Oh, yeah, I forgot. The Tone App is how you share settings. That sure beats the heck out of using a spreadsheet!
A temporary situation, I'm sure. Bookmark this discussion for when, not if, it changes.
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New Fender Rumble Stage 800?
- Thread starter Vinnie Boombatz
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- 800 fender fender rumble rumble stage
Oh, yeah, I forgot. The Tone App is how you share settings. That sure beats the heck out of using a spreadsheet!
A temporary situation, I'm sure. Bookmark this discussion for when, not if, it changes.
Having a hard time deciding between the Fender 800 or the Hartke HD500..
Anyone here experienced with Hartke HD500’s?
Anyone here experienced with Hartke HD500’s?
I see you live in L.A. so you can very easily audition them both, but they couldn't be more different.
Surprisingly, the shops around Hollywood and parts in SoCal don’t have the Fender 800 to demo out yet so I’m still having to drop by to see if they have any available. They do however have the 40 watt version.. Hartke I have tried and produces decently well on my active Synapse Bass.
Not surprising at all. Stage 800s are selling faster than Fender can make them. Same thing happened when the Rumble 500s first came out. It took well over a year and two price hikes for demand to come more in line with supply, and four years later the Rumble 500 still continues to outsell every other bass amp. The HD500 is certainly in direct competition with the Rumble 500. The digital modeling Stage 800 and Studio 40 are in a class by themselves.
At the Dallas International Guitar Show, I asked the Fender rep manning the booth about if they were coming out with a 800 Stage head, and he said no - which may mean that eventually they will, but not anytime soon for someone needing to make a decision on a new amp.
For what its worth, I tried the 40 watt version - Fender Rumble Studio -at GC that otherwise has the same wifi and modeling tones as the Stage 800. There were some good tones except as with many bass amps with distortion, the bottom drops out and there is no robust thud low end. I plugged into the TC Electronic BG250 with 1 15", and to my ears in the short time I played with them, the TC seemed to have much more presence and clear punch for the basic non-distorted sound.
If any of you have tried the Peavey BAM (Bass modeling combo or the head version) that was made circa 2002-4, I would imagine that unless you have a need for the wifi, that the Stage 800 may not be better than scoring a used BAM (understanding the combo weighed 96lbs. and the head most likely 45 alone). I use a BAM head (bought a backup since), they are 500 watts into 2 ohms. I just played an outdoor gig in a large downtown office building plaza through a 4 ohm Avatar 212 neo cabinet and the Volume knob was only at 2 1/2 and didn't need to go into FOH (so probably using 350 watts rms). I say this because I too was looking at the Stage 800 Combo but am not convinced its a robust live performer with lots of headroom unless I hear otherwise.
For what its worth, I tried the 40 watt version - Fender Rumble Studio -at GC that otherwise has the same wifi and modeling tones as the Stage 800. There were some good tones except as with many bass amps with distortion, the bottom drops out and there is no robust thud low end. I plugged into the TC Electronic BG250 with 1 15", and to my ears in the short time I played with them, the TC seemed to have much more presence and clear punch for the basic non-distorted sound.
If any of you have tried the Peavey BAM (Bass modeling combo or the head version) that was made circa 2002-4, I would imagine that unless you have a need for the wifi, that the Stage 800 may not be better than scoring a used BAM (understanding the combo weighed 96lbs. and the head most likely 45 alone). I use a BAM head (bought a backup since), they are 500 watts into 2 ohms. I just played an outdoor gig in a large downtown office building plaza through a 4 ohm Avatar 212 neo cabinet and the Volume knob was only at 2 1/2 and didn't need to go into FOH (so probably using 350 watts rms). I say this because I too was looking at the Stage 800 Combo but am not convinced its a robust live performer with lots of headroom unless I hear otherwise.
No, not at all, and you will gain 400 additional watts taking you to the full 800. The Stage 800 is 400 watts at 8 ohms and 800 at 4 ohms.
that potentially sells it for me then. still trying to decide between that or a GK MB212 which i can get for $900 vs the $1200 for the rumble 800..
One of the amps modeled is the GK800RB (called KGB), so you've got that signature tone nailed down. Plus the Fender Super Bassman, SVT (Rockin' Peg), SWR Redhead, Marshall Super Bass, Orange, HiWatt, and more plus a pair of transparent studio grade pre-amps to boot. 23 different bass cabinets, and 40 studio quality digital effects +EQ. No other bass amp offers as much, and no other bass amp can do what the Stage 800 can do.
I bought the Rumble 200 with a 15” which has a line out for a second speaker giving you the full 200 Watts at 4 ohms. Great! What I don’t get is Fender designed their Rumble 15” cabinet to different dimensions so they don’t form a matching pair. Fender designed their single 12” cabinet to match up with the Rumble 200. Anyone on TB knows you NEVER mix driver sizes.
Because it was designed to match up with the Rumble 410 cabinet as a lot of bass players still want that classic rock rig of a 410 over a 115.
AND the Stage 800 is 800 watts at 2.7 ohms, meaning, you can add two 8 ohm cabs or one 4 ohm cab!
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I'm sure Fender also had the Bassman series in the back of their minds, as the Fender logo isn't the flat logo you find on other Rumbles, but matches that of the Bassman amps.
Totally different. While the Unity is a digital amp, it is not a modeling amp. I've not seen one in real life so I haven't been able to audition one.
i saw one yesterday, didn't test it. felt very heavy for a little 2x10. doesn't have neo's.
i'm pretty sure it's heavier than the rumble 2x10. looks to be built like a tank.
are there any matching extension cabs for the rumble stage 800?
It is one pound heavier than the Rumble 500 combo, and yes a matching Stage 210 is in the works.
You don't need more wattage, that comes from the power amp section of your bass head. You need more pre-amp gain, because when you use lower volume settings on your instruments you are, of course, lowering the signal level from your instrument that is feeding your bass head. I'm going to conjecture that you are using a passive style bass (no battery powered preamp in the bass itself).
On a passive style bass, the volume pots (controls) definitely do affect the "tone" of the instrument as you turn the volume knob down. The non-technical explanation is this happens because the elements (bass, treble, volume, etc.) of a passive tone circuit mutually interact with each other. So when you change any one of those elements such as the volume control on your instrument, for example, it also affects the bass, mid and treble tone as well. This is why some (certainly not all) bassists prefer active basses where the tone controls are electronically buffered from each other and from the volume control so the various controls on the instrument don't interact with one another.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both active and passive instruments. For example, if you had an active bass, then theoretically, lowering the volume knob on your active instrument would not have the effect you desire on your bass tone.
Acquiring a more powerful head will not solve your problem since the tone change you experience and desire from lowering your instrument volume control is, of course, also knocking down the signal level your bass head has to work with. Specifically, the preamp section of your bass head needs more signal level to fully utilize the capabilities of the power amp section of your head.
Using a boost pedal of the kind usually employed to drive the preamp section of an amp head into distortion should solve your problem. Just don't use so much boost that you drive the pre-amp into distortion, that's all. Use just enough boost on the pedal to make up for the drop in signal level caused by turning down the volume knob on your instrument. You will then have both the tone and touch sensitivity your looking for and the full volume capability of your bass head. Some of these boost pedals are highly sophisticated even incorporating vacuum tubes in their circuits. That may not be necessary to get what your looking for, but some of the pedals out there will definitely work better for bass than others. A compressor pedal will also give you make-up gain.
If your going direct into a PA, be sure to talk to the sound guy about how you lower the volume control on your bass, and why. Good luck with that.
Edit: I assume you know how to run your bass head, i.e., you know the difference between input gain and master volume. Your problem may just be that you are not using enough input gain to compensate for the lowered volume settings you employ on your bass. Note: You must exercise caution not to accidentally over-drive your bass head no matter how you decide to get the extra gain you need. You may wish to take some time and do a little reading on "gain structure" on the web.
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