need some bass help.

[sunsetbass]

i've been playing guitar (6 string) scince i was 12. so through the 80's i never really paid any attention to the bass players or what they played through. as of 3 years ago i took up playing bass. honestly i prefer it to 6 string. what my question is i want to put together a bass rig that will give me the same sound that the 80's metal bands had. i know what companys make quality bass rigs but what should i be looking for in particular. i'm talking everything. do i want tube or solid state? what size of speakers do i want? what brand to use? when it comes to 6 strings i have no problem bass i'm lost. any help is appreciated. i have played through a couple of different rig combination. but i still havent found it yet.

[Geetarzz]

GK 2001RB head, and 8x10's. Can't go wrong with that setup.

[bassist_25]

I agree 100% on the Gallien Krueger suggestion. G-K was a really big bass company in the 80s. I also agree with sticking with 10s. Bass tone really started to become more hifi in the 80s, and the speed of 10s will be very conducive to what you're trying to project.

You can find used G-K equipment pretty much anywhere, but if you are going to buy brand new, there's only one place you should get it from: RMC Audio. http://www.rmcaudio.com/

You have to email them about the gear you're interested in, and they'll email you a price back. It's the cheapest place to get G-K gear at retail price, even cheaper than Musician's Friend.

Here's the direct link to the G-K page: http://www.rmcaudio.com/menu/amps-frame.htm

[sunsetbass]

thanx guys. i'll check it out

[Banned]

GK 2001RB head, and 8x10's. Can't go wrong with that setup.

I use two 4X10 cabs, That way it's easier to transport, and you can break it in half for smaller venues. Make sure your cab has Hi freq. horn. I agree 100% with Geetarz & Bassist_25, G/K would be a great choice for a head. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 500 watts if your gonna be playing outside of the garage. 800 - 1000 for outside gigs and large venues. The bass needs more wattage than a typical guitar amp to be able to stand in the mix. If your guitar player is running a 100 watt half stack and you're using a 150 watt bass amp, it will be a constant battle just to hear yourself onstage Not to mention if you don't have FOH support, you might as well go home. It's better to have the power and not need it than to need it and not have it!
Best of luck!

[bassist_25]

An 8x10 does sound and react differently than two 4x10s. Does it sound differently enough to choose one over the other? Well, that's a matter for your own ears (and back) to decide. Each speaker in an Ampeg 8x10 is enclosed in its own box, so that's going to be giving it a different sound than two typical 4x10s. Also, majority of the 8x10s out there are sealed, whereas many 4x10s are front-ported, rear-ported, or sealed.

Totally agree about the power. After gigging a 100 watt combo for a few years, much to the chargrin to my bandmates, I became obsessed with power. I use to make fun of those guys who were nuts about high-powered amps, and now I have 1600 watts in my rack.

Headroom is nice. G-K makes a really nice preamp that you could pair with a high-powered PA power amp (G-K's heads are solid-state anyways, so you wouldn't be giving up a tube power section). The 2001RB would be plenty loud though, if you want a self-contained unit.

[sunsetbass]

i have a carver 1.5 power amp i wanna use but i was thinking of using a sansamp tech21 preamp. the carver has more than enough power for a bass rig its just the preamp part thats got me wondering. i did consider (brace yourself your gonna cringe ) a behringer v-pro bass preamp but i'm not sure. what caught my eye was the price and i know you get what you pay for. also i have heard that they are good for studio work. having never been in a studio to record i dont know what the difference would be in the sound coming out of the cab. has anyone here used the behringer v pro for bass?

[bassist_25]

I haven't used the V Bass, but just this past weekend, I once again caught This Calling. Chris was using the guitar version of the Behringer, and I thought he sounded excellent. I was thoroughly impressed. From what I understand, though, the Behringer doesn't have seamless switching, so there's a lag between patches.

With that said, I think you would be better served by the SansAmp. It's a very respectable unit and I know a lot of cats using them for their front ends. For years, I've used the solid-state version of the BBE B-Max, which is similar in price to the SansAmp. The B-Max is more transparent and hifi than the SansAmp, which is more colored and SVT-like. Both are excellent units, so it's up to you what you want to go with. The SansAmps are cool though, because you can rack two up and use them almost like a dual-channel amp head: One preamp for clean and one for dirty. The SansAmp are like tube emulators and are the closest things I've heard to replicating a pissed off SVT sound without actually being a pissed off SVT.

If you want to hear different preamps, check out www.basstasters.com They have a number of different preamps. Most of the units are left flat, so you'll probably only hear slightly discernable differences between them all, but it may help point you in the right direction.

Also, when buying a cab, pay attention to your impedence. If I remember correctly, Carvers can't be bridged down to 4 ohms.

[JackANSI]

i've always pictured 80's metal bands with GK hardware... I know that an Eden setup can get that tone as well.

I have a SansAmp and I love it. Plain and simple. I have yet to be in a situation that I couldn't dial in the tone I wanted.

Don't knock Behringer's gear off your list because its cheap. Its probably the best sounding stuff ~for the money you spend~. But there is no cheap replacement for some of the boutique'ish gear out there...

[old Skool]

I've been using a Sansamp PSA-1 for several years now (for guitar) and love it. No issues, no problems and tons of tones. I have used the PSA-1 for some bass recording and really liked it there as well.