Upgrading from an mini rig.

[Veldar]

So currently I have a Ashdown mini rig and was looking for something bigger and more suited to metal, Dirt and effects, I've heard about mesa boogie and was wondering what you guys opinions are on what I should logically look at next, my balance is somewhere between $1000 - $2000 AUD.

Cheers, Sam

 

[Veldar]

Please? Help a bro out man.

 

[lomo]

I have no clue about pricing Down Under, but Mesa certainly makes great heads.....for metal or anything else! I'm personally not as much into their cabs, only because they're heavy and expensive BUT the PH 410 and 610 cabs sound great to me. Steer away from the PH1000 IMHO.

 

[Veldar]

So you can use differenr cabs and heads and still get a good sound

 

[Freddels]

The new Fender tube amps and the neo cabs look and sound good.

 

[will33]

Yes. There is no need at all to use amp and speakers all from the same company, unless of course, you like the way they sound together.

 

[drpsychdee]

I was just at the Bass Player live 2012 show in LA and ran across the Ephanie combo amps with 650 watts of power and a line out for another bottom if you need it. That thing cranked! You don't have to lug a ton of speakers. I also watched 2 of the big 4 bassists do workshops using the Hartke stacks. Wow! Great mids and they talked about cutting through the guitars of Megadeath and Anthrax. Those guys know about being heard in a metal band. Plus real down to earth guys to talk to Thanks Dave and Frank if you read this! Doc.

 

[drpsychdee]

My spelling is horrible I think it's Ephifanie amps. But they are way cool just the same.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Hey there mate. Always wanted to get to the great Down Under. When my dad was on leave in the army during WWII, he RAVED over the beautiful Australian blondes and he loved the australian Steak and Eggs Breakfast! Also said the Australians were great soldiers.

I don't know what part of Australia, but I found a couple music stores in Sydney. There is one called Big Music, and they're selling an Ibanez Promethean Kickback 115 combo which is very cool The cab is a ported 115, and the head is attached like the Genz Benz, is removable, and the greatest part -- 500 watts with two cabinets. So you can actually add a second large cabinet, and shake walls.

Here's the other good part: Ibanez also makes a 110 cabinet that allows the head to sink into it on the back to make it a TRUE combo, carrying in one hand.

I'm looking at this one and one other called the Promethean P3110 combo with a detachable head. Doesn't have the same kind of watts.

This seems to be a nice solution for your needs. Two 115 cabs will be quite loud with 500 watts. Here's the link:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Good luck!

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Here's a place called Turramurra in Sydney. I'm assuming if you don't live nearby they can send it to you by post office.

http://www.turramusic.com.au/Pages/CategoryList.aspx?CAT3ID=523

They have an Eden bass head that says CONTACT US which is screaming, closeout special!

I like the Ampeg, Eden, and Markbass stuff. I've been lusting after some Markbass gear here in the US for some time, but can't decide if I'm going to go combo or head (oh god let's not get that started lol) Because Markbass is an international product (not US) and not Ampeg (on offense intended to anyone) it might be a good deal.

They do have the Ampeg Portaflex 500 which is a very versatile powerful light amp. But read posts here and there are some QA issues that might have been worked out by now, we hope. Ampeg is pretty much the industry standard for tone.

I see they have an Ampeg PF500 and the matching PF x10 cabinet. The nice thing is you could always ad a second cabinet...

 

[dhsierra1]

If you're looking to do metal, dirt, and effects then you might want to try Gallien Krueger, famous for getting a very growly tone. No idea about prices in Oz other than they're a lot higher than here in the states for the same gear even thought the Oz $ is about the same value as the US$ these days :scowl: Might also want to look at used gear.

 

[Veldar]

Hey there mate. Always wanted to get to the great Down Under. When my dad was on leave in the army during WWII, he RAVED over the beautiful Australian blondes and he loved the australian Steak and Eggs Breakfast! Also said the Australians were great soldiers.

I don't know what part of Australia, but I found a couple music stores in Sydney. There is one called Big Music, and they're selling an Ibanez Promethean Kickback 115 combo which is very cool The cab is a ported 115, and the head is attached like the Genz Benz, is removable, and the greatest part -- 500 watts with two cabinets. So you can actually add a second large cabinet, and shake walls.

Here's the other good part: Ibanez also makes a 110 cabinet that allows the head to sink into it on the back to make it a TRUE combo, carrying in one hand.

I'm looking at this one and one other called the Promethean P3110 combo with a detachable head. Doesn't have the same kind of watts.

This seems to be a nice solution for your needs. Two 115 cabs will be quite loud with 500 watts. Here's the link:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Good luck!

So What will I need to setup two caps?

If you're looking to do metal, dirt, and effects then you might want to try Gallien Krueger, famous for getting a very growly tone. No idea about prices in Oz other than they're a lot higher than here in the states for the same gear even thought the Oz $ is about the same value as the US$ these days :scowl: Might also want to look at used gear.

Yeah i'm might look for one this afternoon at musos corrnor.

I really want to push the mids if that helps at all when I tried with mark bass it sounded really bad so I was hopping for getting a really strong mid growl.

Are EBS heads good? And theres a Ashdown ABM 610 in melbourne for $849(I live in newcastle 2- 3 hours away from sydney) what head would power that?

 

[ma4rk]

Mate, make the trip down to Sydney - Billy Hydes is closing down & has 40% off everything. They're no longer taking online orders.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

So What will I need to setup two caps?



Yeah i'm might look for one this afternoon at musos corrnor.

I really want to push the mids if that helps at all when I tried with mark bass it sounded really bad so I was hopping for getting a really strong mid growl.

Are EBS heads good? And theres a Ashdown ABM 610 in melbourne for $849(I live in newcastle 2- 3 hours away from sydney) what head would power that?

I played the Ibanez and man does it sound good. It will power the Ashdown cab. All you need is a second cab and a speaker cable. Try and get matching cabinet configurations, ie 2 x 12's or 2x 210's, please be careful about discussing this, usually sets off a tirade here lol... but just two cabs and two cables in back, preferably if you're going to buy the Ibanez kickback they also have the matching cats to go under that one. The whole setup will still get you under 2K and will be light as heck to carry. Give it a try!

 

[Veldar]

Are the prices on the site accurate?

 

[dhsierra1]

I really want to push the mids if that helps at all when I tried with mark bass it sounded really bad so I was hopping for getting a really strong mid growl.

Are EBS heads good? And theres a Ashdown ABM 610 in melbourne for $849(I live in newcastle 2- 3 hours away from sydney) what head would power that?

that's GK's trademark sound.

EBS is supposed to be very nice gear, have not used it myself, though.

As for the 610, whatever you want to use pretty much that sounds good to you. For gigging you want a minimum of 300 watts so for the GK line you'll want to look at the 700RB, 800RB, 1001RB for standard lead sled (they're not that heavy, really) and the MB500, MB Fusion, and MB800 Class D amps.

 

[Veldar]

that's GK's trademark sound.

EBS is supposed to be very nice gear, have not used it myself, though.

As for the 610, whatever you want to use pretty much that sounds good to you. For gigging you want a minimum of 300 watts so for the GK line you'll want to look at the 700RB, 800RB, 1001RB for standard lead sled (they're not that heavy, really) and the MB500, MB Fusion, and MB800 Class D amps.

But can a 300 Watt amp carry a 800 Watt cab?

 

[dhsierra1]

But can a 300 Watt amp carry a 800 Watt cab?

absolutely, no such thing as "underpowering". Most cab ratings are kind of misleading, anyway.

Check some of the stickies in this section (Amps) to get more info on it

 

[RockSanity]

I've used Ampeg SVT-cl with 2 svt classic 410 bottoms for some time and loved the sound until I bought a Mesa Titan v12 and ran it through the same 2 Ampeg cabs. If there's a better sound I haven't heard it

 

[Veldar]

Ok i'll try the GK heads at my shop after school see if they work with ashdown