Hi, I am new to bass playing. I have been taking lessons and when I practice at home its been very quietly through my guitar combo. I have a fender p-bass 4 string. I just got a 210 cab for the bass and now need a head. Its an 8ohm 200w rms 400w peak cab. Any suggestions on a head? What size do I even need? I went to the local store but the sales guy showed me there enter level stuff and I wasn't really impressed, and then the price jump to $1000. I may have to buy online, unheard.
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I need help picking my first bass head
- Thread starter sledhead1
- Start date
Check out an Aguilar TH350. Get one from the classifieds.
That amp will sound nice at low volume and still sound good if you take it to a rehearsal. It will sound even better if you buy another cab and start gigging.
That amp will sound nice at low volume and still sound good if you take it to a rehearsal. It will sound even better if you buy another cab and start gigging.
The TC Electronic bh250 might be a good option. The watts will match your cab and being new to bass the tone print will allow you to try multiple effects without blowing heaps of money on pedals
GK MB200 Is a used bargain in TB classifieds most weeks. Then add another identical cab and you'll be ready for most gigs.
Would it be worth it to buy a swr headlite for $540 Canadian. Its a dealer demo they still have. For reference, pf500 is $480, traynor sb500 is $490, mb500 is $630, tc bh550 is $575, rumble 500 is $500. Not in stock, but they can order them in.
I say get a good power amp and pre amp. Both of these will be more versatile and roughly the same price if not cheaper than whats suggested above. you can get a Crown XLS1500 power amp for just over $200 bucks right now. Then go find yourself one or two capable preamps (the preamp will be where you shape your tone, alter your eq). Unless you're set on getting the baked-in tone of a certain brand I think its more wise to take the route I suggest. Good luck with your search.
Finally, you should shop in the classifieds here on Talkbass. Good people to work with. About as good of deals as you could hope for.
Finally, you should shop in the classifieds here on Talkbass. Good people to work with. About as good of deals as you could hope for.
It means negative to the rumble suggestion.
Wisconsindead, the OP is female, I highly doubt she would want to tote another rack!?!!
Actually out of those last amps you listed, I would take the SWR; a good sounding amp is a good sounding amp no matter what "era" it came from.
All in my opinion of course.
As much as I love swr (well pre fender which would not include the headlite), use caution when buying gear with no support, unless fender will honor thw warranty, then it would be a worthy consideration
It means negative to the rumble suggestion.
Wisconsindead, the OP is female, I highly doubt she would want to tote another rack!?!!
Actually out of those last amps you listed, I would take the SWR; a good sounding amp is a good sounding amp no matter what "era" it came from.
All in my opinion of course.
Ya I prefer light and portable. lol
I am looking through there but am not sure how it works, buying used gear and getting it sent across the boarder. Like is there duty and stuff on it still. And how much extra paperwork is there for the used seller?
Everyone will have personal preferences as far as sound goes, so I'm just going to offer my thoughts on what you should be lookin for generally.
As far as watts go, for a solid state amp I'd suggest looking for a amp that produces a minimum of 300 watts @ 4 ohms. More is great if you can get it, but dont pass up a 300 watt head that you like because another amp is capable of producing more wattage. 300 is more than enough to push your cab and will give you enough juice to push a second cab if you decide you need more volume than the single cab.
Keep in mind that volume has way more to do with your cabinet(s) than the amp head does. Your 210 cab won't be much louder with a 1000 watt head than it will be with a 200 watt head.
As far as brand goes, I'm of the opinion that for cabinets, you tend to get what you pay for. Not so much with amp heads. If you find an amp head that sounds good to your ears, has enough power, and you are OK with the weight of it, the brand isn't really that important. In other words, there are cheap heads that will last every bit as long as more expensive brands. In my experience this isn't the case when it comes to cabinets thpugh. Cheap cabinets usually arent as efficient, are more likely to fail, and dont sound as good as the more expensive brands. That doesn't mean that some of the more expensive amp heads are a rip off though. But don't worry too much about what brand the head is as long as you like the sound.
As far as watts go, for a solid state amp I'd suggest looking for a amp that produces a minimum of 300 watts @ 4 ohms. More is great if you can get it, but dont pass up a 300 watt head that you like because another amp is capable of producing more wattage. 300 is more than enough to push your cab and will give you enough juice to push a second cab if you decide you need more volume than the single cab.
Keep in mind that volume has way more to do with your cabinet(s) than the amp head does. Your 210 cab won't be much louder with a 1000 watt head than it will be with a 200 watt head.
As far as brand goes, I'm of the opinion that for cabinets, you tend to get what you pay for. Not so much with amp heads. If you find an amp head that sounds good to your ears, has enough power, and you are OK with the weight of it, the brand isn't really that important. In other words, there are cheap heads that will last every bit as long as more expensive brands. In my experience this isn't the case when it comes to cabinets thpugh. Cheap cabinets usually arent as efficient, are more likely to fail, and dont sound as good as the more expensive brands. That doesn't mean that some of the more expensive amp heads are a rip off though. But don't worry too much about what brand the head is as long as you like the sound.
I am not really sure what it is like shipping through customs from US to CAN or vice versa. Some people only ship in the US so that may limit you. I just wanted to make sure you knew of that avenue for finding gear as its a great resource but certainly not the only resource. There are also great deals to be found from the major companies. I suggested the Crown power amp because the new ones just came out or are about to and the price of the XLS models dropped due to this. Furthermore I really like my Crown XLS 1500. Super light and does the job. If you really want an all in one and light system then I would go with what some of the people have been suggesting above. You can get some seriously small and light amps now. I just, personally, like the idea of having more tone control through more eq options, which most commerical amps DO NOT provide.
Finally, you'll eventually just have to buy something and learn from it. I was in your position 1.5 years ago and I have since completely upgraded my rig from what I bought back then. I learned a lot from my first purchase. Making mistakes teaches you things so don't be too worried as eventually you'll find what you really like.
