Which bass amp?

[Rich]

If you like the sound of some Hartke amps, why not take a punt on one? I've got an old Hartke 3500 head and it's completely brilliant in every way. And like you say, they're cheap. Advantage

[Steff]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I know Schroeder aren't transparent at all, but they suit my needs very well. I think I might of made a mistake by selling my Bass 400+ before buying the Schroeders, because that could have been a good combination... I may buy it back, cos the guy who bought it has now put it for sale. The thing is, every component you replace, the sound gets different, but I never have the chance to try many different heads and cabs on gigs - just the ones I own at the moment... I like the idea of a hybrid heads with a bit more complicated valve preamp too, in fact, I might go for a Mesa Carbine, or just buy again an ampeg svt IIp preamp and find a good tight power amp for it...

[Delberthot]

[quote name='Steff' post='1264936' date='Jun 11 2011, 02:16 PM']Basically, I am after a fat, deep sound with the "growl", with punchy low-mids and balanced, smooth top end. I play mostly with cover bands, but I do 4-5 original bands as well and I need an universal sound that would fit them all - from soul and r'n'b, to pop, funk, a bit of jazz, indie and rock. I do play mostly finger style, with the occasional slapping.[/quote]

That describes the sound I had last night, and every night I play for that matter, perfectly. As does the type of music

[beastie]

Hi All
no one has mentioned the aguillar db750/751 these amps are just brilliant nice and easy to use simple controls with a massive power output which will feed down to 2 ohms i use the db751 with two db 2x12 cabs and watch my trousers flap everytime i play nice deep lows and nice mid scoops and great clear highs via the tweeters in each cab wind the gain up and then start to get that magic sound aguilar are so good at turn down the master and that sound still is there thats another nice thing about this amp i dont have to adjust my eq on the amp once i am happy with the sound the rest i can do this from my bass american pressicion deluxe aguillar do a 810 cab in the gs and db range the gs range is front ported and the db are rear ported i have had both and found the gs range are a bit more i can i say aggresive then the db also the the db are tuned to work with the db amp range i like you have been through various amps over the years the only other amp i liked was a original trace elliott i bought from soundwave in romford essex were they origanily where made but that amp had a killer sound it did use to go througth some vavles amps i have used over the years are as follows
calsbro
hh bassmachine
trace elliot
peavey
ashdown evo 900
genz benz
ampeg sv2 pro
ebs fafner

[jontywisp]

how about keeping the EBS 650 (you won't do any better for clarity and power),
then putting something between bass and amp when you need to warm and thicken up the sound ?
(even the basic Sansamp should do that nicely, and there are fancier options)

so I suggest experimenting a bit more with the EBS plus suitable pedals

I say this because your description of what you're after is pretty much what I think I get from EBS 650,
as long as I add Sansamp or similar when I need something thicker and more old-school sounding

enjoy

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Steff' post='1264936' date='Jun 11 2011, 02:16 PM']Ampeg svt IIp preamp first with a cheap Crown amp, then with an Ampeg power amp - now I loved that one, but the amp wasn't as powerful as I needed. Probably the best all-around combination I've had so far. And that is the only Ampeg combination I like - all of the other ampegs sound very muddy to me in the lows...[/quote]

Surely this, and a bigger power amp is the true path, if lack of power was the only issue.

[phatbass787]

[quote name='Steff' post='1264946' date='Jun 11 2011, 02:29 PM']Well I've tried a few Ashdowns, never liked them. I guess its just not my thing. And forgot to say I am really after a powerful amp - 300W tube or 600+ non tube...[/quote]

You should try one of these, 430 watts All Valve...




Or one of these 400 watts hybrid-valve...




Just my 2p ;-)

[cameltoe]

Bass Terror.

Not just a gimmicky small thing, it is actually a phenomenal sounding little amp, and does the sound you describe that you want very well.

I used Hartke for a long time and found myself fiddling all the time, every gig, to get the perfect punchy low-mid, hit you in the chest type thump. What I like about the TB is you plug it in, and the sound is there.

It has growl, it is very punchy and warm, but it is a one-trick pony. Then again, I play a precision so that tells you what I look for in tone really. One good sound.

The 500w is stupidly loud, but if you're hardcore go for the 1000w version.

They supposedly sound very close to the all-valve AD200B. I've never back-to-backed so can't comment.