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Just joined and I have one simple question...

#41
How heavy handed are you as a drummer? Are we forgetting that there is a 5 piece drum kit in that small space along with that 100 watt Marshall stack? That little combo is going to get smothered. Turning down the volume on a 100 watt guitar stack. The saturation and tone the he wants isn't always attainable at low volume so guitarists have a habit of turning up their gain a volume to achieve the tone they are looking for. That is why they make low powered tube amps for recording studios.

I play with a couple of guys in a similar situation but in a much bigger room. The guitarist uses a Peavey Classic 50 2 X 12 all tube combo. It' only 50 Watts and it's louder then hell. The drummer is a little heavy handed but will use Promark Hot Rods most of the time. I use my old Peavey Combo 115 with a TVX 2X10 extention cab and a Sansamp BDDI into the front end. I have 300 watts and more speaker surface are then the guitar amp and I'm adequate to hang in there.

I would get a bigger bass amp if I were you.
 
#44
I saw this one too, no pics, but pretty good descriptions. Any thoughts?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Also, as for drumming, I am not that heavy handed. My set is somewhat built to be loud (big cymbals, brass snare, etc.) but I am not specifically loud.
 
#47
jessec said:
Hello all. I am drummer and just completed a music room at the house my wife and I recently bought. I've got all the main components of a nice jam space, but I need a bass amp. As such, I have been hunting craigslist pretty hard these days. Today I found the link below. I know nothing about bass amps. So I am looking for some guidance with this amp. Is this amp any good? Additionally (so I guess I have two questions), if it is, is this price reasonable? I'd like to thank you in advance for all your advice.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

PS: Some specifics to make it easier...the jam space is pretty small. The room is roughly 17' x 12' x 7'. The bass amp will have to compete with a 100 watt Marshall guitar amp and my 5 piece Tama kit. The friends that will inevitably be coming over to jam are rock and roll guys, big fans of Guns n Roses, Zeppelin, The White Stripes (no bass there of course, but you get the idea).

Thanks again!
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Add me to the list of guys who advocate something more powerful. The words "considerate" and "guitarist with a 100 watt Marshall" dont usually go together. Even if the guitarist IS your brother.

Oh, and regarding that Peavey combo- I love Peavey stuff. usually pretty underrated- they arent one of the 'sexy' names out there but they make good stuff. I also think you can add an extra cab to the Peavey which I dont think you can do with the Ampeg.
 
#48
dincz said:
17' x 12' x x7'. 150W should easily work in that room - if the Marshall is not being used at its full volume. If it is then you need to have a serious talk with the guitarist, or at least remove a pair of output tubes. Even then, 50W of guitar is going to be near fatal in that room.

Common sense and restraint are cheap.
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scottfeldstein said:
A lot of big guitar tube amps already have built-in tube switcher-offers. That is, you can go from all tubes firing to just, say, two of them.
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Jazz Ad said:
It is a fine practice amp. If you don't get heard the others need to turn down.
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popgadget said:
That amp would be fine for practice space in a house. Regardless of the maximum capability of the other instruments, if you need more amp than that for a jam room in a house, it requires a musician solution, not an equipment one.
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I believe that these are the correct quotes... That Ampeg combo should have no trouble. I seriously don't understand where people get these ideas about needing 500w bass amps in this sort of setting, it's insane. :hmm:
 
#50
El-Bob said:
I believe that these are the correct quotes... That Ampeg combo should have no trouble. I seriously don't understand where people get these ideas about needing 500w bass amps in this sort of setting, it's insane. :hmm:
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Your right, it should be. The same way a 112 guitar combo is more than enough. The responses of "Go Big" are to compete with a monster guitar half stack.
 
#51
El-Bob said:
I believe that these are the correct quotes... That Ampeg combo should have no trouble. I seriously don't understand where people get these ideas about needing 500w bass amps in this sort of setting, it's insane. :hmm:
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You're ASSUMING that there's a mutual dichotomy about volume controls and that between brothers there won't be any problems.

I'd say that the very fact that they ARE brothers will cause volume metric problems.

Of course - how silly to say that the bass NEEDS 500W in THAT setting - but the guitar has at command more power than the Beatles had in Shea Stadium and this in a trolly car sized room. OK - maybe a stretch - but the mental pix should make my point.

If the guitar turns down - will the bass? More than likely since the cacophony will drive everyone nuts in short order.

If everybody goes nuts, then as I see it there's no more problems - they'll all be institutionalized --- and deaf anyway.

Logically though - a bass NEEDS lots of wattage to move air which a guitar doesn't (as much as anyway) because their freq range is much more penetrating. Bass has to be PUSHED - hard!

If they don't figure it out fast - before their ears bleed - well that's Darwinism at work.
 
#52
Follow the voices of reason here.

Those would be the ones saying " it's a living room size practice space, that amp in your link will be just fine and is a good deal at $150."


The 300 watts + 410 or 212 are gigging amps, for carrying bars/clubs 5 times the size at least of your room. The big guitar amp is fine as long as your brother is a guitarist and not a guitard. That means he sets his volume appropriate for the room being played and doesn't crank everything just because it's there.

That amp could actually handle a small bar gig doing blues/country or rock at sane volumes. You could also run a line out of it into the PA for a little extra "help" if needed when you guys move it out of the jam room and into a gig.
 
#54
will33 said:
Follow the voices of reason here.

Those would be the ones saying " it's a living room size practice space, that amp in your link will be just fine and is a good deal at $150."


The 300 watts + 410 or 212 are gigging amps, for carrying bars/clubs 5 times the size at least of your room. The big guitar amp is fine as long as your brother is a guitarist and not a guitard. That means he sets his volume appropriate for the room being played and doesn't crank everything just because it's there.

That amp could actually handle a small bar gig doing blues/country or rock at sane volumes. You could also run a line out of it into the PA for a little extra "help" if needed when you guys move it out of the jam room and into a gig.
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Fully agreed! Who is everyone playing with that cant turn their amp down to resonable levels? Yes, it is way to much guitar power but just turn a knob to an acceptable level. I have a very crappy 100W combo that I practice with in all my bands and it does just fine! Good luck!
 
#55
Your room has a 7' dimension and I would assume a typical 8' or 9' ceiling?

That may cause some weird resonances or suckouts somewhere in the lower frequencies, so, experiment with placing the amp in different areas of the room relative to the walls. It will sound different in different places, so find a setup that allows everyone to hear it well, and use some of the middle bands on that eq to find a setting everyone can hear. Don't just crank up the bass end of the eq and "fight the room"....it's a losing battle.

Try to place the guitar amp so it's a little bit away from the guitar player so he can hear himself without cranking and blasting out the guy across the room from his rig. Guitar cabs like that are very directional and if the guitar player is right on top of the thing, he'll keep cranking up to hear himself.
 
#56
There is a lot of good info people are giving you. The attenuator is almost a must-do. The bass amp you're considering will work fine.

I think your biggest issue will be the 7 ft ceiling which will create a very boomy bass response. Put half of your panels on the ceiling. Even then, if they're not 6 inches thich, they may not help very much. And try a lot of different locations in the room for placing the bass amp to minimize the problem.

(Edit: Written while Will33 was posting. We are on the same wavelength.)
 
#57
Thank you again for all the responses. I am beginning to see quite a trend here. Those who think I need a bigger amp cite the assumption that guitar players are inconsiderate as their main reason behind their opinion. Those who think the amp is just fine back up their opinion with more fact based assessments.

I am leaning towards buying it. My additional question is: What about Ampeg shelf life? A friend fo mine that has been playing bass for 20 years said that "Ampegs are great but that their heads and combos **** the bed often." When I told him that it was 15 years old he got concerned. Would you agree with such an assessment? Is my friend just being nit-picky? Shouldn't all 15 year old amps come with a buyer beware warning?

Thanks again!
 
#58
IME, Ampeg's about as good as most other stuff out there in terms of longevity, etc. At least the older ones like that. You never really know the full history of any used gear but if it works, it works. Being a combo, there is less likelyhood of somebody hooking it up to too many speakers and running it too hot or something. It may've been cranked up trying to play louder than it really can, or it could've been run softly in somebodys bedroom. If it works, $150 is a good deal on anything loud enough to jam with a band.
 
#60
jessec said:
The Marshall 100 amp isn't going anywhere. My brother, who will be the predominate player of it, has given it a whirl and he loves it. He's considerate though, so he won't deliberately be drowning anyone out.
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In a room that small high volume will get old real fast and you find what levels work togher. I'd go with that Ampeg. Do you want to create music or make loud noise?
 

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