Small bass amp for recording.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:17 am

"back in the day" when you could get dirt cheap rent in the Mission (S.F.)
I used to rock an acoustic 450 head with the matching (gigantic) 2x15. While it is certainly possible to put a bunch of fancy ports on a cab and make a very small 2x15. Nothing really conquers a stage like a big ass cabinet. It was made of insanely thick void free plywood. Lke something beyond 13ply. When I blew the bottom 15 I limped along with a single 15" in a 2x15 cab. It was almost louder?
Oh yeah, when I was subbing on bass in another punkrock band (Zero Hour) I used someones 2x12? acoustic bass combo. It would be right on the edge of distortion constantly barely keeping up with Steves marshall half stack.
Old solid state ampeg are really cool too. They have super simple tone controls and a few rocker swtiches for low and high boost.
At the end of the day I really think a good recording amp is usually the one with the least crazy knobs on it. Its got less circuits in there so theres that aspect. But there's also a lot to be said for Vol-bass-treble. If you NEED some crazy mid shifting low boost parallel effect loop than your over intellectualizing it.
As frank zappa said, shut up and play your guitar.

(says he with the Mesa boogie)

oil_can · Post by **oil_can** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:30 am

B15's are amazing, although somewhat tempermental and pricey to maintain. I picked up one of those Epiphone Valve Jr. heads that I use in tandem with my Aguilar 1x12 cab, great paired with a DI to add some grit and 'life' to the sound. I've even used the head with an old Peavey 1x10 PA speaker with favorable results, total price for that rig is in the $200 area.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:59 am

those acoustics look like a nice deal.

I have an older swr baby blue that records nice,especially with a 1x15 extension cab plugged in.

I'm not a fan of direct or the guitar amp thing. but that's just me:)

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:17 pm

Harry wrote:those acoustics look like a nice deal.

I have an older swr baby blue that records nice,especially with a 1x15 extension cab plugged in.

I'm not a fan of direct or the guitar amp thing. but that's just me:)

have you tried direct + guitar amp?
Thats the sweet spot.
DI for sub lows and string bite, amp for that paper cone compression and beef.
Heck I am gonna go plug the stingray in right now.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:39 pm

calaverasgrandes wrote:
Harry wrote:those acoustics look like a nice deal.

I have an older swr baby blue that records nice,especially with a 1x15 extension cab plugged in.

I'm not a fan of direct or the guitar amp thing. but that's just me:)
have you tried direct + guitar amp?
Thats the sweet spot.
DI for sub lows and string bite, amp for that paper cone compression and beef.
Heck I am gonna go plug the stingray in right now.

I have to confess that I never have tried the combo. since I don't like either way on it's own I doubt my lazy ass ever will:)
I am a huge fan of the Stingray though!!! I wish I still had mine:(

My new favorite thing is the Moog 101 LPF . Even when it's turned off the gain is working. You can really dial in some grit when you want....some good grit!!!!!

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:42 pm

WHat do you guys think of the Roland Cube bass amp? I haven't heard one in person, just online but from clips I've heard they sound pretty cool....

roygbiv · Post by **roygbiv** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:03 pm

Since my stadium concert days are long gone (never really existed, actually), I traded a 2X10 mitchell cab, and 1X15 Mesa Boogie cab for one of these new Ampeg B100R "vintage" thingy.

http://www.ampeg.com/products/diamondbl ... index.html

You might want to check one out. I haven't recorded it directly yet (we use a Sansamp DI box when recording), but it looks cool, sounds really pretty decent. Its enough volume for a small-to-medium size gig, and it is simple to dial in a good sound. And most importantly - it's pretty light for my old back. Coolest little new amp that has I've seen in some time - you can get it to sounds jsut right (in an old school Ampeg+Precision/Thumpy growl way), without much struggle.

PS - you can sit on it too - nice bonus for old guys.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:44 pm

are those new?
I seem to remember "Rocket" series ampegs with the fancy blue tolex in the mid 90's. Ampeg is one of those companies that has had such a bewildering array of products, models, and owners that I have a hard time keeping it straight.
One thing I have learned though. The old silver face ampegs sound teh best. But be prepared to spend roughly the budget for a new head ever 2-3 years on maintenance, repair, and new tubes. I know a few guys that own original ampegs and only will bust them out for special shows. The rest of the time its a GK 400R/800RB.

The Roland cubes are pretty decent. Kind of like what the JC120 is for guitar. Not tubey at all but good. But those along with the B100/B15 get pretty far into loud. I would think louder than the OP is looking for.
but in the same ballpark is the PJ Briefcase
http://www.philjonespuresound.com/PJWeb ... fcase.aspx
which kicks a lot of ass.

roygbiv · Post by **roygbiv** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:40 pm

calaverasgrandes wrote:are those new?
I seem to remember "Rocket" series ampegs with the fancy blue tolex in the mid 90's.

Good point, they may have been around for a while - I'm not sure the age of mine - I got it used at Trade Up Music here in Portland (a great store for finding cool used stuff). I think they do still sell them new though, I found a few links online:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... c=3LAMWXX1

(note- the reviews go back to 2003, so they must have been around at least that long!)

Anyway, it really is a pretty cool little amp - kind of like a Princeton, you just plug it in, turn up to moderately loud (NOT ear-splitting) and think "hmm, yep, that's the sound I wanted, that'll do. And then commence with the playing part, minus the knob-twiddling fussing. Plenty of volume for a band in all but a big club.

One extra plus - they are a very loud 100 W solid state. usually always prefer tubes, but this is a good warm sounding solid-state, and much less upkeep (and weight) than a tube amp.

PS - those briefcase amps look pretty cool, and are even lighter - app. how much are they?

desdinova · Post by **desdinova** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:48 am

InvalidInk wrote:WHat do you guys think of the Roland Cube bass amp? I haven't heard one in person, just online but from clips I've heard they sound pretty cool....

I personally use the old ones and have played with the new microcubes.
The Keyboard Cube 40, 60 and 100 are great for clean bass. You'll need your grit in your pedal chain if you want it. The new microcube's COSM effects are great on guitar and rhodes but I haven't tried it with a bass. There's a new purpose-built bass version that I haven't tried.
The 70s/80s cubes with the ugly paint aren't very popular for some reason and are one of the best values out there, imo.

bipedal · Post by **bipedal** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:32 am

Temporary thread detour:

I remember hearing (when I first started noodling on guitars and basses as an impressionable teen) that it was a big no-no to run a bass into a guitar amp except at super low volumes. For some reason that "warning" has stuck with me, though I've never really investigated...

Anything to this, or just a silly rumor with no substance behind it?

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 1:09 pm

you can blow a speaker ona guitar amp with a bass. Especially if you are talking about one of them grandpa guitar amps with them 1" voice coils and low watt speakers. I have played bass through guitar heads into bass cabinets and it was no problem. Except that the preamp usually has a hpf of some sort before the first gain stage.

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