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How much is too much for a bedroom amp?

C

ChiliKeys

Jul 29, 2024
2
9
#1
I've been playing casually for a couple of years using a Rumble 25. I'm taking things a bit more seriously lately and decided it's time for an upgrade. Although I quite like the tone I've dialed in on my budget setup, I've been told I haven't heard my bass yet because the 8" speaker on the Rumble 25 doesn't cut it for lower frequencies. I feel like a very minor upgrade to a 40 might be underwhelming. I was hoping to purchase something with an obvious tonal improvement. I felt maybe moving away from Fender might also make the upgrade more worthwhile. I worry spending a significant amount on a Rumble 500-800 just to sound very similar to the 25 would be a bit of a downer (is there a significant tonal improvement between these models beyond improved bass and volume? Excuse my naivety).

After some research, I think I'm leaning towards something Gallien-Krueger. For simplicity, I was going to stick with a combo. I've had my eye on the MB 210 or 212 V2's. They are a fair bit pricier than even a Fender Rumble 800W combo where I'm from, but my heroes use GK (albeit 2001RB heads) and I like the tones I've heard. However, I imagine I'll usually only ever need a fraction of that power in the foreseeable future. I usually only play with a guitarist playing through a 100W Katana, which is never turned up too loud anyway. I typically play with the volume around 9 o'clock on the Rumble 25. I have no immediate plans on gigging.

Would purchasing a 500W GK be an absolute waste, or can I expect the tonal improvements to be very noticable even playing at very low volume on a GK combo? I hear that even many solid-state amps won't sound particuarly good until they've reached a minimum volume threshold, but I have no idea how true this is. Would a GK 112 v2 200W be a smarter investment? I just read it doesn't have a horn, so I figured the 210 or 212 would sound better along with the two speakers. I just don't know if I'll be able to hear the difference at the volumes I'd be playing at.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!
 
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#3
Going from a Rumble 25 to a GK 212 combo will be a significant difference in the tone you are hearing, no doubt. Even at the low volumes you are playing, it will still be a big difference. Since I am a fan of GK (and Mesa) products, I would say heck yeah, go for it. i had an older Rumble 100 w/ a 15" driver and even that compared to my current rig(s) did not measure up. Fender and GK will have different tone by design but playing through an 8" 25w combo is not comparable to where you plan on going with the new rig.

If you are concerned about volume levels, controlling that is as easy as turning the volume down. i routnely play at home through an 800w Mesa and a 550 watt GK head into either 212 or 210/115 cabinets and the volume is what i want it to be. i can play low enough to not disturb the house or I can shake the walls. that being said, i live in a house and i have my practice space downstairs. if i were in an apartment in the city, i might feel differently.

if volume is a concern, you can look at using headphones. I think most of the GK combos have a headphone jack (and an aux in) that allow you to play silently if needed.

as far as if it is "a waste", that's entirely subjective. if you are only ever going to play in your bedroom at low volume, then yes, many would likely consider a 500W 212 combo unnecessary and even wasteful. you could save money and effort in going with an ampless setup and always playing through the headphones/in ear monitors. however, if you have any plans to jam with others or go out and play live, the 500w 212 would likely be perfect. for smaller venues it should have no issues holding its own to cover the room and for anyplace with a FOH / PA support, the DI output from the rig can supply a very good signal for that purpose. (i should note that many musicians these days are going ampless anyway, so it may not be completely accurate to say that you "need" an amp/caninet to play with others. if they are using IEMs, the amp may not be needed at all anyway)

whatever you decide, GK is a great name in bass amps. tough to go wrong with them. there are, of course, other brands that can do what you are asking and it's likely that several other TBers will chime in with what they believe to be "what you need". i always feel comfortable in recommending GK based on 10 or so years playing through their equipment with no issues.

good luck with the decision. take a look at the local used market too. there may be something that fits the need at a better price than a new combo. i find that these decisions are easier when i'm not paying retail prices.

kgb
 
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#4
Too much is not enough.

ampegs.jpg
 
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#5
This stuff is very often exaggerated. The small speakers in my stereo system reproduce bass very adequately thank you, but when designing a low power amp there's a tradeoff between volume and bass response, and designers tend to prioritise volume. Theoretically one just looks at the numbers to see what the low frequency response is like, but in practice they tend to be somewhat massaged, and fair comparisons between different brands are very difficult, even if the numbers are published. Plenty of people round here gig with a 1*12 cab, so there's no reason why a 112 shouldn't be fine for what you do.
 
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#8
ChiliKeys said:
I've been playing casually for a couple of years using a Rumble 25. I'm taking things a bit more seriously lately and decided it's time for an upgrade. Although I quite like the tone I've dialed in on my budget setup, I've been told I haven't heard my bass yet because the 8" speaker on the Rumble 25 doesn't cut it for lower frequencies. I feel like a very minor upgrade to a 40 might be underwhelming. I was hoping to purchase something with an obvious tonal improvement. I felt maybe moving away from Fender might also make the upgrade more worthwhile. I worry spending a significant amount on a Rumble 500-800 just to sound very similar to the 25 would be a bit of a downer (is there a significant tonal improvement between these models beyond improved bass and volume? Excuse my naivety).

After some research, I think I'm leaning towards something Gallien-Krueger. For simplicity, I was going to stick with a combo. I've had my eye on the MB 210 or 212 V2's. They are a fair bit pricier than even a Fender Rumble 800W combo where I'm from, but my heroes use GK (albeit 2001RB heads) and I like the tones I've heard. However, I imagine I'll usually only ever need a fraction of that power in the foreseeable future. I usually only play with a guitarist playing through a 100W Katana, which is never turned up too loud anyway. I typically play with the volume around 9 o'clock on the Rumble 25. I have no immediate plans on gigging.

Would purchasing a 500W GK be an absolute waste, or can I expect the tonal improvements to be very noticable even playing at very low volume on a GK combo? I hear that even many solid-state amps won't sound particuarly good until they've reached a minimum volume threshold, but I have no idea how true this is. Would a GK 112 v2 200W be a smarter investment? I just read it doesn't have a horn, so I figured the 210 or 212 would sound better along with the two speakers. I just don't know if I'll be able to hear the difference at the volumes I'd be playing at.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!
Click to expand...
The Rumble 200 combo sounds about a zillion times better then the Rumble 40 to me, FWIW. That or a comparably powered G-K, Ampeg, Traynor, etc. combo would be my baseline buy for a practice amp, I reckon.
 
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#11
I think you'll hear a real difference.

Do you need it for a bedroom amp? No. I have a nice gig rig it's a whole different world from my little practice amp. But when I practice at home, I still use my Peavey Max with an 8" speaker. Mine is 20 watts and it"s more than enough. If that's all I had, I probably would want a better rig though.

I don't think you'll regret moving up. You'll have a nice rig if you need it.
 
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#12
I dont think there is such thing as too much for a bedroom setup.

You like what you like and the more you like your sound, the more you will play. I'm currently looking at the gk legacy 800 212 combo and the legacy 410 combo with zero intention of them ever leaving the house.

I'd also like to state, I quite like the rumble 25. If it had been just a little louder I'd have bought one. I recently bought a rumble 500, but thought the 25 sounded better overall. In fact, I've returned the rumble 500. It just didn't do it for me. It had plenty of output, but I didn't love it's sound. Not a bad unit, but not great either. Not to my ears.
The rumble 500 does sound VERY different to the 25, but to me, not in a good way. It's ridiculous output was fun for a minute, but wasn't enough to keep me.

So off to gk I go, I just have to decide which one.
 
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#13
ChiliKeys said:
I've been playing casually for a couple of years using a Rumble 25. I'm taking things a bit more seriously lately and decided it's time for an upgrade. Although I quite like the tone I've dialed in on my budget setup, I've been told I haven't heard my bass yet because the 8" speaker on the Rumble 25 doesn't cut it for lower frequencies. I feel like a very minor upgrade to a 40 might be underwhelming. I was hoping to purchase something with an obvious tonal improvement. I felt maybe moving away from Fender might also make the upgrade more worthwhile. I worry spending a significant amount on a Rumble 500-800 just to sound very similar to the 25 would be a bit of a downer (is there a significant tonal improvement between these models beyond improved bass and volume? Excuse my naivety).

After some research, I think I'm leaning towards something Gallien-Krueger. For simplicity, I was going to stick with a combo. I've had my eye on the MB 210 or 212 V2's. They are a fair bit pricier than even a Fender Rumble 800W combo where I'm from, but my heroes use GK (albeit 2001RB heads) and I like the tones I've heard. However, I imagine I'll usually only ever need a fraction of that power in the foreseeable future. I usually only play with a guitarist playing through a 100W Katana, which is never turned up too loud anyway. I typically play with the volume around 9 o'clock on the Rumble 25. I have no immediate plans on gigging.

Would purchasing a 500W GK be an absolute waste, or can I expect the tonal improvements to be very noticable even playing at very low volume on a GK combo? I hear that even many solid-state amps won't sound particuarly good until they've reached a minimum volume threshold, but I have no idea how true this is. Would a GK 112 v2 200W be a smarter investment? I just read it doesn't have a horn, so I figured the 210 or 212 would sound better along with the two speakers. I just don't know if I'll be able to hear the difference at the volumes I'd be playing at.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!
Click to expand...
I use an SVT on a 610 in my bedroom
 
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#14
Used a Rumble15 to learn songs for the band but rarely took the bass' off the wall for the fun of it. Got TC Electronic BAM200 and BC208 cabinet and every day now they're gettin played

very motivating when it sounds good...and they cost together around $400. Handles the B strings wo blinking. Guitar player had this at his house for guests and amazes me how great it is so ran and got one

Easily good enough for smaller gigs too
 
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#15
I have a Rumble 25 for home and really like it. I have bigger amps but never bother for home cause the 25 does the job. I find at that volume there is negligible difference. Now if you wanna crank it sure, but my focus is practice.

I think that a 100-200w, 12” option would be good for large home amp, occasionally jamming and rare-occasional small gigs. I think the 500w 2x10” options would be good for regular jamming, occasional-regular small-medium gigs.

I love the GK MB series so based on your description, I’d vote GK 112. But, it wouldn’t be ridiculous to get the 210 if you think you’ll grow into it. Rumbles are great too, so I think the 100 or 500 would be solid options, if you wanna save a little money.
 
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#17
I have pretty much always had 2 rigs. One for gigging and rehearsing with a band, and something at home for practice and leisure playing.
My gig rig stays at the rehearsal space, and my practice rig stays at home.
It dosen't have to compete with a drumkit, it dosen't have to "set in the mix". It only has to make a relatively decent bass sound to play along with my hi-fi.
For a couple of decades I got by with an old Peavy Backstage 25 watt guitar amp. For "at home" volumes, it was fine. A few years ago I decided to retire the little Peavey to guitar duty and bought the little Ampeg BA108. It definitely improved my "at home" tone just being voiced specifically for bass. ( Its basically just Ampegs version of the little Rumble you have now.)
Maybe getting a 300 watt set up will convince you to play out with a full band, and thats good!
But just to chase tone for bedroom practice? Seems like overkill.
You can hunt squirrels with a bazooka, but you dang sure don't need to.
 
#19
99% of the time, I play in my 'bedroom' (a.k.a. my home studio) through either my studio monitors, going straight in to my interface, or I play through a 33 year old SWR Goliath 4x10 with a MarkBass NanoMark 300 hooked up to it. I barely turn that thing up past 8 or 9 on the volume knob, and sometimes my neighbor can hear the bass outside of my walls. In short, you don't need to sweat so hard over a 'bedroom rig.'

If you buy a 500w rig to gig with, it will be fine in your bedroom too. The volume and gain controls make that possible.
 
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