You are not wrong, but many would not agree with you. Not everyone plays through a PA, just so you know. I do, and I still insist on having my little personal monitor back there. Maybe I'm just insecure.
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Obsolete bass amps
- Thread starter DavidEdenAria
- Start date
I won't touch anything without neodymium speakers and class D circuitry.
The benefits of reduced weight and transportability are essential for me and "out weigh" any compromise of tone that I may perceive. Most of my older amps were like moving a skid of cinder blocks. I have been shlepping gear for over 5 decades and now I am done with needlesly heavy gear. Modern gear has these advantages for us.
The benefits of reduced weight and transportability are essential for me and "out weigh" any compromise of tone that I may perceive. Most of my older amps were like moving a skid of cinder blocks. I have been shlepping gear for over 5 decades and now I am done with needlesly heavy gear. Modern gear has these advantages for us.
Yeah, I would love to have a particular old Acoustic 320 back as well. The garage is only so big.
My monitor is a Behringer B205D so I can get some of the vocals, keys, and the articulation of my bass to make sure I am laying down the groove properly.
That's the purpose of a good PA. You can flap your pants after the gig.
I don't really know of anything that's obsolete. Some of the heavier equipment is relegated to practice spaces, but it's still all serviceable. All that old Peavy bass equipment still sounds good.
Agreed. 100 percent! If I find a newer, lighter amp that sounds as nice as my current rig? I might change it out. But so far, I am still happy coming home to my rig from trying or rehearsing thru newer offerings.
Weight seems such a factor today. So I mention it. But I grew up and started playing just as solid state or hybrid designs were taking over from the old tube behemoths. SWR, GK, Eden and others were making amps that were advertised as 'light' as compared to SVTs. And, to me, they are still light. Heh. Thassall I meant. I always wanted a rig that when I was tryin stuff out at a store, I would rather come home to my rig. I still like mine vs stuff in the store. But if that changes? Then maybe I will change, too.
LOL. Yeah I literally feel your pain. But our pain doesn't make those old amps obsolete. Maybe we are the ones that are obsolete.
That's the purpose of a good PA. You can flap your pants after the gig.
Heh Heh Heh!
That's the purpose of a good PA. You can flap your pants after the gig.
I play in two bands, one has full PA support and I run the DI from the Streamliner for that and the other has a small PA primarily for vocals. I still bring my Genz NeoX 212t for either show. It's relatively light at just over 50lbs and sounds great with any of my heads. I do have a 112 for small venues and rehearsals. I have a full inner ears setup as well, but I just like how a speaker cab feels behind me even if it's not cranked any more.
Remember when keyboardists tossed their keybds got little modules and had a controller?
Now what do you see in studio and on stage? Certainly not stacks of keyboards. You do see actual Fender Rhodes stage and suitcase pianos, Wurlitzers electric pianos and Hammonds with Leslies.
A salesman tried to tell me to toss my mixer and get a little rack mount pre. He just wanted to sell me something. Well glad I kept it. Also glad I got a serious interface with excellent hi-end mic pres. Not from that guy! It all works in my studio.
For some bassists their amp is a reproduction device. For others the amp is a musical instrument, a part of the whole signal chain. That's where amps don't become obsolete.
At the end it's what music did you make? Otherwise a P with tort is obsolete.
We know better! LOL
Now what do you see in studio and on stage? Certainly not stacks of keyboards. You do see actual Fender Rhodes stage and suitcase pianos, Wurlitzers electric pianos and Hammonds with Leslies.
A salesman tried to tell me to toss my mixer and get a little rack mount pre. He just wanted to sell me something. Well glad I kept it. Also glad I got a serious interface with excellent hi-end mic pres. Not from that guy! It all works in my studio.
For some bassists their amp is a reproduction device. For others the amp is a musical instrument, a part of the whole signal chain. That's where amps don't become obsolete.
At the end it's what music did you make? Otherwise a P with tort is obsolete.
We know better! LOL
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I, on the other hand, am at the mercy of house PA systems all of which are very good. But with three acoustic guitars rumbling away my bass seems to get lost in the monitor mix. My little one twelve cab and amp do a fine job of keeping my groove, if not flapping my pant legs. Besides, gotta have something to put the beers on.
JeezyMcNuggles
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- Feb 23, 2018
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Then again, before Guitar Center took over the 360 was being reissued. And although not the same thing, on today's markets there are handful of "amp-in-a-box" -style pedals that are based on recreating the 360 preamp. On that note, I'm quite sure that today using an "AIAB" pedal mimicking the SVT is as popular as having a real SVT, if not even more popular.
I play 1 regular gig that requires an amp. That gig is a "coffee house" kinda vibe - I just have to keep up with an acoustic piano. There's no way a tube amp's benefits would even be audible at that volume; a small class D head is perfect for that gig. I could probably use a 5 watt amp and stiil have headroom, but as 200 is about as small as it gets in a quality head, that's what I use.
Every other gig I do is in ears/ampless. For my uses, any big, heavy amp is obsolete.
Every other gig I do is in ears/ampless. For my uses, any big, heavy amp is obsolete.
While it's hard for me to call any working amp obsolete, the closest thing I can think of would be something like the old Sunn Coliseum 300.
I don’t know how much is really obsolete. It may be out of fashion, but there are still plenty of folks assembling working rigs with what they can find at pawnshops and Craigslist.
I think being “obsolete” is dependent on the individual user. I have had a few amps over the years and they become “obsolete” to me when I obtained something that replaced them for a particular use. A heavy little Bassman 25 amp that I used for practice and for upright on jazz trio gigs became obsolete for me when I got my lightweight Rumble 40 to do the same job. That Bassman is still a fine amp and I’m sure the guy I sold it to is happy with it. My GK 1001RB became obsolete to me when I bought a MB 500F as my primary gigging amp.
Yes, you can always save something as a backup or just for nostalgia, but obsolescence is an individual thing I think.
Yes, you can always save something as a backup or just for nostalgia, but obsolescence is an individual thing I think.
