I forgot to include Ampeg on my other thread. I now use Aguilar since I wanted a light amp that had a nice rich sound. I did not want a super clean amp that was too bright or harsh. I used to have a Mesa Boggie 400+ and then Boogie Buster amp. 400 was too heavy and expensive to replace tubes on. Microphonic issues on a tube amp is a pain and time consuming to locate which tube is causing the problem. But I love the Boogie sound so much.
Peavey, Ampeg, Aguilar -> fEARful 1515/66/1 For my needs this is the best Sound/weight/price performance.
i use a mesa boogie strategy 500 and a peavey tb raxx preamp, works great for what i play with plenty of power just using one cab and one side of the amp, but when both are being used with both cabs its just stunning, ill post a video as i havent seen many of bass players using this amp for bass guitar
You forgot OTHER on this poll. A lot of us (probably a small percentage) use TecAmp. I play a PUMA 900 through a fEARful 12/6/1 and 12/sub stack.
Had a gk mb500 which I liked a lot for a couple months till I began finding it extremely sterile. Got my first all tube amp, a '74 ampeg v4b, which I play through a mesa diesel 1x15. Although not light, it is loud and punchy as hell. I dont see myself going back to solid state amps anytime soon (possibly for a backup head), the feel of tubes is something else. Gorgeous breakup on the v4b, and the diesel 115's sing. Mmm.
Genz Benz Shuttle MAX6.0 gets most of the action for the last couple of years. It is lightweight, versatile, has decent power, and a great direct out!
Ampeg SVT-CL because I like it and nothing else "micro" sounds like it. Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 because it too sounds great, is so small yet powers anything. Mesa Walkabout because it too sounds great and I love the small 12" combo.
You gotta run the boost channel up north of noon to get some sizzle out of it! But compared to a vintage ampeg tube head, yeah, not the same. When I want retro, I step on a pedal. What do you do when you want uber-clean?
Mesa M3 Carbine Combo after going thru more than a few heads,cabs and combos I was discouraged and I fiqured I would never find that tone that was in my head until I got the Mesa Combo from a fellow TBer from the very first note I was hooked deep beautiful bass and enough tweeter adjustments to make it also very articulate finally it was what I was looking for.
Was a 100% Ampeg guy until I tried by first EBS. Still have the 'fridge, but it hasn't been out of the house in a long, long time.
Hartke Kilo - Amazing range of tones and stellar sound for an amp weighing half of what the big boy all tube heads weigh. Genz Benz Stremliner 900 - Amazing tone in a such a small package. I still can't my head around this little tiny head driving my Dually with such sweet tone.
GENZ BENZ - Great Customer Support. Amazing Tone, and exactly what works for me. My STM-900 is perfect for my situation because of it's size and nice deep tone.
Eden WT800C - because it is AWESOME Ampeg SVT 15-T combo - because it is cool Fender Showman ('65 blonde) - because I've played one since then Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 - because it is light, but doesn't sound lite.
AMP: Gallien-Krueger 15" combo... WHY: My friend had one he was looking to sell, and I needed an amp ASAP for a gig... seriously, that's the only reason I own it. It is a good amp, I should say - I'm slowly learning how to dial in a tone I like out of it, and it's surprisingly loud... but to be honest, if I had some time to shop around I probably wouldn't have gotten it, and when I finally get a bigger rig, I probably won't go GK... no hatred for the co., again, I like the amp - there are just other bass manufacturers I prefer over GK (i.e. Hartke, Epifani, Trace Elliot, Genz Benz).
Other/ none of the above. I design and build my own preamps and cabs. Why? Because I can. Any properly functioning rack mounted power amp works fine for me, they are just commodity items at this point. I prefer light and no fan. I may build one eventually just for the heck of it, I guess.
Genz Benz SMax 9.2 Why? Best customer service, incredible tone and flexible features, lightweight Seems they nailed all of my needs in one package
Mesa Walkabout for bass, and Mesa M3 Carbine for synth. Because, after owning more amps than I can even remember, these sound best to me. Spkr cabs are equally important. Genz Benz Uber and Aguilar DB have what I like.
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