Why did you choose the amp that you use?

[MyMusic]

Mesa Boogie D800 Subway with 2 115 cabs. Easy to dial in and I love the way it sounds. Light weight doesn't hurt either.

 

[lfmn16]

I use an Ampeg PF800 because I'm too old and lazy to cart around the SVT. I read reviews and then actually got off the couch and went into a store and played one. about 10 years back when I got back into playing after a pretty long layoff from bass I went to one of the big music stores in the area and tried out about 10 amps. This time around I knew I wanted the Ampeg sound so it was a lot easier.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Between all the various threads on power amp class and all the differences of opinion, I have read a lot of descriptive words that really tell me nothing about what people are hearing. In my experience there are so many variables that dictate how a head sounds. Instrument and cab pairing, eq settings, desired amount of drive heard.

For me, my GK MB210-II and 210MBE-II are lightweight and loud enough for any stage I will play. I'll do some testing with it later, because honestly there is a specific frequency range that it has a bump in with the eq flat, that led me to choose it. It's not down at 35Hz, but it is what was the most pleasing out of all the MB combos to my ears when playing up and down the B string. I'm assuming it is somewhere around 60Hz but don't know for sure, so I'll run some sine waves through it. I'll add more to this thread later.

So what does everyone use? More importantly to me, why do you use it? What contributes to the sound you hear and love from your amp?

My amp is an Eden WT500 that has been upgraded to 400-watts per channel at 4 ohm and 800-watts bridged at 8 ohm. I run it into my DNS-410, which is an 8 ohm cab more than capable of handling all that power.

Reasons I choose to use this amp are:
1. Clarity and fullness of sound
2. Power (800-watts)
3. incredibly versatile EQ (has 3 semi parametric EQ's in between the bass and treble shelving EQ's) that not only lets my fine-tune my sound but compensate for any room anomalies anywhere I play.

Disadvantage is that it weighs about 26-lbs., but it gets me the sound I want.

My current WT500/800 has a little warmer sound than my previous amp (currently back-up amp - Eden Nemesis RS400) because my WT has a hybrid preamp and the RS has an FET preamp. It's not a big difference, but it is noticeable. The RS400 only has one semi-parametric EQ and I most commonly used it to dial in the room I was playing in. I used my RS400 again last year for a couple of months while my WT was in the shop.

Other previous amps were 1966 Fender Bassman that I bought in 1966, Standel MCIIB with SAM30B cab, Yamaha B50-115II, GK guitar amp with two JBL 12" with horn PA speakers (sounded great!), GK Brat Pack - GK250 backline with GK115bpx cab (probably the worst amp/cab ever), and of course my 2 Eden amps (RS400 and WT500/800), which made every previous amp/cab/combo sound muted and woolly.

 

[bassplayer9512]

GK 700RBii with two 1x15" GK NEO cabs.

I was a GK hater until I got to use a 700rbii with a single 1x15 and bought it right then and there. This amp sounds fantastic with my Ric 4003s, mustang PJ, p bass, and my couple customs I have as well.

Highly recommend getting the GK Bi-amp cable with it because it is great having tweeter control on the front of your amp. These heads take pedals so well and it gets loud as hell. I have never had to turn up past gain half way and volume halfway regardless of venue I have played.

I could not reccomend trying the GK RB series heads through their 1x15 Neo cabs. They are so punchy and dont fart out. (I dont play 5 string but do engage the 5 string switch sometimes)

 

[socialleper]

Mesa Subway D800-
Because it is small, light, powerful, has a four band EQ, and can handle up to 2ohms easily.

 

[Gizmot]

I don't care about weight (to a point). For years, I carried around a Hammond B-3 and a couple of Leslie cabinets (about 600 lbs / 272 kg). I only do a couple of big loud gigs every year and I have a separate setup to do those.

For frequent use, I wanted good sound and sonic flexibility - and I bought a Euphonic Audio iAmp and Whizzy 12.

It sounds clean and solid; it goes low with reasonable authority. Since its speaker has point-source emanation, its off-axis sound is very good and there is no discontinuity between the HF driver and woofer. It has 4-band fully parametric EQ and it has personality switches for each band, so its tweaking capability is excellent.

What? It's American made too?

 

[Munjibunga]

Clean, accurate, versatile.

 

[silvertone]

I needed an amp that could play large or small venues.
I scanned the TB classifieds and a TB'er who shall remain nameless ('cause I don't remember his name and I am too lazy to dig through my TB History) sold me his Genz Benz Neo Pak 3.5 for a very low price.

I obtained an Eden 2x10XLT and D15 cabs via my local CL.

The only maintenance I've had to do with this great sounding assemblage of amp and cabs is an annual replacement of a 12AX7 pre-amp tube.

Totally stable, never fails, sounds killer, has no negative or positive reputation, but it' steady, reliable, light and loud!

 

[REV]

I got my amp by mistake (a Eden WT550). I was traveling around using a SVT4 Pro. At one gig the place we were playing had a house band that went on before us. Their bass player was using an Eden WT 300. I liked his tone and told him so during the break. He offered to let me use his rig and I accepted. The WT 300 was totally adequate and I thought " why am I dragging this huge amp around when I could just use this little amp". Later, I was looking at Eden amps but I couldn't remember which amp it was that I had played through. The WT 550 looked about right so I bought it. It's a great amp , it has never let me down.

 

[ScrewDevil]

I

Me, too.

 

[Bentfield]

Fender Rumble V3 100w It's affordable and light weight. And it happened to sound good. But I mostly play through given backlines.

 

[Watchootognbout]

It was 2004.
It was in a Carvin catalog.
It was B 500 watts.
It has two 12's
I ordered it.
It worked.
It made my bass loud.
It still works twelve years later.

 

[PDGood]

I chose the Markbass LMlll for its tone and form factor (size and weight)
I chose the Mesa D-800+ for its tone and because I needed a bigger amp that would run two cabinets at a 2ohm load and it has semi-parametric low and high mids.

 

[Tom Bomb]

My first real gigging amp I used is my Lab systems VP 400 valve pre/MOSFET out.
Bass boost(don't use) bass, mid (switchable) treble(enhance don't use) DI, 2speaker outs, big and solid build no longer made a few still around used hold their price.
it gives any sound I need...got lucky as I was persuaded by hard sell by salesman and now truly appreciate why he insisted it was the bees knees.
Have had offers to sell , that tells me I will not sell. Used with eminence 15 and EV 2x10.
Play many basses through it and it sounds funky, hard, subtle, warm or Spanky.
First amp was a carlsbro 100 combo with slider eq,s and 15" speaker which I regretfully sold.

Did you see this one? Had to be quick Lab Systems VP400 w/ EV4x10 Cabinet & Road Cases owned by Chris Joannou of Silverchair — would've been a nice score. Love these amps.

 

[inthebassclef]

Hartke because they are very transparent. They sound like your bass not your bass sounding like your amp. I like the natural sound of a bass without all the eqs

 

[maxschrek]

I've been a Hiwatt man for a long time now due to their tone and unequalled quality but, as of just a couple of years ago, it's gotten really scary to take my 1973 dr103 out of the house. I can't risk it being damaged or stolen, so, I went for the next best thing, I suppose (although I recently acquired a 2x15 Hi-Tone cabinet and its over the top craftsmanship and sound made me really curious about their amplifiers as they are nearly exact copies of the '60'/'70s Hiwatts).

 

[Peteyboy]

View attachment 2994986 View attachment 2994984

I use an Arkham Abyss Preamp with a Demeter Minnie 800d. Nice and portable. Very clean and very warm. Using the amp / preamp with two Michael Arnopol 1,8 cabs. Really loving this setup right now. Best tone e-v-a.


Had a custom Studio Slips bag to carry both in one bag. Being compact is very important in the city when you need to take transit.

This little rig looks sinister and formidable!

 

[PraiseBassing]

It can reproduce the sound of your bass or add a variable pallet of color to your tone. Jammed with so many features that it makes it very hard to beat.

• Bergantino Audio B|Amp Bass Amplifier
  • DSP, Embedded System Controlled, Bass Amplifier
  • LCD Display
  • Multifunction Tone Controls; 4-Band EQ w/ Adjustable frequency range and "Q"
    • Bass: +/- 9dB Variable from 40Hz to 120Hz
    • Lo-Mid: +/- 9dB Variable from 150Hz to 800Hz
    • Hi-Mid: +/- 9dB Variable from 800Hz to 3kHz
    • Treble: +/- 9dB Variable from 3kHz to 8kHz
  • Programmable Filters
    • Programmable bright switch: +3dB to +12dB in 1dB increments, variable from 2kHz to 10kHz in 500Hz increments
    • Variable High-Pass Filter (VHPF): Adjustable from 30Hz to 80Hz in 2Hz increments

Variable Feedback filter: Adjustable from off to -6dB to -12dB in 1 dB increments. Frequency range from E1 (41Hz) to G3 (196Hz) in half step increments

· On-Board Programmable Chromatic Tuner stable down to the low B fundamental

· On-Board Variable-Ratio Compressor (VRC) with adjustable compression level & make-up gain

· On-Board Multi-Effects for Overdrive, Distortion 1, or Distortion 2

· Auxiliary input and headphone jack for personal monitor and practice use

· Effects send and return loop

· Studio quality Direct Output, software selectable Pre or Post EQ

· Software Selectable Line Output (Pre-amp or tuner out)

· UPS – Universal power supply 115VAC- 240VAC 50/60Hz

· Software selectable Phase output (Normal or Reverse)

· 2 User Programmable Memory Settings

· USB Port

• Load Custom Speaker Profiles
• Software Upgradable
• Expandable System Architecture

· Power Section: 350W RMS at 8-Ohms, 700W RMS at 4-Ohms, 800W RMS at 2.67-Ohms and 800W RMS at 2-Ohms

• Software selectable, speaker impedance matching for optimal power transfer down to 2-Ohm minimum load.

· Dimensions (WxDxH): 10.5″W x 8.375"D x 3.75"H

· Weight: 6.5 lbs.

· ProNet Price: $1199 USD (International Prices set in each country)

· Bluetooth pedal for Memory setting recall and tuner function

Can't believe they left out the lo-mid frequency area I like to boost most. Any adjustable option down there I'll set between 120 and 130 Hz.

 

[Passinwind]

Why did you choose the amp that you use?

Because it says Passinwind on the front panel, of course...

But seriously, I went the DIY route because I needed an amp that worked equally well with BG, EUB, AUB, guitar synth, or even vocals. And all the tone controls play nice with the ones in my onboard preamps. The rest of the feature set is tailored to my specific wants and needs too: low-ish impedance input, adjustable HPF, one band fully parametric EQ, high headroom Aux input, and an EFX loop that actually works well with my rack EFX units.

And even with all of that, don't try this at home probably still applies to all but a very few people, IMO and IME.

 

[BostonJazz72]

This little rig looks sinister and formidable!

It most certainly is sinister! My most portable system to date! Those Arnopol cabs are no joke. The 8" speaker can compete with 12" any day of the week.