True stereo bass amplifier

[Jazzbassguy77]

Anybody out there give me a heads up up on what I need in terms of bass amplifiers , I'm using my Fender Five string , sometimes my Ric 4003 , one's mono the others stereo by default , ok so I'm in a blues / rock band and we're covering vintage British blues legends Led Zeppelin, etc , I just got ma paws on a fabulous EHX of NYC , Mel9 ( Mindblowingly beautiful)
Mellotron emulation pedal
, my problem was delivering this sound cleanly , along with this awesome effect's output , only in true stereo , I've tried using small amps , it worked , only it needed scaled up by a factor of 10 , I've Owned/own loads of bass amps peavey , fenders , gallien kruegers ,
Don't want to hump two excellent GK 700 ll bs , to every gig what's out there that I can turn to ? Other than consider buying my own stereo PA system for my bass output?

 

[Jeff Scott]

See if you can find the stereo version of my old Walter Woods amp.

 

[agedhorse]

I can't think of any current bass amps that are true stereo. The WW Electroacoustic is stereo but for a different reason, it was set up to allow processing and blending of 2 channels, usually a small piezo pickup and a small electret mic.

Note that service for WW products is a challenge to come by, I believe Walter has effectively retired and I haven't seen any follow-up with somebody else taking over. Parts for the SMPS is some models weren't available even 5 years ago.

 

[abarson]

The EHX Mel9 is not a stereo output device: it has one input (mono), and the mono outputs are "Dry" (unaffected) and "Effect" (with effect, obviously). There is no distinct left/right division. This does give you the option to separately amplify each output but each will sound entirely different from each other.
https://www.ehx.com/products/mel9/

The Rick-O-Sound (R-O-S) on your 4003 isn't really stereo, but rather one output for each pickup. If you use R-O-S and the Mel9, you must choose which pickup is going to go through the effect. Otherwise just use the normal mono output like any other bass guitar.

For true stereo (one left channel, one right channel) or R-O-S you need two preamp channels and two power amp channels. I don't know of any single product on the market that does this, but you could use a pair of class D heads and a pair of cabinets. You could also use a small mixer as your preamp then go to a pair of powered speakers.

Personally, I don't see the purpose or benefit of such an elaborate rig.

 

[seamonkey]

Separate outputs for each pickup isn't really stereo.
You can have fun and try putting each into an audio interface to hear how they differ but it's not much more than you can do with a mix knob on a bass with a couple of pickups.
There's no movement or directional sounds that you're going to capture from the strings.

Either way, Bass frequencies are omni-directional, it only when you get up to mids is where you can detect direction.

 

[Downwrong]

Anybody out there give me a heads up up on what I need in terms of bass amplifiers , I'm using my Fender Five string , sometimes my Ric 4003 , one's mono the others stereo by default , ok so I'm in a blues / rock band and we're covering vintage British blues legends Led Zeppelin, etc , I just got ma paws on a fabulous EHX of NYC , Mel9 ( Mindblowingly beautiful)
Mellotron emulation pedal
, my problem was delivering this sound cleanly , along with this awesome effect's output , only in true stereo , I've tried using small amps , it worked , only it needed scaled up by a factor of 10 , I've Owned/own loads of bass amps peavey , fenders , gallien kruegers ,
Don't want to hump two excellent GK 700 ll bs , to every gig what's out there that I can turn to ? Other than consider buying my own stereo PA system for my bass output?

Anybody out there give me a heads up up on what I need in terms of bass amplifiers , I'm using my Fender Five string , sometimes my Ric 4003 , one's mono the others stereo by default , ok so I'm in a blues / rock band and we're covering vintage British blues legends Led Zeppelin, etc , I just got ma paws on a fabulous EHX of NYC , Mel9 ( Mindblowingly beautiful)
Mellotron emulation pedal
, my problem was delivering this sound cleanly , along with this awesome effect's output , only in true stereo , I've tried using small amps , it worked , only it needed scaled up by a factor of 10 , I've Owned/own loads of bass amps peavey , fenders , gallien kruegers ,
Don't want to hump two excellent GK 700 ll bs , to every gig what's out there that I can turn to ? Other than consider buying my own stereo PA system for my bass output?

If you're sure you can only get your sound through stereo you can always get an Alembic F2-B stereo preamp and a good stereo power amp. Years ago I used a QSC power amp. Be aware that the tone stack on the F2-B was modeled after a Fender Dual Showman.

 

[StereoPlayer]

 

[StephenR]

If you don't need an effects loop then an Alembic F2-B preamp into a stereo power amp (I use a Crest ProLite 3.0) one cabinet off each side would give you a two-channel setup. The Alembic can output each channel separately or combined for mono output. The F2-B was designed to use with the Alembic Series basses which can send each pickup to a separate channel like your Rick.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I've always thought of true stereo bass as two discrete amps or studio tracks.

So... you'll either need two amps or DI's.

 

[Sid Fang]

This is a stereo rig - though I'm only running it mono. Like others, it's a stereo-capable rack-mount bass preamp being run to a power amp in non-bridged stereo mode into two cabs.

 

[two fingers]

Anybody out there give me a heads up up on what I need in terms of bass amplifiers , I'm using my Fender Five string , sometimes my Ric 4003 , one's mono the others stereo by default , ok so I'm in a blues / rock band and we're covering vintage British blues legends Led Zeppelin, etc , I just got ma paws on a fabulous EHX of NYC , Mel9 ( Mindblowingly beautiful)
Mellotron emulation pedal
, my problem was delivering this sound cleanly , along with this awesome effect's output , only in true stereo , I've tried using small amps , it worked , only it needed scaled up by a factor of 10 , I've Owned/own loads of bass amps peavey , fenders , gallien kruegers ,
Don't want to hump two excellent GK 700 ll bs , to every gig what's out there that I can turn to ? Other than consider buying my own stereo PA system for my bass output?

1) Welcome to TalkBass!

2) That pedal is not stereo. It has one dry output and one for the effect.
https://www.ehx.com/products/mel9/

3) The Ric isn't stereo either. It has an output for each pickup.

I'm not saying you can't create some very cool sounds by amping each pickup of the Ric, or having a wet/dry rig for the pedal. But nothing you have will be "stereo".

I promise I'm not putting down any of your gear. I just wanted to make sure you had enough info to make an informed decision before plunking down a lot of cash for a complex rig.

 

[PrinceByTor]

I use my Ampeg SVT-VR's two channels when playing with the Ric-O-Sound on my 4003. Currently only the VR and the Heritage SVT are the only ones in production to have two discrete channels. It's not true stereo, but does expand your tonal options.

 

[abarson]

1) Welcome to TalkBass!

2) That pedal is not stereo. It has one dry output and one for the effect.
https://www.ehx.com/products/mel9/

3) The Ric isn't stereo either. It has an output for each pickup.

I'm not saying you can't create some very cool sounds by amping each pickup of the Ric, or having a wet/dry rig for the pedal. But nothing you have will be "stereo".

I promise I'm not putting down any of your gear. I just wanted to make sure you had enough info to make an informed decision before plunking down a lot of cash for a complex rig.

Boy am I glad we essentially said the same thing! (#4)

 

[trevcda]

As everyone has said, you will need two of everything, but even then you will not gain any of the benefits of running stereo until you introduce some time based effects to your signal to provide some differences between the right and left signals. Think of your bass as a monophonic microphone. You can send that into a mixer that is being run in stereo all day, but until it get a delay or reverb that is also being returned in stereo, other than the ability to pan a dry signal, it's still mono.

 

[Jack Butler]

I Might be missing the point entirely, but since you like gk, a pair of mb500's and cabs seems like it would get you in the ballpark and be much lighter. Or even mb200's depending on the size rooms you play. Even with that I'm not sure it's true stereo, or that true stereo would even be desirable for live bass guitar. Could be some frequency cancellation stuff that might not be great. Some sound guys/gals may know better on that.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Stereo is complex. How you achieve it and what you need depends if you are recording, have FOH mixing out the PA speakers, or are just playing on stage.

On stage, use two amps, separate the cabs stage left and stage right. This provides stereo that the audience can hear assuming they are sitting in the sweet spot. A smaller amp, even a guitar amp can be used for the high frequencies in the mix. There is no free lunch with this setup and it may not do the job well.

Stereo guitar amps such as the Magnatone 280 existed back in the 50's. The purpose was to provide a true vibrato between two 12" speakers (Buddy Holly's '58 Magnatone 280 | Vintage Guitar® magazine). It was done to achieve an effect. Pedals can do that now. In Zeppelin's Heartbreaker, the bass was put through, among other things, a Leslie cabinet. That type of phasing can be achieved with a pedal now.

 

[Spectrum]

For using Ric-o-Sound I have used two separate amp heads/cabs, but I set them up right next to each other, since it's not a stereo effect I am trying to get, but rather a different tone from each pickup.

Ric-o-Sound is a lot of fun and sounds awesome, but you have to have the stage space and the time to set up and break down. Also, some sound guys will hate you, while some will love it.

 

[Jeff Scott]

This is a stereo rig - though I'm only running it mono. Like others, it's a stereo-capable rack-mount bass preamp being run to a power amp in non-bridged stereo mode into two cabs.
View attachment 4574104

Cool, I never knew that EBS preamp was true stereo. I was thinking of buying one back in the late '90s, but ended up with two Alembic F-1X preamps, instead.

 

[Fonkamex]

The first step is having a two separate channels preamp and then going to the poweramp of your choice. I think the Geddy Lee 2112 is a two channel preamp, there is a rack and a pedal version of it.
Also, if you want to try, a good two channels preamp pedal direct into the poweramp.

 

[A Bass And Its Boy]

If by stereo amp you just mean one head with two discreet but identical channels that can be adjusted separately and each has their own output, Acoustic Image has several heads that have that. And they sound great with solid body instruments too, not just acoustic.