How / Where do you try out new amps and cabs?

[Nephilymbass]

I did this a few years back. I couldn’t find them all in stores either but I tried what I could. Even stopped at stores in other towns when I was out of town for the day. That eliminated some. Read a lot of reviews, watched a lot of videos online. Some useful, some not due to subpar production. Came across a video shooting out the mesa subway vs the Aguilar tonehammer. By that time for me those were the two main contenders. Funny thing is the reviewer in the video preferred the Aguilar but I preferred how he sounded with the mesa. So I think a lot of it is personal preference. There is no best class d amp for everyone. Once I got the mesa subway d-800 and subway 115 I quickly realized I could get close to a lot of other class d amps sounds with the deep switch off, but turning on the deep switch just added another dimension to the sound which made it more to my liking as someone who came from using bigger rigs. It doesn’t “feel” like a small lightweight rig. Still using it years later and have no intention of replacing it unless it stops working.

 

[Verb the Noun]

I'm going through that "do I need new / lighter gear" phase as my old back no longer wants to lug SVT heads and cabs up and down stairs. But as I look for potential replacements, I'm finding it hard to find anything in stock in stores to try out. I know this is due to folks buying online more, but--how do you try out new amps and cabs? I know they'll ship it to me, but seems like a hassle to ship 50-100 lbs of gear just to test drive. And my understanding is that for the store to bring one in, I'd still need to buy / return under the 30 / 45 day return window. Is that the answer (order to home or store, return it if it's not the sound I want)?

Recently my example is the Ampeg 2x12AV and the V-4B head. I'm in Richmond, VA, and couldn't find them here, or the DC area, or VA Beach, or Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill...that includes GC, Sam Ash, Chuck Levin's, etc.

When I decided I was not happy with my setup, I did a lot of test driving rigs at rehearsal studios and paying attention to the tones of local bass players I liked. Was able to create a short list of the brands I liked. Still came down to a leap of faith and getting lucky when finally I ordered on line.

 

[Goatrope]

I did this a few years back. I couldn’t find them all in stores either but I tried what I could. Even stopped at stores in other towns when I was out of town for the day. That eliminated some. Read a lot of reviews, watched a lot of videos online. Some useful, some not due to subpar production. Came across a video shooting out the mesa subway vs the Aguilar tonehammer. By that time for me those were the two main contenders. Funny thing is the reviewer in the video preferred the Aguilar but I preferred how he sounded with the mesa. So I think a lot of it is personal preference. There is no best class d amp for everyone. Once I got the mesa subway d-800 and subway 115 I quickly realized I could get close to a lot of other class d amps sounds with the deep switch off, but turning on the deep switch just added another dimension to the sound which made it more to my liking as someone who came from using bigger rigs. It doesn’t “feel” like a small lightweight rig. Still using it years later and have no intention of replacing it unless it stops working.

Couldn't resist posting a picture since you mentioned this amazing combination. It lives in a rehearsal space at the moment, bit I'm always impressed how well it works, even when things get loud.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Couldn't resist posting a picture since you mentioned this amazing combination. It lives in a rehearsal space at the moment, bit I'm always impressed how well it works, even when things get loud.

View attachment 5158440

It’s such a good rig. Crazy to think for all those years I was hauling around huge heavy rigs.

 

[MrLenny1]

Local stores have very little bass cabs & amps.

 

[Pocket Dave]

@eric9353 - It may just take some time and patience. As you mention, there's a lot of brick & mortar in your area. I don't know if Chuck Levin's deals in used gear or not, but they appear to be an Ampeg dealer. Maybe someone will trade in a V4B for an SVT.

I know they're not the same, though consider this: My 4.5 lb Aguilar TH500 with its drive control does a better SVT than my Ampeg PF-500. Even at 250 watts through a single 8 ohm cabinet, it works well with a heavy-footed drummer in my main band. The TH500 was first recommended to me by another local working player who owns two SVT's, a B-15 and SB-12. A Tone Hammer is now his main gigging amp.

I was then pretty lucky - I play guitar with a house band on Thursdays and worked with a sub bassist one night who had a Tone Hammer 700, and got to play my P bass through it for a hand full of songs. After that it was just a matter of watching the local stores and Reverb for a used TH500, which came up within a few weeks.

Cabs are more tricky; The ones I've wanted to try almost never show up in stores. Fortunately, I'm part of one of the local jam scenes and have had the opportunity to play through some different cabs, including lightweight offerings from Mesa and Barefaced Audio. More recently, local Guitar Centers have started carrying Aguilar, and I've tried a few of their cab offerings, though not in a band mix context.

Good luck; Let us know how your search turns out.