First of all, I've been watching this forum for awhile after a friend told me how great the discussions/info to be found here is. I finally decided to bite the bullet and join, even though I'm normally a guitar player. However, recently I've started playing semi-weekly for my church's college worship band as a bass player, so I've been trying to pick up as much about bass playing as I can. So, heres my situation. I play about every other week in a large room for about 400-500 people. All the guitars play thru amps which are kept in a back room, and miked. Right now I just play direct into the board, or into a Digitech RP500 into the board. Normally I would just look at getting a sansamp or some kind of similar direct box, but I also would like something that I could mike when I gig, and practice with when I'm not gigging. The first amp I was thinking of was a Marshall MB15, because I've played thru a friend's and I absolutely loved the sound of it. I also saw that Vox has a bass amp for 100, and it looks good (I love everything guitar-wise that I've played by Vox), but I've never gotten to actually play thru one. Any suggestions about these two amps, or suggestions on something better? $200 is probably the most I could feasibly spend, and I would really prefer to keep it under that. Oh, and for whatever it's worth, I currently play a stock Squier Standard Jazz bass, but I'll soon(ish) be playing a Squier P/J bass with Dimarzio pickups
Well...as always people will suggest , shop used. That being said, I personally reccomend the "Acoustic" brand amp. I got a used B200 from GC ($199), and it is absolutely awesome for the money. I needed suttin quick n cheap for practice. I chose this over the Fender cRumble 100, and some other smaller amps. Sounds good, and plenty of power. They also make a B100 that is ($249 New)so..if you can find one used, should be plenty cheap. Also...If you're lookin used , check out peavey.Another good bang for buck. I bought a used 600watt peavey head for $99. I'm assuming you're looking for a combo though, so you can prolly find an old Peavey TNT 130, better yet, a TNT 150 well within your price range. As with most peaveys, Heavy,But reliable. Well..that's my $.02
I'll look into the Peavys. I've actually played thru some Acoustic amps before, and while they were good, they just sounded too clean to me. I'd like something I can mix in a little gain/overdrive.
For 1st amps, I generally recommend sticking with industry standards. In this case, the Peavey TNT for a combo and the GK 800RB for a head.
I'm starting to think about just using a little guitar amp I have (at VERY low volumes) for practicing, and then getting a good bass DI. Just missed out on a Behringer bass DI for $15 : /
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