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Light Amp for Gigging

#41
Munjibunga said:
In this stack, The GK MB800 is my favorite. Clean, accurate tone. If you like a more tubey, vintagey kind of sound, then the TH500 or, if you require more "apparent" power, the RH750. The Shuttle 9.0 is my second favorite, though.

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The GK MB Fusion 500 is an amazing little beast with an all tube pre amp and 2 channels. I just bought it about a month or so ago, and I like it just as much as my Walkabout. It's definitely worth checking out.
 
#42
Fender Rumble 2 x 8 cab with 350 head. The cab weighs 28 pounds - real nice set up. A lot of folks rave about the Genz Benz - I tried it, plays nice - not nice enough for the price bump over the Fender.

I play a fretless Musicman Stingray through it in a traditional jazz group with horns, piano, and drums. I only have it cranked 1/3 of the way for an elks club size hall. Never tried it with two guitars, but I have the second 1 x 12 cab which puts it at 4 ohms with the 350 head if needed.
 
#43
hsech said:
If you can get by with 250 watts, check out a Carvin Micro Bass. They make 1x10, 1x12 and 1x15 combo. You can add a 1x15 extension cab that will stack under any of the three combos. I have a little MB10 for practice and it plays over our drummer without a problem. All three combo amps are 200 watts by themselves. 250 watts with the addition of the extension cab.
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They also have a 250 watt 210 for $400 shipped!
 
#45
I'm telling you, NOTHING beats the lightweight Genz-Benz Shuttle heads docked on a neo Shuttle speaker cab. The Shuttle 6.0/12" cab of mine has 375W peak, and if you connect a second 32-pound cab, you have 600W peak.

You won't find them at Guitar Center (not among their products), but if it says Genz-Benz and Shuttle on it, you absolutely need to play it before you buy a lightweight rig. Look for another store where you can find them.
 
#47
For blues I would say a Genz-Benz Streamliner. Very warm and fat, vintage tubey sound.

For speakers I have a pair of Markbass 102p cabs (2x10 each). I like them because they're very lightweight and sound pretty good. Some people like Markbass speakers, some don't. They're not universally recognized as great speakers but as I said... I like 'em.
 
#50
I know it's been said before but, it's a wonderful time to be a bassist with all the gear choices available. Whether you want to go light or heavy, there is some great stuff out there. Lightweight and Carvin are my choice.
 
#51
Having had GK MB 210/212 combos, I would not go there, muddy tone at higher levels, not enough headroom in a rock scenario and not reliable, just my experience FWIW .
Know your budget, then borrow enough on top to get what you really want, you will not save by buying cheap as you will lose money when you sell and buy a better rig :crying:
I learnt the hard way :rollno:
 
#52
GRAHAM SG1 said:
Having had GK MB 210/212 combos, I would not go there, muddy tone at higher levels, not enough headroom in a rock scenario and not reliable, just my experience FWIW .
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Everyone's experience is different. If you do consider the cheaper GK combos (the MB series) use the archives here to find out lots about them. We contrinue to really dig our MB210 + MBE extension cab. Way loud enough for me in a rock cover band playing bars with a big PA, but others have found them lacking. I did 16 gigs on ours last year, and it's hard for me to imagine needing any more power, and I didn't notice muddy tone. I EQ mine totally flat and do tone shaping at the pedalboard (same signal goes to PA, so).

The power supply in our MB210 did fail and was quickly fixed by GK. I'd do it all over again... I don't find myself lusting after another rig. At 33lbs, they are very light, which makes for an easly load-in. On the used market, they are a great deal. A bassist pal of ours in the same town owns a GK212 and likes it.

But read all about them here before jumping in; a few others have had negative experiences, but ours have been positive.

--Steve
 
#54
MNAirHead said:
This seemed to be a solid option... got the metal face... then a 115 cabinet...

I can't imagine needing to turn it up.

Tim
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Whoa, Tim! How is it that we have the same taste in bass amps? You're a MegaBass guy and you rock an MB210/115MBE rig?

meagbass_arrives1.jpg


I made a slight mod to my MB210 so it can be used as a stand-alone cab; works great as the top cab in a Mega bi-amp setup with the 115MBE doing the bottom. And you're right--I can't imagine needing to turn these up, either with the 500w of GK running through them or with the 200w x2 of the MegaBass.

Happy New Year, and thanks for your advice and help in other threads in 2012!!!

--Steve

P.S. I picked up my 115MB for $150. Can't beat that.
 

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