My ThunderFunk

[Jerry J]

Congratulations Brad!

I must say that I had a good laugh a few posts back, when comments were going back and forth about how you get such good deals on your pruchase prices for used gear. You are truly the King when it comes to scoring quality gear for an outrageous price.

After reading this thread, I feel like I need to go out and buy one of these heads too! Arrgh!!!

Gil, one of reason that Brad hooks into some pretty great deals and finds some really cool stuff is because of:

.....Finally got one of these, the TFB420. Bought it used at Atomic Music.....

When I was back in Virginia a year and a half ago, Brad had recommended that I visit Atomic but my schedule just didn't allow enough time to make that visit. I still regret that to this day.

But the bottom line is that there really isn't a place like that where I live. And BassNW is just too far of a drive at $2.35 a gallon for gas.

The only exposure that I get to anything cool is on TB.com or my semi-annual visit to BNW. I would imagine that you face the same thing out there in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

Hey has anyone noticed that there seems to be more bass players in the mid-Atlantic states?

 

[gfab333]

Yep Jerry J, the retail stores in Hawaii try to give you some discount. However, many times we can get a better deal from the Bass NW, Bass Central, Access Bass, on-line stores, etc., because they'll provide a deeper discount. So, many times it's cheaper for us to buy from the internet dealers even after factoring shipping costs into the deal (usually costs about $65 to ship a bass here from lower 48). Regardless of this, I still spend a lot of dollars in the local music stores because I feel obligated to support the local economy.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Gil, one of reason that Brad hooks into some pretty great deals and finds some really cool stuff is because of:

.....Finally got one of these, the TFB420. Bought it used at Atomic Music.....

When I was back in Virginia a year and a half ago, Brad had recommended that I visit Atomic but my schedule just didn't allow enough time to make that visit. I still regret that to this day.

But the bottom line is that there really isn't a place like that where I live. And BassNW is just too far of a drive at $2.35 a gallon for gas.

The only exposure that I get to anything cool is on TB.com or my semi-annual visit to BNW. I would imagine that you face the same thing out there in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

Hey has anyone noticed that there seems to be more bass players in the mid-Atlantic states?

In addition to Atomic, I can't say enough good things about all of the internet sources I use, especially bassgear.com com and the net dealers. I tend to find some of the craziest deals at pawnshops, thrift store (still have the $45 Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 2-12 combo guitar amp), yard sales... wherever people sell secondhand stuff.

Location can help. Actually looking helps even more. If I listed all of the crazy deals I've found "I" probably wouldn't believe it

Plus my friends all over the world let me know about stuff too. How cool is that?

 

[Thunderfunk]

Nashville is a great town to find gear deals. Seems a lot of guys come to town to make it big and go broke instead. A customer of mine (an insurance agent) would read through the Nashville newspaper every morning over coffee and call everyone. Selling a flute? Do you have any other instruments for sale? One week he bought a '55 Twin, a '58 Bassman, and a mint black Fender reverb unit for $1,000 total. And the seller was a long-time Nashville session musician. One day he called on some gear and the seller was Ray Flack. Part of the secret was he was looking in the newspaper, not the Tradin' Post. Everyone knew the newspaper was not the place to sell gear. So it said two things. The seller was uninformed, and he had no bidding competition, because no one else was looking in the newspaper for gear.

 

[plankspanker04]

I did a gig with just the TF and one Nahas 8 ohm 1-12. The cab is rated at 400w, I don't know what the actual efficiency rating would be... probably average. It held up very well in a room that held about 150 people, without PA support.


Depends on how loud you're going to need to play. So far the two cab setup has coasted through my gigs.

hey brad-just back from the weekend.thanks for the reply.
we do play pretty loud but i also have p.a. support.the guy making my cab tried the tf on an 8ohm version(112 with 6"mid and a horn).he said wide open he was running the input on 5 and the master on 7 and the preamp on his bass wide open.volume wise im not sure thats how loud ill need to be,without hearing the cab in person.but that seems like that would work the amp pretty darn hard.if the amp can take it i still like the flexibility of being able to add a cab with the 8ohm.but most of the time i plan on just using one cab and i dont want to overwork the amp.

 

[metron]

Great... more G.A.S.

Anyone use the Thunderfunk with a double bass?

 

[Brad Johnson]

hey brad-just back from the weekend.thanks for the reply.
we do play pretty loud but i also have p.a. support.the guy making my cab tried the tf on an 8ohm version(112 with 6"mid and a horn).he said wide open he was running the input on 5 and the master on 7 and the preamp on his bass wide open.volume wise im not sure thats how loud ill need to be,without hearing the cab in person.but that seems like that would work the amp pretty darn hard.if the amp can take it i still like the flexibility of being able to add a cab with the 8ohm.but most of the time i plan on just using one cab and i dont want to overwork the amp.

Last night on my open mic house band gig we did a slightly unusual Rock power trio thing... two basses and and a drummer.


Actually alot of fun. The other bassist cranks up fairly loud with a Hartke 7000 and two Peavey 410 cabs. I had no problem matching his volume by bumping the gain up a little on the TF/Nahas rig. No PA support.

 

[plankspanker04]

Last night on my open mic house band gig we did a slightly unusual Rock power trio thing... two basses and and a drummer.


Actually alot of fun. The other bassist cranks up fairly loud with a Hartke 7000 and two Peavey 410 cabs. I had no problem matching his volume by bumping the gain up a little on the TF/Nahas rig. No PA support.

sounds like fun.never tried it.anyway decided to go with a 4 ohm 112 and see what happens.im sure it will handle the small stuff i do and i hope it will hang on bigger stuff as well.if this cab sounds good,really good,ill have him make a bigger 4ohm cab for larger gigs and i always have my demeter/stewart and a couple epifanis to throw in as well.he makes a 212 that weighs less than me epifani 310.my goal with all this was to try to find a small but loud cab and save a little back to wheel wife around when were 80.

 

[lsimy]

oooooooooooooooooooh crap !! -GAS ALERT-

Well Brad congrats, now I'm scouring for a Thunderfunk head. It's a good time in that I don't have a bass amp at all right now and have been desiring one for a while. This sounds like a real winner.

This is a great option I forgot all about. I hope I find one. Thanks for the info !!

-Vinnie

 

[Brad Johnson]

oooooooooooooooooooh crap !! -GAS ALERT-

Well Brad congrats, now I'm scouring for a Thunderfunk head. It's a good time in that I don't have a bass amp at all right now and have been desiring one for a while. This sounds like a real winner.

This is a great option I forgot all about. I hope I find one. Thanks for the info !!

-Vinnie

Long time no see, Vinnie. What's up?

 

[tombowlus]

Brad:

Did you ever try your Thunderfunk head with your EA VL-110's? I had a TF to try out for a while, and while I liked it very much, the additional headroom of my iAMP 800 was very noticeable in a direct comparison (although I prefered the layout and feature set of the TF). I never did try the TF through my VL series cabs, though. It did sound excellent through a pair of custom cabs (2x10 and 1x15) made by Dr.Bass, though.

Tom.

 

[lsimy]

Long time no see, Vinnie. What's up?

Brad !!!! Again, this is a great post since I've been a bit flustered as to what to get. The Thunderfunk seems like a real winner. Wish Joe would make more cabs but I understand his frustration with that business.

Hope to see you around soon !! Thanks again for the info !!

 

[AJ Love]

congrats on the Thunderfunk, Brad

do you think that would be a great amp for a P Bass?

 

[Brad Johnson]

congrats on the Thunderfunk, Brad

do you think that would be a great amp for a P Bass?

I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

 

[degroove]

I play an Ampeg SVT III - PRo through a SVT-410HLF and crank it fairly 75% to 80% volume in a rehearsal.

I am looking at other hybrid amps that are not as dirty as the SVTIII pro, but at a comparble power level. I am considering a Genz Benz 600, Ashdown Evo II 500, or an Aguilar 659 Preamp/Power amp configuration so far...

Can the TF get a growly overdrivey tone for that bllues and classic rock tone, or is it more high fi for jazz, funk, pop type applications...

MY basss is a Lakland USA Joe Osbourne.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Brad Johnson]

I play an Ampeg SVT III - PRo through a SVT-410HLF and crank it fairly 75% to 80% volume in a rehearsal.

I am looking at other hybrid amps that are not as dirty as the SVTIII pro, but at a comparble power level. I am considering a Genz Benz 600, Ashdown Evo II 500, or an Aguilar 659 Preamp/Power amp configuration so far...

Can the TF get a growly overdrivey tone for that bllues and classic rock tone, or is it more high fi for jazz, funk, pop type applications...

MY basss is a Lakland USA Joe Osbourne.

Thanks,
Matt

I have a friend who's seriously into distortion and overdrive, it's a key part of his vibe. He's more of a Metal bassist. He had an AMP BH-420 and while he liked it it couldn't replace his old school SVT head.

I've used mine for classic rock type stuff and it sounded great according to other musicians and folks in the audience. Tons of growl. May or may not be the same growl you're looking for. I know that when I dug in on my Elrick NJS 4 in that trio thing we did it was a beautiful thing

A buddy of mine, Preach, has nicknamed the AMP BH-420 "The Ogre". I think it describes it very well. The TF carries on in that vein.

When I think hi-fi I think very clear, full range, deep... but not necessarily ballsy. The TF is ballsy IMO IME.

 

[degroove]

I have a friend who's seriously into distortion and overdrive, it's a key part of his vibe. He's more of a Metal bassist. He had an AMP BH-420 and while he liked it it couldn't replace his old school SVT head.

I've used mine for classic rock type stuff and it sounded great according to other musicians and folks in the audience. Tons of growl. May or may not be the same growl you're looking for. I know that when I dug in on my Elrick NJS 4 in that trio thing we did it was a beautiful thing

A buddy of mine, Preach, has nicknamed the AMP BH-420 "The Ogre". I think it describes it very well. The TF carries on in that vein.

When I think hi-fi I think very clear, full range, deep... but not necessarily ballsy. The TF is ballsy IMO IME.

No, Ballsy is more of what I like. Casue sometimes, I start to dig in and we start going, and I like it to by ballsy then. I felt that the Aguilar 750 was growly and ballsy enough for me even though it was "hi-fi"... I am not looking for a "distorted" tone, but slight overdrive is it.

Again, the Ampeg is way too over the top for me growl wise. I wish i had a place to try one!! Are the old Gibsons bass amps (Amp BH-420) still popular...I am totally unfamiliar with that line. Would I be better off with an old Gibson or AMP one or a TFunk for my purposed.

 

[Brad Johnson]

No, Ballsy is more of what I like. Casue sometimes, I start to dig in and we start going, and I like it to by ballsy then. I felt that the Aguilar 750 was growly and ballsy enough for me even though it was "hi-fi"... I am not looking for a "distorted" tone, but slight overdrive is it.

Again, the Ampeg is way too over the top for me growl wise. I wish i had a place to try one!! Are the old Gibsons bass amps (Amp BH-420) still popular...I am totally unfamiliar with that line. Would I be better off with an old Gibson or AMP one or a TFunk for my purposed.

The Gibson amp (GB-440) falls between the Amplified Music Products BH-420 and the ThunderFunk in the lineage of that amp design, the BH-420 being the original.

The BH-420 and GB-440 are apparently very sought after. I have at least four people who've asked me to keep an eye out for the AMP, I'm sure they'd be happy with a GB-440, which are in even shorter supply. After trying mine in a store and hearing it on a gig, my friend Preach sold his Eden and amp/preamp rig after a nice AMP showed up at Atomic Music. Hearing the BH-420 through a Nahas 2-12 and through a pair of Aguilar GS-112s just puts a smile on your face. It's also smokin' with Bag Ends.

Which for you? Depends on how patient you are. With the older amps the trick is actually finding one. With the TF they're available and as new amps the price of admission is higher. I own two AMPs that I've used for years and love them. If I was going to push an amp really hard on a regular basis I thing having the fan on the TF is a nice thing. As it is, mine cranks for my typical gigs and doesn't work up a sweat.

Short answer... any of the three should do fine. Just watch using really inefficient cabs.

BTW I played in Dover last night with the TF/Nahas rig. I love the fact that it sounds great loud and it sounds great at low volume too.

 

[NeedMoreBass]

There's a GB440 for sale here:
http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/kingmenow/

 

[degroove]

The Gibson amp (GB-440) falls between the Amplified Music Products BH-420 and the ThunderFunk in the lineage of that amp design, the BH-420 being the original.

The BH-420 and GB-440 are apparently very sought after. I have at least four people who've asked me to keep an eye out for the AMP, I'm sure they'd be happy with a GB-440, which are in even shorter supply. After trying mine in a store and hearing it on a gig, my friend Preach sold his Eden and amp/preamp rig after a nice AMP showed up at Atomic Music. Hearing the BH-420 through a Nahas 2-12 and through a pair of Aguilar GS-112s just puts a smile on your face. It's also smokin' with Bag Ends.

Which for you? Depends on how patient you are. With the older amps the trick is actually finding one. With the TF they're available and as new amps the price of admission is higher. I own two AMPs that I've used for years and love them. If I was going to push an amp really hard on a regular basis I thing having the fan on the TF is a nice thing. As it is, mine cranks for my typical gigs and doesn't work up a sweat.

Short answer... any of the three should do fine. Just watch using really inefficient cabs.

BTW I played in Dover last night with the TF/Nahas rig. I love the fact that it sounds great loud and it sounds great at low volume too.

DOVER

I was in Dover Saturday trying out amps at B&B Music!! How far is Gaithersburg from Dover?