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i need some setup advice.

superfunk47

superfunk47

Sep 9, 2007
2,090
39
#1
its finally that time...to bid farewell to my sweet, sweet behringer ultrabass 120 watt...

by popular suggestion and that pretty dang good price, im gonna go with an avatar cab.

however, therein lies the problem - after one of those, i dont have too much money left for a head.

i have a sansamp, and i love the tones i get from it. if i got the rackmount version, would it work as an amplifier if i ran it into the cab?

if not, what are some other cheap-ish heads (<$400) that would work well with an avatar cab?
 
#2
superfunk47 said:
its finally that time...to bid farewell to my sweet, sweet behringer ultrabass 120 watt...

by popular suggestion and that pretty dang good price, im gonna go with an avatar cab.

however, therein lies the problem - after one of those, i dont have too much money left for a head.

i have a sansamp, and i love the tones i get from it. if i got the rackmount version, would it work as an amplifier if i ran it into the cab?

if not, what are some other cheap-ish heads (<$400) that would work well with an avatar cab?
Click to expand...

The SansAmp boxes\rackmounts are pre amps. They won't provide power to a cabinet. You'd have to run your SansAmp --> Power Amp --> Cabinet. If you decide to go that route.

A standard bass head has a preamp section in addition to a power amp to run a cabinet.

Cheapish heads? I'd suggest buying used. You can usually find a good deal here on the forum.

Sometimes you can find a decent head (GK 700, Ashdown MAG300, Yamaha, Ampeg BR, etc) around here anywhere between $250-$350 USD.

BTW - which Avatar cab are you getting (2x10, 4x10, 1x12, 2x12, 8ohm, 4ohm)? That will play a part in what head to get and your price range.

FWIW - I have an Avatar 210 NEO (that I bought from a fellow TBer). I ran it with an Ashdown MAG 300 and it sounded great. I upgraded and now run it with a GK700RBii along with a GK NEO112. I'm very happy with this setup.
 
#4
If you like the Sansamp tones, you'd get more boom for your dollar by getting a power amp rather than a bass head. (The bass head *would* give you an additional pre-amp section; but you won't necessarily like the bass head's pre-amp sound better than the SansAmp tones you get now.)

For under $400, you can pick up something like a new Carvin DCM (reasonably light, and 700 watts bridged at 8 ohms, 1000 watts bridged at 4 ohms). Or, by going the used route, you can save money or get a lighter power amp.
 
#7
Good advice above. I would just echo that since you have a pre-amp (even IF it's the pedal version) get a power amp. You can get a lot of power for $400-500.

My Crest CA-6 is unbelieveable and cost around $475 on evil bay. It's a few years old, but works perfectly and sounds great. Best amp I have ever had, and I have had many.

There are lots and lots of clean power amps out there. Do some searches and read some reviews, then look for a deal.
 
#8
Although I would reccomend getting a poweramp to use with your Sansamp as the best option there is a Behringer 300 watt head in the TB classifieds that you could get dirt cheap till you can afford somthing better.It would sound good with your Sansamp too and have enough power to have some fun.
 

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