The Combo Club

[_Obra_]

Still no GK Legacy Combo In Europe...

 

[GwenOnBass]

I’ll start, being I’m in between snoozes. I’m more of an Ampeg man in general, though I have no experience with Hartke in this particular comparison.

I did a quick look at the numbers of the two and see their power is comparable. The biggest difference I found was the weight. Whoa! The Hartke is twice the poundage than the ‘Peg. Maybe it doesn’t matter to you, Jmartz, but it have me thinking twice if I planned on regularly gigging with my new combo.

Let’s see if someone can shed some light on the Hartke. Generally, it’s got a distinctively clean, open tone that cuts through the mix. I believe their build-quality is well-respected as well.

Ampeg has a baked-in traditional bass tone that gives you a fatter bottom end with mellowed highs. I fell in love with the 100-watt v1 combo many years ago, and while I hear this newer amp has more SVT lineage in it then its predecessor, it still sounds great. I owned the 210 v2 a couple of years ago and liked it very much.

Anyone with additional info are welcome to jump in and help out Jmartz with his query. I’m curious to know old the 1415o is, sensing that it’s not in the current 2020 lineup, or is it?

Let us know what you decide and when you do, post a pic of your purchase and I’ll give you a membership number. Good hunting!

Sounds about spot on.

What I can speak to directly is weight. And certainly I know people who don't mind - and may even enjoy - the physical mass of a rig. We play electric bass, so it goes with the turf. Here in the future we have rigs that do the same job at half the weight ... for me, I'm-a-gonna-go with the lighter rig every time.

Storytime, a drummer is setting up his digital kit in a lemonade stand. When he sees I'm the only person in the room who is actually listening to what he's doing, he says "Bass player?" Yeap, I reply and ask him about his kit. "Easier to haul," he says, and we sit in the wisdom of that.

 

[Count Bassie]

Just for my own edification, why stack the combo and 210 vertically and put the Trace head on the ground? I pretty much always put the head on top of my cabs. What am I missing?

The Trace head is around 22" wide, and the variety of dimensions between the parts make for an awkward stack of "stuff".
In this photo the Trace SM7 head still needs a plywood sleeve...

The vertical array seems to bear out. Also the Broughton hi-pass filter stompbox has become a fundamental part of amplification for me.
The 210 is loaded with a pair of Eminence BP-102s, built for low-end reproduction. The box they're in was an EAW one-off I found locally, it was too small to be a 410 for bass, so it got re-tuned for bass.
The signal is split at the pedalboard, after the hi-pass filter. One side to the pedals>GK, one side set for mostly lows straight to the Trace/210.
I should probably add a compressor for the lows side... the only compressor here is part of the SansAmp fly rig, and there's no leaving that chain without including everything else that might be working in that funky little box that goes to the GK. I want the lows to be uncolored. I'm not really worried, lows don't need to be loud really, and that little 210 has taken a beating and come back for more.
Those BP-102s are tough little boogers, I really like them even in a small standalone cab.

 

[GwenOnBass]

I spy with my little eye

a Fly Riig

like looking in on a mad bass player's laboratory

 

[iagtrplyr]

I spy with my little eye

a Fly Riig

like looking in on a mad bass player's laboratory

Agree with your eyes, M. It’s an interesting board setup.

Which plays a more crucial role; high or low-pass filtering in a bass rig and why?

You have 15 minutes...begin.

 

[Count Bassie]

Agree with your eyes, M. It’s an interesting board setup.

Which plays a more crucial role; high or low-pass filtering in a bass rig and why?

You have 15 minutes...begin.

Lol... ok I haven't used a low-pass, but for getting the errant BOOM out of a live mix and getting more presence from your bass amp, the HPF is really great.
I don't play with a lot of sizzle or clank, though I do like some growl and some finger-hit to keep the mix lively. But I don't think I need to filter out highs so much. I've been able to deal with the top end to satisfaction just with eq.
For upright that might be different, one of our cronies over at the Thunderbird Club is an adherent to HPF and LPF use. In fact a couple of us are into that.
Me, I'm out of bread! Lol, but I think I'm in a pretty good spot for sound at this point. The dual amp thing does need to make an outing soon.

(Edited typos)

 

[Count Bassie]

I spy with my little eye

a Fly Riig

like looking in on a mad bass player's laboratory

The Fly Rig is effective. I got it in a trade and have been auditioning it, does a nice job with the compressor, some overdrive features, and a simple chorus. Other stuff too, I'm starting to uncover the Octave thing...

 

[GwenOnBass]

Agree with your eyes, M. It’s an interesting board setup.

Which plays a more crucial role; high or low-pass filtering in a bass rig and why?

You have 15 minutes...begin.

I use both HPF and LPF. The HPF I use is a Broughton and it works great. The LPF in my signal chain is the cab sim on the VT Bass Deluxe. The sim is of a multiply-miked "American" 810 without "the peaks, valleys and notches" of single miking. The drop-off at 5khz is sharp, making it a non-adjustable LPF. The drop-off around 50hz is much more gradual. And the Phil Jones has a fixed HPF at around 25-30 hz, if I recall correctly.

All that sounds like a belt and suspenders solution for my rigs

 

[Count Bassie]

I use both HPF and LPF. The HPF I use is a Broughton and it works great. The LPF in my signal chain is the cab sim on the VT Bass Deluxe. The sim is of a multiply-miked "American" 810 without "the peaks, valleys and notches" of single miking. The drop-off at 5khz is sharp, making it a non-adjustable LPF. The drop-off around 50hz is much more gradual. And the Phil Jones has a fixed HPF at around 25-30 hz, if I recall correctly.

All that sounds like a belt and suspenders solution for my rigs

So you find that the LPF is a positive difference for you? Would you feel at a disadvantage if you found yourself without it?

 

[Count Bassie]

I get the Ampeg 810 freq thing.

 

[iagtrplyr]

I use both HPF and LPF. The HPF I use is a Broughton and it works great. The LPF in my signal chain is the cab sim on the VT Bass Deluxe. The sim is of a multiply-miked "American" 810 without "the peaks, valleys and notches" of single miking. The drop-off at 5khz is sharp, making it a non-adjustable LPF. The drop-off around 50hz is much more gradual. And the Phil Jones has a fixed HPF at around 25-30 hz, if I recall correctly.

All that sounds like a belt and suspenders solution for my rigs

Thanks to the two of you, Count and M, for the education. I know Stumbo has a running thread on filtering but I’ve berm to lazy to read from it. I can see it’s merit. The amp can run more efficiently when not playing frequencies not warranted. I could see the HPF being the biggest benefit in sound.

 

[Count Bassie]

Thanks to the two of you, Count and M, for the education. I know Stumbo has a running thread on filtering but I’ve berm to lazy to read from it. I can see it’s merit. The amp can run more efficiently when not playing frequencies not warranted. I could see the HPF being the biggest benefit in sound.

That thread you mention is a great resource, a nice cross-section of filtering users.

 

[GwenOnBass]

I just leave the cab sim on all the time.

My understanding of the HPF is the primary function is to prevent harmful speaker excursion. It brings other benefits, too, but no denying the plus of protecting your gear.

 

[Count Bassie]

Sounds about spot on.

What I can speak to directly is weight. And certainly I know people who don't mind - and may even enjoy - the physical mass of a rig. We play electric bass, so it goes with the turf. Here in the future we have rigs that do the same job at half the weight ... for me, I'm-a-gonna-go with the lighter rig every time.

Storytime, a drummer is setting up his digital kit in a lemonade stand. When he sees I'm the only person in the room who is actually listening to what he's doing, he says "Bass player?" Yeap, I reply and ask him about his kit. "Easier to haul," he says, and we sit in the wisdom of that.

There are some cool very portable drum kits now, I wonder why I don't see more of them. I don't think it's "old age", but simple experience and the "wisdom" (lol) that comes along behind that has me really appreciating a small kit. The less a drummer needs to make a mess of noise with, the more I esteem them.

 

[Count Bassie]

I just leave the cab sim on all the time.

My understanding of the HPF is the primary function is to prevent harmful speaker excursion. It brings other benefits, too, but no denying the plus of protecting your gear.

Yep. My primary reason for compression too.

 

[Count Bassie]

Question: Ampeg BA 115 v2 or Hartke 1415 combo. Can't compare them side by side. Preferences?

Thanks!

I sat in one night with a country band, and the bass player had a diminutive 1x10 Hartke Kickback combo. It was at the wall, facing up and out toward the audience, in its own space, not very close to the drummer. The sound was present, strong, had a very nice place in the mix. Didn't fight at all for sonic space, just owned it. The clean quality and apparent lack of emphasis anywhere in the bandwidth (seems that way anyway, but everything's got a little of its own "goodness" baked in by company elves) puts it right in the mix without a struggle.
I like my GK, thus far, but at this pint (that must be the Irish in me near a thin interior wall) if I were shopping for a gig-steady combo, I'd go look at a Hartke Kickback.
I think it's a generally better amp than Ampeg. Sometimes I think these manufacturers are working too hard. Hartke puts out the right stuff for the itinerate working bassist.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Folks have noticed Phil Lesh uses Hartke now.

 

[Count Bassie]

Folks have noticed Phil Lesh uses Hartke now.

I'm no Dead fan at all, but I've always dug Lesh's tone. I guess it's his use of mids, and the fact that be never gets murky that has left an impression... sometimes I want that low end blur, but only ever for effect. You can always hear Phil's phrasing and note choice, which with him is pretty cool.

 

[G-Dog]

<snap>, <snap>, <snap>, <snap>
When you're a Jet... ...

... ...
You're a Jet all the way
From your first cigarette
To your last dyin' day.
... ...

​

Just caught this authentic depiction of thug life in the '50s as I was browsing thru da toob ...

.​

 

[Count Bassie]

Nah. You need one o' these.
View attachment 3688285

Lol... I bet that sounds great. A dude who was a regular player/scene maker in the 80s played one of those. I think it eventually went up in flames at a gig...