Just tried a Fender Rumble 500 combo...

[Billyears IV]

Had a Rumble 500 combo for years. Paired with a 210 cab it was awesome sounding !! Punchy, dynamic & loud. Pleasing tone for a range of stuff.

Only reason I changed was that I moved into more synthy bass stuff and Aguilar TH provided more clarity for these effect pedals.

 

[Pelagic]

Hi! Late to the party, but figured I'd add my 2 cents.
I had the 500, took it back to get the 800 (not Stage) and it was awesome. No issues on the low B, but as many have said, don't be afraid to tweak the knobs. I didn't at first coming from a Genzler setup, but the EQ of 10-2-2-10 on the Fender got a nice clean tone.

I will say I had some minor issues, but Fender fixed it under warranty and now it's my easy transport go to for gigs on a fiver.

I'd recommend checking out the Fender Rumble club here on TB and see what everyone is saying.

 

[Kevlanco]

I haven’t caught up through this whole thread yet, but I have to echo praises for the rumble 500. It was the first amp I owned for myself after coasting several years on rehearsal space and house amps. Didn’t buy another amp until I was looking for more control over my upright bass tone, then the rest followed.

I totally empathize with being drawn towards the rumble sound when you already have boutique gear. My mesa w800 and fearful 12/6 that I built are my main rig when I need an amp, and the rest have been ampless iem gigs. I started the iem gigs with the rumble back in the day, but there were a few quirks that annoyed me too much: the ground control on the di only works when the amp is on causing terrible ground noise in our ears if it’s ever turned off, and the master volume is linked to both the speakers and the di volume meaning a new gain staging every show and inconsistent tone and volume. I’ve considered throwing a pair of headphones into the back to mute the speakers and just use the di sound, because it sounded great in my years with the cab emulation

I’ll have to spend some time trying to find a sound in my helix or berg super pre that emulates the rumble 500 tones. I have a regular Thursday gig in Chicago I’m going to start bring the rumble out for. Much easier to carry in the city than a 45lb cab and a separate head

 

[dbsfgyd1]

It’s a good combo if that’s the tone you are after.

Agreed. My experience was it’s a good value play from a competitive standpoint, and finding a useful sound is not hard. I’m not so sure I’d want to tour with one however.

 

[74hc]

I find the Rumbles a one trick pony, but it certainly does that trick very well. Not versatile in terms of tone to my ears.

 

[SLO Surfer]

Since you were also running DI into a PA system (with subs?), I’d hesitate to base my judgement on the amp’s tone from this s one experience. You don’t know how much of the sound you got came from the FOH mains and/or subs. If I were you I’d try that amp again, and be sure it was the amp tone I liked and not the bleed from FOH.

Hi guys,

So I've been playing bass for 15 years now, and have owned countless basses, amps and cabs throughout the years. I've come to realise that I like the Musicman Stingray tone the best, but I've never owned an actual Stingray - only a USA Sub which was too heavy so I sold it. Now I play through an Ibanez ATK805, Genzler Magellan 800 and two Barefaced BB2s and love it.

The other night I played a gig, I never bother bringing my own equipment to gigs as there is always stuff provided, and that night was no different. They had a Fender Rumble 500 combo as the backline (DI'd into the PA). I haven't played through Fender gear since I was a teenager. HOWEVER...

It was the best sounding rig I think I've ever played through. It truly made my Ibby ATK sound like a Stingray. It sounded like the sound in my head!

What's the consensus on these Rumble 500's? I'm now contemplating selling my gear (apart from the ATK of course) and just getting one of these. I've had very expensive amps and cabs in the past (Bergantino etc) but this Fender 2x10 combo just sounded way better than all of them... hella loud too! Louder than the other 500W amps I've had.

The only thing that puts me off is the 17kg weight with the single top-mounted carry strap. If I was to get the amp and cab separately, the cab comes with side-mounted handles, but interestingly still weighs 17kg. Anyone got any experience?

 

[FRoss6788]

Agreed. My experience was it’s a good value play from a competitive standpoint, and finding a useful sound is not hard. I’m not so sure I’d want to tour with one however.

I wouldn't either, but I don't think "touring rig" is what they were designed for.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Stranger Danger, what do you like about the 200w 1x15 more than the 500w 2x10?

The tens are struggle bus central at high volume and I like tens. The 115 sounded better to me and smoother. It may be the speaker but it also may be the appropriate wattage for the speaker. The 115 sounds a lot better to me. Just my opinion though

 

[Stranger Danger]

Hi! Late to the party, but figured I'd add my 2 cents.
I had the 500, took it back to get the 800 (not Stage) and it was awesome. No issues on the low B, but as many have said, don't be afraid to tweak the knobs. I didn't at first coming from a Genzler setup, but the EQ of 10-2-2-10 on the Fender got a nice clean tone.

I will say I had some minor issues, but Fender fixed it under warranty and now it's my easy transport go to for gigs on a fiver.

I'd recommend checking out the Fender Rumble club here on TB and see what everyone is saying.

The clubs are fine but if he wants unbiased analysis that’s probably not the place. Clubs tend to have folks who are very invested in a certain point of view

 

[SoCal80s]

The DI is post everything on the Rumbles, as well as the Ampeg Rocket series. To me this makes both of them non starters for a gigging amp...

The Rumble 800 Combo has a pre/post switch for the DI.

 

[agedhorse]

ARoooo-ooow! [bark] [bark, bark] (pant, pant, pant) Roo-oof!

Just 'cause the Rumble knobs don't have numbers on 'em don't mean they ain't numerical. They got a line on 'em, just like the hand of a clock. So, read 'em like a clock hand pointin' to a number on a clockface. So, the commonly supposed "all flat" settings has the Bass, Low Mid, High Mid & Treble all straight up at "12 o'clock", or "B,L,H,T at all 12s".

But, lo and behold, according to the scope, "all 12s" ain't really flat! It's a bit scooped! Actual flat is more like 10, 1:30, 2, 9:30, or approximated to 10, 2, 2, 10. From all 12s, back off the Bass & Treble a bit and boost the Mids a bit to get actual flat. Then adjust by ear to room acoustics from there.

Howzat, 5String? ARooo-oow! (pant, pant, pant)
.

That’s part of the intentional voicing circuitry built into the amp. In reality, that’s a very mild version of the original Fender tone stack voicing, and many players gravitate to something like that as a desirable tone.

 

[G-Dog]

The Rumble 800 Combo has a pre/post switch for the DI.

And the Master volume has no affect whatsoever on the 800s' XLR Out level, even though that affect on the 500, and lower, is really not as pronounced as some people fear.
.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

As you can tell, it’s a polarizing amp! I decided recently to sell off my Tech21 head and Aguilar cab in favor of a Rumble 500. Does the Rumble sound as good as my former rig? No, not quite. Do I notice or care during a gig? Honestly, no. It’s a completely fine stage amp. And of course you can use a preamp pedal if you choose.

That's what I did. I ran my board into the fx loop. I was really digging what I got from the cab itself, but I don't care for the Rumble pre amp at all.

 

[G-Dog]

... ... ... lo and behold, according to the scope, "all 12s" ain't really flat! It's a bit scooped! Actual flat is more like 10, 1:30, 2, 9:30, or approximated to 10, 2, 2, 10. From all 12s, back off the Bass & Treble a bit and boost the Mids a bit to get actual flat. Then adjust by ear to room acoustics from there. ... ...

That’s part of the intentional voicing circuitry built into the amp. In reality, that’s a very mild version of the original Fender tone stack voicing, and many players gravitate to something like that as a desirable tone.

Excellent point, agedhorse! The seemingly universal settings of "all 12s" not being actually flat EQ is really just in answer to those who say that "it's too scooped". Well, 10,2,2,10 is flat and not too far, setting-wise, from "all 12s"! And some here have mentioned how they prefer the 10,2,2,10 settings as a flat starting point. So, to me, whichever works for you, as a musician, is fine.

I don’t know why some people seem to think that any "scooped" tone is such a bad thing, anyway. As you point out, it's a historically desirable sound. And, I've noticed, many amps and pedals include a "scoop" or "contour" voice, or setting, as part their controls!

But, of course like all subjective topics, there are different degrees that appeal, or not, to different tastes. And no one, or no thing, can be all things to all people. In the world of art in general, and music in particular, it's all some form of kool-aid and everyone has their own flavor preferences.
.

 

[5StringBlues]

thanks brother

ARoooo-ooow! [bark] [bark, bark] (pant, pant, pant) Roo-oof!

Just 'cause the Rumble knobs don't have numbers on 'em don't mean they ain't numerical. They got a line on 'em, just like the hand of a clock. So, read 'em like a clock hand pointin' to a number on a clockface. So, the commonly supposed "all flat" settings has the Bass, Low Mid, High Mid & Treble all straight up at "12 o'clock", or "B,L,H,T at all 12s".

But, lo and behold, according to the scope, "all 12s" ain't really flat! It's a bit scooped! Actual flat is more like 10, 1:30, 2, 9:30, or approximated to 10, 2, 2, 10. From all 12s, back off the Bass & Treble a bit and boost the Mids a bit to get actual flat. Then adjust by ear to room acoustics from there.

Howzat, 5String? ARooo-oow! (pant, pant, pant)
.

 

[JakobT]

The clubs are fine but if he wants unbiased analysis that’s probably not the place. Clubs tend to have folks who are very invested in a certain point of view

I believe that TalkBass is such a club too.

 

[agedhorse]

Excellent point, agedhorse! The seemingly universal settings of "all 12s" not being actually flat EQ is really just in answer to those who say that "it's too scooped". Well, 10,2,2,10 is flat and not too far, setting-wise, from "all 12s"! And some here have mentioned how they prefer the 10,2,2,10 settings as a flat starting point. So, to me, whichever works for you, as a musician, is fine.

I don’t know why some people seem to think that any "scooped" tone is such a bad thing, anyway. As you point out, it's a historically desirable sound. And, I've noticed, many amps and pedals include a "scoop" or "contour" voice, or setting, as part their controls!

But, of course like all subjective topics, there are different degrees that appeal, or not, to different tastes. And no one, or no thing, can be all things to all people. In the world of art in general, and music in particular, it's all some form of kool-aid and everyone has their own flavor preferences.
.

The 4 band eq on the rumble V3’s is not a Fender tone stack, it’s actually flat at 12:00, the voicing is done in different circuits.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

The DI is post everything on the Rumbles, as well as the Ampeg Rocket series…

Not post everything. All of the Rocket amps that have a DI place it post preamp, but before the power amp. There is no Pre/Post switch. This particular example is the RB-115.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I wouldn't either, but I don't think "touring rig" is what they were designed for.

True, but I didn’t exactly say that was what they were designed for. What I said was in my opinion (for whatever that is worth) was I wouldn’t tour with it, with the intent a reader might read between lines and make their own judgement of it’s ability to stand up to the rigor of life on the road.

 

[FRoss6788]

I'm not sure why anyone would expect a $650 combo to stand up to the rigor of life on the road. I know I wouldn't, a bit unrealistic.

There is a reason a Mesa 1x12 is about a grand.