Let's talk bass heads

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:20 am

I just got an awesome 1x15 ear candy cab...man this thing is a work of art!!!

I'm using it mainly as an extension cab for my swr baby blue
( the older one with 2 x8s)

Now this cab is so nice I have a jones for some real power.

here's a couple of things I was looking at but it seems like nothing it what it was and companies are bought and sold, and made in America means Made in Asia??? you know....

Ampeg

http://www.ampeg.com/products/classic/svtcl/index.html

Made in China or not I bet that beast will sound pretty cool...

Eden

http://www.eden-electronics.com/product ... wt550.aspx

I heard Eden was just sold Again.... I don't know if I want to deal with that kind of thing.

So whats out there that's good( I know more about guitar amps than bass)
The older I get the more I'm into bass for some reason???

Maybe loud guitars are starting to hurt my old ears...but some bass thunder is keeping me regular:)

Thanks

4080ag · Post by **4080ag** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:15 am

As a long time bass player, I needed to upgrade to a more powerful amp a few years back.
I really like the sound of all tube (pre and power) bass amps like the old tried and true Ampegs.
However, I decided to go with versatility.. so purchased a Crown power amp (solid state) which is known as one of the best makes of raw power in terms of reliability, US made. For tone I use a variety of preamps.. some are tube, some solid state.. sometimes I link them together. You are given a wider range of tone for the dollars.. since recording is important to me, I find this a better solution than one very heavy tube amp with one kind of sound.
One REALLY good bass amp is an EBS. There is the Fafner, TD650, probably more.. very good amps.. however what you get is exactly as I describe.. a tube pre coupled with SS power.
My way at least allows you to pick your own preamp.

comfortstarr · Post by **comfortstarr** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:47 am

Personally, I think there are oodles of great options. I used to play through a GK RB400 for years and years and years. Great, solid head. Sounded good powering 2, 1x15s. I got old, that shit got heavy. I downsized to a single cab (1x12) and bought a Euphonic Audio iAmp 350 about 6 years ago. I love this head, it's exceedingly flexible from a tone perspective. That said, I probably spent more than I needed to. I'd really look closely at GK if I were you. But there are tons of good options out there. For me, bass sound is even more derived with the sum of the parts than elec. guitar (but that's just a lowly opinion).

380fjnOk · Post by **380fjnOk** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:04 am

I can tell you about the wt550, I have this amp since 4 years, no problems yet.
It is a solid piece, sounds good. the eq is great, 3 semi parametric mids, you can shape the tone quite a bit. just fyi, the tube preamp can?t be overdriven, it clips badly when pushed hard. the DI sounds good as well.
it?s also quite small, but its on the heavy side (20 pounds) - for a contemporary solid state amp that is. there are quite a few choices now and for a clean amp that gets carried around a lot I?d look at the lightweight amps with digital power section (like markbass, and so on). now I tested the eden against an old markbass and prefered it?s tone, but to be honest the newer markbass gear I played at gigs when a backline was provided sounded great as well. so ymmv.

you also mentioned ampeg tube amp and compared to eden this is a different animal.
I haven?t owned an all-tube amp yet, but played with quite a few of them (ampeg svt, orange, mesa boogie 400+). softer attack, woolly, varying amounts of saturation.
the eden (and similar designs from other brands) is a different character - sharper attack, clean, glassy, and so on.
of course, ymmv! so try them out before you buy!

I?d also look into aguilar, I tried the ag500 for a while. it has nice distortion channel and it?s also small and portable.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:23 am

Oh man...these look cool.

Thunderfunk

http://www.greensquare.net/ThunderFunk/ ... sp?x=0&y=0

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:34 pm

Peavey Mark Whatever (III, IV, etc)

There I said it. I think they're great for rock and roll.

Don't forget Acoustic (the brand).

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:13 pm

losthighway wrote:Peavey Mark Whatever (III, IV, etc)

There I said it. I think they're great for rock and roll.

Don't forget Acoustic (the brand).

Both great recommendations, +1 (always look for Acoustic brand amps or cabs)

The Peavey 400 head was cool also and the Kustom K200A (1967?) is fantastic IMO (tuck and roll frankenstein head). Matching cab with 3x15 is tha bomb but hard to find.

ofajen · Post by **ofajen** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:03 pm

I'm using an old Traynor YMP-1 (Bass Master). Not the loudest amp ever, but it really has a good solid, all-tube vibe going, plus four eq controls.

Cheers,

Otto

UnlikeKurt · Post by **UnlikeKurt** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:23 am

acoustic (the old stuff, not the new ones), ampeg.

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:47 am

Ampeg.

The original silver-faced 70's SVT's are great. A good V4 is amazing as well, though not as powerful.

Gallien Kreugers generally sound really good too.

There's a rack mount, tube Mesa head that I like a lot, but I can't find it online, and don't know the model #.

A.David.MacKinnon · Post by **A.David.MacKinnon** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:52 am

ofajen wrote:I'm using an old Traynor YMP-1 (Bass Master). Not the loudest amp ever, but it really has a good solid, all-tube vibe going, plus four eq controls.

Cheers,

Otto

Traynor Customs are also really great. They weigh a ton but if you're looking at an SVT you're already headed down that road anyway.

For solid state I also like the 70's Traynor Mono Block amps.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:20 am

anyone use that SVT classic?

I love the old Ampeg sound...Do the new ones hold up?

I"m pretty sure it would be all the amp I would ever need.

You can find them for 1200 bucks all over (B stock)

80 LBS....DAMN!!!!!!

that's some crazy weight

Thanks for the input so far

ofajen · Post by **ofajen** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:56 am

junkshop wrote:Traynor Customs are also really great. They weigh a ton but if you're looking at an SVT you're already headed down that road anyway.

Is that the same as a Custom Reverb (YSR-1)? I have one of those that I have only used as a guitar amp. Never tried it on bass so far, but I probably should!

Cheers,

Otto

A National Acrobat · Post by **A National Acrobat** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:37 am

Look no further...

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... D=26039693

Based on the Sunn 300T which, once purchased by Fender, became the Bassmann 300.

It almost has too many options and has always been a pleasure to record. As far as reissues go, this is it.

Dials in the most convincing 'vintage' SVT sound and it's just inside-out versatile. Oh yeah...loud too.

Just rip that stupid Fender logo off and you're all set.

kdarr · Post by **kdarr** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:24 pm

I've had my British-made Ashdown ABM500 EVOII for about 5 years now, and it sounds great - very musical EQ center freqs, versatile, and it works like a champ. No idea how the newer Ashdowns are... last I heard the company wasn't doing super well.

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