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I returned my rumble 500. What to try next?

D

Drop1

Mar 28, 2019
1,601
1,796
#1
The rumble 500c is pretty good. For my taste i rate it somewhere between 7.5 and 8.

It's got the volume. That's one thing i really like about it but it doesn't sound as nice when you start leaning into the volume knob.

I feel like the bass could be better controlled and something about the upper mids I was never super happy with. A bit more honky than I'd like regardless of eq.

Oddly enough, I prefer the sound of my ancient pass me down crate 15 combo. The sound is more natural and neutral to my ears (with a little onboard eq) but the crate has a distortion I don't like. When playing along with a backing track, the crate sound pretty darn good. In isolation, I can't get passed the crates distortion.

If I could get the core sound of the crate, with the relative cleanness of the rumble electronics and the rumbles volume, that would be almost ideal to me.

So im looking for something that sounds more like the crate bx80, with more output and no underlying amp distortion.

I figured the crate amp never was very popular so not many will know what it sounds like, but it never hurts to ask. It's finger tone is just killer though so I'm asking on the off chance that someone will be familiar and be able to suggest a more modern, more capable combo or amp/cab with that tone. It's a long shot I know, but you can't know for sure without asking.
 
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#3
Drop1 said:
The rumble 500c is pretty good. For my taste i rate it somewhere between 7.5 and 8.

It's got the volume. That's one thing i really like about it but it doesn't sound as nice when you start leaning into the volume knob.

I feel like the bass could be better controlled and something about the upper mids I was never super happy with. A bit more honky than I'd like regardless of eq.

Oddly enough, I prefer the sound of my ancient pass me down crate 15 combo. The sound is more natural and neutral to my ears (with a little onboard eq) but the crate has a distortion I don't like. When playing along with a backing track, the crate sound pretty darn good. In isolation, I can't get passed the crates distortion.

If I could get the core sound of the crate, with the relative cleanness of the rumble electronics and the rumbles volume, that would be almost ideal to me.

So im looking for something that sounds more like the crate bx80, with more output and no underlying amp distortion.

I figured the crate amp never was very popular so not many will know what it sounds like, but it never hurts to ask. It's finger tone is just killer though so I'm asking on the off chance that someone will be familiar and be able to suggest a more modern, more capable combo or amp/cab with that tone. It's a long shot I know, but you can't know for sure without asking.
Click to expand...
Maybe what you don't like on the Rumble is the mid-scooped tone, typical of Fender Rumble amps: when to set your EQ knobs to 0, it's like if you had your bass and treble knobs boosted and the mids down. It doesn't sound natural. A lot of people love it, I don't.
- You can try 10, 2, 2, 10 clock settings ( true flat settings) on the tone knobs to come back to a more natural sound
- Or plug you bass into an external preamp, and that preamp into the FX return of the Fender, in order to bypass the Fender preamp.

That way, you will benefit from the power of the Rumble, but kind of "neutralise" its tone
 
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#4
Another vote for the Markbass CMD 102p 2x10 combo. Small and just light enough for grab-and-go portability. Lots of power and tilt back design make it great as a stage monitor with XLR out to FOH type setup if desired. Two very deep 'holes' in the back make for handy storage areas for cables and small items. I had one of the first models and regretfully sold it. I am seriously looking at the CMD 102p V now.
 
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#12
Might be pushing the proverbial uphill with a pointy stick if you're outside of Australia but Labsystems bass amps, cabs, are well worth looking into...
Here's a list of artists that have used them.
 

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#14
gtirard said:
Maybe what you don't like on the Rumble is the mid-scooped tone, typical of Fender Rumble amps: when to set your EQ knobs to 0, it's like if you had your bass and treble knobs boosted and the mids down. It doesn't sound natural. A lot of people love it, I don't.
- You can try 10, 2, 2, 10 clock settings ( true flat settings) on the tone knobs to come back to a more natural sound
- Or plug you bass into an external preamp, and that preamp into the FX return of the Fender, in order to bypass the Fender preamp.

That way, you will benefit from the power of the Rumble, but kind of "neutralise" its tone
Click to expand...
I messed with the rumbles "flat" settings and a whole bunch of other settings both on the amp and eq. I don't mind the scoop. That combo jist doesn't do it for me. No harm. I bought it on a whim.
 
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#17
Solude said:
You might just prefer 15" speakers, I do. So natural and effortless sounding next to a 10".

Also if this is your first Rumble, they are scooped and bass heavy at 12 o'clock. Raise the high mid to taste and drop the bass a lot.
Click to expand...
Agree. I tried the 210 and 115 Rumbles side by side instore. And got the sales guy to play both on both vintage and non vintage while I stood way back. And eq'd the bass down and high mids up. 15 sounds like a 15, and 210s don't. Depends what you're after, and if the Rumble tone it not your thing then it isn't.
 
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