"What cab/amp should I get?" threads - new direction

[butcher]

I am probably guilty of a few "what is the best...?" threads. Funnily enough, however, I have usually ended up getting the bass/amp/effect/whatever that a) I was able to get my hands on physically, b) I could afford, and c) sounded good in action. The only time I really worry about the quality of my gear, or whether its 'good enough', is when I'm on TB reading people's opinions.

Out in the real world though, gear is gear is gear; 99.89% of my audiences are not even musicians, let alone bass players. They enjoyed my band just as much as when I played a Squier and Behringer as when I played a Fender and Hartke. I'd bet that more than a few of us have experienced that tinge of disappointment when we rock up to rehearsal or a gig with some new, fancy bit of gear that TBers drool over, but no one - not even bandmates - could really care either way about it.

I agree. A while back, I had a guy ask me if my Cort was a Warwick (well, it did have a wenge neck).

Seems like most of the time bass only gets noticed when it is missing

 

[butcher]

My first amp was a Peavy 15" combo amp. No idea what model it was or how many watts. I just know it was completely inadequate to deal with a loud drummer and a guitarist playing through a 212 combo amp. I was probably 14 or 15--that is, nearly 30 years ago.

Soon I was hauling cabs and running lights for live music shows all over town as a part-time job. Because I was hanging around the sound engineers all the time I picked up a few things. Next thing you know I was buying some of their used gear to build a new rig. This time a Peavey slave amp. I think it was 400w a side, as I recall. Plus a 31-band EQ and a wooden rack to mount it all in.

I bought two 10s and a 15. I built a cab to house them all together. The 10s were on top and sealed. The 15 was ported across the bottom of the cab. The entire baffle was angled so that it aimed not just forward but slightly upward as well. I worked up the building plans myself using graph paper, pencils and what I could remember of geometry class. At one point I had to call the manufacturer of the 15" speaker to ask how I should port the cab with X cubic inches of air in it. I built it myself using plywood, a circular saw, some drywall screws and a power drill. Painted it black. My sound engineer pal wired up the back and installed a crossover so I could biamp it.

I used that rig for several years and many gigs. Then I quit music for ten years to pursue other things.

That brings me to about 8 months ago when I bought a bass on a whim at Guitar Center. I bought a GK MB210 combo amp to go with it. Within a week I had a friend calling to ask me to join his band.

His band was loud and I knew I needed more speakers so I augmented my combo with a 210MBE cab.

My mini stack of doom was still inadequate, so after much TB discussion I sold it all and bought a GK MB500 and a Neo 212 cab. I planned to get a second 212, but I punted for budgetary reasons and picked up a GK 410MBX cab for $200. I'm in a different (and quieter) band now, but that's still the rig I'm using to this day.

One other note. I have come to view my amp and my cabs as little more than watts and speakers. I use the EQ for the most basic of tone shaping, but the vast majority of what constitutes "my sound" is technique and what's on my effect pedal board. And that's a whole other bucket of fish.

Wow, what a great opportunity/experience early on in your music career. I bet you have found the knowledge you gained from that to be invaluable.

I did sound for a while also, small scale stuff and didn't get to work with pros that knew what they were doing... more kind of the opposite unfortunately. However, you can learn from them as well...but you learn from mistakes!

I also like the 2x12 GK sound. Almost pulled the trigger on one of those myself.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Part of the problem here at TB is that the stickies and FAQs are abysmal. 75% of the content could, and probably should, be eliminated and replaced with brief enumerated Q&A type FAQs where a person could actually get a concise answer to, say, the dozen most asked questions in any given forum. Linking to 5,000-word discussions on a subject is not optimal. If the answer is not found in the list of answered Qs, do a search. If a search does not turn up an immediate answer, nobody should feel unwelcome for asking something that has been asked 100 times before. They themselves have asked it only once, remember. Old timers should either be helpful or be silent about it. Just my $0.02.

+1. I don't understand why people have to make someone feel like dirt when they're learning and trying to get advice from people who have the experience. I wish people wouldn't be argumentative and rude. We are all bass players sharing our experiences. Besides, even if a thread is asked for the 1,000 time, what if something new or a novel approach is suggested and works well? Then we've all learned something haven't we?

 

[butcher]

I know a lot of folks agonize and fuss and trade gear back and forth and whatnot, and that's fun, but for me choosing gear was based on how much it made it want to play, and how easy it was to get a sound to where I didn't have to think about anything but playing. Once I got a bass and amp I liked, I got down to business and made music and forgot about gear for the most part.

That's what I'm hoping happens and can happen more with these kind of posts.

The process of developing your own preference can be expensive and time consuming. It's great that you got to hear the rig that won you over early on.

Unfortunately, I think for a lot of people the rigs we get to experience first hand are the ones that are on the floor at our local music shop... which unfortunately is pretty limited for bass and the "best rig" that they are selling is more about moving product & profit margins than anything else. Your luck if they even have a head and a cab that are even remotely right for each other (or functioning sometimes).

Then there is all the endorsement misdirection. I bought a Hartke VX stack because that's what Jack Bruce (who I admire) uses. I can't imagine that with the choice of everything out there he would ever play through that rig. Hartke must have a sweet endorsement deal

 

[scottfeldstein]

Then there is all the endorsement misdirection. I bought a Hartke VX stack because that's what Jack Bruce (who I admire) uses. I can't imagine that with the choice of everything out there he would ever play through that rig. Hartke must have a sweet endorsement deal

Or he just realizes what a lot of us forget: an amp is an amp, for the most part. Just about any of them can give you just about any sound you're after.

 

[JimmyM]

Unfortunately, I think for a lot of people the rigs we get to experience first hand are the ones that are on the floor at our local music shop... which unfortunately is pretty limited for bass and the "best rig" that they are selling is more about moving product & profit margins than anything else. Your luck if they even have a head and a cab that are even remotely right for each other (or functioning sometimes).

Well it was that way in the 50's and it's that way now. That's how it go.

Then there is all the endorsement misdirection. I bought a Hartke VX stack because that's what Jack Bruce (who I admire) uses. I can't imagine that with the choice of everything out there he would ever play through that rig. Hartke must have a sweet endorsement deal

Jack Bruce can play anything he wants. He wrote most of the Cream catalog so he gets paid. And every amp company in the world would fight over him if he ever left. Jack has been with Hartke since the beginning of Hartke practically. If he didn't like what he was hearing, he'd use something else. Endorsers by and large genuinely like what they endorse, even endorsers who switch up now and then.

 

[popgadget]

First amp was Ampeg SB12. Next was Bassman 50, followed by a parade of Acoustic stuff, then SVT. Next came the Eden, then a Shuttle 9.0, I just got a Streamliner 900 yesterday. For cabs, i still have a huge collection, but now I'm using a fEARful 1212/6/1 or a12/6. I still have a lot of the old stuff, I'm just thinking about selling some off, as I'm pretty happy with the GB/fEARful setup.

I also subscribe to "if it works for me, its good" theory. I will seek input, but ultimately it comes down to what's good for me, not what is worshiped by others. To that end, my basses for the last 10 years or so have been PBass Lyte Deluxes, one fretless, one fretted. I like em better than anything else I ever picked up, but they're not everyone's cup o tea.

 

[scottfeldstein]

I'm pretty happy with the GB/fEARful setup.

I would think! That's pretty close to my dream rig right now: A Genz Shuttle 6.2 head and a pair of 15/6 fEARful cabs.