Which Bass Amp?

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Sun May 16, 2004 2:31 pm

Im soon hoping to buy a new bass amp, i had a practise 30 watter, but it got a bit wet, now im looking for something between 50 and 100 watts, that sounds nice (gives a nice round thud sound), and cant be too expensive, i live in Holland, and music stuff is generally a lot more expensive here. Im completly open minded to any suggestions on which could be the one for me.

irish_admiral · Post by **irish_admiral** » Sun May 16, 2004 3:28 pm

I suppose you want a combo bass amp? I don't know so much about bass amps, but i've got an old series 6 Trace Elliot 715 which gives me about 115 watts with 1 x 15" speaker. It's got a powerful preamp section so you can change the sound around quite a lot. It's got lots of great sounds, perhaps the only thing I wish it was better on was the low bass frequencies. It's very powerful, but they're not as tight as i'd like them to be when they're turned up high. Then again, other people might like that.

I only paid Ã‚Â£85 (about $150) for it second hand, so i'm happy with what i've got. Depends what you'll be using it for though.

Don't tell me the best way, just tell me the cheapest way...

Post by **bclaire** » Sun May 16, 2004 5:03 pm

Get as many watts as possible. Bass needs power to move that much air- and the more watts the better- I wouldn't do less than 250 myself, and 300 being ideal.

Just avoid Peavey. SWR makes a nice combo- but I suspect it would be pricey there...

Billy

peter6toy · Post by **peter6toy** » Sun May 16, 2004 11:33 pm

I agree with that. Bass needs power, watt's to move air. A 30w bass-amp, ... I don't know. Is that a real bass-amp ? In the "orange-range" i think there is a new Bass-combo, but if it is for "the real playing", I would not recommend that one.

If you want real stuff, look for a 4x10 cabinet with head. Okay, it will be a lot more expensive then a 'normal' combo, but you will have more pleasure of it, and it will be a good investment. You can rely on that for years ! Then I can recommend SWR speakers. They are very good in price-quality. Avoid HARTKE (with the alumium speakers). They look cool and maybe sound special and good, but they will break down on you very easy. Also Ampeg, the orange 4x10 ... EBS .. good stuff ! For 'head' ... The orange AB200B will be to pricy, but maybe you can find something in the SWR or AMPEG range ? Ampeg has very good 'low priced' heads that can do a LOT !

For combo, I'm not really into that. But again, keep the "watt's" in mind. Don't buy a 50W bass combo. Go over 200 to 300 like bclaire states. Before I had my Orange stuff, I had a Laney BC250 combo. Not superb material, but it was good for what it had to do. And now, in it's second life, it serves as a power-amp for our vocals !

And if you look for a good price, try something "second-hand" or "used" (tweedehands in nederlands

). On site's like www.marktplaats.nl of http://muziek.2dehands.nl you can find a lot of good stuff on good prices ! (always try before you buy !)

Or ... last tip. Go to a 'big' musicstore, and try out a lot of amps. Take your bass with you, and go try all the amps and combinations you can find. That and only that will give you the best for you ! (and then search that model second hand

haha)

Good luck !

peter
- ORANGE AD200B #083MK2 -
- ORANGE AD140B #006 -
- ORANGE 8x10" BASSCAB -
- ORANGE OD120 #13993 -

www.sixtoys.be

macahan · Post by **macahan** » Mon May 17, 2004 8:33 am

i agree about the watts.. but I have to disagree about the peavey issue..

peavey make really good amps actually, atleast the model that i had (markIII). i'm not talking small combos..

But of course all ideas are different... but I don't know...
atherwise you should be able to get a Marshall JCM 800 bass for not that much money..

my ad200 sounds amazing..

macahan · Post by **macahan** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:57 pm

i would also like to point out that my old peavey suck compared to my orange ad200..

but I guess you knew that already...

there are an AD200 MK III for sale on ebay by the way if anyone is interessted.. Peter, check out the panel with pics that we've discussed for quite a number of times.. I think the new design is great..

<img src="http://i1.ebayimg.com/01/i/01/c9/41/16_1_b.JPG" border=0>

I just wish that they'd come up with the new design earlier or what do you think??

my ad200 sounds amazing..

Electric Warrior · Post by **Electric Warrior** » Mon May 17, 2004 3:38 pm

well, that "new" design is basically the old one, isn't it?

With my Les Paul I know I'm small but I enjoy livin' anyway
(Marc Bolan in "Spaceball Ricochet")

Post by **bclaire** » Mon May 17, 2004 5:53 pm

Well, I will admit that the Peavey bass stuff is probably the best stuff they make but that's not saying a lot.

My old roommate had a SWR Redhead combo- it was 2X10 with a tweeter I believe, and 250 watts. It has a cover that snaps over the speakers and it doubles as a tilt-back stand for the amp. Schweet!!! It was a very good sounding amp I must admit and you could probably use it in almost all situations.

Billy

rival empire · Post by **rival empire** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:17 pm

i must step in and vouch for peavey here. i've had much bass equipment and believe that it to be very good for its price. i've had ampeg, galien krueger, and hartke setups. i think peavey was my second favorite bass amp of choice, second only to my swr setup - not working man series, i'm not fond of them. i have had an old peavey tko115 combo that was really great. and a peavey tmax 500 head. they're 90'sish era heads were great - including i think the firebass(?) stuff. i really did like it. just to give you a different opinion.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:48 pm

Thanks for the advice. Does anyone know about SWR combos, Working man LA etc, if i can mention that here.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:48 pm

Thanks for the advice. Does anyone know about SWR combos, Working man LA etc, if i can mention that here.

irish_admiral · Post by **irish_admiral** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:52 pm

I think the general drift of advice here is that Peavey has a particular sound that if it's right for you, then fine. But the fact that half the people here have said Peavey sucks has got to tell you something also... that for a lot of people, it's not the right sound.

Funnily enough, i've used a TKO 115 too, and it's alright, not amazing, but sound enough. I'd prefer my Trace Elliot over it for sound quality.

I think in general terms, if you're looking to get a used combo at cheap price, you're not going to be looking for SWR, Ampeg etc as they'll be great amps, but too expensive. Peavey & Trace Elliot do decent amps and they go for very reasonable 2nd hand prices, so have a hunt around on eBay or similar.

Don't tell me the best way, just tell me the cheapest way...

peter6toy · Post by **peter6toy** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:40 pm

Hey Macahan, I don't know about the new design ... When concidering the 'old' ones are more 'rare' then this design. And peronally I don't like the MK3 on the front ...

But I do like the picts, that's a fact ...

O well, it's all about tone no ? When saying that we have a "custom shop" (MK1 or MK2), and these are 'band-production' ... ( and then Billy replying that it's the same sounding

haha ...) It really does not matter to me. I'm in a way happy that I have one "that is not for sale anymore". And if all the rest is equal, that makes the balance go for my amp instead of this MK3

But hey, if I find one, I'll take it home with me any second

haha.

By the way, did I tell you about my new job ? For 2 weeks now I work in a cool place. Kick Artist Service (www.kick.be), and we provide backline to bands/artist/... on tour or in need of equipment. Bands (like bands on festivals, artist flying over from USA or ...) don't bring their own equipment because it's to expensive to fly over, and can rent stuff with us. You can imagine how foeking big the storage is, and what kind of stuff is all there. It goes from like 20 "top series" drumkits from DW, TAMA, GRETCH, PEARL, ORANGE COUNTY ... whatever, till like 30 Mesa Boogie's, 50 marshall's, LOADS of fender Hot Rod, Blackface, Silverface, Super Reverb's ... Conga's, Tumba's and all the rest of percussion ... Cabinets of Marshall, Orange, Mesa, ... All the weird models of all amps ... ALL ampeg's, ALL mesa's, ALL marshalls, ALL VOX, ... Only the Orange-part is a little "under-rated" because not a lot people ask for it. (just some cabinet's, OTR's and combo's. (they sold a LOT some years ago, I missed it ... DAMN) The VOX is a personal "collecting-thing" of our boss. Name it, and we have it !!! One 'room' is the special VINTAGE room. Stuff over there can only be rented at special advice from the big boss. Old vox combo's (all of them !), vox heads, loads of Bassmans (white), plexi-marshalls ... We also do tour's with bands (like one tech goes with some amps to take care of them ...) It's a dream every day when I go to work.

So, just to let you guys know. I'm way to ROOKY to say that I'm an expert now, ... Maybe I can do that when I work there for like 5 years. But it's just such a cool job to learn about all the stuff. I work there for 2 weeks now, so I did not even see a quarter of all there. I already learned a LOT, but i'm not at 5% of what there is to learn

But ... If you guys need special spec's or questions about speciel amps .. name it and I can check for it. Speakers, tubes, control's ... if we have it in stock, it takes a minute to check for it and give you guys some answers. What I can say already now ? The Fender Twin Reverbs break down EVERY WEEKEND.

cheers !

peter
- ORANGE AD200B #083MK2 -
- ORANGE AD140B #006 -
- ORANGE 8x10" BASSCAB -
- ORANGE OD120 #13993 -

www.sixtoys.be

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:47 pm

I've looked roung, and money for watts with combos, SWR are cheapest, Ampeg are a lot, if i ever spend over 1000 euros on an amp it'll be an orange, peavey, cost a lot for the watts, i'll try it in a shop before i do anything.

Oranges and Lemons · Post by **Oranges and Lemons** » Mon May 17, 2004 10:17 pm

For the price Peavey makes a perfectly usable bass amp. Comparing Peavey to SWR and AMPEG is like Hyundais and BMWs. Obviously an SWR, AMPEG, or ORANGE would be ideal, but if you need a cheep but gigable amp, a Peavey will work fine.

I got a Peavey mark III used for $180 years ago. It's definitley given me my money's worth.

I'd also like to say something about wattage here. I play in rock bands and also a Samba/Bossa Nova/Chorinho band. For Jazz, Samba type stuff I'd take a low watt amp with tone over a 400 watt rock-and-roll monster. A lot of high end Bass amps can do both rock and smooth/warm tones(although many others can't). The only lower end bass amps I found that gave good tone for Samba/Jazz was the Fender Bassman 100 and 200s, but they're kinda pricey considering the power ratings.

Edited by - Oranges and lemons on 17 May 2004 22:22:44

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