez, Robert De Leo, Duff, Flea, Karl Alvarez, Mike Dirnt. My favorite recorded bass tone is Tim’s on Battle Of Los Angeles, Evil Empire’s bass tone is a CLOSE second.

Things I want:

Tried and true - In my limited experience I've found myself wishing I just stuck to tried and true gear like a P bass, Sansamp BDDI, Empress Compressor, etc. I seem to always wish I would have got the thing that best fits me instead of compromising, selling gear and getting the thing anyway.

Ampegish - I’m in a 90s rock/grunge/alt cover band and the 90s is filled with SVTs and 810s. I like the sound of Ampegs but I’m having a hard time finding all the features I want in an amp that gets glowing reviews on here as well. Something that can do an Ampeg impression is fine, and paired with the Ampeg VB212 I’m sure it will be close enough. I've owned an Ampeg RB210 and loved the sound, didn't love some other things about it.

P.S. I’ve spent a lot of time practicing at home with a SanSamp BDDI V2, blend all the way up, and that sound is phenomenal to me, this is the sound in my head. I understand it’s supposed to replicate an SVT + 810 with ultra low on. This doesn’t always work live, so I’m trying to find that balance of how much boxiness can I pull out but still be heard in a live setting

Versatile - My main gig is a 90’s cover band, so something that can do an Ampeg impression fits well. I also find myself playing all kinds of music when I’m at home practicing, so I want something that covers a lot of ground sonically. Something that works for my current gig but will stay with me for my future gigs as well, whatever they may be.

Flexible in the mids - I don't NEED a 5 band EQ per say but I really like the ability to pull out a little boxiness around 500, pull out some mud at around 300, and boost around 1k for clarity. Currently my Empress compressor pedal is pulling out the 500hz with the color circuit so 4 band should be fine with just high and low mid knobs.

Power - something no less than 500 watts I’m thinking. I’m running 1 single Ampeg VB212 8 ohm cab, my band has no Sub in our PA so I’m all the low end.

DI - Pre/Post isn’t completely necessary but a nice feature. I’m currently using a Rumble head and I hate how the master controls the DI.

Saturation - This isn’t a must, but man it sure would be awesome. The Ability to have some always on vintage saturation that sounds great and doesn't kill the low end. I play with a pick about 70% of our set and if I’m totally clean it can get a bit nasally and thin, I feel like the saturation really keeps things thick.

Cab Sim - This is where I need some help. I’ve convinced myself I need this feature. I love dirt, and playing around with different gain stages, and I feel like I just have to have something to control the treble if I’m running this dirt and taking the DI out of my amp. This also really limits my options down to I think Darkglass and an Ashdown Rootmaster III.

FYI we run our own sound, so I don’t have a FOH engineer that’s able to adjust the treble at the board, I have to do it all myself.

I think that covers everything. I just want to do my due diligence, get the right amp for me, buy once cry once, and be done with it.

TIA!

I have 4 forever amps, currently seeking my 5th.

 

[Adjectives]

You did. Was that the HW UA? Those are killer. I just use my Finally now. I switch between 12ax7 and 12au7 in it. Just depends what I am yearning for that month.

Yep! It's a beast. Love the 12ax7 that's in there, might try something else for a min when it burns out but I'm over the moon with the tones I can get out of it! The fact it's #001 and hand-wired is super cool too! Between the B channel on the Magellan 800, the Genzler OD and the Sushibox I have all tones I need covered for nu-metal, country rock and pop. It's rare I go this long without adding more gear!


I mean I just grabbed a RC-5 looper but sold my huge RC-50 for an even swap. the size difference is crazy!

 

[tvbop]

Big aint always best. No kidding, my lil ole BA110 hooked up to a 20K PA and fold back sounded absolutely amazing. Gnarly Ampeg grind and heft, mind you I was playing a P bass with dead flats.

 

[kaiser_sosea]

My vote would be for Mesa or Genzler
Specifically WD-800 or Kinetix

Both wonderful lightweight amps with awesome DIs. The highpass filter on the WD-800 is really useful. The tone from both is incredible and very flexible without being difficult to use.