Looking to buy my very first head & cab.

[edbass]

Firstly, The Fender 300T is an exceptionally rad amp. A lot of people will tell you its to much power yada yada yada. I have had people tell me not to buy things because of there opinion about how loud it was or how i didn't need to spend that much also and than later in life spent more money cause i bought something they said would work. Sometimes you just need to buy what you want once and if its over kill at least your prepared for any situation. The 300T may not be originally Sunn, Im not completely sure about that, but it is popular in that style and almost every other style of music. As far as cabs go your just going to have to try them out. I own the matching 8x10 to that head and love it. An Ampeg or something along those lines would be nice also. Honestly what i would do is try that head out on a 8x10, a 2x15, and maybe even a 6x10. Decide what tones you like. Noted, not all cabs sound similar just because they have the same speaker set up. But they have similar qualities.

Rest assured Johnny, it's been a FMIC product from it's very inception. As I posted earlier; "that badge is the only thing "Sunn" about the Sunn 300T".

Not that that's a bad thing per se; as I also mentioned IMO it's a pretty nice amp.

Also, food for thought, if you like your bassman now you really should check out the new fender line of bass amps. Fender make some really really nice stuff. I would be willing to put most pro line fender amps against other people boutique crap. People just forget fender is trying to sell to many groups of musician and there beginner stuff is horrible. And there mid of the line stuff is sub par at best. Mmmmm, that pro stuff really sings to you though.

Well, you could “put most pro line fender amps against other people boutique crap”, but it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Quality wise it’s not a contest; that mass produced PCB amp isn’t even in the same league with a hand wired boutique amp from a craftsmanship perspective, relative to market value, or from an ease of service/longevity outlook.

As far as tonally; well, of course there is just no accounting for “taste”.

 

[Born.II.Hula]

update: I'm now also looking at an orange tb500. Found one for 695, considering buying it and running it through an ampeg 410. The terror output is speakon apparently. Is that ever a problem with cabs that only have 1/4 jacks? Can you get cables with 1/4 one end, speaker on the other?

 

[Tim1]

If as you you say you want the 300 Pro head solely for tone rather than volume then you should consider the Fender100T. I own a 100T and have played it side by side with the 300 - it is much lighter and has some extremely useful features with similar tone. The Fender loves my Berg NV610 and NV215 cabs (the 215 especially), and whichever amp you get would be very happy with a Bergantino - I imported mine form Bass gear Direct in Oz. I wasn't particularly interested in the 300 Pro as I already have an SVT VR and Orange AD200 to fill that void, and frankly if I am playing at the sort of volume that requires 300 tube watts on stage I would always shoot for an SVT with its sheer midrange grunt.
By the way, before you consider importing from the States, you should be aware that The Music Machine in Napier, New Zealand, have a 300 Pro head and both 610 and 810 matching cabinets in stock (I bought my 100T from them).

 

[Tim1]

PCB boards simply do not bother me - there are plenty of vintage Ampegs from the seventies still going strong with PCB boards, so other than looking prettier hand/hard wiring shouldn't affect the quality of the tone (as has often been stated and debated on this forum). There certainly could be an argument made that hand wired is easier to repair, although even that is debatable too. However, purely as an opinion, I have always thought that a hand wired amp is more likely to have each component more carefully selected, tested or checked. Certainly hand wired is more expensive.

 

[Born.II.Hula]

PCB boards simply do not bother me - there are plenty of vintage Ampegs from the seventies still going strong with PCB boards, so other than looking prettier hand/hard wiring shouldn't affect the quality of the tone (as has often been stated and debated on this forum). There certainly could be an argument made that hand wired is easier to repair, although even that is debatable too. However, purely as an opinion, I have always thought that a hand wired amp is more likely to have each component more carefully selected, tested or checked. Certainly hand wired is more expensive.

...mfw this is a response to something else .____.

 

[rodl2005]

update: I'm now also looking at an orange tb500. Found one for 695, considering buying it and running it through an ampeg 410. The terror output is speakon apparently. Is that ever a problem with cabs that only have 1/4 jacks? Can you get cables with 1/4 one end, speaker on the other?

No probs. Most cabs have both speakon & jack, but u can easily buy or make a jack-speakon speaker lead

 

[will33]

If you're concerned about speakers, watch out with that darned octave pedal...or sell it. Probably not an issue with the bassman100, but putting that thing in front of a strong amp has the potential to do some damage.

 

[Born.II.Hula]

No probs. Most cabs have both speakon & jack, but u can easily buy or make a jack-speakon speaker lead

That's good.

One other thing, because I don't kbow much about the different ways of connection. If I connected the terror to a cab speakon to speakon, is there a difference in output to if I connect it speakon to 1/4? Say, a much louder output that could damage the speaker or amp? I would want to get a cab that can handle both connections, because from what I understand speakon connection runs at a much higher current.

 

[will33]

That's good.

One other thing, because I don't kbow much about the different ways of connection. If I connected the terror to a cab speakon to speakon, is there a difference in output to if I connect it speakon to 1/4? Say, a much louder output that could damage the speaker or amp? I would want to get a cab that can handle both connections, because from what I understand speakon connection runs at a much higher current.

No....same thing. Going amp--->cab--->cab is the same as 2 cables plugged in fhe amp, one going to each cab.

Re: my octave pedal warning.....bass speakers are always advertised as 200 watt, or 500 watt speakers or whatever. A big limitation in a lot of bass speakers is excursion, which isn't published, but refers to the limits of how far they can move back and forth, which they need to make low bass. Most cabs reach these limits long before their advertised wattage rating. And using a pedal to put in an extra octave of content lower than a bass has already, puts huge excursion demands on the speaker. You can use them, but carefully, and listen closely for signs/sounds of speaker stress/distortion. The wattage rating is a thermal one, refering to the amount of heat the voice coil can dissipate before it actually melts/burns/shorts out.

 

[will33]

The speakon's do have a,lot more contact area and can handle higher current, but, it isn't really enough to make a difference until you get over 500 watts or so, and even then, not enough to affect sound. They do have other advantages, like not causing a short when you unplug them, etc. Are becoming the new standard but lots of gear still has 1/4".

FWIW, the 1/4" was never chosen because it was the best thing for music equipment. It was borrows from the very first telephone equipment from over 100 years ago, seemed to work well enough, so was continued to be used for decades thereafter.

 

[will33]

The 19" standard for rack width equipment is also a throwback to the early days of telephones. As is the decibel used for measuring loudness.

Couple fun facts there.

 

[Born.II.Hula]

No....same thing. Going amp--->cab--->cab is the same as 2 cables plugged in fhe amp, one going to each cab.

Re: my octave pedal warning.....bass speakers are always advertised as 200 watt, or 500 watt speakers or whatever. A big limitation in a lot of bass speakers is excursion, which isn't published, but refers to the limits of how far they can move back and forth, which they need to make low bass. Most cabs reach these limits long before their advertised wattage rating. And using a pedal to put in an extra octave of content lower than a bass has already, puts huge excursion demands on the speaker. You can use them, but carefully, and listen closely for signs/sounds of speaker stress/distortion. The wattage rating is a thermal one, refering to the amount of heat the voice coil can dissipate before it actually melts/burns/shorts out.

I appreciate this. There's nothing I play on the E string with the Octave on, because of the boominess. Anything lower than a B is impossibly loud so I try to avoid it anyway.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Most speakers struggle with E string fundamental tone. That means anything lower than the 7th fret on A, with an octaver making a monster fundamental, is going to flap your speakers if you let it get through.

 

[Tim1]

Born.II.Hula, when I read back through your posts here it is clear that you are still not really sure what you need or want. That is fine, as this forum is a good place to seek advice.
The best advice I can give you, as I read you swing from definitely wanting a Pro300 to considering a Terror Bass is to just go out and try as much as you can, preferably in a live situation. Listen to other bands in your area and when you hear what you like talk to their bassist. Sit on what you have for a while longer, research with your own ears and when you eventually do purchase hopefully it will be something that practically defines your tone for you.

 

[will33]

I appreciate this. There's nothing I play on the E string with the Octave on, because of the boominess. Anything lower than a B is impossibly loud so I try to avoid it anyway.

With any half decent cab, you should be ok with it then, staying out of the lowest notes. Obviously bring the octave pedal with you when you try out cabs as it'll likely be the deal breaker, and reveal some limitations you otherwise wouldn't hear.

 

[whanbury]

I agree, and it seems that Fender/Sunns are asking premium prices for gear that is easily 3 to 4 times the weight of the current availble optioins nowadays.
I understand how you feel too, though. For the longest time I had to have a mahogany Ibanez bass, and after getting it I realized I still sounded ok with my other bass, but you need to do some serious considering, and please keep your mind open to the new options. I remember there was a time when you wouldn't be seeing in a serious band without an Ampeg or Acoustic. Now there's so much diversity, which is great. Remember, you are selling your brand name as a bass player, how good you are depends on you, not the brand name of your amp or what your peers are using..
Good luck!

 

[Born.II.Hula]

Thanks for all your help guys. I'm definitely keeping my options open, which is why I'm now looking at the tb500. I've also had a look at a few other things - there's an Eden roadrunner (600?) for sale for 1400ish. Sounds nice, but I'm still looking. I also just want to clarify that me keeping my options open isn't being misconstrued for flippancy - I know how important it is to review all my options, so that's what I'm reminding myself to do.

 

[Korladis]

I agree, and it seems that Fender/Sunns are asking premium prices for gear that is easily 3 to 4 times the weight of the current availble optioins nowadays.

Not everyone cares about weight.

 

[tescott]

I'll second berg cabs. A 4x12 would be sweet with a nice big tube amp. George at bassgeardirect is a really helpful guy.

As for the dangers of an octave pedal, you can either use an eq pedal or decent amp eq to take out the sub-low frequencies (like 30hz). You can't hear them anyway, and they're the damage-doers.

The bass people are having a closing down sale at the moment. Check out their price list on ozbassforums. They're also way helpful. Not like Allen's / billy hydes.

 

[Tim1]

+1 to Berg cabs. Bass Gear Direct over there has both the NV412 and NV610s in stock. They are very manageable, very grunty and while everyone raves about them for tube amps I have run my Markbass into them and had great tone too. In fact if I was in Oz George would be my first stop - I notice he stocks the Baer amps and cabs now too which could be worth a look now you seem to be diversifying your options.