Which bass amp to choose?

Manfred-Klose

A friend of mine is looking for a bass amp, single speaker about 100w,not to heavy and being able to handle a gig volume.(Price range R2500-R4000)

Can anyone recommend one i can go look?
Maybe a HARTKE?

I saw this at a guitar shop yesterday for R2800:
http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=82
But dont think it will handle a loud gig.

thanks.

TomCat

I have a Laney RB-7 300W head and 2 x 10". Powerfull and loud......

I paid R 4600.00 for mine at Marshall Music Woodmead. They also have one at Music Connection. Plent power and happy at Gig levels with live drummer.
http://www.laney.co.uk/show_prod.php?prod=RB7

There is also the Fender Rumble 100/15
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=2315600010

Another one is the Ashdown Electric Blue. A loud Bass amp with lots of output. Has a nice growl to it.
http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=103

Manfred-Klose

Thanks Tom, i also had the fender rumble in mind.

Also maby the fender bassman 100 combo, but think it might be expensive, will go and find out prices.

cain

A Bassman is gonna cost a fortune ...

Manfred-Klose

I'm also having a look at this one:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Kickback15/

TomCat

Manfred Klose wrote: I'm also having a look at this one:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Kickback15/

I also looked at that amp when I was shopping for a bass amp.

I haven't heard one but I've been told that the aluminium cone loudspeaker made the amp sound toppy and thin.....Not heard it myself but that was what I was told.

Happy hunting......

DaFiz

My research pointed me towards the Roland Cube 100 but the price of a new one was out of reach for me and used ones were rare (obviously those who owned them loved them to much to part with them) ☹
What I did find for half the price was a Crate BT100.
100Watts into a 15" Speaker (the 15" speaker just makes a whole lot of sense for bass) While It's a bit bulky for my aching back I'm so glad I didn't buy that TNT on gumtree.
I compare this to the Ashdown 300W into four 10" speakers. The Ashdown has more volume which I don't need, but the four 10"s just don't give me what I want.

The little Laney Hardcore 65W was OK for my bedroom but hopelessly inadequate for the band room.

A very important feature is the red and white RCA plug inputs. You can plug in a CD or DVD player and jam along or plug in your PC and play your midi files.
It has line out facilities if you want to play through an external speaker or through a PA. I took it along last night and I'm delighted with it's performance. :woohoo:

TomCat

@ Manfred.......BTW....whichever bass amp you go for....I recommend that you purchase one that includes a XLR line out for connection to a PA.

All those I suggested above have balanced line outs.

Manfred-Klose

I'll go and check out the ashdown blue aswell.

I also found this:
http://www.ampeg.com/products/bassamp/ba115/index.html

also a balanced line out, and goes for R3500.

TomCat

Manfred Klose wrote: I'll go and check out the ashdown blue aswell.

I also found this:
http://www.ampeg.com/products/bassamp/ba115/index.html

also a balanced line out, and goes for R3500.

Nice amp.

Ampeg is a good brand.....no problem there....

Midinut

My small gig outfit is an Ashdown Mag600 on a Hartke 2.5XL. I actually stand the cab on it's head to make it taller...and there's plenty of bass mid and tops all round. Problem is that it is hard to make this kind of rig sounds dirty since the speakers are aluminium. And of course you have to take a line out for the louder situations - that is if the PA is substantial enough! PS It is also easy to lug around as you can basically carry the cab and amp in one go.

Styles

Try Gumtree?
As a former Ashdown Mag300 with Mag15 cab, you get plenty of bang for the buck, And they're going cheaply!
Hey, Midinut, You bought my Yamaha TRB right?

needleshy

i was bass amp hunting a little while ago and managed to try out a good few bass amps and got alot of info from them all, i ended up trading my fender hotrod deluxe for an ampeg SVT350 pro with a 4x10 ampeg classic cab but this is what i found from my searches.

the hartke has very funny sound to it and very tinny due to the use of an aliminium cone speaker and is cool for jazz but not so cool sounding for rock etc, i tried most of the ashodowns and they are cool i was just told to watch out for the blue series cause they tend to get alot of comebacks from breakdowns, the mag series is better, the evo's have real nice tone but are quite pricey, as for the fender bassmen are super cool but they are over R10 000 but they are really nice and clear toned with alot of mid and high focus aswell as the ashdown evo's and kleistrom's the ampeg i ended up with is warm and thick and great for the style we doin.

i would say for that price bracket i would go for an ashdown, cause not many ppl like the hartke tone, i know i didn't.