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Double Bass Looking for a medium-small combo amp for electric and upright

Persona87

Persona87

Dec 4, 2012
918
596
DFW, Texas
#1
I just got my upright last week and I'm going to be ordering a Realist pickup sometime in the next few weeks. The bass itself is an Eastman VB90 with Helicore strings. I also have a six string electric with TI flats and a five string electric with rounds. I mainly play straight ahead jazz, but also some rock and hip hop with the electrics. I practice a lot with the bow and want to become better with it, but I'm primarily a pizz player.

All of that being said, I'm looking at a new amp. Right now I have a little 30 watt Acoustic practice amp, and it works okay at home but just barely gets by in my jazz improv class with 14 people, most of whom are horn players.

I would prefer something that's portable (hopefully under 50 pounds max), sounds good for upright and electric, is a combo amp (fewer parts to futz with, and has a reasonable amount of power (maybe 200-300 watts? In not actively gigging but I'd like to start doing open mics or restaurant gigs in the near future). The other requirement I have is that it be purchaseable from Musicians Friend (I have a connection there who gives me good pricing).

I was thinking that maybe the GK Ultralight combos would be good (the 115 specifically), but I wanted to get some other opinions. Ampeg and Fender have some stuff in the range I'm looking at but they seem to be more rock focused. Mark bass looks good too, but the pricing is a little on the high side for me.

What do you guys suggest?
 
#3
BrettBelanger said:
I just bought a markbass cmd 121p. It's a nice sounding amp that is surprisingly light weight. It is 300 watts making it suitable for almost every gig I play and it sounds good with acoustic or electric bass. It is a bit expensive but so far it has been worth it for me.
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That is what I was going to say too. If you are looking at MF, then the MB CMD combos are where I would go. They are pricey, but it depends on the discounts you can get.
 
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#5
flbass82 said:
That is what I was going to say too. If you are looking at MF, then the MB CMD combos are where I would go. They are pricey, but it depends on the discounts you can get.
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I can't give specifics but in most cases the pricing is similar to the going used price for stuff.

The only non-MF amp that I'd be considering would be one of the Carvin microbass amps. I recently bought a Carvin P bass and other than the tone being very modern (was originally looking for a more vintage tone), it was exactly what I wanted. The Carvin stuff is priced well and seem to have lots of great features.

Anyone have thoughts on those?
 
#6
BrettBelanger said:
I just bought a markbass cmd 121p. It's a nice sounding amp that is surprisingly light weight. It is 300 watts making it suitable for almost every gig I play and it sounds good with acoustic or electric bass. It is a bit expensive but so far it has been worth it for me.
Click to expand...

flbass82 said:
That is what I was going to say too. If you are looking at MF, then the MB CMD combos are where I would go. They are pricey, but it depends on the discounts you can get.
Click to expand...

First thought that came to my mind too.
 
#8
Persona87 said:
The only non-MF amp that I'd be considering would be one of the Carvin microbass amps. I recently bought a Carvin P bass and other than the tone being very modern (was originally looking for a more vintage tone), it was exactly what I wanted. The Carvin stuff is priced well and seem to have lots of great features.

Anyone have thoughts on those?
Click to expand...

There is one guy on talkbass, who is very happy with his Carvin for DB.
Just search for Carvin in the amps forum.
 
#10
tmntfan said:
the new spellbinder blue bass amp by SWR is a little underpowered for what you are looking for, but i have been using the older baby blue amp for years with no concerns. Playing similar venues, music and instrumentation.
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To me the Spellbinder Blue, and the Baby Blue 2X8 are horses of a different color, I guess the final version of the Baby Blue (1x10) would be fairly close in sound to the Spellbinder. I heard Stanley Clarke playing through one with Return To Forever, using it as a backline amp for his upright.
It didn't take much pushing, before that amp began to break up. I owned the original Baby Blue 2x8 and the Baby Blue 2x8 extension cab, that I paired with a Walter Woods MI-100-8. The Woods and the 2X8 were a good match, it sounded great. If I were going that way, I'd try to find
a used Baby Blue 2x8 version I, as it has two Bag End 16 ohm 8's, vs the two Celestion 8 ohm 8's, in version II. I had both speaker's, and to my ears the Bag End's sound much warmer.

Ric
 
#11
Of course, someone should mention gk mb 150. The standard. But I did just pick up cmd121p, for electric it's the shiznit, but I haven't found the settings that work best with my upright. I maintain hope that It's possible to get a good sound, curious to know what others do to combat the boominess... BrettBelanger? Others?
 
#13
Acoustic Image. They're flat - get your electric bass sound via a pedal and know that your upright will sound as close to "like it sounds unamplified but louder" as is reasonably possible, IMHO.

I've bought all mine used - they hold up great, and the company's support is second to none, even if you're not the first owner.

Downside - they're not cheap compared to some of your other options. Contra is about $900 new, Ten2 almost twice that. I own a Series III (previous generation to what's current, I believe) Ten2, Ten2-EX, and a Series I head - love them all.

-S-
 
#14
Steve Freides said:
Acoustic Image. They're flat - get your electric bass sound via a pedal and know that your upright will sound as close to "like it sounds unamplified but louder" as is reasonably possible, IMHO.

I've bought all mine used - they hold up great, and the company's support is second to none, even if you're not the first owner.

Downside - they're not cheap compared to some of your other options. Contra is about $900 new, Ten2 almost twice that. I own a Series III (previous generation to what's current, I believe) Ten2, Ten2-EX, and a Series I head - love them all.

-S-
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I agree 100%. If you look through the classifieds here often, you see them pop up for a goid price. I usually play through my series ii Clarus, and love the voicing! Thinking about adding an Aguilar Tonehammer pedal to change it up on occasion...
 
#15
The Markbass CMD 121P is a good choice. I own one. Great electric bass amp and pretty good upright amp. I also own the Phil Jones Superflightcase. Great upright amp and good electric amp. If you play primarily upright, I would consider the Phil Jones Amp. If you play primarily electric I would go with the Markbass. The Markbass is considerably less pricey.
 
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#16
Robert Strickland said:
The Markbass CMD 121P is a good choice. I own one. Great electric bass amp and pretty good upright amp. I also own the Phil Jones Superflightcase. Great upright amp and good electric amp. If you play primarily upright, I would consider the Phil Jones Amp. If you play primarily electric I would go with the Markbass. The Markbass is considerably less pricey.
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I like the pjb amps/combos too. The great thing with Upright is the unplugged acoustic volume you usually generate, making a smaller combo in amped situations possible if you are on a strapped budget.

The cub, double four, and briefcase are all worth considering depending on your budget and venue.
 
#17
flbass82 said:
I like the pjb amps/combos too. The great thing with Upright is the unplugged acoustic volume you usually generate, making a smaller combo in amped situations possible if you are on a strapped budget.

The cub, double four, and briefcase are all worth considering depending on your budget and venue.
Click to expand...
The Superflightcase has a bit more power. Unless you are playing small rooms with a Very quiet band, I wouldn't go much smaller
 
#18
I think Robert Strickland is dead on! That pj super flight case is the best upright amp I've about ever heard, especially from the bassists perspective (the up firing speakers) and the way it fills small- medium venues. I did fall for the way my electric sounds through the markbass tho, and with at least half of my gigs being on electric I saw it the best option for me. Sounding pretty good with upright, but no pj super flight case :)
 

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