Need Direction

[PillO]

Hard to go wrong with a Traynor cab. The quality is great, they sound good, and in Canada are cheaper than comparable offerings from others. But they are heavy because they are designed to be thrown off a roof and survive. Probably lots of used Traynor gear at your local L&M. For heads, audition lots to figure out what you want. Don't be afraid of looking at guitar heads as well.

 

[Dana R Gregory]

An excellent practice/giging amp is the GK MB115 combo. Only 35 lbs and it packs a good punch for a 200 watt amp. Good for small to medium venues and even outdoors. Definitely worth a look.

 

[BadExample]

Welcome to TB and bassdom.

Pedals is down the road after I figure out the amp

Keep in mind, many geetar pedals work great with bass. Almost any Way Huge does, and their Russian Pickle is a nice fuzz box.

Bookmark or subscribe to this Bassic Gear Review One of the best pedal reviewers, and gives you a good idea what pedals work for bass. Beware, Will makes everything sound good! You can also search the effects forum here to get ideas.

Get out to your local Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc. and try out some amps there. Try before you buy if you can. BYOA, Bring Your Own Ax.

Wattage matching can be important with a bass rig, giving a combo a bit of an edge for a new fella. That being said, I would suggest separates, so you can add or upgrade speakers cabs when you need to get louder. Post here before you buy. If you get an amp that is 2 ohm stable and has a 2 ohm switch on the back, like a Mesa D800/D800+, you can "detune" it by setting it to 2 ohms and using an 8 ohm cab. "Detune" = reduce the wattage output. An HPF can help save your speakers too.

Frequency response, if you look at that, don't worry about reaching down to you lowest open string. Unless you drop tune, you don't need to go below about 50 Hz for a 5 string low B, or 70 Hz for a 4 string. The first harmonic is the loudest, and those two frequencies I listed are about 10 Hz under the first harmonic. Forget the fundamental frequency.

Go light! It takes time to build up the muscle mass of a bassist to lift the heavy cabs

Used gear can be a bargain. If you change your mind, it can be resold with less of a loss if any. Older heavier stuff is dirt cheap and works. Maybe you can build your bass muscles before you have to move it for rehearsal I would avoid used gear that is not serviceable unless you get it at a disposable price. Genz Benz gear is probably the best of the older gear as far as tooby goodness from a class D or AB amp, and most or all of it is factory level serviceable at a flat rate (some of the really old stuff might be parts and labor). My favorite: Genz Benz Streamliner, Part 10 | Page 53 | TalkBass.com

Bargains are always there, so again, post before buying.

 

[Frankthetank79]

Wow thanks guys!! Gave me lots to check out. I have definitely noticed that Mesa d800, the GKMB800 and the Peavey MiniMega get praised quite abit for head units. It’s probably my best bet taking my bass into the local shops and see what My ears like. 410 cabinet sounds huge but I guess the idea is to move some air with that bass for a great tone. Will check out all these links and options you guys gave me great community you guys have hear.

 

[Frankthetank79]

Welcome to TB and bassdom.



Keep in mind, many geetar pedals work great with bass. Almost any Way Huge does, and their Russian Pickle is a nice fuzz box.

Bookmark or subscribe to this Bassic Gear Review One of the best pedal reviewers, and gives you a good idea what pedals work for bass. Beware, Will makes everything sound good! You can also search the effects forum here to get ideas.

Get out to your local Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc. and try out some amps there. Try before you buy if you can. BYOA, Bring Your Own Ax.

Wattage matching can be important with a bass rig, giving a combo a bit of an edge for a new fella. That being said, I would suggest separates, so you can add or upgrade speakers cabs when you need to get louder. Post here before you buy. If you get an amp that is 2 ohm stable and has a 2 ohm switch on the back, like a Mesa D800/D800+, you can "detune" it by setting it to 2 ohms and using an 8 ohm cab. "Detune" = reduce the wattage output. An HPF can help save your speakers too.

Frequency response, if you look at that, don't worry about reaching down to you lowest open string. Unless you drop tune, you don't need to go below about 50 Hz for a 5 string low B, or 70 Hz for a 4 string. The first harmonic is the loudest, and those two frequencies I listed are about 10 Hz under the first harmonic. Forget the fundamental frequency.

Go light! It takes time to build up the muscle mass of a bassist to lift the heavy cabs

Used gear can be a bargain. If you change your mind, it can be resold with less of a loss if any. Older heavier stuff is dirt cheap and works. Maybe you can build your bass muscles before you have to move it for rehearsal I would avoid used gear that is not serviceable unless you get it at a disposable price. Genz Benz gear is probably the best of the older gear as far as tooby goodness from a class D or AB amp, and most or all of it is factory level serviceable at a flat rate (some of the really old stuff might be parts and labor). My favorite: Genz Benz Streamliner, Part 10 | Page 53 | TalkBass.com

Bargains are always there, so again, post before buying.

I didn’t realize that about buying a head with the 2ohm that you could detune it with the 8ohm cab but I guess why not. Awesome something else to look for definitely will run it past you guys before I buy

 

[BadExample]

I have an amp with 2 x 800 Watt channels, bridgable to 1600 watts. No switch but one 8 ohm channel is about 350 Watts RMS IIRC. Good size for in house. Genz Benz stuff I have ranges from 200 to 900 Watts RMS. Those do not go down to 2 ohm, so I have to be very careful with a smaller wattage cab. Wife's Genz Benz guitar amps go from 30 to 300 Watts RMS. Those are very cool amps too, and even sound good with bass into a bass cab (not suggesting a guitar amp for use with a bass).

If you look at the manual on something you are thinking about buying, they almost all show wattge ratings for different impedance (ohms) cabs, but not for being set at 2 ohms and running an 8 ohm cab. You can plan on the 2 Ohm setting cutting the power in about half for the 4 or 8 ohm rating.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

Welcome.
IMO metal/maximum rock-n-roll bass gear:
Minimum 500W @4 Ohm amp/head. IMO cleaner the better let pedals/effects fill it in). 212 or 410 8 ohm cab/cabs (need to "move" air to compete with guitars), until you "find" what works the best. After several years playing I dumped the 8 ohm cabs for a straight up 4 ohms (maximizes the/your amp upfront, use the knob labeled "Master volume" or "Max." etc to control the thing called "volume." Several decent combos out there that will fit your initial needs. Personally? IMO I prefer seperate head/amp and cab; one can upgrade one or the other to fit potential needs. I use a 112 350W MarkBass combo for home practice and the occasional ultra small (cafe/coffee shop gig/jam. It totally does NOT suffice for real-time rehearsals/gigs in my situation (alternative/HC/punk/occasional pop/rock).
One note:
Use hearing protection; you won't know it's gone and then one day...
Forum/site note:
NUMEROUS apostles/devotees to Fender, Jacko, McCartney Beatles, and Jamerson here...
except me. ...but TONS of decent/great info if you read wisely. Good luck!

 

[Krakmann]

Sorry to say this here... but don't overthink tone. You are a bassman now. Band-function is paramount. When the Marshalls start roaring, the bedroom tone issues just dissolve.

 

[mikewalker]

DIRECTION??

Ostro-Libeccio FOR THE WIN!!!
(alternatively, you can just Invalid Link Removed...)​

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Hey guys new hear to TalkBass. I been playing guitar for 20 years and decided I need to try a different instrument bass was something I always wanted to pick up. I realize this question has been asked a zillion times so hear it is one more time.

I recently bought myself a new bass and I need to buy an amp. I have been renting a Traynor 112 for two months. It’s a decent amp dosent blow me away but I don’t hate it. I have spent time researching what my favourite artist use and it’s all over the place the majority are using big heads and cabinets which I don’t need. So I guess if you guys can point me in a direction it would be much appreciated.

Bass- ESP 5 string neck through EMG pickups
Use- Practice and perhaps when I get better rehearsal with friends.
Tone- Modern sounding, I listen to extreme metal (Cattle Decapitation, Cannibal Corpse etc.) but saying that my playing level is not there yet (hopefully one day it will be). I have been noodling with some Metallica,Pantera,Slayer,GNR classic rock as I learn.
Amp features- Aux in, headphone jack, effects in and out.
Type-Combo or head and cab I’m open.

Chances are I will be putting a distortion/fuzz pedal along with some type of compression pedal. So does a guy shoot for a real clean sounding amp and switch in the distortion pedal for the times I want to sound dirty or to achieve a more modern tone do you use a more versatile amp able to achieve a dirty tone and cleans.

In the guitar world it seems a lot easier to achieve a great tone. Just plug into a Dual Rec, 5150, 6505 any modern amp and the tone is there. I am finding bass is more complicated or I am just over complicating things perhaps.

Sorry for the long exhausting post.

Mesa.

 

[BOOG]

Thanks for the welcome it’s appreciated. In the guitar world I play tube amps but definitely open to others. I think nowadays the technology is there for solid states and the hybrids to get really good tones out of them. I’m imagining more of a practice amp than a gigging amp for sure perhaps a combo amp fits that bill better than a head and cab.

Speakers I’m not sure about. The 12” I am playing through now sounds pretty good to my ears but from what I have heard most guys are using 10’s with perhaps a 15” ext cab for the punchy with some lows for heavier music not sure how much truth there is to this. So maybe a 12” is the sweet spot right in the middle.

Pedals is down the road after I figure out the amp but all the guys I listen to play Darkglass stuff for the most part.





Max budget $1500 I am thinking. I am notorious for spending money on gear on a whim. Sometimes it works out sometimes it dosent Hahaha.

Hi und willkommen!
Consider cab design/engineering before speaker diameter. (ex. Some 10” cabs sound deeper than 15” cabs.) If you have the access, go to the stores with your bass and sample. Other than that, read the forum and research through YouTube and amp websites.
Combo vs head/cab... To each their own for their own reasons. I prefer the versatility and options of separate head/cab. I also consider failure in my choice as, my first amp was a combo and it had some warranty replaceable failure. Since I was out of luck until the amp repair shop handled the issue, I started getting into the world of amp shopping. From then on, I decided it would be best to use separate units. There are a number of reasons why but, not important. Also, on paper the combo sounds like it’d be more portable but, not necessarily.
For options like compression, distortion and sub octave you can find in it already built in. To me, this makes sense because it gives the ability to start sampling these effects without getting into the peddle board world.(which, may not even be an issue for you as, you as a guitar player are probably already familiar and settled on your tastes) My favorites are Ashdown and GK but that means nothing to you or anyone else since, we all have our own preferences. However, both of these brands have heads that can provide some very usable tone shaping / effects built in. There are others, though.
Good luck and can’t wait to hear what you decide.
+1 on pics of rig and bass!

 

[hrodbert696]

Welcome to TB!

In terms of features, what you're looking for kind of seems like it's pushing in two different directions. Aux in and a headphone jack tend to be features of smaller practice amps. But if you're going to use this rig to jam with a metal band - and assuming they play LOUD, as is common in the genre - you're going to want something bigger.

There are all-tube bass amps, and they tend to be very expensive and heavy, because you need a lot more wattage to drive the same perceived volume at bass frequencies compared to guitar frequencies. On guitar you can gig with a 30- or even 15-watt amp in a cover band and a 100-watt amp is mad loud. On bass, playing in a rock band setting of any kind you want at least 200 watts, 400 if you want more headroom. A lot of more affordable amps, instead, will have a tube preamp and solid-state power section. That's all you need unless you're a total tube junkie.

One option for your situation would be a combo amp that has the bedroom-practice features but that can take an expansion cab if you need the extra oomph. GK is good for this, for instance.

Two-channel bass amps exist, but in my opinion aren't really necessary. Most bassists don't go jumping between clean and dirty tones in the same song the way a guitarist would (again, in my experience). I would focus on getting an amp with a good solid bass tone you like and then using a dirt pedal in front of it.

 

[jthisdell]

In the guitar world it seems a lot easier to achieve a great tone.

Welcome to TB, truer words have seldom been spoken. If it was easy to get good bass tone we would have nothing to talk about here.

 

[Kriegs]

Cattle Decapitation

Extra points for good taste in obscure metal!

You are very close to my story and style (long time guitarist who also plays bass) and I can only tell you that after a decade of trying to emulate the sound that I desired, I realized that emulation was a waste of time and money. Just go and get your choice of passive bass (P, J or PJ) and plug it into an Ampeg head, preferably with tubes or at least a tube pre-amp and either an 810 cabinet or 610HLF if you prefer 5 strings/ BEAD tuning and you'll be 95% of the way to the tone you're looking for

Of course, as always, this in my experience and YMMV and there will be a deluge of people that will tell me that I'm nuts

 

[bearfoot]

Use- Practice and perhaps when I get better rehearsal with friends.

For amp you need around 300 watts into a 1x15 , or 2x10. You *might* need more speakers for medium venues that have no PA support for bass, if you project with friends reaches that level. No need to spend much now. A 300watt 1x15 combo is enough to annoy everyone in the neighborhood, and will hang just fine with a hard-hitting rock drummer, IME.
You will find modern models with all the I/O and FX options you want, or you can get a rig that might be higher quality and more powerful for the same $ used.

Or, if you don't even need gig amplification yet, and since you are a guitarist, you might be more inclined to look at the front end first, and get something like a Boss GT-10B, the bass brother of one of their main guitar pedals. Then when you do get together with friends, you will have a massive tonal palette for any bass amp / PA.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Thanks for the welcome it’s appreciated. In the guitar world I play tube amps but definitely open to others. I think nowadays the technology is there for solid states and the hybrids to get really good tones out of them. I’m imagining more of a practice amp than a gigging amp for sure perhaps a combo amp fits that bill better than a head and cab.

Speakers I’m not sure about. The 12” I am playing through now sounds pretty good to my ears but from what I have heard most guys are using 10’s with perhaps a 15” ext cab for the punchy with some lows for heavier music not sure how much truth there is to this. So maybe a 12” is the sweet spot right in the middle.

Pedals is down the road after I figure out the amp but all the guys I listen to play Darkglass stuff for the most part.





Max budget $1500 I am thinking. I am notorious for spending money on gear on a whim. Sometimes it works out sometimes it dosent Hahaha.

The old "10's for bright coupled with 15's for low", was true many moons ago.
Superior speakers and better cab designs have pretty much made that an old wives tale.
While some folks successfully use a cab with 10's along with a 15, it is more the exception than the rule.
It might work out well, but chances are better that it won't.
If you are pairing up cabs, your best bet these days is two of the same type.
If you find one you like get another like it.

For your budget, if it were me, I'd be looking at the Mesa D800+. The plus has the high pass filter which you will likely come to appreciate.
For your cab? I'd match up with any of the Mesa Bass cabs. Try them out if you can and if it comes to wanting to add a second one, get another just like the other.
Just be careful not to crank your high powered amp with just one cab.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Always had fun poking the bass player now I am on the other side.

Once you get it together the drummer is fair game.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Max budget $1500 I am thinking. I am notorious for spending money on gear on a whim. Sometimes it works out sometimes it dosent Hahaha

that's plenty.

More light reading.

I am a 210 vertical stack believer!!

Dispersion of the modern super cabs with mid drivers is even better but your budget is a little shy.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Don't be afraid of looking at guitar heads as well.

good point!

What's sitting around?

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Speakers I’m not sure about. The 12” I am playing through now sounds pretty good to my ears but from what I have heard most guys are using 10’s with perhaps a 15” ext cab for the punchy with some lows for heavier music not sure how much truth there is to this. So maybe a 12” is the sweet spot right in the middle.

Welcome to the low end!

To confirm what a few others have said already, speaker size only tells you how large the speaker is. Most people speak in generalities, but there are so many other factors that play into the power handling, tone, and frequency response for bass speakers. Ported vs. Sealed, # of drivers, internal cab dimensions, tuning, etc. all play a massive part in the tone moreso than speaker size. I'm sure you're on board with understanding that now, but the best thing to do is judge things on a case-by-case basis or at least compare them to cabs in the same series (i.e. - GK Neo series, Ampeg SVT series cabs...).

One of the other things to consider is how the amp's front end will handle effects. Tube heads can get some great overdriven tones, but sometimes more of the character changes than you'd like...this can also happen with speakers. If I'm playing a straight-up bass into amp rig with no effects, I'd probably use my Ampeg all-tube PF-20t...but if I'm bringing out the whole effects board, I'm reaching for my GK gear.

There are most assuredly other amp brands that handle effects well, that's just been my experience at gig-level volumes. I'd also keep in mind that strings can make a huge difference in your tone on bass...I've had basses destined for the chopping block that got saved due to a string change (not from dirt or wear, just from a poor match for that particular bass). It would also be worthwhile to try out a few pairs when money permits and see which one suits you best. I like DR Hi-Beams and nickel Lo-Riders for rounds and GHS Precision Flats for flatwound strings. YMMV though.