Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out
- Thread starter Korladis
- Start date
I have a old Earth Industries Tube amp from the 70's. I play it through a 2 15 Sunn cab. Problem is, I'm fixing the Earth head every few months for one reason or another and it's always expensive. I'm looking to get a GK 700RB-II because I've read it is reliable. There's one for sale locally at a good price. Would this be an appropriate amp for the style of music I play. Gigging in small bars mostly and I have the usual distortion pedals and stuff. I play with a guitarist and drummer. Everyone is pretty loud. Thanks for your help!
I used a 800rb for a long while. GK makes legit stuff. It'll be more than fine and more than loud!
What’s been failing in it? I have a four channel PA head(tubes, padding)and it’s been holding up although I don’t use it that much. It’s essentially a budget made Fender Showman. Had a couple of Plush heads as well(the predecessor), they worked out OK.
I think minor thing like broken solders, and replacing capacitors and tubes, and at one point the power transformer. The last time I had it worked on it seems like it was just about completely rebuilt...it seemed to work for a long time after that but a couple nights ago it started crackling and something is obviously wrong again. I've had it for 20 years, but the last ten years it seems like I've sunk a lot of money into it and each time I say this is the last time. So, I feel like this should be the last time. I love the way it sounds. Last amp guy said it's basically 99 percent Bassman copy. edit- I use it every week at practice and play shows at least once a month. This thing is just to delicate or something.
The 700RB-II is reliable, but it is also a fantastic amp. Should be able to get pretty much any tone you'd ever want, especially with pedals. I've got one, and it has kept me GAS-free for amps for over a decade now. And it's plenty loud - if anything, it may be too much for a small bar. Which is why I bought a 400RB-IV to get that RB tone at lower volume... But really, both are amazing amps that you can't go wrong with. Full disclosure - I am a GK fan through and through. But the RB series are some of the most highly regarded bass amps in general, and for good reason.
I don’t see why not. A lot of rock groups have used those before and still do.
Well, hello! Lol. If you can pick up that amp for a good price, I don't think you will be disappointed. Will you be using the Sunn cab? If yes, that, amp/cab combo should bring the thunder.
So, I decided to drop this here, since, well, most people won't care, lol.
Anyway, my occasional jam band got together Friday evening. Usually it's just me tossing clam after clam, but, I got this app for my iPad that gives me the chord changes for the songs we play, and this will be the second jam I've used it.
So, using the app really helped me to eliminate some screw-ups, which is good. But the main point I wanted to post were the moments (not a ton, but, more than in the past) where we all just dropped in the pocket and rocked. It was like "Hey, we could be a band!" kind of moment. Just the feeling of being right there with the drummer and guitar player was a joy.
Anyway, my occasional jam band got together Friday evening. Usually it's just me tossing clam after clam, but, I got this app for my iPad that gives me the chord changes for the songs we play, and this will be the second jam I've used it.
So, using the app really helped me to eliminate some screw-ups, which is good. But the main point I wanted to post were the moments (not a ton, but, more than in the past) where we all just dropped in the pocket and rocked. It was like "Hey, we could be a band!" kind of moment. Just the feeling of being right there with the drummer and guitar player was a joy.
This is 100% what I miss most about jamming with others. Glad you got to enjoy it!
That's definitely what doom, as a style, evolved around. Real people playing together at the same time and sorta working out the arrangements organically.
What I'm working on now, there's no drummer and I'm doing that all in MIDI. Don't want a drum kit there because this band never had one before and just used whatever, so now each of the 11 songs gets a different drum (except that one I posted about a month ago, which has a large tea mug, and one which has a dumpster). One song got the canvas-headed drum my greatgrandfather made in the late 40s, another got one of those giant college marching band gimmick drums, the rest are mostly medieval and folk drums. And no more than one drum per song though one also gets over 300 pounds of metal rattling around as an extra percussion layer, and one has some bells that the singer really insisted on.
It's very self-indulgent of me, but with a guitarist who lives on another continent and singer who doesn't want to perform live, might as well, right? Meanwhile y'all with real bands that play real gigs are stuck with the same drum kit on every song of the gig, haha.
What I'm working on now, there's no drummer and I'm doing that all in MIDI. Don't want a drum kit there because this band never had one before and just used whatever, so now each of the 11 songs gets a different drum (except that one I posted about a month ago, which has a large tea mug, and one which has a dumpster). One song got the canvas-headed drum my greatgrandfather made in the late 40s, another got one of those giant college marching band gimmick drums, the rest are mostly medieval and folk drums. And no more than one drum per song though one also gets over 300 pounds of metal rattling around as an extra percussion layer, and one has some bells that the singer really insisted on.
It's very self-indulgent of me, but with a guitarist who lives on another continent and singer who doesn't want to perform live, might as well, right? Meanwhile y'all with real bands that play real gigs are stuck with the same drum kit on every song of the gig, haha.
If I could only convince them to get together more often. I asked the drummer, our friend who lives about 2 hours away, if, since he's now retired if he'd be up to making it a bi-weekly jam, and he pretty much shot that down. Lol. Can't blame him. I'm going to pester him for maybe a monthly trip, if I can.
I haven't seen a NAD over in the Amps forum. Did you do the deed?
I'll add this to the ever-growing list of reasons I am, in fact, a loser. I'm okay with that!
I certainly do! I’ve had it fixed a couple times but haven’t had it worked in over a year, gigging fairly steadily. Sounds like maybe you need it fully run through. I had nearly every cap and resistor replaced when I first got it. It’s off the cab in this pic just because I’ve been working on a new box for it.
I got nothing new, sad to report. Just watching all go down the pooper.
I lied. There's a local dude selling a GK MB115combo locally for $350. (200 watts, 1x15", 38 pounds. Pondered it for a moment.
I lied. There's a local dude selling a GK MB115combo locally for $350. (200 watts, 1x15", 38 pounds. Pondered it for a moment.
It's more a copy of a dual showman. You can almost overlay the schematics.
I’ve mentioned this crew before; they get tagged as ‘punk’, which they certainly have been(I saw them almost two years ago opening for Amyl and the Sniffers), but they’ve taken a dark, gloomy, crunchy turn, and I’m loving that grindy bass…
