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Old fart, new amp. Suggestions?

#61
paulygonemad said:
i have been out of the live duties for a few years, having moved on a bit to production work. I have been recently tapped for a decent gig and could not say no. Pretty decent.
I was using big, heavy, loud... You get it. Svt, tube, 8x10, backbreaking stuff with great tone. My gear was awesome and I cleared my investment and then somewhen I sold it all. No regrets.
This time around I am looking at lighter gear. I love the tube tone but I'm not out conquering cities in my mind any more. I'm in it for the work and the joy of playing. I am curious what my fellow tbers would suggest.
I am currently leaning towards a gk modular system. The gk mb212ii (or 115)combo with the same powered extension cab. That seems to be the winner in my head thus far.
Club size will be small to mid. One gtr player, very melodic lighter end of rock.
Thanks
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I was kind of in the same boat. I ended up with Ampeg PF 500 and PF 115 HE and just also ordered the PF 210HE. I think most of the kinks has been worked out
of the PF 500 head from what I had read. Anyway I guess I will found out. These units fit in my smaller car. However the house band at the Blues Jam I go to has a Eden 2x12 cab with the WTX 500 and it just sounds great. I might have got it but too big for car plus much heavier than what I got. So far I am happy with my purchase. I like the sound very well.
 
#62
I'm surprised the new fender stuff hasn't been mentioned. (I may have missed it).

I may do this myself too.

The Rumble 500 Head and a couple Rumble V3 115's would be sweet. Light, loud and classic.
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I'm really interested in the new bassman 500 head too. But that's not coming til April I think. Would make a nice looking stack.
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Anybody chime in with experience?
 
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#64
For the weight, I found the GK MB FUSION 500 or 800 to come closest to an old tube sound
You may want to consider the Carvin B1000, they have a money back trial period. It is the little brother of their B2000 which sounds great.
If you like a heavy low B bottom end, the Tone Hammer 500 will not be enough power.
With the light weight heads, you can throw them in a gig bag or back pack so you can bring everything in with one trip.

Once a drummer is added, I prefer a 212 over 2- 112s because the 212 is lighter, less money and easier to carry than 2- 112s.
Consider Bergantino, Aguilar, Fearful or Fearless. The 212 Fearless/ Fearful can be found with wheels in a nice tilt and pull design.
 
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#65
I currently own and have been playing out one of these three: SVT & 810, 360/361 & old Kustom 200 2/15. and numerous 410 rigs with 700+ watt heads and Last night I played through a GK set up just like that. Sounded great. Good sound and plenty of volume.
og61pbass said:
I consider myself an old fart too so this is what I use lately...GK MB112 and optional MPB Cab when needed,very light and portable rig and sounds Killer too...View attachment 559904
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[/QUOTE]
 
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#66
You can check out latest Fender Rumble series. Just as Dannster said earlier. They have both heads, and cabinets now, as of 2015. If you buy one of their combos, you can add cabinet on top (of course, below...underneath it). You should have a slight slant towards traditonal bass sounds though, and "bread and butter" sound. Leaning slightly towards vintage. Line out exists.

They do not use lightweight neo-speakers, but lightweight power amps. Still the most lightweight I've tried, with a regular ferromagnetic or ceramic speaker.
 
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#67
paulygonemad said:
i have been out of the live duties for a few years, having moved on a bit to production work. I have been recently tapped for a decent gig and could not say no. Pretty decent.
I was using big, heavy, loud... You get it. Svt, tube, 8x10, backbreaking stuff with great tone. My gear was awesome and I cleared my investment and then somewhen I sold it all. No regrets.
This time around I am looking at lighter gear. I love the tube tone but I'm not out conquering cities in my mind any more. I'm in it for the work and the joy of playing. I am curious what my fellow tbers would suggest.
I am currently leaning towards a gk modular system. The gk mb212ii (or 115)combo with the same powered extension cab. That seems to be the winner in my head thus far.
Club size will be small to mid. One gtr player, very melodic lighter end of rock.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 plus 4 ohm cab of your choice. Done!
 
#71
Look at the Ampeg 210 v2 combo. It's cable of 450W with an additional 8 ohm cab, such as the 210AV.

I just recently purchased the 115v2 150W and I am very happy with this as a low volume combo. I would imagine the 450w 4x10s would be a nice light option.
 
#72
Stranger Danger said:
They are very nice but just as many folks would describe them as heavy, underpowered and overpriced
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46.5 lbs. = heavy? That's the weight of my Walkabout 12.

I'm always challenged to find ways to quiet it down. I can't imagine ever playing it full-tilt. At that point, I wouldn't be providing my own amp anyway.

300 watts @ 4 ohms is a long way from underpowered, and the head can power anybody's 8x10 cab with supreme authority.

Overpriced? Buy used, where they sell for about half new retail.

YMMV.
 
#73
You might consider a Markbass CMD 112-P combo with a Markbass 1x12 Extension cabinet. I use this set up for smaller gigs. It's light weight and can be split as just the combo or the combo and ext cab depending on the size of the gig. The Markbass combo weighs in at about 29 lbs and the ext cab is about the same. 350 Watts, combo only. 500 Watts, combo and ext cab.
 
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#74
bertthebassist said:
If you like a heavy low B bottom end, the Tone Hammer 500 will not be enough power.
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That will actually depend entirely on the cabinet used. If you insist on using a single 112, or even a 115, then, yeah you need absurd amounts of power. I've played 5-string through a TH500 and a couple of different big cabs (Aguilar and Mesa, I forget the models), and there was absolutely no weakness there.
Once a drummer is added, I prefer a 212 over 2- 112s because the 212 is lighter, less money and easier to carry than 2- 112s.
Click to expand...
+1 on this. Also, 212 cabinet designs, being a little larger, can potentially get down to lower frequencies before they start stressing-out. I think the dual 112 option is pretty good if you're transport limited and doing mostly small performance/rehearsal/recording spaces, but it's a bit of a compromise.
 
#75
+1 Have to agree with Sid Fang on the prior post. I've gigged with a TH500 and a Berg CN212 (4ohm) and have no difficulty with power in most small and medium venues with a loud rock band. I also find the form factor of the CN212 easy to carry, something about the handle placement and the weight.

Nothing against those who advocate combos, but IMHO, if you're gigging regularly component setup is more flexible and just as easy to load in/out.
 

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