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Recommend me a head/cabinet

G

grifff

Jan 5, 2009
1,211
58
#1
I'm looking for a new/used head and cabinet. I play mainly rock and I love the tone of bassists such as Dirk Lance. My budget is around 1700USD. I would love to keep weight down but it really isn't too much of an issue. My current amp is an Acoustic B200 combo and besides the extreme bulkyness of the amp, I'm really not pleased with the tone. It always seems like it's not fat enough. I'm playing with a loud drummer and two guitarists with 100 watt tube combos.

I'd really just like recommendations of a possible setup to get me thinking. My band usually plays in front of ~400 people, usually with PA support. I'd like this rig to be able to support me without PA support, but that's not entirely necessary. I'd love to have this rig last me a while so I'm thinking about a 4x10 and possibly a lightweight head (LMIII or Shuttle?)

Thanks.
 
#2
With 1700 in your pocket, you should have no trouble finding a nice rig. Why not head out to a shop and start test driving them? I never have understood why people ask "what amp should I buy?", when it's a personal decision. Just go out and play some amps, and buy the one you like the sound of best.
 
#3
RickenBoogie said:
With 1700 in your pocket, you should have no trouble finding a nice rig. Why not head out to a shop and start test driving them? I never have understood why people ask "what amp should I buy?", when it's a personal decision. Just go out and play some amps, and buy the one you like the sound of best.
Click to expand...

I was just asking to get a general idea. Of course I'll go to a store and play some but I wanted more of a "head x is better than head y because x has something that y doesn't."
 
#4
That's the thing, though. Only you can decide what brand x has that you want, or like, vs brand y or even z. If you go to a reputable guitar shop, and focus on nothing but bass amps and cabs, you'll find there's alot of choices. Which one exactly does, or sounds, how you want, is totally up to you. If you're completely unfamiliar with anything to do with bass amps, it would be a great idea to read through these forums, and see what others are playing. First thing you'll notice, is just about everyone has different tastes, and uses different gear. You should get familiar first, then go have fun playing through everything. When these threads come up, and they do, everyday, everyone jumps on recomending exactly what they play. so, you wind up with 20 anwers, and probably 15 choices. How does that help YOU? It doesn't, 'cause you still have to wade through all those amps to see how you feel about them. Just go have fun, I wish I had 1700 to shop with today. (I'd buy a Mesa head, M6 Carbine, and a Mesa Powerhouse 2x12, probably 2 of 'em)
 
#9
grifff said:
I'll go play through some stuff tomorrow and then come back to this thread asking about the pros and cons of the stuff I played through/liked.
Click to expand...
That's a better way to do it, but just remember that things we see as cons you may see as pros. It's sort of like a dog licking himself...he may like the taste of his own yucky stuff as he licks it off, but I'll be damned if I want to try it ;)

OK, I could have thought of a better analogy, but I've had no sleep and I'm stressed out from stuff happening at home this morning. Sorry...
 
#10
Hey Griff,

Living in Towson, have you made it down to College Park to Atomic Music? Tons of used stuff that you can just waste hours trying out. Also, a little further down in NoVA is Jive Sound with some REALLY nice stuff that you can also test out.

I also think it's kinda pointless to just say "try this" because personal prefferences are just that... personal.
 
#12
In this economic climate, you should be able to get some good deals ...new or used with that kind of cash, spend some time trying different stuff and don't be in a hurry, bring your bass ...but IMHO, to put guiturds in their place, you'll need 300 watts of tube power, or 600-1200 watts of SS power, through your choice of 8x10's,or 2x15's or 4x12's, just trust your ears and take your time
 

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