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Smallest amp you’ve been impressed by?
- Thread starter Inconnu
- Start date
Hunh. The GK comment, earlier, made me think "no" on the Bass Block, but your post here makes me think, "Maybe..." Might depend on how crisp you want that high end. If you could find one to try, that would be best. Cab pairing will matter, too.Thanks for the in-depth discussion @MarkA . Much appreciated. As far as what I play, we are an 80's band and most of my nights are quarter notes!I can type nearly 100 words a minute as I'm in IT Tech Support but have never felt a need to do staccato notes, at least not for the stuff I play. I don't slap and my tone is low and midrange punchy growl with a touch of crisp high end. Not much of a modern sound although all my basses are modern Ibanez flavor.
I get to Seattle and Portland on training or family trips, and I'll try and find a BB800. Two oddities about me, though.
1. I wish I had never sold my Hathor 1203's. I didn't give them a fair chance.
2. If Duke makes a 110 I will be very interested in it. He had hinted at it last winter.
3. I'm tempted to blindly buy one of the MAS 1,8's sheerly by the specs and enthusiastic reports from other TB'ers. It would be great if I could find a video somewhere online about the cabinet.
OOPS that was 3 items!
I've spent more time with the Hathor (since I own one) than the 18, but I think either would cover what you're talking about pretty well -- though I wouldn't expect either to sound just like your old Peavey rig.
In general, I'd say that the 18 is deeper -- the B-string response with two stacked was pretty shocking -- and more hi-fi (though I think at least one of the cabs I heard had the optional tweeter). The low end on the 18 is more open. Palm-muting stuff feels bigger and chunkier and recorded music is rendered more evenly and clearly with the 18. That said, the Hathor sounded better with recorded music than I expected it to -- much better than my Markbass combo or my old Dr. Bass 2x12 or Epifani PS-112 did -- especially given that the Thunderchild is the cab in Duke's lineup that's more geared toward that -- and it does palm-muting stuff pretty well, too. I'd think the Hathor would grind a little more easily. Plugging the port(s) on the Hathor (as you know) yields some interesting options. Both are versatile, good-sounding cabs. I wouldn't use two Hathors for PA duty (though I suppose that you could, in a pinch) but you could use two of the 18s for a small PA -- not that you're looking to use either cab for that purpose, but just to illustrate their personality/voicing.
I've posted some clips, in various threads, of the Hathor and my MAS 112 (not 18). They won't be useful for ABing (different times, different amps -- and the Hathor clips were just made with my phone) but I generally go for a sound that I'd describe as clean, with some texture/detail in the mids -- if you're listening for that, you might find them helpful, in a (possibly very) roundabout way.
Good luck!
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I have an old Eden Nemesis 110 combo that has a great tone. She rattled and hisses a bit nowadays, but I still am hard pressed to find a practice amp with as much tone, two channels, practice input, heAdphone out and independent volume.
Thanks @MarkA . The more you describe the tones of the speakers the more I realize I'm probably inclined to meat and potatoes and you're more used to high end cuisine. I consider MAS and AK boo-teek. In our little town we do openings for other bands and I've found most commercial setups (Fender, Ampeg, Eden, etc.) suit me fine. I am drawn to the deep low end you describe for the MAS 1,8. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't give the Hathors enough time and wish I had held on to them a while longer, I think the issue was the tone was so unique I had to get used to it, and I didn't experiment with all the switching and porting on the cabs that make it so versatile.
I have a D4 as well, sounds great in a small room (12x15’ bedroom) but gets lost in a larger space even just a decent size living room. A/B’d against an Ampeg 10” combo the D4 doesn’t come close to matching the depth and volume of the Ampeg.
I don't have one but but a good number of 1st call players around here are using the Fender Rumble V3 amps
We rehearse in a large room at a vets center, about 25x40 and my D4 has no problem, in fact, the volume on my bass is usually 3-4 and I’ve been asked to turn it down when it’s above.
I am also a huge Mesa Walkabout fan, so there's that.
I have also had the pleasure of running the 10lb Demeter VTBP-M-800DJ into a 28lb Bergantino CN112
both are great small amps that can pretty much handle anything you throw at them.
I have also had the pleasure of running the 10lb Demeter VTBP-M-800DJ into a 28lb Bergantino CN112
both are great small amps that can pretty much handle anything you throw at them.
The smallest rig I've gigged with was my Markbass LM2 and a Berg AE112 (6lbs and 30lbs respectively). That was a really high quality bass sound for the duo I was playing in at the time.
The lightest rig, just, was my TH500 into 2 Barefaced One10 cabs (4lbs and 2 x 15lbs respectively). Another quality bass sound, this time in a full band.
The lightest rig, just, was my TH500 into 2 Barefaced One10 cabs (4lbs and 2 x 15lbs respectively). Another quality bass sound, this time in a full band.
For me the smallest has to be the phil jones bass buddy its a perfect practice rig imho. Super clear and prominant bass versatile routing on board batteries what more could you want other then more wattage?
My GK mb 200. I swear as far as low end power it will out perform my d800+ or any other class D I've tried.
My G-K MB200 head.
Paired with my Barefaced One10 cabinet, they're a combined 18" tall and 18 pounds, put out a surprisingly high level of volume, and the sound quality is quite good. They aren't capable of doing the job with a loud rock band, but the overall performance of this micro rig is really impressive. The only negative I can say about the MB200 is that it has no master volume control, just an input gain control. But, for a 1 1/2 pound head with up to 200W of power and G-K's 4-band EQ, I can forgive that.
Paired with my Barefaced One10 cabinet, they're a combined 18" tall and 18 pounds, put out a surprisingly high level of volume, and the sound quality is quite good. They aren't capable of doing the job with a loud rock band, but the overall performance of this micro rig is really impressive. The only negative I can say about the MB200 is that it has no master volume control, just an input gain control. But, for a 1 1/2 pound head with up to 200W of power and G-K's 4-band EQ, I can forgive that.
I'm amazed by the output of my little MB200. I have it's older brother, the MB500. Wish I had held out for a Fusion but I'm still wary of tubes. Living on an island in Alaska I can't afford to have a tube to go out given that it takes 2 weeks to get anything into this little berg.
Agreed, except, I'm kicking myself, I had a chance to buy a One10 on TB a couple weeks ago, I blinked and it was grabbed up. On the flip side of that, Euphonic Audio makes the 110 Wizzy which is supposed to be pretty incredible for the size, but it's over $500. Little rich for my blood for a 110 for home and bedroom practice. But tempting to me. No waiting, similar performance to the BF One10.
My experience with a wizzy10 is that it didn't handle the power and farted out early on, I'm sure the one10 will eat it for breakfast, my crazy8 certainly would.
Ampeg BA115HP is my smallest amp. It is a very good sounding combo.. I have used it live for many different sized venues and even outside with FOH on occasion.
It has plenty of power (220 w) as well as a good DI and tuner built in. I would say that the only capability that I wished it had was for an extension cab.
Every Mesa WB "15 combo I've heard sounds fantastic.
It has plenty of power (220 w) as well as a good DI and tuner built in. I would say that the only capability that I wished it had was for an extension cab.
Every Mesa WB "15 combo I've heard sounds fantastic.
A friend of mine plays through that exact pairing in a Caribbean band and he sounds amazing.
