It is mighty.. sounds killer with PA support.
I couldn't get it to handle a solid low b at small gig volume without cracking up.
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It is mighty.. sounds killer with PA support.
I couldn't get it to handle a solid low b at small gig volume without cracking up.
Hard rock might benefit from an extension cab, 112 or 115, same price. I liked the smaller form factor and matching width of the 112. The 115 is a bit boomier than the combo box itself, so it will give more headroom because you can run the bass eq lower. The 112 is a super tight full sound, complements the combo box perfectly. I have needed nothing more.
I've had GK MB115 for years as my only amp, and if you can fit it in your budget, I recommend it highly. I have used it mainly as a monitor on a large and noisy stage (DI out works very nice).
EDIT: Here's one (I am not related to seller).
Not sure about price, but weight difference is small: 34.5 lbs vs. 38 lbs.
EDIT: Here's one (I am not related to seller).
Last edited:
I would NOT recommend this puppy:
Amazon.com: Ampeg BA110 35-Watt 1x10 Bass Combo Amplifier: Musical Instruments
Tonally, and feature wise, it was great - line out at the back (1/4"), good tone, pad, headphones in.
But the designers at Ampeg made it a wedge at the rear, and it fell over twice that way. First repair was almost the price of the amp. And then it happened a second time and I'm done with it.
No more. Unless I get the urge to put legs on the back of it so it never falls over again. I really don't that wege/monitor feature.
Amazon.com: Ampeg BA110 35-Watt 1x10 Bass Combo Amplifier: Musical Instruments
Tonally, and feature wise, it was great - line out at the back (1/4"), good tone, pad, headphones in.
But the designers at Ampeg made it a wedge at the rear, and it fell over twice that way. First repair was almost the price of the amp. And then it happened a second time and I'm done with it.
No more. Unless I get the urge to put legs on the back of it so it never falls over again. I really don't that wege/monitor feature.
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I haven't tried the 200, but I've tested the 500 against a 600w + 610 EBS rig. The 500 kept up without breaking a sweat, and sounded better into the bargain.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Fender Rumble or Carvin are your best cheap options, but I would buy a cheap 12 or 15 cab. Save the extra, and put it toward a used backup head.
Do your rehearsal spaces have PA support you could utilize? Bring a DI box and go right into the PA/monitors. You could skip the amp completely, or use a small combo with a line out to get some PA reinforcement.
My go to remains GC house brand Acoustic combos I own first gen B200 combo as well as cab / head separate.
Tons of tone. Plenty of volume and DI to PA for more. No issues with low B. Best bang for the $ in my experience
Newer with neo should be lighter
Thankfully you have plenty of good options and choices as years ago it was 2x15 or 4x10s and heavy with bad tone poor volume
Tons of tone. Plenty of volume and DI to PA for more. No issues with low B. Best bang for the $ in my experience
Newer with neo should be lighter
Thankfully you have plenty of good options and choices as years ago it was 2x15 or 4x10s and heavy with bad tone poor volume
This^^^ I have one and love it. Have the 210 extension cab too, but rarely use it.
those Rumbles really are just about the best bang for the buck...and if you buy used, you can usually sell at a wash
GK MB212. It's light (less than 40lbs) and works for every rehearsal and gig I've done over the last few years.
GK MB212II. It's 500 watts, light, loud as hell if need be, a good DI out and completely smokes the Rumble in every way imaginable. I scored one here in the classifieds for $425.00 shipped. I use it for a rehearsal amp where the room can be small and it's a very easy carry. I have also used it in small to miedium sized venues with no support and great big ole venues that supplied support.
It's also pretty much the same thing as your 800rb. Just in a combo package.
It's also pretty much the same thing as your 800rb. Just in a combo package.
I've got a Rumble 500. I got it because it was second hand and i traded a rather beat up MIM J bass for it. Including the strings i put on the bass i'm in it at around $250. I love the way it sounds but for what i use it for i have yet to play it in a group situation much over an 8th of it's total capability, if that much. I've cranked it at home and it is loud if i want/need the volume but i have yet to use it where i've needed any more than a small fraction of it's potential.
I've also got an older SWR Working Pro 12. It is also a nice rig with a ton of features i never use. It lives at my dad's house along with another MIM J bass i use when i visit and it's usually a few acoustic instruments and me so again, i've not really pushed it hard except for when i first got it (also second hand) and it's plenty capable, i just don't need that much capability in that situation.
I've also got a little Ampeg with an 8 or 10 that is a decent little one room practice rig. It came to me in a trade and almost as quickly went out on (long term) loan to a friend teaching his sibling to play bass. I figure it must at least be adequate as a practice amp as there have been no requests to swap it out for something else.
Last, i've got an old SWR 60W cube with a single 12 that is still my favorite small combo. Easy to carry, has a horn i can switch off if i want and if i had not seen the label claiming it's 60W I would have assumed a lot more power was being made by this little beast. It has proved it can hang with a couple strats through Deluxe Reverbs and a drummer so long as they are not channeling Bonzo. Room appropriate volume in smallish to medium rooms of course, but it is nothing short of amazing for it's size. It's covered in rat fur and that's the only thing i'm not crazy about.
Of the above the Rumble and Ampeg are the only ones in current manufacture and so would be likely to bubble up on the used market at the right balance of condition/price. Of those two the Rumble would be my hands down choice for what OP described as needing.
I currently use a couple of 112 cabs and a 500W Carvin BX, but i'm eyeing the Rumble 115 and 210 extension cabs with bad intent. If i ever get a chance to A/B them and like one enough to take it home, my 2 Avatar cabs and Carvin head might get sent down to the farm team.
I've also got an older SWR Working Pro 12. It is also a nice rig with a ton of features i never use. It lives at my dad's house along with another MIM J bass i use when i visit and it's usually a few acoustic instruments and me so again, i've not really pushed it hard except for when i first got it (also second hand) and it's plenty capable, i just don't need that much capability in that situation.
I've also got a little Ampeg with an 8 or 10 that is a decent little one room practice rig. It came to me in a trade and almost as quickly went out on (long term) loan to a friend teaching his sibling to play bass. I figure it must at least be adequate as a practice amp as there have been no requests to swap it out for something else.
Last, i've got an old SWR 60W cube with a single 12 that is still my favorite small combo. Easy to carry, has a horn i can switch off if i want and if i had not seen the label claiming it's 60W I would have assumed a lot more power was being made by this little beast. It has proved it can hang with a couple strats through Deluxe Reverbs and a drummer so long as they are not channeling Bonzo. Room appropriate volume in smallish to medium rooms of course, but it is nothing short of amazing for it's size. It's covered in rat fur and that's the only thing i'm not crazy about.
Of the above the Rumble and Ampeg are the only ones in current manufacture and so would be likely to bubble up on the used market at the right balance of condition/price. Of those two the Rumble would be my hands down choice for what OP described as needing.
I currently use a couple of 112 cabs and a 500W Carvin BX, but i'm eyeing the Rumble 115 and 210 extension cabs with bad intent. If i ever get a chance to A/B them and like one enough to take it home, my 2 Avatar cabs and Carvin head might get sent down to the farm team.
Markbass 121p - light, powerful, decent quality and well proven
Fender Rumbles ok but IMO would doubt their longevity - great tone though.
AER - Amp One or Amp Three - both fabulous but silly money!
I have AMP THREE but I got it used for a good price. It has been used for all gigs and rehearsals since purchase - stunning.
HARD TO MATCH the Markbass for what you seek.
Fender Rumbles ok but IMO would doubt their longevity - great tone though.
AER - Amp One or Amp Three - both fabulous but silly money!
I have AMP THREE but I got it used for a good price. It has been used for all gigs and rehearsals since purchase - stunning.
HARD TO MATCH the Markbass for what you seek.
Last weekend I found a guy selling an Ampeg Portaflex PF-115HE in showroom condition for $100. He said it "cut out" at high volume so wanted to get rid of it "as is". He even threw in a spare brand new 15" speaker since he'd bought thinking the original had blown(it hadn't). Well, I play out with an Ampeg PF stack and PF-500 head, so I figured I'd pick this up for spare parts, but when I got a chance to check it out at gig volume for a good hour in both standalone and stacked config I couldn't find a thing wrong with it. Combine that with a second post-2013 PF-500 sold for $250 and I now have a second rig for a static rehearsal location. Patience and diligence in my search paid off quite well.
intead of restricting your choices to a small combo, you might think of the transport question in terms of a small folding cart (like the magnacart, or similar). strap the cab and head to the cart, and wheel 'em in.
Coming from owning 2 Fender Rumble V3 cabinets (1x15s) and a Fender Rumble v3 combo, I can tell you that I still own my GK stuff and sold the Fender stuff. My main beef with them was how poorly they would cut in a band mix compared to my GK stuff. GK usually gets the "it's too scooped" stigma, but the EQ on a GK head is very flexible and this can easily be compensated for. The Rumbles sound fantastic on their own when there isn't too much "competition" (in the bedroom, at a guitar store, low volume coffee shop gig with acoustic guitars, etc.). However, throw them in the mix with a full drum set, guitarist with a halfstack, or an overzealous keyboard player and you might be playing Find the Bass all night long.
IME it's because of the tremendous mid scoop baked into them. Now if it was just the head, you could bypass it or run a pedal in the effects loop and bump things up again, right? Well, unfortunately it's in the speakers. The speakers are loud and they do rumble, true to their namesake, but mid retention on them is abysmal. My Traynor YBA200 through the 1x15s was so mid shy that I thought the amp needed to be serviced, that something was wrong with it. Plopped it onto my Kasino 2x15s and bam, there's the mids in full force.
There are plenty of people who love their Rumbles, and like I said they work well in certain contexts for me, but being a GK guy and having hopped into that yard, I'm letting you know that you might feel the same as me if you take the plunge on that. I played a show with the Fender Rumble (two actually) and the guy I back HATED it. He said he "...couldn't hear [me] right" and that it just felt like the bass wasn't there. When I went back to my GK rig, he loved it and told me to never use that other one LOL....so if it's noticeable to a vocalist, I'd assume it's not just my imagination.
It always cracks me up when someone posts this stuff... and folks ignore the budget and weight constraints.
