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Looking for a practice amp

D

Drop1

Mar 28, 2019
1,601
1,796
#1
It's been a few years since I've played. I've been back at it for about 2 weeks I guess.
I sold off my genz benz shuttle (I regret that!) And ampeg cabs. (I was never overly fond of the ampeg cabs, but they did what I needed them to do in a live settting )

All I had left laying around is an old broken crate bx80 combo someone gave me. I got it working. The crate has decent eq options and a high/low boost switches , it just sounds like booty.

I won't be playing out anymore, but I have to enjoy what im hearing. I have a very developed ear and am quite picky about my sound.

I've gone to GC and plugged into the few combo options they have on the showroom floor amd was not impressed. They had 4 options. Some new small thing from ampeg, an ampeg 210 combo, a rumble combo and an orange combo.

The rumble and orange were ok. The ampegs I didn't jive woth.

I like a very clean modern sound with extended SMOOTH top end and I'm willing to spend a few $ to get it.

The crate I have is rather dark (pretty sure the driver was replaced at some point) and boosting mids or highs on it gets harsh very quickly, especially compared to plugging the bass straight into my mixing desk and running it through monitors.

So what im looking for is a very clean modern sounding set up with plenty of top end extension and clean punchy bottom. A single 15 or 210 cab would be fine for my current needs.i don't need to get crazy loud and I dont need it to sit in a mix. What I want is all about what I will hear at home.
I don't want to spend a fortune, but I'm not looking for budget options either.

Is there an amp/cab or combo that comes to mind ?

Ps. Im considering hunting down another genz shuttle 6.0. I really enjoyed that little amp.
 
#2
Which fender rumble combo did you try?

a lot of people say the rumble 40 is the best sounding.

the rumble 100 is said to be boxy sounding but I think it is fairly versatile with its EQ
 
#3
bbao said:
Which fender rumble combo did you try?

a lot of people say the rumble 40 is the best sounding.

the rumble 100 is said to be boxy sounding but I think it is fairly versatile with its EQ
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Im really not sure which rumble it was. I'll swing back through and see. I definitely don't want a boxy sounding cab. I had an ampeg 210 years back and it had a sort of dry boxy tone too.

I'll see if I can find a rumble 40 to try.

I run a John east uni 5 preamp in my bass and that's kind of what I'm looking for in an amp/cab.
A setup as void of having its own sound as possible to let the bass come through true to its nature.
I'd play though my studio monitors if they had more bottom end...
 
#6
I also recently went to GC to find an easily-portable 112 combo for low volume duo stuff as the Combo II head in my Markbass 121P has died. I first tried a Markbass LittleMark IV head (thinking I might swap it into my current combo box) but didn't like it enough to spend the bucks.

I tested and did not like the Rocket Bass RB-112 tone or output before distortion. Rumble 100 had decent volume and lows but only OK tone. Acoustic B100C had a tone I really liked (and I like the kickback format) but it ran out of gas too soon and is kinda heavy. Then I tried a Markbass Blackline CMB 121 and was impressed. It sounded great, had plenty of volume, nice full sound with plenty of lows, AND a nice price. And also remarkably heavy.

I looked around for a few days and found a used Ashdown C112-300 (red amp-face, rat-fur, metal grille version) in good shape for a good price and bought it. I really like it's tone and the kickback format, it's a light 27#, quiet at idle, but the gaudy white cone speaker farts out pretty quickly (seems common with these, so probably not actual damage to this particular example). I'm going with some "internet advice" and have ordered a (returnable) Eminence Deltalite II 2512 12" to swap into it. Supposed to be the shizzle. We'll see.

Good luck!
 
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#7
klokker said:
If you regret selling the Genz Benz combo (which I understand) pick up the new generation Genzler MG350 combo.
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Exactly. I have a Genzler Acoustic Array Pro, bass version, and it sounds great and definitely hits all the OP's bullet points. It also has two completely separate channels, great for aux tracks when practicing or keeping two different basses immediately accessible. Can't recommend Genzler, the product AND the man, highly enough.
 
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#9
klokker said:
If you regret selling the Genz Benz combo (which I understand) pick up the new generation Genzler MG350 combo.
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That's an interesting set up. Wish it was 2 10's though. I dont think I've ever played through a single 10. It "may" be enough. The price is fair if it does what I want. Guess I could always add a 210 cab if I want more.
 
#14
Liam Wald said:
I didn't know that they made Ampegs 210 years ago!
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Yup. The ba 210. Been around for some time now. Not bad. Just a bit dry and boxy sounding. Loud and punchy if that's your thing. I ran it on top an additional ampeg 410 for a while (regret selling that 410 as well) and it was surprisingly capable output wise. I did wind up selling the ba 210 and getting a single 15 cab. My last live setup was an ampeg 410 stacked on a 115 powered by a genz shuttle 6.0 and I could get rowdy with that setup. Plenty of lows and cut though a live band like butter.
 
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#15
KeepItMoving said:
I’ve used a Rumble 40 and 100, but the Phil Jones Bass Double Four is what I’ve stuck with. Definitely does smooth and clean well, and I think the whole PJB line would. Also great build quality and compactness. Good luck and glad you’re playing again!
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I'm glad as well. I'm dealing with a tough situation and the second I picked my bass up all that stress just melted away.
 
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#17
coy garcia said:
sounds like you might like a harke combo..not my thing but that was what I thought of by your post.
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I used to drool over harke cabs when they first launched, but I picked up a harke head and used it to power an ampeg 410 stacked on a 115 and i didn't like it at all. I dont remember exactly what head it was. I know it was older and had a high power rating but it didn't come though the mix very well at all. I spent some time comparing that harke head with my genz. Though similar in power, the genz was far more pronounced and made the harke sound very inferior to my ears. Shame too, I really wanted to like it.
 
#19
Killing Floor said:
Smooth, clean, modern and top end are PJB traits. Go look at some.
They’re indoor friendly and look nice too.
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Never even heard of the Phil Jones stuff, but it definitely looks interesting. Their use of smaller drivers to extend top end is something you don't see a lot in the bass world but it's an easy way to do it. I'm gonna do some research on them. I dont need a booming low end anymore. My neighbors don't either lol. My ampeg stack used to drive them nuts at night. Those pjb may be the ticket. I just need to find a place to order where returns are easy if it's not my thing.
 
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#20
I’ve been using a Rumble Studio 40 at home for practice, and you can get a pretty good variety of tones out of it. Strongly recommended to angle it up if possible, it sounds miles better if it’s not sitting flat on the floor. In my opinion, most of the presets have WAY too much EQ going on, so I usually just make my own presets with a flat EQ to start.

Biggest downside is that it’s not loud enough to keep up with guitarists and drummers who like to play loud, so don’t plan on jamming too much with it in that scenario.
 

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