Alembic f1x might suit your needs. It's a preamp but you can choose any power amp to go under it. Most channel strips work great as well. I used a focusrite platinum channel strip until I picked up the Alembic.
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When I could only afford one amp, my SVT worked for everything. Now that I can afford more than one, it turns out I NEED more than one. 
- Apr 15, 2010
- 3,914
- 7,324
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- Spector Artist
Aguilar Tone Hammer. I've been using Markbass amps and cabs for 10 years before I checked out TH350 head. I sold all markbass amps....
I like any amp that gives me a warm, open, but articulate sound. I don't like super hi-fi clarity, but I don't like fuzzy, wooly, tone either. So far, there are a couple of amps that done it for me: GK 400RB (was a little clinical sounding, was v2), a mid-90s Eden WT800 (sometimes wish I still had it), and my current Aguilar TH500. My Ashdown ABM500 Evo II 21o combo was pretty spectacular too, but good gawd was it heavy. I love living in the age of class D and neo cabs.
I really do agree with this, at least for BG. The DB is more problematic, but since you are amplifying an instrument not meant to be amplified it will have it's own set of problems.
I've used lots of amps over the years, both ones I owned and ones that were supplied. The only issue I have ever had is with underpowered amps. I've never needed anything putting out more than 400 watts, usually 200 is more than enough.
I have yet to go into a situation that the Mesa Walkabout can't handle. Many claim that it only does warm, fat and round. They simply haven't gotten to know the EQ section.... which is powerful. I can make that head downright sparkly clear. And then I can fiddle with the knobs for about 30 seconds and it will get gritty and ballsy.
I do fill in gigs mostly. I have played everything from pit orchestra to country to rock to soul/funk/R&B to corporate variety band. It handles them all.
I do fill in gigs mostly. I have played everything from pit orchestra to country to rock to soul/funk/R&B to corporate variety band. It handles them all.
One amp to rule them all
One amp to find them
One amp to bring them all
And in the dankness bind them
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
One amp to find them
One amp to bring them all
And in the dankness bind them
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
Wow..no Hartke love in this thread. My HA3500(on my second one)has handled all situations...from metal to r&b and whatever else with all the volume and tone shaping possibilities I needed for the gig. It has never failed me at a gig or rehearsal so there's my vote right there for the universal.....or at least anything with an onboard 10 band EQ...
I have an Acoustic Image Clarus head that I have used for about 6 years now. I play upright and electric bass (jazz, bluegrass, hard rock, funk ...) And I play through a 1x15. I love the AI stuff because the tone is very pure. So if I want something a little more edgy that's when I use my pedals.
So for me my amp rules all my playing situations and my "versatility" comes from the type of bass I play and my pedals.
So for me my amp rules all my playing situations and my "versatility" comes from the type of bass I play and my pedals.
I've used an Orange Terror Bass 500 for 5+ years do to everything from country to rock to modern church services to metal to funk/r&b to singer/songwriter/americana to etc. etc.
The trick is that I've got the amp set frequency flat and I lowered the gain by changing a preamp tube. It's warm but not wooly, and it just pushes the sound of my Pbass, which as we know, fits in everywhere.
The trick is that I've got the amp set frequency flat and I lowered the gain by changing a preamp tube. It's warm but not wooly, and it just pushes the sound of my Pbass, which as we know, fits in everywhere.
I really like the old Eden stuff, partly because I have one. I have a WT500 that was hotrodded up to 800-watts bridged by David Nordschow. It lived on his testing bench where he designed and tested speaker cabs.
pros:
• It has plenty of extremely clean power (800 watts at less than 0.01% THD).
• very clean, clear, and warm sound
• extremely musical EQ with three (3) semi-parabolic EQ's along with the standard bass and trebles shelving EQ's. This allows me to boost or cut any frequency range I like by 15db. Makes it easy to dial in the room or a particular sound. If I want more thump in the chest that will cut through the mix, I boost the 250Hz a bit. If I want an edgier sound, I'll boost the 2.2KHz a bit. I can really make it sound however I want, BUT, would need to resort to a pedal for true distortion
• If I want to use a lot of cabs, I can run up to 4 8 ohm cabs on this amp. It is a dual-power block amp with each side handling a 4 ohm load.
• When I run it in dual-mono (cabs attached to separate channels) I further have a "Balance" knob that lets me blend the sound from the two channels. I used this for years to get rid of the boominess of the GK115blx I would plug into one channel by just turning this knob over 2 or 3 clicks toward the side with the 410 in it - very handy control.
Cons:
• Auto compressor is good for slap and that's about it. It sounds like a hard knee compression to me and with finger-style doesn't sound good. I almost never play slap, so I leave the compressor off.
• Can't go down to 2 ohms per side/4 ohms bridged like the discontinued WT800C can. I get around that by just bridging at 8 ohms into my DNS410 cab.
The new Eden WTP's do this one better by including a tube not only in the impedance section (where it added warmth to the sound) but also another tube in the gain section. Nice thing about the gain section tube is you can not only control how much distortion you get by overdriving it, you can control how much of the overdrive sound you can blend in with the clean signal. So sonicaly, it's even more versatile.
Disadvantage is that it cannot bridge at 4 ohms. It delivers 900 watts at 8ohms bridged whereas the discontinued WT800C models delivered 1100 watts at 4 ohms. If you plug in two 4 ohm cabs the WTP900 will automatically run them one in each side at 450 watts each. Not really a big problem, but you can run the Eden D810XST bridged on that new amp and that just doesn't make any sense at all.
Probably the one amp I would consider buying would be the DNA1350. That's David Nordschow Amplification and this is a class D amp with a new, patented, class D power section putting out 1350 watts into a 4 ohm load (single power-block amp). It also has a studio quality compressor on it, so no need for a separate one, and has regular and side chain effects loops. Doesn't have the semi-parabolic EQ's but does have treble, low mid, hi-mid, and treble along with a shape control knob too, so plenty of flexibility on the sound shaping. Again it produces a very clear clean sound and if you want distortion, you better run it on the side-chain and mix it in or just use a stomp box. I don't use distortion, so I'm not worried about that. I'm really pretty happy right where I am.
pros:
• It has plenty of extremely clean power (800 watts at less than 0.01% THD).
• very clean, clear, and warm sound
• extremely musical EQ with three (3) semi-parabolic EQ's along with the standard bass and trebles shelving EQ's. This allows me to boost or cut any frequency range I like by 15db. Makes it easy to dial in the room or a particular sound. If I want more thump in the chest that will cut through the mix, I boost the 250Hz a bit. If I want an edgier sound, I'll boost the 2.2KHz a bit. I can really make it sound however I want, BUT, would need to resort to a pedal for true distortion
• If I want to use a lot of cabs, I can run up to 4 8 ohm cabs on this amp. It is a dual-power block amp with each side handling a 4 ohm load.
• When I run it in dual-mono (cabs attached to separate channels) I further have a "Balance" knob that lets me blend the sound from the two channels. I used this for years to get rid of the boominess of the GK115blx I would plug into one channel by just turning this knob over 2 or 3 clicks toward the side with the 410 in it - very handy control.
Cons:
• Auto compressor is good for slap and that's about it. It sounds like a hard knee compression to me and with finger-style doesn't sound good. I almost never play slap, so I leave the compressor off.
• Can't go down to 2 ohms per side/4 ohms bridged like the discontinued WT800C can. I get around that by just bridging at 8 ohms into my DNS410 cab.
The new Eden WTP's do this one better by including a tube not only in the impedance section (where it added warmth to the sound) but also another tube in the gain section. Nice thing about the gain section tube is you can not only control how much distortion you get by overdriving it, you can control how much of the overdrive sound you can blend in with the clean signal. So sonicaly, it's even more versatile.
Disadvantage is that it cannot bridge at 4 ohms. It delivers 900 watts at 8ohms bridged whereas the discontinued WT800C models delivered 1100 watts at 4 ohms. If you plug in two 4 ohm cabs the WTP900 will automatically run them one in each side at 450 watts each. Not really a big problem, but you can run the Eden D810XST bridged on that new amp and that just doesn't make any sense at all.
Probably the one amp I would consider buying would be the DNA1350. That's David Nordschow Amplification and this is a class D amp with a new, patented, class D power section putting out 1350 watts into a 4 ohm load (single power-block amp). It also has a studio quality compressor on it, so no need for a separate one, and has regular and side chain effects loops. Doesn't have the semi-parabolic EQ's but does have treble, low mid, hi-mid, and treble along with a shape control knob too, so plenty of flexibility on the sound shaping. Again it produces a very clear clean sound and if you want distortion, you better run it on the side-chain and mix it in or just use a stomp box. I don't use distortion, so I'm not worried about that. I'm really pretty happy right where I am.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
i'm in agreement with the majority: no one amp can do everything perfectly.
as i am old --- ha! --- i have opted for the GK 210 combo: light weight and plenty of power for smaller ensembles and it has a balanced out for the PA guys. FWIW: if you generally run through a PA system, i think that you could get away with almost anything as the FOH guy is going to 'shape' your sound anyway.
as i am old --- ha! --- i have opted for the GK 210 combo: light weight and plenty of power for smaller ensembles and it has a balanced out for the PA guys. FWIW: if you generally run through a PA system, i think that you could get away with almost anything as the FOH guy is going to 'shape' your sound anyway.
For me, the Jule Monique is the "One pre-amp to rule them all". I have a Jule Amps M700 on order which I have no doubts about. This will be the rig that will be buried with me.
I guess I need to do my fanboy minority-report thing and say that I stopped checking out other bass amps once I stumbled on EBS. I get great tones on everything from jazz EUB to metal bass guitar.
When I could only afford one amp, my SVT worked for everything. Now that I can afford more than one, it turns out I NEED more than one.
I've used my SVT for everything from weddings to hard rock and just about everything in between.
