Poll: Help me decide on a new amp

[City]

I voted GK. My main rig is a(n) MB800. I love my sound. Play rock and got it for the heavier bands I play in. I rack mounted it with power conditioner and tuner. Totally functional and easily dialed in, as was said above.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

Use the DI out from your Darkglass AOU to send to the board.
Run the AOU out to a HPF (Broughton makes a great one) to the Peavy MiniMega.
Twiddle away at the knobs. Have a good time.


As an aside, have you tried to use the Hotone Gate as only a H/LPF?
Keep the sensativity at 0 (or whatever setting is needed to keep the gate from closing), set the HPF at noon, and I'd turn the LPF all the way down, but that's just me.
And use it at a gig.
Report back on how it did.

 

[lexefx]

I like the GK of your selections. I have recently powered down. I played an ampeg svt pro iv for years with a fridge. Now I have a stereo 250 w amp a pair of 15s. When I need to battle for volume I throw the 2x12 on top and run the amp in 4 ohm stereo. With an Fdeck. I am clearer than the fridge ever was with a fraction on the rated power.

 

[JonnnyC]

I used to be an Ampeg fan, lot of it to do with the name really!
Played a GK and immediately swapped over. Don't think you'll be disappointed with the GKs!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Carrots added!
I did consider getting a bigger poweramp, but for the price and weight I might as well buy one of these four. I agree on not wasting money on features I won't use, but I do still want an eq, something a poweramp won't have. I also do want an HPF, but again, availability in Denmark is extremely limited.

What’s the budget? For about a grand you can have a Mesa Subway WD- 800 with which you could unload a lot of your stuff to cover the additional cost. It has more building features than you can shake a stick at.

 

[npbassman]

It's a pretty modern sounding amp. It can still do the nice warm tone if need, but its bread and butter is the clear brightness. And I should warn you, it can get LOUD. It can be overkill for a lot of smaller venues especially if all you need is stage volume.

Here's a good review on it. One I watched before buying.

Yea, the MB's are loud. I have the MB500 and it makes my ears bleed with the master at 3pm and gain at 9am so I have to think that the MB800 would make my head explode. I read somewhere on here that for these heads you should dime the master and use the gain knob for volume. Something about 'loading up the power section'. I also concur that it's a pretty modern sounding head but I put a VT bass pre in front of it and it's an instant 4lb SVT.

 

[Fumble Fingers]

You can find used 1001RB's all day long for $400. They will out perform everything on your list (headroom-wise), and only weigh 22 pounds.

 

[CoffeeLove]

Based on the given choices, definitely the MB800. It has grind and cuts well. I no longer have one, too much grind for the R&B and rock music I now play, have moved to the MB Fusion 800 for that.

 

[Blaze Barlow]

Understood. Have you considered Hartke LH1000? Clean-sounding, basic EQ, very powerful (750W to 8ohm, 1.100W to 4ohm). Cheap.

I had a friend who has a hartke lh 1000 amp..and if you played it at high volume and had it set on top of your bass cab..it would vibrate the metal top on the bass amp with this extreme metallic sound..especially noticable when play "A" notes..didnt like it at all..

 

[Hypocrite]

Since you like your current sound, I suggest Crown XLS 1502: cheap, light, loud and with HPF.

No eq, read the OP

 

[Hypocrite]

Why don’t you get a Mesa Boogie D800+?

It has high pass filter, lots of watts, just enough knobs to help you get your sound, a nice drive if you crank up the gain and - most important for me - you get to ditch lots of pounds, trading everything for an amp head that fits in a gig bag!

Would love a D800+! Recording and gigging time restraints puts it a bit out of my price range though

 

[Hypocrite]

First off, be aware that the wattage ratings you are quoting are typically at 4 ohms, not at 8 ohms. running one 8 ohm cab through them will give you a little more than half the power that they will deliver at 4 ohms.

Second, be aware that boosting your bass EQ way up will suck out most of the power from your amp without making a lot of difference in your sound, depending upon what frequency the Bass EQ defines. That quickly leads to clipping in your amp. It takes a LOT of power to produce the lowest frequencies and typically about all they do is muddy up your sound with rumble. Try boosting your low-mids around 250Hz for more definition in the mix and better thump in the chest.

Now to your main question about what amp to get, I'd suggest you take a look at the DNA1350 by DNA. It delivers 1350-watts rms into 4 ohms and at least 675-watts into an 8 ohm load. Hook up either one 4 ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs to get the full 1350-watts.

This amp has all the bells and whistles including a 4 control compressor with threshold, ratio, attack, decay, as well as hard-knee/soft-knee button, effects loop AND side chain effects loop. It weighs all of 7-lbs. and will run down to 2 ohms if needed, although according to the designer it sounds best in either 4 ohm or 8 ohm configuration.

Here's a link to some info on it:
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It's not cheap. Street price is ~$1269 to $1400. Once in a while you may find a used one, but they are still ~$1,000.

Yeah, I know how amps work, thanks.
I'm in Denmark so "boutique" amps are out of reach for me. My options are pretty much just the four in the OP.

 

[Hypocrite]

Thanks for the help guys. I've decided to go with the MB800, a decision helped along in part by Thomann lowering the price about 1200kr, don't know what that is in American. About 100£.

 

[Zbysek]

Thanks for the help guys. I've decided to go with the MB800, a decision helped along in part by Thomann lowering the price about 1200kr, don't know what that is in American. About 100£.

Happy NAD!