The best bass head for $800 or under

[afrodillyb]

I have an Ampeg SVT810AV Anniversary Bass Cabinet but I need to find the perfect head for it. Since I am a dirt poor college student, I do not have enough money to buy an expensive head and I am not sure what kind of head will give me a great vintage tube like sound for that price. If there is any tube amps for that price, I would like to know about the as well

 

[RickenBoogie]

Traynor and Peavey are the only "budget" tube amps I know of. Otherwise, there's way too much out there for a blanket recomendation.

 

[blendermassacre]

orange bass terror. also, I'll sell you the tube amp in my sig for $800, shipped.

 

[hdracer]

VB-2, cannt beat it for the price

 

[mrjim123]

I have an Ampeg SVT810AV Anniversary Bass Cabinet but I need to find the perfect head for it. Since I am a dirt poor college student, I do not have enough money to buy an expensive head and I am not sure what kind of head will give me a great vintage tube like sound for that price. If there is any tube amps for that price, I would like to know about the as well

LOL. If you've got $800 to spend you're not a "dirt poor college student" (been there, done that).

 

[blendermassacre]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120564941406&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

You're welcome. I'm too poor for this right now.

 

[afrodillyb]

Well the head I want is 1700 :/ but I will never make that money with the job I have now.
Thanks for all the help! I will look into every single head that was posted.

 

[Bassman7PM]

Carvin B1500. Power to spare and awesome tone.

 

[hdracer]

I just got a new in box 5 year warrenty VB-2 for $499.00 I watched that Orange on eBay for a while & was saving for it when I found the Peavey

 

[blendermassacre]

I just got a new in box 5 year warrenty VB-2 for $499.00 I watched that Orange on eBay for a while & was saving for it when I found the Peavey

wow. Killer deal. Care to PM the info? No wonder my alpha bass isn't selling.

 

[IvanMike]

forget tube or not tube find out what you like by listening. I hear the carvin 1500 is quite good and loud. also dont be afraid to look into used. lots of buying and selling here all the time as we are a fickle bunch.

 

[newbold]

+1 on the Peavey VB-2

Mesa Walkabout?
Ibanez Promethean?
TC Classic 450?
used Eden?

 

[B-string]

forget tube or not tube find out what you like by listening. I hear the carvin 1500 is quite good and loud. also dont be afraid to look into used. lots of buying and selling here all the time as we are a fickle bunch.

+1 to listening to amp heads. Spent too many years as a tube snob. Try out a G-K 700RB II.

 

[KsPiNeSh]

I'd suggest Genz Benz or Mesa as well... great tones, and used ones are definitely in the ballpark of your price range. Also, the 700RB-II is a sweet amp and you can usually pick one up in the classifieds for around $400. Arguably one of the best values out there.

 

[Luke19Boarder]

Carvin B1500. Power to spare and awesome tone.

That's what I use, and I have absolutely no complaints, as a poor college student

 

[nostatic]

Markbass LMTube. Currently having a tough time finding any faults with this amp.

TC Classic 450 is another candidate, though more on the "vintage" tip for tone.

 

[waleross]

I agree, $800 is not all that bad. I have tubes. I suggest you save your dough and wait until you get up to $1800. I like the Fenders such as the TB1200 and the full tube bassman 300

 

[Jaguar]

Peavey VB-2

 

[ourworldisgrey]

I use a Carvin BX1200 through an 8x10 and it sounds awesome. I use an analogman modded Ibanez TS9DX for some grit when I need it.

 

[jelwood]

The used market is definitely the best place and probably the only place you can go for a really good tube head in that price range.

However, as others have stated before me, you shouldn't force yourself to be restricted to only tube amps. GK is definitely a solid state manufacturer to look in to. Any of their artist series you should definitely give a try: 800rb, 700rb-II, or if you want more headroom, which I assume might be a factor since you have that fridge at your beckon, the 1001rb-II. Guitar centers always have these guys on the floor for you to play. If you do a bit of research on them you'll see that they are highly praised around here. Also, there are discontinued GK models you might want to give a try, such as this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Gallien-Krueger...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a06db94a7. Although this amp was discontinued because of heating issues (and also GK revamped their bi-amp system, so the 2001 came out as a result), you can send the amp in to their factory and they'll install a second fan for free which will set you good to go (but only if this one doesn't have it done already, you'd have to ask the seller). A lot of people, heating issues aside, have had high praise for this amp and a lot say that it's the best sounding GK, next to the 800rb. I recently bought one of these myself and have been very pleased. You could probably talk the guy down a hundred bucks or so. That's just my two cents