Bass players. What amps are you using?

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Friday Nov 16, 2012

I am getting a new bass amp in January and would like to know what all you bass players here use, or would recommend? Right now I am looking at a Gallien Krueger, Line6, or Ampeg.

onegunguitar · Post by **onegunguitar** » Friday Nov 16, 2012

Mesa Titan V12 with a 4x12 Mesa PowerHouse cab. Also have a Mesa M2000 in a 2x12 PowerHouse combo.

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Friday Nov 16, 2012

Thanks, Scott. I totally forgot that Mesa makes bass amps. I will look at those. I love a good Boogie ..

Lowender · Post by **Lowender** » Friday Nov 16, 2012

Im really liking my Ampeg pf-500 , great tone and the built in compressor works really well. Cabs im still jumping around on so I Cant really comment to that end.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

My primary head is a Mesa/Boogie 400+. I also use a Carvin B2000 and very occasionally an Ampeg Micro-VR. For cabinets, I've been using Bergantino AE410s.

moxham123 · Post by **moxham123** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

My newest bass head is an Acoustic B600H (solid state) and it really delivers. They just came out with a new version called the B800H. The nice thing with this amp is that it comes with a 3 year warranty and if anything breaks within 3 years, they just hand you a brand new amp head to replace it.

I also have a 1975 Music Man (tube) amp head that worked very well and a 1976 Acoustic 370 amp head (solid state) that is a monster.

My cabinet is old and is a Carvin cabinet loaded with 2 EV 15" speakers.

Buying a bass amp is like a buying a car and it boils down to features, electronics, size and weight, sound, wattage, price etc. The best thing is to test drive some different amps and find out what you like.

onegunguitar · Post by **onegunguitar** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

f.sciarrillo wrote:Thanks, Scott. I totally forgot that Mesa makes bass amps. I will look at those. I love a good Boogie ..

Dark Soul · Post by **Dark Soul** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

My fiancee' has a Line 6 Lowdown and it is just awesome. It was $500 new at Rainbow Music and I think it was worth every penny. One of the best sounding solid state bass amps I've ever heard. Fantastic tone.

riksylvania · Post by **riksylvania** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

It's an Ampeg SVP-Classic Preamp, Crown 1000 watt power amp, Korg tuner, Audio Technica wireless, and Hartke 8 10 Hydrive cab. Loud and clean, which is what I need right now because I am playing almost strictly upright bass.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

moxham123 wrote: Buying a bass amp is like a buying a car and it boils down to features, electronics, size and weight, sound, wattage, price etc. The best thing is to test drive some different amps and find out what you like.

And then convincing the sound engineer not to stick a $30 DI box in front of your amp.

riksylvania · Post by **riksylvania** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

bassist_25 wrote: And then convincing the sound engineer not to stick a $30 DI box in front of your amp.

Very true!
If nothing else, buy one of those ART $30 tube preamps and keep it with you. I've use them in a pinch for many things. (I run my acoustic guitar through it when I play it on stage besides using it for a DI box for bass.) then you can hand it to the sound guy if need be.

riksylvania · Post by **riksylvania** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

I've discovered that the DI on my Ampeg pre is primo, so there's no need for me to bring that little bugger around any more.

moxham123 · Post by **moxham123** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

My Acoustic B600H has a direct line out (post or pre EQ), with a separate volume control on the DI panel. It works great.

Jasaoke · Post by **Jasaoke** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

We've been using one of these for quite a while now:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifie ... c=3WWRWXGP

EQ, compression, DI, in one.

Leave the amp at home.

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

I've been using a Traynor YBA-200 for a few years now. Its completely eliminated any desire to check out other amps.

The only amp I would rather have is an Orange AD200B, but they are like $2200 or so.

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

Thanks for the tips, Guys. I will look into them. It is nice getting information from people who know what they are talking about. I always learn a lot from you all.

As for what I have intent of doing. This is mostly for a church setting. I am running DI into the board and, to me, it sounds like crap. We, all on the team, were talking and are going to be going wireless here soon, and decided that we will get on stage amps and mic them to the board. They will of course make it sound a whole lot better.

The way it is right now is a total lack of 'punch' respect if you know what I mean.

- I like that price mentioned for the lowdown. I was looking at them last night and for the head and cab it would be close to $1,000.00. So I am looking towards a combo. I will look at all that you guys mentioned. I would love to go rack. But at this time, it really isn't feasible.

Thanks again for the great advice.

I am going to be shopping for a processor next.

Big Jimi Cee · Post by **Big Jimi Cee** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

Mesa M6 Carbine 2x12 combo. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be playing through a Mesa I would have chuckled a bit. I was using using and still have an SWR 1x15 and 2x10 that I was driving with a QSC PLX 1600 and a David Edan Navigator preamp. Great rig, the Mesa is a 600 (Mesa) watt combo that just blows the shorts off of rigs twice its size. The first time that I played through it was with a $100.00 Ibanez bass and I just about pooped myself at how this thing sounded. I took me almost four months to by it. The guy at Rainbow wouldn't budge an inch on price as these are discontinued by Mesa and extremely hard to get. If you can find one at a good price point buy it!!

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

Thanks, Jim. I was looking at Mesa's site last night and they still have the m6 listed. Although, I can't find it for sale anywhere. I did, however, find an m3 carbide on ebay ...

Here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mesa-Boogie-M3- ... vi-content

I'm not too sure about the price. It is kinda steep for a combo.

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

It appears that line 6 is no longer making bass products.

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Saturday Nov 17, 2012

For the purpose you mentioned I would buy this:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f127/fend ... ly-932598/

I would love to buy it anyway actually.

onegunguitar · Post by **onegunguitar** » Sunday Nov 18, 2012

Mesa don't make the M6 combo but they still make the M6 head.

Rockergirl85 · Post by **Rockergirl85** » Sunday Nov 18, 2012

No one mentioned Hartke! Im surprised! Just about every sound guy that i talked to say that Hartke amps are trouble free onstage! My bass player uses a 250 watt head and it is earth shaking!! PLus they are cheap!!

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Sunday Nov 18, 2012

I was looking at hartke yesterday. I saw on ebay that I can get a lowdown 750 barely used for $250.00 .. I think they had a cab for it for around the same price. That would be a kick ... But, I am still looking though. Thanks for all the great suggestions.

Lowender · Post by **Lowender** » Sunday Nov 18, 2012

Dont forget to try the classified section on talkbass.com loads of good deals there.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Sunday Nov 18, 2012

While we made some jokes about sound guys and DIs, if the DI doesn't sound good, the problem may not necessarily be resolved with getting an amp. A good DI with a good bass will provide a good tone as long as the FOH is good and the sound person has a clue with what they're doing. If you're playing through two 10s from RadioShack and the sound person thinks A.M. radio is high audio quality, it doesn't matter if you're playing through a Behringer DI or a vintage blueline SVT tubed with corksniffer NOS Telefunken and Amperex glass. It's gonna sound like ass through the FOH - albeit, with an amp, you can use your backline for the FOH of the mix and just run vocals and some acoustic instruments through the PA.

As far a Mesa combos, I'm pretty sure they're still putting out the Walkabout combo. Plus, they have a matching extension cab. Can check out how one sounds here: http://www.mesaboogie.com/gallery_artis ... ngton.html I just use my combo for personal practice, but if I were looking for a combo that I'd be gigging a lot with, this would be the first one I'd check out.

As far as Hartke, I personally have always loved their cabinets but I could never get into their heads, even the new LH series. Their heads always sounded kind of boxy and flat to my ears. But check 'em out, because tastes vary and you may dig them.

Also, don't foget that G-K has some nice combos, and their neo-loaded (which is nice if you move your amp a lot). Just stay away from their Backline series. It's budget line and it sounds budget line.