Sounds to me as though you've done your due diligence on getting a sound you can live with out of your Rumble. I wouldn't waste any more time on it. In my opinion, any solution other than "D" is just putting off the inevitable. Regarding trying things out in a store, that never told me much. When I was gigging full-time, the only way I could know for sure that something was going to work for me was to take it on stage with the band on the gig. Back then at least, that wasn't an option with an amp rig. Because of this, I looked at what the greats were gigging with. I went with an SWR Redhead because Marcus Miller was using it and a friend told me that when he was in NYC at Sadowsky buying his bass that's what they had him playing through. So, "If it's good enough for Marcus and Sadowsky..." I ordered one from Bass Northwest (I miss those guys) and it was great for me. With all due respect to the Fender Rumble line, are there any "greats" that endorse them and actually use them live?
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I don't like my Rumble 100, help me find a solution
- Thread starter Christian C
- Start date
I’ll echo that it doesn’t make sense to try to modify /upgrade the rumble..
That said, I don’t know that I’m fully convinced that you couldn’t eq your way out of this, but maybe that’s just based off of my limited knowledge of what you’ve tried… but if the case is that you have mainly just tried the ‘flat’ settings and maybe slightly further than that, then there is probably meat on the bones to nibble at. From the ‘real flat’ setting, I’d reduce the low mids slightly more.
no doubt the eq curves on this amp are pretty brutal, as there’s almost always a dip around 500-700
That said, I don’t know that I’m fully convinced that you couldn’t eq your way out of this, but maybe that’s just based off of my limited knowledge of what you’ve tried… but if the case is that you have mainly just tried the ‘flat’ settings and maybe slightly further than that, then there is probably meat on the bones to nibble at. From the ‘real flat’ setting, I’d reduce the low mids slightly more.
no doubt the eq curves on this amp are pretty brutal, as there’s almost always a dip around 500-700
I've not read all the replies so maybe this was already asked -
You could try the posting, port-blocking and lining the box mod on the Rumble. Inexpensive and can be done (and undone) fairly quickly) To my ear, it did tighten up the sound.
I'm very happy with my 100, but - I got it real cheap and I'm only using it as a stage monitor, so I'm not asking it to do any heavy lifting.
You could try the posting, port-blocking and lining the box mod on the Rumble. Inexpensive and can be done (and undone) fairly quickly) To my ear, it did tighten up the sound.
I'm very happy with my 100, but - I got it real cheap and I'm only using it as a stage monitor, so I'm not asking it to do any heavy lifting.
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TL/DR
We have several of the Rumble models at a school I teach at.
They are definitely loud, light, and inexpensive. But the tone … or lack thereof … is problematic for me as well.
They’re killer in the lesson rooms but next to a drum set … all “rumble” for sure.
I play passive basses so I’m going to take in an EQ pedal for some upcoming rehearsals and a performance - but if the OP hasn’t acquired something already, I’d recommend just about anything else tone-wise.
FYI - I use MarkBass which is good and GK which is so much better.
We have several of the Rumble models at a school I teach at.
They are definitely loud, light, and inexpensive. But the tone … or lack thereof … is problematic for me as well.
They’re killer in the lesson rooms but next to a drum set … all “rumble” for sure.
I play passive basses so I’m going to take in an EQ pedal for some upcoming rehearsals and a performance - but if the OP hasn’t acquired something already, I’d recommend just about anything else tone-wise.
FYI - I use MarkBass which is good and GK which is so much better.
While you save for a different amp try:
- raising it at least 1 metre off the ground, and 1m away from the back wall. I use foldable aluminium painters stands, with foldable legs, from the hardware store.
- connect your pedals direct to the fx return to bypass everything on the panel. You'll need to carefully control the volume of the amp from your pedal board
- raising it at least 1 metre off the ground, and 1m away from the back wall. I use foldable aluminium painters stands, with foldable legs, from the hardware store.
- connect your pedals direct to the fx return to bypass everything on the panel. You'll need to carefully control the volume of the amp from your pedal board
It just had that 'cheap amp' sound that I can't stand. I was trying to save some money, but it didn't work out. Also, I like modern, hi-fi tones, and that ain't the amp for that.
I installed an Eminence basslite 2012 in my Rumble 100 v3. resulting in clear tight more satisfying bass tone to my ears.
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/fender-rumble-500-frequencies/
note that there is the speaker. (see XLR - which has speaker emulation - vs. send freqs)
a simple EQ in front boosting that range fixes that (preferably in the FX loop).
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A Rumble 15 is not really a gigging amp. You’re going to hate my advice, but it’s the best advice you’ll get. Rather than try to make your amp into something it’s not, or buy something you can afford, figure out what you NEED. Then save your money, get a part time job, stop buying coffee, skip the latest iPhone, whatever you need to do to get the money to buy what you really need, not some compromise that you’ll be unhappy with. Buy once, cry once.
I fought the Rumble and the Rumble won. Never got the sound out of it that I wanted though when i opened the cab there was some bracing and some stuffing. Messing with the EQ didn't do it either and changing a speaker without modeling the cab is risky and gets expensive quick. So - while I have a great gig rig for medium to large gigs (Demeter 800D & SWR Bertha) I wanted something to use for practice and small gigs that sounded good and ended up with a Traynor SB112 - they also have an SB115 if you prefer the sound of the 15. Something to consider and its made of real wood and has very simple and decent EQ with 200watts at 4ohms. No cab extension, but an XLR out for FOH or another amp (I've done that as well with great success). There's other combos, but if you want a combo in your gear stash the small block Traynors are worth a serious look.
The solution I found for using the rumble is bypassing it's eq section and running my pedal into the effects return on the back. Sounded much better but wished the r100 had a horn in it. I like the 200 and 500 much better because of the horn.
Sorry, I may have missed your reply with what type of bass you play. I did see the reply with various pedals etc. Rumble 100 sound is a matter of opinion and what you play. I use mine at a low key restaurant gig, playing a Ray4. Enhancer off, tones 1:00, 11:00, 1:00, bass tones a little past center. Sounds good for what I use it for. I do have larger amp/cab for larger gigs. The Ray4 sounds better thru the Rumble 100 than my Fender P bass.
You may be trying to get a sound that it may not reproduce. I use Hartke HD cabinets, they have a sound of their own, they struggle a little playing the deep muddy p bass sound, which is a sound I dont like. Try a Hartke HD series, clean and punchy.
You may be trying to get a sound that it may not reproduce. I use Hartke HD cabinets, they have a sound of their own, they struggle a little playing the deep muddy p bass sound, which is a sound I dont like. Try a Hartke HD series, clean and punchy.
I end up playing a lot of Rumbles. They always seem to be the backline at jams I go to, or rehearsals, etc. They sound thin to me, like I'm playing through a transistor radio into a speaker in a cardboard box. For my own rig I've been working with a GK Fusion S into a Barefaced Super Twin. It's still lightweight, though by no means inexpensive, but my God does it ever bring the thunder. Bass needs to be felt as well as heard. It should resonate in your body. The Rumbles just don't do that.
This post is 5 pages deep, so probably just typing this for the sake of typing this. Having said that, here's advice that may help someone at some point, maybe even the OP.
The rumble series is a pretty versatile bit of kit, as they say across the pond...
I uses a Rumble 40 as a my stage monitor in conjunction with a Genzler Magellan DI. I leave the Rumble flat and EQ with the Magellan DI. In addition to that though you get things that are kinda "extra" on both...
MAGELLAN DI
Contour adjustment - will tweak your EQ a little to give it a little flavor. Curve A has a more modern vibe, Curve B has a more vintage vibe.
High Pass Filter - will completely roll off low frequencies below an adjustable range. Goes as low as 25Hz. I set it using by B string when I play my 5er. It helps throw out the super low freq. that the amp speaker can't really process. Increases efficiency by saving the speaker from having to do anything mechanically to service frequencies it can't really reproduce anyway...
RUMBLE
Bright, Contour, Vintage Switches - Will give you different tone flavors. I play with those in different combinations depending on what I'm doing. Try pressing all 3 at once. I've had that sound pretty good, but usually what I will do in most cases is use the bright and then roll back some treble on the Magellan DI until it sounds right.
Hope this helps!!
The rumble series is a pretty versatile bit of kit, as they say across the pond...
I uses a Rumble 40 as a my stage monitor in conjunction with a Genzler Magellan DI. I leave the Rumble flat and EQ with the Magellan DI. In addition to that though you get things that are kinda "extra" on both...
MAGELLAN DI
Contour adjustment - will tweak your EQ a little to give it a little flavor. Curve A has a more modern vibe, Curve B has a more vintage vibe.
High Pass Filter - will completely roll off low frequencies below an adjustable range. Goes as low as 25Hz. I set it using by B string when I play my 5er. It helps throw out the super low freq. that the amp speaker can't really process. Increases efficiency by saving the speaker from having to do anything mechanically to service frequencies it can't really reproduce anyway...
RUMBLE
Bright, Contour, Vintage Switches - Will give you different tone flavors. I play with those in different combinations depending on what I'm doing. Try pressing all 3 at once. I've had that sound pretty good, but usually what I will do in most cases is use the bright and then roll back some treble on the Magellan DI until it sounds right.
Hope this helps!!
Interesting, I was reading through some of that earlier before commenting…
this is indeed a solution of sorts, but in practical reality, I personally find that to be a sub optimal solution.. part because an EQ pedal is sub optimal because of the line level difference, and a rack/studio. EQ is a pretty big add-on just to correct an amp. You don’t like the sound of.. the other issue is that that we are adding phase incongruities, which is to say that we will have perturbations in the phase response, while breaking even on the actual frequency response. This may or may not be an actual issue in any way, but it again seems like an elaborate And potentially fraught Band-Aid involving external equipment just to make a cheap amp go from ‘bad’ to ‘acceptable’ (in terms of the individual users taste, I’m not suggesting that it is objectively, a bad amp or sound)
anecdotally, I have also found that this kind of solution just kind of doesn’t sound very good in my experience.. I’ve done a very similar Band-Aid with a 30-band rack graphic eq, as well as with a parametric mid, trying to surgically neutralize the response.. again this is anecdotal, and I don’t know if it’s actually a result of the phase discrepancy, or if there’s something else at play, but it just doesn’t end up sounding right when I’ve tried this kind of thing
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