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I don't like my Rumble 100, help me find a solution

#141
HowieD72 said:
My main rig is a Genz-Benz Streamliner 900 and Barefaced 410 cab. I use mainly my active Warwick Fortress Masterman or a passive precision or jazz.

I just bought a Fender 100 combo and find for practicing and small jams, it sounds fine without having to play around too much with the knobs. (Sometimes using the Vintage button).

Like some have mentioned already, you either like it or not. As for me, and what I use it for, it's fine :thumbsup: :cool:
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I often use my Rumble 100 for rehearsals just for convenience, but Monday our guitarists were trying new pedals so, anticipating their volume, I took my GB Streamliner 900 and GB Uber 410. It sounded so good. But the Rumble is good for what it is and it’s not fair to compare of course.
 
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#144
pepj said:
Ime, they are ok for Jams and Open mics but not gigs.
They are what they are, which is imv, a cheap portable option.
I like the Bassman but that's a whole new world.
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The Rumble 100 works fine for gigs. Been using one for a couple of years. I don‘t know where people get these misconceptions. As long as the volume needs are in the range of what the Rumble is able to deliver, it will work like a charm.
 
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#148
Christian C said:
I have owned a Rumble 15 for pretty much my whole time playing bass. It sounded pretty poopie so I wanted a replacement. I heard people praising the other Rumble amps in the line, and I thought it would be a great

What I have is that while it may be light and loud, it most definitely is not good sounding; it sounds like it is under a blanket and is super muddy, while sounding super boxy in the mids, and flat in the treble. I have tried all of the settings one could imagine (yes, I know that flat is around 10/2/2/10 o'clock for the knobs. It also didn't really help.), even with the bright on, it still sounds muddy. When I boost the treble to unreal amounts with the bright on, the treble is harsh and not zingy how I would want AND THE MUD IS STILL THERE!!!!!

I honestly am desperate for help, as all other amps in my price range don't seem to fit my needs (Ampeg Rocket, orange crush, etc.), so here are some solutions I have come up with.

A. New EQ settings (I highly doubt this)
B. Speaker replacement (I heard the Eminence Basslite S2012 neo speaker really improved the sound, but I'm still skeptical if it will give me the sound I want)
C. Downgrade to the rumble 40 (Heard it sound clearer, but I want to be able to gig)
D. Get a new amp (Would like recommendations.)

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Thank you!
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Just taking a stab at this. @ 100 watts I wouldn’t expect it to sound like a quieter version of an SVT. Replacing the speaker might be an expensive and likely disappointing experience.

Now if I was going to gig, my experience playing in a lot of different environments & different genres is there is nothing like having excessive capacity. And here is nothing more frustrating than being in a band situation when you can’t function because of your under powered rig. Well other than the drummer not showing up for his tenth rehearsal in a row. But I digress.

If you have a rig generating somewhere around 200-300 watts powering a decent cab will cover a lot of applications. Pro tip.. If you go the combo route, make sure that combo has the option of adding a second cab.

As for where to go to shop for a rig? Go no further than clicking the link (Classifieds) at the top right here on TalkBass. Lots of values here saving you potentially hundreds of dollars as opposed to buying at full price retail.

The second place is Guitar Center.com and shop their used gear. Gear is conditionally rated (so you have a pretty good idea of what condition it’s in) and comes with a 30 day 100% cash back satisfaction guarantee. I’ve bought a lot of quality used gear this way which has saved me thousands of dollars with a whole lot less aggravation.
 
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#149
tom-g said:
The Rumble 100 works fine for gigs. Been using one for a couple of years. I don‘t know where people get these misconceptions. As long as the volume needs are in the range of what the Rumble is able to deliver, it will work like a charm.
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Yes, have used mine for small venues and house parties, it’s a good amp for those situations. I wouldn’t bring it to play the county fair or other large stage events.
 
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#150
pepj said:
Ime, they are ok for Jams and Open mics but not gigs.
They are what they are, which is imv, a cheap portable option.
I like the Bassman but that's a whole new world.
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It depends on the gig. I use one in our tiny dive bar and regularly get asked to turn down. Full drum kit and two guitars. It's loud enough for a small room.

I'd say the issue is the baked-in dark sound. I plugged the ports to remove some boominess, turn down Bass and Lo Mids, max out Hi Mids and keep Treble low. But the tone doesn't matter where I play and the audience doesn't care. They don't even know there's a bass player on stage. The memes are real :)
No way I'm spending money on a good amp to play that dump. I also have to leave my precious tube preamp at home, which would make the amp sound 10x more alive, because people might spill beer all over the stage when they waslk across it to go out to the beer garden. Insane :)
 
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#151
andare said:
It depends on the gig. I use one in our tiny dive bar and regularly get asked to turn down. Full drum kit and two guitars. It's loud enough for a small room.

I'd say the issue is the baked-in dark sound. I plugged the ports to remove some boominess, turn down Bass and Lo Mids, max out Hi Mids and keep Treble low. But the tone doesn't matter where I play and the audience doesn't care. They don't even know there's a bass player on stage. The memes are real :)
No way I'm spending money on a good amp to play that dump. I also have to leave my precious tube preamp at home, which would make the amp sound 10x more alive, because people might spill beer all over the stage when they waslk across it to go out to the beer garden. Insane :)
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That is not my experience with that amp,
 
#152
Christian C said:
I have owned a Rumble 15 for pretty much my whole time playing bass. It sounded pretty poopie so I wanted a replacement. I heard people praising the other Rumble amps in the line, and I thought it would be a great decision for a great practice/gigging amp that's light, loud, and good-sounding.

What I have is that while it may be light and loud, it most definitely is not good sounding; it sounds like it is under a blanket and is super muddy, while sounding super boxy in the mids, and flat in the treble. I have tried all of the settings one could imagine (yes, I know that flat is around 10/2/2/10 o'clock for the knobs. It also didn't really help.), even with the bright on, it still sounds muddy. When I boost the treble to unreal amounts with the bright on, the treble is harsh and not zingy how I would want AND THE MUD IS STILL THERE!!!!!

I honestly am desperate for help, as all other amps in my price range don't seem to fit my needs (Ampeg Rocket, orange crush, etc.), so here are some solutions I have come up with.

A. New EQ settings (I highly doubt this)
B. Speaker replacement (I heard the Eminence Basslite S2012 neo speaker really improved the sound, but I'm still skeptical if it will give me the sound I want)
C. Downgrade to the rumble 40 (Heard it sound clearer, but I want to be able to gig)
D. Get a new amp (Would like recommendations.)

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Thank you!
Click to expand...
That's been my experience with all class D amps.
IMO if you've got to throw pedals in your chain to sound ok, then the amp isnt for you.
Look at older gear.
 
#156
Verb the Noun said:
The baked in Rumble tone is the Rumble tone. It is what it is.

Additional option: Explore pedal board options. The onboard stuff wont change the tone much, but a few pedals certainly would.
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I like my pair of Rumble 100's (V3). I play them either alone or chained (for essentially a 200 watt 212).

But as far as the tone goes, I use this (Zoom B1X FOUR into my Xenyx mixer) whether I'm using headphones (recording), into my Rumbles, a PA, or any other provided backline rig and I always get my same tone regardless.

As far as the Rumble tone controls themselves, I find cutting the lo-mid helps A LOT. Over the last 45 years I've found that 100Hz area to be problematic in almost every amp/cab I've ever owned and needed to cut that area.

There is a reason amps have tone controls. I have never understood why so many players insist on setting their amps flat and then hate the tone coming out. ???????

pedalboard-web-amp.jpg


Rumble-Rig4.jpg
 
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#157
Yeah, Rumbles have this baked in tone that's appealing to many people, but they are not exactly transparent. Overall, warm and not very detailed, you can definitely find a more modern sounding combos.
 
#158
Good combos are hard to come by if you want one that has stage-worthy tone. I agree with @mikeswals - in the current the market, I'd point to the GKs as well. I picked up their 112 Fusion combo a year or two back and it does the job nicely.
 
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#160
You can certainly buy another amp. Nothing wrong with that, lots of choices, sky's the limit if you can spend money.

My impression with the Rumble series is that they are killer amps based on cost, light weight, and output, but they are desperately in need of a high-pass-filter. See if you can borrow or buy a decent hpf and give that a try before making a bigger purchase. It will definitely tighten it up.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth.
 
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