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Good Amp for regular gigging


tedred59
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My band play 3 nights a week and we are booked up near enough the full year...I play through an Ashdown Mag 600 watt head and use either a combination of a 4x10 cab and 1x15 cab or a 2x10 cab with the 1x15...or sometimes I just use the 4x10 cab and head....I get the tone I want from each combination however Ashdown cabs tend to have a "baked in" sound and it can get quite muddy at higher levels of volume and as i'm due an upgrade on my equipment I was looking for some recommendations on a different amp that I can gig 12 times a month

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First point. . . . you're not going to get that tone out of any other amp and cab combination. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just a fact.

My last rig was an Aguilar TH500 through a Bergantino CN212. What a great sound. I'm now playing the TH500 through 2 Barefaced Super Compacts. Another world beating sound.

Both these rigs are a quarter of the size and weight of the Ashdowns and will go louder with (IMO) better tone. That's the advances in modern gear for you. There are many choices out there but these rigs are two of the best and the ones I know about. You'll need to start auditioning some of the recommendations you'll be getting. Good luck.

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I think that beyond a certain (price) point pretty much any amp would stand up to regular gigging. I'd have a slight preference for solid state over tubes if I wanted absolute reliability but plenty of people were using and abusing tube amps on tours years before solid state was popular.*

If you like Ashdown then there are plenty of lightweight options from that brand. Something like the Rootmaster head (or some of the older class d heads) with a pair of 1x12" cabinets would likely do a lot of shows for a lot of people but without knowing about your situation it will be hard to recommend stuff.

How loud do you need to be?
How many guitarists do you have and what amps do they use?
Are you playing with Keith Moon or Buddy Rich?
Do you always have PA support?



* As an aside, one of my other hobbies is watches and that comes up a lot there too. If you want reliable, you simply HAVE to have quartz. Despite the fact that a hand winder was on Edmund Hillary's wrist when he went up Everest. But yeah, if you want a reliable amp you'll HAVE to go solid state. :-P

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[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1495029110' post='3300627']
How loud do you need to be?
How many guitarists do you have and what amps do they use?
Are you playing with Keith Moon or Buddy Rich?
Do you always have PA support?
[/quote]

Also:
What bass(es) do you play?
Is there a particular sound you strive for?
Is weight/size/portability an issue?
Size of budget?

When you say "amp", do you mean the whole rig, or are you just looking for another amplifier to run through your existing Ashdown cabs?

If you can use an amp for one gig a year, you can use it for 100 gigs a year.

Edited by Conan
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[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1495033706' post='3300718']
If you can use an amp for one gig a year, you can use it for 100 gigs a year.
[/quote]

Oooh, disagree. Well actually you're right you [i]could[/i]. There are enough people out there with things like old Hiwatts and Aguilar DB751s that only come out for the 'big gigs' because it's too much hassle to take them to The Dog and Duck. There's a local guy around here who's Fafner and 2 410s never get a look in sine he got the Reidmar and 112s.

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[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1495034507' post='3300731']
Oooh, disagree. Well actually you're right you [i]could[/i]. There are enough people out there with things like old Hiwatts and Aguilar DB751s that only come out for the 'big gigs' because it's too much hassle to take them to The Dog and Duck. There's a local guy around here who's Fafner and 2 410s never get a look in sine he got the Reidmar and 112s.
[/quote]

OK, I take your point! :) What I meant was that any amp that is worth buying for a few gigs would be robust enough to do three a week... B)

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I do 4-6 gigs a month (in a good month) and have been using Ashdown ABM and Barefaced cab without trouble for 4 years.

I did have a new ABM 600 fail on me in the first number at a gig, but I replaced with my evo II (bought well used 4 years ago) and carried on. I haven't found anything that sounds better than an ABM yet.

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If you`re happy with the tone you get, but are struggling at higher volumes then maybe it`s Ashdown ABM time - I`m assuming the cabs you`re using are also Ashdowns MAG range? The ABMs are a higher range, so can be pushed harder whilst retaining their core tone. It may also be a sympton of the MAG head, so maybe an ABM head - certainly the ABM600 is very versatile and can be made very sharp/grindy with a bit of tinkering on the 9-band equalisation.

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A plug for Markbasses: Walbassist recently got a Markbass K1 rig. He's loving it.

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1493401580' post='3288132']
I love it. It sounds fantastic. Loud as you like, wonderfully balanced tone. As we've said before, very flat response so it's all about the tone of your bass. I had a bit of a windfall a couple of weeks ago so got the matching Traveler cab as well. Couldn't resist :)
[/quote]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/303257-markbass-k1-combo-the-new-king-on-the-block/page__st__30__p__3288145__hl__markbass%20k1__fromsearch__1#entry3288145"]http://basschat.co.u..._1#entry3288145[/url]

All the headroom you will ever need, particularly with the second Traveller cab, but it's not light. My 500W Markbass AC 121 Lite combo is, however, "lite" at just 35 lbs...

Edited by Al Krow
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[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1495094211' post='3301133']
My 500W Markbass AC 121 Lite combo is, however, "lite" at just 35 lbs...
[/quote]

Yes, love the K1 :) To note there's a used AC121 in Bass Direct at the moment at £599. Could be just the ticket?

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[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1495105789' post='3301283']
There is an ABM 1000 in the for sale section..
[/quote]

That has to be a consideration if liking the Ashdown sound. I`m desperately trying to talk myself out of it, as I have no need of it.

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