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Minimum size and price for gig-worthy bass amp?

Smashingdugongs

Smashingdugongs

Guest
May 1, 2018
14
1
#1
Hi, quite soon I have 2 gigs, not very big ones, I imagine sub 100 people, but I don't have a bass amp. I mean I do but according to literally everywhere on the internet it would be useless. I have an amp that came with my first bass, about 4 years ago, which I mainly use for practising at home, using headphones anyway. That amp is a 35W gear4music amp that cost like 40 pounds. I was in a band last year that was a bit heavier than my current one (which is more indie/alternative), but whenever we did gigs I just used the amp the bassist in the other bands brought or hired one. My predicament is that I am going to UNI next year and the rest of my band aren't, so I am sort of sceptical to buy an amp and then only use it for a few gigs. But then again, I am doing a bass course next year and will probably end up in another band anyway soooo...

TL;DR What is the most affordable, portable, powerful bass amp that I can get for less than £200, which will serve me well for smallish gigs at the moment, but also bigger ones in the future? Or should I just take my chances with the 35W amp? Stacks or combo's welcome
 
#3
denhou1974 said:
You didn't say what kind of music. You won't hear that 35W amp on stage. For only 2 gigs take your money and go rent a bass amp or play through the monitors.
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Ahh its mainly sort of indie/rock/alternative. I use a 5 string and tend to do lots of melodic basslines, we have 2 guitarists and a drummer who is quite metal-y. The reason I want to buy an amp is because we're expecting more gigs after that, and I plan to be gigging next year while I'm at UNI so I'm looking at amps now, while I still have money to spare ;)
 
#6
Well I can't really afford more than £200 right now because I have to pay for UNI next year, which is very expensive. Thoughts on this?: Invalid Link Removed
I have a Harley Benton bass and it's great, so I can't imagine it would be anything other than amazing value for money.
 
#11
Found this ashdown mag 300 used on gumtree for £160
 

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#13
If the venue has a PA, your amp can be mic’ed. A 25W tube amp can work well in a smaller, 100 person venue. Low power solid state amps don’t fair as well. But it really depe ds on how loud the band plays.

Does your current amp have enought power when you are practicing with the band? Have you tried playing at gig level to see how it copes? I wouldn’t expect much out of a 40£ amp.

I would contact a music shop and enquire about rental rates. At least you’ll know where you stand and that can help you make an educated decision.

The Mag 300 isn’t a bad amp and will certainly do the job and then some. The problem is, you need to have enough experience when buying a used amp or combo to determine if there are any issues.
 
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#14
buldog5151bass said:
Without PA support, for a band with a drummer, you probably want 300 watts minimum, and 4 10s, 2 12s, or one decent 15.
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That's a pretty good rule of thumb, and one that I personally subscribe to - with emphasis on a decent 15 if going that route and using just one (usually say two 15"s for good measure).

As always the devil is in the details, but if you're not as picky yet as far as tonal preferences are concerned, most things in that range will allow you to get very loud, and hopefully have enough flexibility to do any functional tone tweaking that you might need.

Just thinking back to when I went off to college (this was before the class-D and neo era), I took with me a GK 700RB-I and Avatar B210. Both were picked up used, and at the time I found both for just over $550 total.

While that cab doesn’t meet the rule of thumb standard that I mentioned above, it did just enough to get me through all of the pit-gig and house-band needs while I was there. Once I started playing out, I just added another cab and I was good to go for all sorts of bigger stages with and without PA support. Best of luck!
 
#15
I was in exactly your position about 10 years ago. I bought a Trace Elliot 715 combo for £160, it was an absolute workhorse right up until I upgraded to a larger rig earlier this year.

It's only 150w, but IME it kept up much more often than it didn't; I was asked to turn it down far more often than I needed it to be louder.

Old trace combos tend to go for <£200 on eBay - where in the UK are you based?
 
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#17
Jimbob Jones said:
I was in exactly your position about 10 years ago. I bought a Trace Elliot 715 combo for £160, it was an absolute workhorse right up until I upgraded to a larger rig earlier this year.

It's only 150w, but IME it kept up much more often than it didn't; I was asked to turn it down far more often than I needed it to be louder.

Old trace combos tend to go for <£200 on eBay - where in the UK are you based?
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I'm in norwich, i'm not sure how much i trust the ebay route though, I kinda have to get this right because the uni im going to is gonna be expensive and im not even sure student loans will cover everything, but that's why i'm doing it now instead of waiting til next year when i'll be broke.
 

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