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What do i need?

F

Figjam

Aug 5, 2003
15,498
473
Boston, MA
#1
Hi guys. When it comes to bass, i consider my self rather knowledgable, but when it comes to amps, i am a n00b. About a year ago i picked up an Ampeg B100r and have been using it ever since. My band is getting rolling and i think i will need something bigger soon. We play a weird funk metal genre and the bass lines are pretty funky. Decent amount of slap bass involved. Our only near future gigs are small things, but in the summer I am getting a job and i WAS planning on getting a Musicman Stingray but i decided a new rig would be better. I think im looking for a a 4x10 cab and a head of some sort, but i dont know much about what kind to get. I dont know the whole deal with compatibility of ohms and such sort. Could you maybe straighten it out for me and recommend some cabs and heads that arent too expensive. I am eventually going to buy them used and dont want to spend over $500 for the cab,and Lord knows how much for the head. I probably will want about 300 watts?
 
#3
well as for cabinets if u want to save some money go wiht avatar very very cheap the site is www.avatarspeakers.com i have never played one but i have heard nothing but good things about them. for a head i really like my fender bxr dual bass 400 but the outputs cant be briged meaning u have to have 2 cabinets to get the full 400 watts it is capeable of having. but that can be a very good thing because it has 2 power amps so if one dies on you u can still use the other and finish the gig also it gives u the option to only take one smaller cab to smaller gigs wich is another upside. something to think about it has very very good eq setup crossover and biamp which all come in handy although they stopped making them in 1994 i believe so they are a little harder to come by i only paid 400 canadian for mine so if you can find one jump on it. actually there are 2 on ebay right now well i guess thats it. i am sure others will have other suggestoins but thats mine and i am sure that amp will suit your needs just perfectly. oh by the way there is one on ebay right now for $80 out of maine but its still got 6 days on it but i would watch it.
 
#5
any head that works at 8 or 4 ohms although if it is a 4 ohm cab you could put 2 8 ohm cabinets onto the same 4 ohom output but i would look for a 4 ohm and get the full power of the amp say a 300 watt 4 ohm amp running a 8 ohm cabinet may only put out 150-230 watts depending on the head but if you were running a 4 ohm cabinet you would get the full 300 watts. but look at those fender bxr heads.
 
#6
Originally posted by suasa
any head that works at 8 or 4 ohms although if it is a 4 ohm cab you could put 2 8 ohm cabinets onto the same 4 ohom output but i would look for a 4 ohm and get the full power of the amp say a 300 watt 4 ohm amp running a 8 ohm cabinet may only put out 150-230 watts depending on the head but if you were running a 4 ohm cabinet you would get the full 300 watts. but look at those fender bxr heads.
Click to expand...
So a 4 ohm cab would be wiser then an 8?
 
#9
first of all that head is from music 123 they are just selling it on ebay you would get it for the same price from them. also i have heard good things about those heads and bad things about those head u can get a much better head for the price. and how much do u have to spend on a rig in total like a maximum price and do you really want a 4x10 or would a 2x12 or a 2x10 and 15 setup work as well?? as i said before 2 smaller amps would be a better optoin and a large 4x10. well let us know and i am sure someone can figure out a good setup for you
 
#10
I dont know how much money i will have to spend total because i dont have any of it yet. I plan on having the money at the end of the summer. BUT, i think i will have about $1000. I dont think i really need 2 seperate cabs, i think they will be too large. I dont really want anything over 300 watts. I think a 2 x 12 cab would be just fine as well. So knowing that, any ideas? And what are those "better heads" that you speak of, for the price?
 
#12
good choice wiht the avatar 2x12 and i suppose the hartke will do the job for you but i would suggest looking at a yorkville xs400 its apparently a really nice amp they were backordered at l&m for quite a while they are a very popular head and they have a tube preamp. chek them out and yorkville are built to last tough stuff. also chek out Gallien-Krueger 400RB-IV Bass Amp Head that is a better head than the hartke if you ask me and will most likely be of better quality. well theres a couple someone else can add something i am sure.
 
#13
I would suggest you try as much equipment as possible and let YOUR ears make the decisions. End of summer is 9 months away, take your basses with you and try as many amps and cabinets as possible. No one here can tell you whats exactly right for YOU. As most amps only go down to 4 ohms, I would suggest you get 8 ohm cabs so you can use either or both. Doubling the power to one speaker cab only gets you +3db in volume, barely audible difference to the human ear. You might also check the amp buyers guide at the top of this section. Lots of good info there. $1000 will buy you plenty of amp and speakers. If you get used equipment you can even get more.
 
#14
Im not really trying to get AS MUCH stuff as i can for the money , persay. I dont think i need 2 cabs. So pretend i wasnt going to use 2 cabs, and i was going to use the B212, what would be the best "ohm-age" for me to get, allowing me to make the most out of the one cab.
 
#16
Here's the deal. If you are only going to use one cab, go with the lower ohmage cab as long as your amp can handle it. It will be louder that way. If you ever plan on going with two it gets more complicated because, depending on how you wire it, the total ohmage the amp sees is lower than either cabs ohmage. But for one cab set ups, I would just get the 4 ohm and make sure your amp can handle it. I've also heard nothing but good things from Avatar, although I heard their lows weren't as bomb as something high end like a Bergantino or some other such expensive thing. However, with a limited budget you can't be that much of a chooser, and like everyone else said, the Avatars aren't bad, they may just not be what some people wanted tone wise. As far as amps, I would recommend a pre-power setup (preamp and poweramp). About a year ago I was in the exact same boat you are, and I ended up going with a used BBE preamp (that's just a brand name) and one of the cheaper QSC(brand) poweramps. I got the pre on our very own talkbass for 150 I think. The amp was I think either 3 or 4 hundred on one of the big evil empire online stores. The tone is to die for and I have something like 1000 watts when I run it into one cab. The pluses of my setup are that it ended up costing what most heads with 3 to 4 hundred watts would cost, and since these setups are more modular, if I wanted to change my power output or my tone, I don't have to go for a whole new rig, I can just replace one piece. I love it. My cab is an SWR Triad, which I fell in love with in the used section of my Guitar Center (again with the evil empires), but I got it for about 4 or 5 hundred, and I can't see ever changing it since it sounds so awesome. Now, this is all me, and my tastes, so take this with a grain of salt. And transporting a rig is much harder than transporting a combo. Which reminds me, there are some combos for about the same price as a cheap rig with several hundred watts that might fit your bill. I checked some of those out before I bought my stuff. I think Eden and Fender (only two I tried) have 2x10 combos with several hundred watts that would be about the same price and much easier to transport. The problem with them is if you want to change anything, you have to buy a whole new everything. Being an engineer, I liked the more modular rack setup. Anyway, I'm done.
 
#18
Thanks for that info. This thread has cleared a lot of things up for me. One more question though; Im still a little confused about the whole preamp and poweramp deal. Could you give me a few examples of heads that are the type that you described?

Also, if you could sum it up in one sentence, how can i tell if a head will be able to handle the cab? (avatar B212)

EDIT: I think i like the combination of the Avatar B212 with a Gallien Krueger 800rb head. I will try one out sometime.
 

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