Will Fender Rumble 100 work for me?

[CallMeAl]

I used to own one myself and played a total of two gigs with it. The second time I used it, the guy I was backing (a solo artist) said "Never bring that thing back again", so I went back to my GK MB200 + 2x10 cab which he always complimented me on the tone of.

Having owned that combo and a pair of 1x15 Rumble cabs, I can tell you right now they take out a lot of midrange content, not just in the EQ stack but natively from the speakers. Some people like that tone, I like having the option of boominess and the option to cut. I had an awful time trying to cut without being boomy when using the Rumble 100 combo. I ended up trading it in and it was definitely the right decision.

Again YMMV, but if you are a GK player like myself you may find the Fender leaving you with a frown on your face after using it live

Thats funny; i was amp shopping, pretty set on ampeg. My guitar player INSISTED i get a rumble 100. Ive been pretty happy with it. It keeps up with our trio, me, cajon and guitar. One gig he brought the drum kit and it was not quite enough. It also sounds a little muddy with my (ex) jazz bass, but great with my p bass .

I do keep hearing that though, GK is just a little "more " than a rumble at comparable specs. Considering them for my next/bigger rig.....

But back to OP... with the vatiety of gigs youre talking about, rumble 100 would be enough, rumble 40 may (or may not) be enough.

 

[PotsdamBass8]

Having owned/used both the Rumble 100 and the GK MB112, I can say that they sound quit different and you should check them both out. If you like the sound that you got on the Rumble in the store, then you can probably safely order one. I never had the issue with it not being able to turn down. But the GK definitely has a more flexible sound. It can get close to the sound that the Rumble does well, that warm, thumpy, low mid push. But it also sounds better (IMHO and IME) at different sounds, whereas the rumble never seemed to sound right.

One more reason to consider the GK, is that you could get the powered extension 112 and have your full rig right there. Two light cabs are easier to carry back and forth than one bigger cab. Multiple trips to make it less strain.

 

[Relsom]

I use the Rumble 100 for at home practice and have used it at a couple of rehearsals. It makes a fantastic practice amp though I've been a little disappointed with it at rehearsal. As others have mentioned, it can be sort of boomy and lack clarity in a full band situation. Placing it up on a tiltback stand will probably help that, but it needs to be tested before I can make that claim. The post everything DI would make it unusable at a gig where I was attempting PA support, but I have a stand alone DI for that. I have no problem adjusting the output from very quiet to plenty loud. I think the one you tested was defective.
I got mine used as part of a trade deal and have been happy with it overall.

 

[Leo Thunder]

No, it won't work for you. The stupid thing will just sit at home waiting for you to come back from work, which you'll have to keep doing so you can pay for it.

 

[JGbassman]

I used a rumble 100 that was provided as a backline for an acoustic gig where I was playing a fretless jazz. It was a bigger and boomy room, but I just couldn't get a usable tone, it was just too mid scooped and lacked any presence. I even tilted it so it would hit me better when seated. I personally did not like it.

Lately I've been using this:

Trace Elliott ELF. 200 watt head that fits in the palm of your hand, weighs under two pounds. The cab is a single 10" 8 ohm cab, rated at 300 watts at 4 ohms. (I normally run two of these cabs for my weekend band, one for acoustic gigs.). The cabs are 16 pounds each.

Get a couple of these, and even run your GK head. They do well with other amps...
Just a suggestion, but worth a try if you can find some in s store. In my opinion, the cabs and amp really open up and sound better at a 4 ohm loading, but they do well at 8 too.

 

[Curtbass]

I used a rumble 100 that was provided as a backline for an acoustic gig where I was playing a fretless jazz. It was a bigger and boomy room, but I just couldn't get a usable tone, it was just too mid scooped and lacked any presence. I even tilted it so it would hit me better when seated. I personally did not like it.

Lately I've been using this:

View attachment 3232621


Trace Elliott ELF. 200 watt head that fits in the palm of your hand, weighs under two pounds. The cab is a single 10" 8 ohm cab, rated at 300 watts at 4 ohms. (I normally run two of these cabs for my weekend band, one for acoustic gigs.). The cabs are 16 pounds each.

Get a couple of these, and even run your GK head. They do well with other amps...
Just a suggestion, but worth a try if you can find some in s store. In my opinion, the cabs and amp really open up and sound better at a 4 ohm loading, but they do well at 8 too.
View attachment 3232623

+1
I just got the little elf and 2x8 cab and I absolutely love it. Plenty of volume, the head fits in my case and is almost the size of my di box.

 

[nightchef]

Funny the elf cabs have come up. When I was at the store yesterday auditioning the Rumbles they also had an Elf 2x8 on the floor with a LittleMark 250 head plugged into it. I tried it out and I have to say I was floored. Gorgeous sound, fat and clear and well-balanced. It was one of those "how is that big sound coming out of that little box" moments. I almost bought it on the spot, except I had my heart set on a combo. OTOH, I could add a little class D head and throw it in a carry bag, and it's the same as a combo for portability purposes. Expensive, though. I was hoping to find something for under $500, or at least as close to that as possible.

 

[nightchef]

Having owned/used both the Rumble 100 and the GK MB112, I can say that they sound quit different and you should check them both out. If you like the sound that you got on the Rumble in the store, then you can probably safely order one. I never had the issue with it not being able to turn down. But the GK definitely has a more flexible sound. It can get close to the sound that the Rumble does well, that warm, thumpy, low mid push. But it also sounds better (IMHO and IME) at different sounds, whereas the rumble never seemed to sound right.

One more reason to consider the GK, is that you could get the powered extension 112 and have your full rig right there. Two light cabs are easier to carry back and forth than one bigger cab. Multiple trips to make it less strain.

The GK combo is intriguing--certainly a perfect fit in terms of price/power/weight, and I like the modularity option. How would you say the sound would compare to something like the RB700? Pretty much the same, and if not, different in what direction? I ask because though the RB700/Schroeder combo is tight and punchy and works great for driving a high-energy groove, there are things about the sound I don't love, and they are specifically things that I notice when I try to use it for lower-volume, more subtle music. The sound is a bit lacking in richness and harmonic nuance; instead of "blooming", the tone just kind of sits there, if that makes any sense at all. It feels slightly inorganic, like coffee with Splenda in it instead of sugar.

However, since I bought the GK and the Schroeder at about the same time, and have always used them together, I'm not 100% sure how much of what I'm missing from the sound is amp and how much is cab.

 

[Yogi Bear]

I'll muddy up the waters a little bit more. I will start by saying that I'm in the Elf cab camp. I have two of the 2x8 cabs being powered by an ampeg TH500 and the sound is amazing. I rarely need more than one cab for my uses.

However, if these are out of your price range and you are looking at an affordable combo I'll add a couple more into the mix. The Traynor SB112 and the Hartke KB12. The Hartkes really surprised me. The new hydride speakers are considerably warmer than the old all aluminum speakers of past years.

 

[JGbassman]

+1
I just got the little elf and 2x8 cab and I absolutely love it. Plenty of volume, the head fits in my case and is almost the size of my di box.

I looked hard at those 2x8 cabs, I’ve heard nothing but good about them. I just couldn’t swing the price of two new. I stumbled across a deal with an open box on one of my 110 for 148.00 through Musicians Friend. It was just too good of a deal to pass over. The two cabs cover about 90% of my club gigs now. Total weight of complete system: 38 pounds. There’s no way I could complain even if I wanted to.

On another note, I’ve powered an svt 810 cab with the tiny elf, and it sounded amazing. It has that tubey sound (sort of) even though it’s ss. Very impressed.

 

[PotsdamBass8]

The GK combo is intriguing--certainly a perfect fit in terms of price/power/weight, and I like the modularity option. How would you say the sound would compare to something like the RB700? Pretty much the same, and if not, different in what direction? I ask because though the RB700/Schroeder combo is tight and punchy and works great for driving a high-energy groove, there are things about the sound I don't love, and they are specifically things that I notice when I try to use it for lower-volume, more subtle music. The sound is a bit lacking in richness and harmonic nuance; instead of "blooming", the tone just kind of sits there, if that makes any sense at all. It feels slightly inorganic, like coffee with Splenda in it instead of sugar.

However, since I bought the GK and the Schroeder at about the same time, and have always used them together, I'm not 100% sure how much of what I'm missing from the sound is amp and how much is cab.

I’ve had an 800rb and 400rbIV, but not around the same time as the mb112. I’d say it’s a similar sound, but doesn’t have the grind that you can get with the other heads. Partly because there’s no gain knob, only one volume, so it’s presumably clean until you really crank the volume. For that sound you’re talking about, I would probably suggest a pedal that can get you a little compression/grit to get that bloom and harmonic richness. There’s tons of pedals that people love for that, I will just say the Darkglass Vintage and Tech 21 VT because I’ve used them before. The Rumble can get a little of that, because the vintage switch has some compression built in. But that boominess that people talk about is magnified in that setting. You would have to tweak a lot of eq, and to be honest, in those small settings, starting off with a ton of boominess and then trying to shape it to fit is just so hard. Have you looked into a class D head and one or two 112 cabinets? It’s much more money, but you’d have more options to get the sound that you want and still have a lighter carry with each cab. A Tonehammer 350 seems like it might be a good fit for you, you can blend in that harmonic content to your taste and still have clean punchy bass for full band with the blend turned down. They’re probably pretty good deals used now too.

 

[BobDeRosa]

I used to own one myself and played a total of two gigs with it. The second time I used it, the guy I was backing (a solo artist) said "Never bring that thing back again", so I went back to my GK MB200 + 2x10 cab which he always complimented me on the tone of.

Having owned that combo and a pair of 1x15 Rumble cabs, I can tell you right now they take out a lot of midrange content, not just in the EQ stack but natively from the speakers. Some people like that tone, I like having the option of boominess and the option to cut. I had an awful time trying to cut without being boomy when using the Rumble 100 combo. I ended up trading it in and it was definitely the right decision.

Again YMMV, but if you are a GK player like myself you may find the Fender leaving you with a frown on your face after using it live

Hey Plucky, are you sure you had enough real-life experience with your Rumble? Two gigs is not a lot when it comes to setting EQ on a Rumble. They might look easy to tweak, but lots of people are taken by surprise by the power of the Gain on those things. Just a little too much Gain can make you sound really boomy, and in fact, Fender made those amps to work with no Gain at all, and I often do, especially with upright bass. If your guitarist was commenting on the boominess of your sound, that could be why.

Brian, I love my Rumble 100 and have never been even a bit disappointed with its power or sound in the kinds of venues described. I would recommend them to any old farts like me who are looking for excellent sound with minimum weight (22 lbs). And cost. Take the time to get a good sound at home, tweak it for the room at the gig, and I'm guessing you'll be very happy.

 

[Buzz E]

I used a rumble 100 that was provided as a backline for an acoustic gig where I was playing a fretless jazz. It was a bigger and boomy room, but I just couldn't get a usable tone, it was just too mid scooped and lacked any presence. I even tilted it so it would hit me better when seated. I personally did not like it.

Lately I've been using this:

View attachment 3232621


Trace Elliott ELF. 200 watt head that fits in the palm of your hand, weighs under two pounds. The cab is a single 10" 8 ohm cab, rated at 300 watts at 4 ohms. (I normally run two of these cabs for my weekend band, one for acoustic gigs.). The cabs are 16 pounds each.

Get a couple of these, and even run your GK head. They do well with other amps...
Just a suggestion, but worth a try if you can find some in s store. In my opinion, the cabs and amp really open up and sound better at a 4 ohm loading, but they do well at 8 too.
View attachment 3232623

I've used Rumbles in the past and currently use GK's, but I gotta say, these ELF's sound really nice! Definitely worth a look.

 

[GonePlaid]

Hi folks! I mostly lurk around here, but have a question. I've been getting by for years with a single bass rig of GK 700RB + Schroeder 1212 (original version). It's a very solid rig and loud enough for anything I ever do (mostly rootsy/classic rock stuff).

But I'm getting older, and I find myself fairly often in situations where the GK/Schroeder rig is mild overkill: musical theater gigs, coffeehouse/unplugged type situations, living room or back porch jams. I'd like a small combo amp for these situations. I want it to have enough power and an adequate cabinet to create a reasonably full, warm sound, but it won't have to compete with a bashing drummer and overdriven guitars. If it has a sound that records well (with mic and/or DI), that's a plus.

Initial research suggests the Fender Rumble 100 might be what I'm looking for. Does that sound right, and is there anything else I should be looking at?

Thanks!

As long as you're gonna keep the GK/Schroeder rig for larger gigs I think the R100 would work for you. When I tested the R100 and R200c at GC, I was happy with the sound(s) of both. I went with the 200c because of the extension cab capability. On our gigs the extension cab is overkill. The 200c puts out 140W by itself but the full 200W with an extension. For my purposes the R100 woulda been enuff since I could go FOH if needed. The 200c has never been maxed. In fact I use my R40 for about 1/2 my gigs. And messing with the little bright/contour/vintage buttons really makes a difference.

 

[BBassBassington]

I agree on the Rumble's gain. It massively changes the tone IME. As for setting the EQ there's lots to play with and plenty of usable range but I've found that:

• Vintage on, bass at 10-11 o'clock, the rest at noon, gain at 9
  
• Overdrive on, gain and OD at 9 o'clock, EQ flat with a slight low-mid boost
• Nothing on, EQ flat with high-mid at 3 o'clock

Are all great settings, with the third being what I use for my Stingray only, I then use the OD maxed out with that. Nothing too boomy in those settings through my 210, and I can easily slot myself sonicly between drums and guitar. I use a 500 head with Rumble 210 though so that's pretty different from the 100 combo.

I had a first gen GK MB112, and I'll say that it was very reliable. My problems were it didn't have enough headroom, and I too felt that it just kinda was there in the mix... well sometimes it wasn't too. It either got warm and disappeared or it sounded super dry and then was way too into the guitarists sonic territory. Effects weren't audible with it. Finger picked with a Jazz bass with the right EQ and it was great. Do anything else and forget about getting a good or usable tone.

If you're going for value it's hard to beat a Rumble. Ampegs are heavy with not enough power, GK just doesn't do it for me sonicly, Orange doesn't give enough power for the money, and then you start getting into expensive territory with Markbass, TE, Mesa, etc. I have liked some Traynor stuff in the past but I haven't played their newer gear.

Would it be possible to bring your GK head to a GC and try out some lightweight cabs? Your ears will have to decide what works best. If it's just a volume thing though the Rumble 100 should do just fine. You can always chain 2 100s together if you ever need them, or chain 2 Rumble (Studio) 40s, or get a Rumble 200 with or without an extension cab. Lots of different options (and of course you can do similar chaining with other brands).

 

[SoulReflection]

Of course, it could work for you! It's certainly very light and portable, with great tone and a post-EQ XLR Out for recording or FOH. At least one user transports it to and from gigs on his motorcycle!

Have you tried it out at your local music store? That's really the only way to tell if you can dial in the tone and get the volume you're looking for.

It might be a pretty big reduction from your present rig power-wise, though. You might want to consider the more flexible Rumble 200. It gets a whole lot of love in The Fender Rumble Club for it's combination of power and solid 15" speaker, 140 watts alone, 200 watts with an 8-ohm extension. You might want to ask there if you have any questions.

+1...I tried the Rumble 100 but the 200 is in a league all it's own, IMHO.

 

[JakobT]

Sure, the Rumble 100 could work for you - in fact it sounds more or less ideal, spec-wise. You should find one in a store and try it out. Several posters have been quite vocal about what they don’t like about the Rumble 100, but don’t pay too much attention to that. The only thing that really matters is what YOU like.

 

[Yahboy]

OP should give a look on Tech21 VT bass 200 combo.

Tech 21 VT Bass 200 - 200-watt 1x12" Bass Combo

I been own and love both rumble 200c and 100c in past, currently have Hartke KB15 and VT 200 combo. For output, KB15 are win. But,nice bass tone in small combo? The VT200 work for me.

 

[nightchef]

Thanks Yahboy. Question: the packaging and marketing language on this amp make it sound like they're aiming it at players who want Ampeg-style tube grit. Can the VT200 also do good (i.e. warm, round, but articulate) clean tones? Both in one package would be great, but the clean tones are probably more important for the kinds of gigs I'll be doing most often with this amp.

 

[Yahboy]

Thanks Yahboy. Question: the packaging and marketing language on this amp make it sound like they're aiming it at players who want Ampeg-style tube grit. Can the VT200 also do good (i.e. warm, round, but articulate) clean tones? Both in one package would be great, but the clean tones are probably more important for the kinds of gigs I'll be doing most often with this amp.

Vari of bass sound you can create through Character In ( Bassy Scoop ) and Out ( Thick Warm tone) along with 3 band EQ. The Bite button are extra bonus if you need more grind.

But, the Hartke KB15 sound cleaner than Rumble and VT combo.