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The ideal Bass amp.
- Thread starter cnltb
- Start date
All of the VT deluxe pedal features. Real tubes a possible plus.
Remote footswitch with pre and post loops for pedals, and a loop in the chassis for rack gear.
A programmable pre loop so a dirt pedal can be switched on with a program change in one stomp. Switchable pre or post the line out.
A switchable speaker sim.
Class D stereo power section with a DSP, and as much power that can be fit into a 2 space chassis.
Should be under 20 lbs. and rackable.
Remote footswitch with pre and post loops for pedals, and a loop in the chassis for rack gear.
A programmable pre loop so a dirt pedal can be switched on with a program change in one stomp. Switchable pre or post the line out.
A switchable speaker sim.
Class D stereo power section with a DSP, and as much power that can be fit into a 2 space chassis.
Should be under 20 lbs. and rackable.
I've been lucky enough to own one of each of those. The V-4B was the best sounding of the lot, IMO. I also had one of the 'skunkworks' SVT-100's, which sounded amazing. The other awesome amps I've owned were a Musicman 100B, Mesa 400 and Mesa 400+. Any of those 5 would be my perfect amp.
A simple question I hope.
And...NO I am not a manufacturer.
And.YES, I did forget the "L" in ideal and do not know how to correct that
Sorry!
here goes...
What would constitute your ideal and perfect bass amp.
Would it be tube or solid state or hybrid.
How much gain would you like in db?
EQ? if yes, what kind and how big and what frequency bands.
DI out? If yes, pre or post eq or both, transformer isolated? If yes, what kind?
Effect loop?
What ins and outs would it have?
What wattage, ohmage, weight, size would your ideal bass amp have?
What would it look like?
Be as detailed as you wish to and can be.
It would be all tube.
I would like it to be very loud.
Sure. Mids, bass, treble. Oh, and none of that fender tone stack silliness with the cut-only mids. Maybe a mid shift thingy, too.
I'd like a DI, but only one that took the signal after everything. None of this pre-EQ DI nonsense.
Yes, effects loop would be good to have.
As for ins and outs.... just the regular input, the effects send/return, and a pre/power out/in for slaving.
Anywhere from 200 to 400 watts. I don't really care what it would weigh, but I'm interested in Peavey's smps VB-3 setup. Could make a tube amp much lighter and much higher wattage that way.
As for ohms, ideally it would switch between 2, 4, 8, and 16. It would be narrow enough not to overhang on my cabs, so about the same width as an Ampeg svt-15E.
It would be mounted in a regular headbox, it would not be a rackmount unit. I think in terms of aesthetics, it would be like a steampunk version of the Verellen Meatsmoke, but with a front grill you can see the tubes through. Because that's always awesome.
I wouldn't want the vacuum tubes to warm up the beer. I'll keep making an extra trip to bring in the keg separately.
Way too many bells and whistles for me, for the last decade or so I've been much more of a purist. I like my amps all tube, brawny and simple; pure with minimal circuit disruption, less chance for me to EQ myself into sounding like over processed ass.
I listen to stuff I recorded in the 80's and 90's and cringe, all scooped and processed sounding; like the tone on the Seinfeld soundtracks. Sterile, over EQ'ed garbage. Of course, at the time I thought it was the shizzle.
If an amp sounded good, a simple volume pot alone would be enough for me.
Why two fans? I much prefer no fans if you can get away with it.
I think NASA would have to design mine, because it breaks many laws of physics.
I want;
Blendable tube & ss preamps,
1000 watts at 8-ohms,
Optical compressor,
10-band graphic & 5-band parametric EQ,
A footprint the size of a Porta-Flex,
Enough volume to cause unintentional bowel movements,
Lastly, I want it to weigh less than 50 lbs. and cost under $2k!
I want;
Blendable tube & ss preamps,
1000 watts at 8-ohms,
Optical compressor,
10-band graphic & 5-band parametric EQ,
A footprint the size of a Porta-Flex,
Enough volume to cause unintentional bowel movements,
Lastly, I want it to weigh less than 50 lbs. and cost under $2k!
What would constitute your ideal and perfect bass amp.
Would it be tube or solid state or hybrid. Hybrid.
How much gain would you like ?(in case you want to use the pre amp to run another power amp or recording gear) Plenty.
EQ? if yes, what kind and how big and what frequency bands. Yes. Bass (60 hz), semi-parametric mid, treble (2-3Khz).
DI out? If yes, pre or post eq or both, transformer isolated? If yes, what kind? Yes. Pre/post switch, transformer.
Effect loop? I don't care. I never use them. Yes for others, though.
Various input impedance settings for use with piezo as well as magnetic pickups? Nah.
What ins and outs would it have? Bass in, preamp out, tuner out, two Speakon jacks for speakers.
What wattage, [del]ohmage[/del] impedance rating, weight, size would your ideal bass amp have? Two ohm capable, 1,000 watts at 4 ohms, six pounds maximum, as small as practical.
What would it look like? It would look bitchen.
Be as detailed as you wish to and can be.
My Shuttle 9.0 comes as close to this as any I own. Of course, my DB750, AG500, and Glockenklang Heart-Rock sound as good as anything I'd ever want, but their wieght keeps them off the ideal list.
Would it be tube or solid state or hybrid. Hybrid.
How much gain would you like ?(in case you want to use the pre amp to run another power amp or recording gear) Plenty.
EQ? if yes, what kind and how big and what frequency bands. Yes. Bass (60 hz), semi-parametric mid, treble (2-3Khz).
DI out? If yes, pre or post eq or both, transformer isolated? If yes, what kind? Yes. Pre/post switch, transformer.
Effect loop? I don't care. I never use them. Yes for others, though.
Various input impedance settings for use with piezo as well as magnetic pickups? Nah.
What ins and outs would it have? Bass in, preamp out, tuner out, two Speakon jacks for speakers.
What wattage, [del]ohmage[/del] impedance rating, weight, size would your ideal bass amp have? Two ohm capable, 1,000 watts at 4 ohms, six pounds maximum, as small as practical.
What would it look like? It would look bitchen.
Be as detailed as you wish to and can be.
My Shuttle 9.0 comes as close to this as any I own. Of course, my DB750, AG500, and Glockenklang Heart-Rock sound as good as anything I'd ever want, but their wieght keeps them off the ideal list.
piedpiper
Commercial User
- Aug 8, 2010
- 21
- 4
- Disclosures
- owner, Pied Piper Productions
and now for something completely different...
I'm not interested in versatility. I want the purest signal transfer I can get, so no extra bells and whistles, read: no tone controls at all. Pure low wattage tube power. To be used with a modified Hofner with only the neck pick up wired directly to the jack, and driving a EA Wizzy 12M... for low volume gigs and recording.
I'm not interested in versatility. I want the purest signal transfer I can get, so no extra bells and whistles, read: no tone controls at all. Pure low wattage tube power. To be used with a modified Hofner with only the neck pick up wired directly to the jack, and driving a EA Wizzy 12M... for low volume gigs and recording.
You know what I think would be cool?
Something like an amplitube / irig setup on a laptop.
Complete with all the software you can imagine.... Modeling, drum tracks, backing tracks, etc... (think garage band)
Then plug that into maybe a powered 15" cab with a DI.
even better yet - completely wireless.
Something like an amplitube / irig setup on a laptop.
Complete with all the software you can imagine.... Modeling, drum tracks, backing tracks, etc... (think garage band)
Then plug that into maybe a powered 15" cab with a DI.
even better yet - completely wireless.
I always feel like guitarists get the better deal on amps. There are no end of guitar amps with two different preamp channels that can be footswitched remotely. There are even amps with 3 or 4 channels!
I would always an amp with a preamp that just sounds good over one with a fancy eq. I know how to use a parametric eq, but I find them to be counter-intuitive when used for instrument eq.
As far as gain, I like a lot of grindy gain. I like to be able to dial in a gainy sound that still has a solid bottom end. One tactic is to route some clean "ungainy" signal in with the gainy channel to retain low end.
SO I would want 2 channels minimum, with switching and blend. A post preamp high pass filter. 50watts-200 watts-600 watts. Switchable. SO you can use the same settings for practice, rehersal and performance.
I would always an amp with a preamp that just sounds good over one with a fancy eq. I know how to use a parametric eq, but I find them to be counter-intuitive when used for instrument eq.
As far as gain, I like a lot of grindy gain. I like to be able to dial in a gainy sound that still has a solid bottom end. One tactic is to route some clean "ungainy" signal in with the gainy channel to retain low end.
SO I would want 2 channels minimum, with switching and blend. A post preamp high pass filter. 50watts-200 watts-600 watts. Switchable. SO you can use the same settings for practice, rehersal and performance.
I love both of my heads. My Mark VIII is super clean, has all the EQ controls I could ever need. 350 watts into 4 ohms or 600 watts into 2 Ohms will power just about anything you throw at it. My Classic 400 is a monster. 400 watts of all tube power. More head room than I have ever found with any other tube amp and great EQ with switchable mid on the clean channel with low boost and cut and a high boost. The dirty channel has all the grind you could want and you can balance its volume to the clean so switching between isnt a problem. All this combined with the footswitch controllable channel switching, combine option, and FX loop on/off. So what if it weighs almost as much as the 810 cabinet.
dhomer
Commercial User
- Apr 9, 2009
- 675
- 13
- Disclosures
- Owner, Gigmaster Soundworks, Auth. greenboy designs builder, MI
My two must-haves.. it has to deliver the TONE I want, at the VOLUME I need. Weight and pack space are NOT considerations.. Very happy with my solid state Bmax, DCM600, and 1212/6...
I think NASA would have to design mine, because it breaks many laws of physics.
I want;
Blendable tube & ss preamps,
1000 watts at 8-ohms,
Optical compressor,
10-band graphic & 5-band parametric EQ,
A footprint the size of a Porta-Flex,
Enough volume to cause unintentional bowel movements,
Lastly, I want it to weigh less than 50 lbs. and cost under $2k!
+1,000,000,000
I'm pretty content with what I've got. They're not "perfect" amps, and I don't think any are. But, so long as I get the tone I desire at the volume I need, it's all good.
