I can't believe I just bought a fender rumble

[Drop1]

If you had asked me just yesterday I would ever own a fender product, I'd have laugh at you.
I am an absolute brand snob when it comes to fender.

I've been having a hard time choosing an amp can cab for practice, but I couldn't Take the muddy sound of my hand me down crate bx80 for one more second.

This time at gc, I let my ears guide me 100%.

I played through every combo they had available .

I learned i REALLY don't like mark bass. They seem dark and there is a midrange color I just can't stand.

They had one of those new ampeg 10s that sounded lovely, just not enough output.

My 2 favorite combos in the store turned out to both be fender rumbles. They had a used rumble 8 I LOVED the aound of, it just didn't have enough output for me. I wish it had. It was $75!!!!!!!

The 100w rumble 12 sounded ok but a little dull.

So what I wound up buying was the 500w rumble 210. I like that it has a horn. It's got the output and a surprisingly clear, open sound.

I've gotten rumble recommendations here a lot. I blew them off cause "fender" but the rumbles really are nice, even to a fender hater.

I can't say it sounds truly "excellent", but for the money it does. Especially when you compare it to the crate 80w single 15 I have been using (suffering). It also weighs like half what the crate does so there's that too.

Color me surprised..

I'd really like to thank the gc salesman. He went above and beyond. I level matched and eq'ed several combos and he was the one moving the input jack so I could perform a true blind test.

Still can't believe fender won that battle lol.

The rumble is only temporary while i find what I really want, but it's very nice for the money. Surprised the heck outta me.

 

[dc-upright]

That is a great amp! Why do you hate Fender so much, nearly everything I own has that name on it?

 

[gtirard]

That is a great amp! Why do you hate Fender so much, nearly everything I own has that name on it?

Congrats, it's rare and nice to see someone who admits he had wrong preconceived ideas.

I don't consider myself a "gear snob", but Fender Rumble never did it for me. I admit they offer great bang for the buck and I know a lot of people love these amps here on TB, but each time I have to use them in the rehearsal studio, I just can't get a good tone out of them.

But I hope that if one day I try one that sounds good, I'll be honest and judge with my ears and not with me eyes.

Kudo.

 

[Drop1]

That is a great amp! Why do you hate Fender so much, nearly everything I own has that name on it?

I dont hate the brand fender. I mean I hate he way their basses look, but my dislike runs back to core childhood memories.

I LOVE the way a good j bass sounds, but I refuse to play one.

See, when I was young, I was a city boy that got moved into the country. I had long hair and baggy clothes and suffered greatly cause I'd dont wear cowboy boots to school.

The first many times I saw fender was at country shows. Out those 2 things together and that's what started my brand avoidable of fender.
Then I spent decades in metal bands and I haven't met many that will accept fender into the band. That just cemented my dislike even more.
I'm glad I finally moved past all that though.

I've always known fender made good stuff. It just was lingering emotional damage that kept me away.

 

[Drop1]

Congrats, it's rare and nice to see someone who admits he had wrong preconceived ideas.

I don't consider myself a "gear snob", but Fender Rumble never did it for me. I admit they offer great bang for the buck and I know a lot of people love these amps here on TB, but each time I have to use them in the rehearsal studio, I just can't get a good tone out of them.

But I hope that if one day I try one that sounds good, I'll be honest and judge with my ears and not with me eyes.

Kudo.

I am strictly using it at home and it does the bedroom thing very well so far even with all settings flat.
I woumt be keeping it. Just using it as a jumping point between the super crappy crate bx80 and whatever serious amp/cab combo I settle on. I am just buying more time to shop for what I REALLY want , but doing it with better sound while in the mean time.. my crate was brutal to play on. I couldnt deal anymore. Make sense?

 

[Drop1]

Congrats, it's rare and nice to see someone who admits he had wrong preconceived ideas.

I don't consider myself a "gear snob", but Fender Rumble never did it for me. I admit they offer great bang for the buck and I know a lot of people love these amps here on TB, but each time I have to use them in the rehearsal studio, I just can't get a good tone out of them.

But I hope that if one day I try one that sounds good, I'll be honest and judge with my ears and not with me eyes.

Kudo.

It took literally a blind test for me to accept the fender. It and the 25w 8" rumble were EASLIY the best sounding combos at my gc to my ears.

I wouldn't want to run it in band, but at home it's just fine.

 

[Wfrance3]

I just wish they would go back to the old school black tolex black grille. I know; first world problem, but still...

 

[Drop1]

I really am happy with the rumble.

My bx 80 had no top end harmonics. With the fender, my bass doesn't sound muted any more. I may even be able to stop using steel strings and go back to nickle. The lows aren't as powerful as I'd quite like, but the mids and highs are lovely.

 

[Drop1]

I just wish they would go back to the old school black tolex black grille. I know; first world problem, but still...

I'd prefer a black grill as well as well as better knobs. These look super cheap. I don't care though. My bass sounds right again and not all mid bloated with no highs. Happy!

 

[Drop1]

Whooohoooo. My steel strings sound like steel strings. I can't explain just how muted my previous combo was. I HAD to have new strings weekly to have any high end at all. This feels so nice!

 

[Drop1]

With everything flat, the rumble sounds little scooped. Im 100%ok with that. It sounds way more "hi fi" than I would have expected. Also a pleasant surprise.

Man if yall just new the sound I've been suffering these last 3 months you'd understand my excitement . The rumble is even brighter than my Yamaha hs 8 monitors amd I LOVE a bright crisp sound. I haven't even touched the amp settings yet.
It's good out the box. I just made sure the horn was turned on and it's good. I was starting to think this bass was just dull cause it is on my monitors and my old cab, but my bass is actually pretty darn bright which is heaven for me. Very guitar sounding. I "may" actually keep this thing and just add another 4 ohm cab.

 

[Al Kraft]

While I don't own any Fender products at the moment, every one I ever did own worked beautifully. I even had a Fender PA powered mixer at one point. IME Fender engineering is quite good and their large scale production allows them to price competitively.

 

[Drop1]

Damn. I cam even use solo pickups now. My bx 80 was all mids. No real lows or highs. Especially highs were missing .
If I soloed pups on rhe crate it just roared. I can't believe how good this bass sounds. Wish it sounded like this in my studio monitors!

 

[Drop1]

While I don't own any Fender products at the moment, every one I ever did own worked beautifully. I even had a Fender PA powered mixer at one point. IME Fender engineering is quite good and their large scale production allows them to price competitively.

I think this things sound punches above its weight cost wise. I don't think it hits above it's weight output wise though. Not a problem for me, it's just for sitting around in my living room.

If I could change 1 thing about this rumble, it would be better low end control at volume. It's got enough for what I'm doing, but as I mentioned above, I wouldn't want it on a rock gig except for maybe as a monitor. I could see it doing fine for smaller gigs with a controlled drummer though. My drummers would make this thing VANISH in a mix.

 

[Al Kraft]

I think this things sound punches above its weight cost wise. I don't think it hits above it's weight output wise though. Not a problem for me, it's just for sitting around in my living room.

If I could change 1 thing about this rumble, it would be better low end control at volume. It's got enough for what I'm doing, but as I mentioned above, I wouldn't want it on a rock gig except for maybe as a monitor. I could see it doing fine for smaller gigs with a controlled drummer though. My drummers would make this thing VANISH in a mix.

Watts aside, I think a lot of people have the same impression of many 210 cabs/combos. IME many 210's (not all) can feel quickly limited with louder rock bands with a hard hitting drummer and electric guitars.

 

[agedhorse]

Things become much easier when you are less stubborn. Just sayin'.

 

[Drop1]

Watts aside, I think many people have the same impression of many 210 cabs/combos. IME many 210's (not all) can feel quickly limited with louder rock bands with a hard hitting drummer and electric guitars.

I used to have an ampeg 210 combo and that thing BOOGIED if you set a decent hpf. I used it at rehearsal for years when I didn't want to haul my 410he and 115/shuttle 6.0 combo.
Sometimes I'd just run the 210 combo with a connected 115 and it did quite well. I HATED the ampeg 210s sound at home. It always sounded a bit dry and boxy in the bedroom but it could spank in a mix when needed.

 

[Al Kraft]

Sometimes I'd just run the 210 combo with a connected 115 and it did quite well.

That was a cab combination that I always liked years back. It gave me a modular big-rig capability and variety if I only wanted to use one of the cabs.

 

[Drop1]

Things become much easier when you are less stubborn. Just sayin'.

I'm trying dude. For real. I'm still not any closer to finding a cab though. Too many options it's crippling.

If I could find something similar to this rumbles sound with better low end control, I think I'd be quite happy. I've said before, I'm really not super picky. I like bright, but I also like a big bottom , but that bottom HAS to maintain control.
If nothing else I now have a modern cab to compare things to.
I'll try to open my ears more. It's hard for me sometimes.

 

[Drop1]

That was a cab combination that I always liked years back. It gave me a modular big-rig capability and variety if I only wanted to use one of the cabs.

For gigs i usually ran the 410 on bottom worh a 115 on top. The 115 was much brighter so I kept it up high.

I got the ampeg 210 combo cause the neighbors would get mad if I played the full rig at home.
That ba210 served me well. I really liked it with the 115 but HATED the ba210 on its own. Too boxy and I couldn't eq it out without losing a ton of low mid power.