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Need advice on buying first amp

D

Drummer Girl

Jan 23, 2011
12
0
#1
I'm a new bassist and don't hav an amp yet. As of right be my sister has a little ibanez amp that came wit her bass. I hate using it Cus it sounds like crap. I use a school amp in class. Can't member wat type right at the moment. But I want my own to hav at my house. I play mostly rock. Or like to play I should say. Ive got a thunderbird. I just want suggestions on wat to buy to jam on wit a few people an by myself. moneys not really a problem Cus I'm willing to save as long as it's not too expensive. Lol Thanks for any help =]
 
#2
First, stay in school and pay attention during English.
Second, it will be useful to know what kind of music you want to play, any specific tones you're after, that kind of thing.
Third, there are many threads on this forum to browse through on just this topic.
 
#3
GrowlerBox said:
First, stay in school and pay attention during English.
Second, it will be useful to know what kind of music you want to play, any specific tones you're after, that kind of thing.
Third, there are many threads on this forum to browse through on just this topic.
Click to expand...

LOL.... Yes, the OP did seem a bit linguistically challenged, didn't it...

Okay, my old guy advice is, as always:

1) Buy used
2) Play before you pay
3) Get a head/cab rather than a combo

Go to GC, ask what used bass amps they have. Avoid stuff that seems too good to be true; And remember: What sounds great by itself or in the store will NOT sound great in the band mix.
 
#4
BigOldHarry said:
And remember: What sounds great by itself or in the store will NOT sound great in the band mix.
Click to expand...

Not to be argumentative or anything, but I'm curious: If you can't trust the sound of an amp by itself, how are you supposed to know what is going to sound good in a band setting, particularly if you're an inexperienced player?

(I'm pretty new to the forums, so you'll excuse me if this is a topic that has been discussed before.) :)
 
#5
Disaster Area said:
Not to be argumentative or anything, but I'm curious: If you can't trust the sound of an amp by itself, how are you supposed to know what is going to sound good in a band setting, particularly if you're an inexperienced player?

(I'm pretty new to the forums, so you'll excuse me if this is a topic that has been discussed before.) :)
Click to expand...

Ah, you have touched upon one of the great difficulties that is part of buying bass gear. How indeed can you tell?

Here's the thing: a very "mid focused" bass sound tends to offend the ear by itself - a scooped sound (scooped meaning EQed with the mids removed) sounds better by itself to most folks. Unfortunately, what cuts through when the guitars/keys/drums playing is mids.
 
#6
BigOldHarry said:
Ah, you have touched upon one of the great difficulties that is part of buying bass gear. How indeed can you tell?

Here's the thing: a very "mid focused" bass sound tends to offend the ear by itself - a scooped sound (scooped meaning EQed with the mids removed) sounds better by itself to most folks. Unfortunately, what cuts through when the guitars/keys/drums playing is mids.
Click to expand...

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up.
 
#7
Sorry for the English. I'm on my iPod and sometimes it puts in different words than what I type or I miss a letter so it spells something else. Lol I'm an AP English student so I do know how to spell. But anyways thanks for the bass advice. I'm new to this so I havnt really lookd around that much. But I do appreciate the advice. So thank you.
 
#8
Drummer Girl said:
Sorry for the English. I'm on my iPod and sometimes it puts in different words than what I type or I miss a letter so it spells something else. Lol I'm an AP English student so I do know how to spell. But anyways thanks for the bass advice. I'm new to this so I havnt really lookd around that much. But I do appreciate the advice. So thank you.
Click to expand...

Then please accept my apologies for what must have appeared a rather snarky comment. For a moment there I thought you really were a drummer. OK, I'll stop now. ;)

It would still be good to know what ballpark budget you have, whether you're looking just for a home practice amp or something to start gigging with, whether you'd prefer a combo or head and cab, that kind of thing.
 
#9
IF your playing 4 string, you would probably be really happy for a while with a used Hartke Combo Amp with a 12 or 15.

A Kickback style is handy for the beginner.

Make certain you like the sound on anything you try.

After not having an Amp for 8 years I got a Genz Benz Combo, but they do not make any more of them, nor the entry level amps that would have been satisfactory.

Whatever you try. Stand 12 feet away when trying it out.
 
#10
to the OP ... with all due respect, with very little description of what you need and who you are, may be tough for anyone to base a good suggestion for you, perhaps a place to start may be some profile info to help us gauge where you are at ... from your user name, everyone is expecting to have a younger girl asking this question, and the only thing your profile says is 'male', and that you just joined ... try to be as thorough as possible with your scenario, and as Growler mentioned, to say "money is no object, just so it is not too much" (in essence) makes it tough to try to help ... also, read the sticky's on here ... lots of info available , and the search is your best friend, as the what to buy questions are very redundant ... I once explained the difference between a P and a J to a guy on here that I thought was new, when he asked a very naive question about them, only to find out he had been playing for 30 years and owned probably 2x the basses that I had over his life ... everybody now gets a profile scan before I take 10 minutes trying to be helpful ...

Edit to add for steelhead2: AND encouraging :)
 
#11
how about some encouragement here:confused:,,,

i'd say go to a pawn shop,find a Peavey TNT or COMBO with a 15 inch Black Widow speaker(it will have a `BW' insignia on the front bottom of the grill)

bring cash,offer around 125.00 no matter what they have for a price(sometimes you can find them for a hundred),,and now you have a viable practise amp:hyper:

Peavey made thousands of these,i'm not going to state they are the best,but they are:D,for having an`amp' reasonably priced and (more than) reasonably loud=they DO IT,add a pedal between your bass and the amp and WOW!

pretty darn cool stuff:D,i'm embracing a `head/cab' setup and have a Peavey combo on eBay but i'll tell you what=i'm going to buy another(old beater Peavey combo) just for those times i need to jump on an amp and work on a riff

you CAN also use them as a guitar amp keyboard,or a PA,,HANDY,REAL HANDY

and you can always re-sell and get your money back as you move on,,(ok now where WAS i going when i logged on here:eyebrow:;)

have fun that's what it's all about:bassist:
 
#12
... just be careful in a pawn shop, if you have no idea what you are looking for ... they can be a good source for the savvy, but can also be a snare for the lesser informed ... sometimes that gear is sitting there because there may be issues with it ...

... you mentioned an amp at school, what is it, do you like it, do you want and can you afford one like it, and will your music teacher help you find something, or does he/she have a contact at a music store that sells used gear?? ... generally IMHO a new person is farther ahead to pay a couple bucks more (if need be) to get a used piece that they know a bit of history about, and have some idea of the credibility of the seller ...

BTW, again if your profile had your location, we could search the area Craigslist, etc to possibly help ... just a thought on the importance of info for those that want to help ... and encourage :)
 
#14
Ok. So I fixed my profile. I am a girl lmao but anyways I checked my school amp today and it's a hartke. I couldn't ask for specifics about it because I was busy but yeah. I like the amp. I haven't played on any others really but I it sounds great to me. I'll ask my teacher all the information about it. But I do know there are other amps out there and at least I have something to compare others too right?
 

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