kristinaelias Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 (edited) Hi Everyone, - WARNING - NEWBIE ALERT!!! - I'm after advice on starter amps. I got some great suggestions from my 'where should my money go - bass or amp?' thread in bass section, and think I'm decided on the bass, but I'm having trouble tracking down the Ampegs suggested to try them out. Anyone know any Ampeg dealers in the Surrey / Hants / Sussex area? As I explained in my previous thread my problem is I have fussy ears, and if I don't like the tone I won't practice. So can you please give me an idiots guide to starter amps. I'd aspire to the valve tone of a Fender Bassman TV something having watched the Ed demo on Youtube, and this would appear to go along with the guitar amp I'd be playing alongside, that being a Fender Blues Deluxe (40w). The only other youtube video I've been vaguely impressed with is a Vox Pathfinder 10b. The other candidate being I guess, the Fender Rumble 15? My instincts tell me that to produce decent bass you'd need a 12-15 inch cone, can the the 2 x 5s actually pull it off, or will it get drowned out by the Blues Deluxe - though I must point out we are talking home practice only alongside a guitarist with the volume on 2. Still planning on investigating the Roland Cube too. What are your thoughts about starter amps in general and the Pathfinders, Rumbles and Cubes in particular? Edited December 10, 2011 by kristinaelias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldude Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I have the Vox Pathfinder 10b - it's crap. It's ok for playing around by yourself at home to some songs over speakers, but don't take it anywhere near a band. What do you expect for £59? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I just had a look at your other thread, and by the sound of things you're after a big, rounded old school tone. If that's the case I would,'t be looking at one of the smaller practice amps at all. Although you don't need a lot of power, the way these amps are marketed seems to dictate that power goes up along with the cabinet size. And I think you'd prefer the sound of a bigger cab, perhaps with a 15" speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Andertons in Guildford have the Ampeg practice amps in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinaelias Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Well, made it over to Andertons and twiddled on another 'Clarence' - he's definately the one for me. (For those of you confused by this stament, all is revealed in my 'Bass or amp - where should my money go?' thread on the Bass forum.) BUT this time I played plugged in for the first time ever! I asked for advice from the very helpful staff in the newly refitted store which is great, you can actually see the stock now, and got to try out the following amps in one of their new practice booths. Fender Rumble 30 - well it made a noise, unless you played a low E, but the noise appeared to me to be entirely devoid of any character or tone and I felt like ripping the Fender badge off it because my guitar amp is a Blues Deluxe and I know they can do [i]sooo[/i] much better than that. Then I tried an Ashdown EB12 which actually had a bit of personality, and I loved the meter, but it seemed a bit overkill for a first ever, home use only amp. So then tried the Ashdown After 8 which was really rather a nice little thing. Less knobs than the EB12 - I want to be twiddling on the guitar not the amp - but for some reason I really felt the need to tilt it back all the time to give it a chance? Can you explain this? Unfortunately, the Ampeg Tourbusses and BA108s & 110s were nowhere to be seen in the store, had I had more time I'd have enquired further. Oh dear, I'll just have to make another visit, what a shame. I'll make it my mission to try out the Ampegs - to discover what the hell 'the Ampeg tone' actually is, and try out a Vox Pathfinder and Ashdown Perfect 10. Not that I've written off the Roland Bass Cube and Line 6 suggestions, just my experiences with Roland & Line 6 gutar amps have not been all that great. As for Hartke, again having trouble finding local shops who stock them, they seem a bit pricey and an aluminium cone combined with transistors makes me predict that nasty bright squeaky noises could easily be produced, but if I can find one I'll give it a try. Don't suppose anybody's come across anything on youtube with someone playing a P bass through a little Ampeg without a backing track drowning them out? Where are all the Ampeg dealers?? I've tried the Ampeg main website but when you look up the dealers on their list they don't actually seem to keep any stock. Anyway, thought I'd keep you updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinaelias Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Oooooh! Look what I've just seen on ebay, a vox T-25 ebay item no 250950321234. 'Clarence' would look lovely next to that. Any opinions or experiences of these jobs chaps? I'm guesssing its all tranny and has never met a valve? Off to do more googling / youtubing etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Best way to get Ampeg tone is Sansamp VT bass. The other way involves expensive amps very loudly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudpup Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Roalnd Bass Cubes are well worth looking at - they have a few amp modelling COSM settings including Ampegs and Bassmans which are pretty good. You can plug an ipod in and play along, they have sensible effects and the Power Squeeze thingy works well to fatten up the sound a bit. I have a 20XL and its been great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Forget the 'practise amps' go straight to the one you'll love, Ashdown Little Bastard with a 112 or 115 for starters You won't regret it, save all that messing about, you'll only be happy with the Valve sound, I can tell Is that kit still for sale in the ads? Cheerz, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 The OP from his other thread [quote]Thanks for the suggestion, but I think that may be rather overkill for my needs. See my 'Voxs, Ampegs or Ashdowns' thread in the amps forum or 'Bass or Amp Where should my money go?' thread in the bass forum. These explain more about my fussy ears, pursuit of oldschool tone and only needing to contend with a quiet guitar at home occasionally. Really love the looks of this. I was thinking my lottery win starter bass amp would be a Fender Bassman TV10, but having owned an 1964 AC30 (had to sell it after 20 odd years after finally being prepared to admit we wern't able to get THE tone out of it, as we just didn't play loud enough) these really do look good too. This is probably a risque question to ask on a BassChat forum, but I just read a comment on a forum saying it was also good as a guitar amp to, as good as an AC15. Did you ever try a guitar through yours? Do you know how it would rate against a Pathfinder 10B? Thanks for the advice about the price too, I thought £120 could be a bit steep. The listing doesn't offer any details about age or condition either, I'm thinking a maximum of £60 (new Pathfinder price) for a mint condition one would be more realistic, would you agree? [/quote] Right... my 2pence... The Vox T25 was a brilliant starter bass amp for me. Small and good for uni, not too loud, a warm vintagey tone- and a tweeter for a bit of high end- I loved it. It was good. Played it live at various church things when we just had acoustic, keys through a PA and a djembe. I couldn't have asked for better. But it didn't have a massive low end, it wasn't a vintage valve amp and have that tone you want and it would get lost with a drum kit. If you find one at a good price - £60 or less go for it- you will be pleasantly surprised- and if all you are going to do is in your bedroom it's not bad. A secondhand- more powerful practice amp- like the ash down I suggested would have the following down sides.... it would be bigger and it would be heavier. It also would not say Vox on it. But in the bass world ashdown is a bigger name than Vox. It also would be powerful enough that you could take it to play with a kit or at small gigs and it would work. If you want that big fat valve tone the fender bassman TV might be the ultimate (I've tried one and was unimpressed- try a real '70s Bassman and they are quite different. Ideally you want a 1x15 setup I would guess and all valve gear- but let's imagine that that is impossible... heres some ideas.... It takes more power to shift lower frequencies. Thats why guitarists can get away with 40w rigs and bass players need 100w+ in the same band. Ashdown.... has a big warm woolly sound- you may like- try it with the pre shape both on and off. the ampeg sound is a SVT best heard through a 8x10 cab.... or a flip top 1x15- I'm not a fan of ampegs cheaper lower end stuff- that said the ampeg microVR is quite impressive. If I personally were looking for a starter amp I would pick up an (old) trace elliot head for about £100 (that's the pre peavey trace) I would try and find either a combo or a cheap cab- and I would start playing. It wouldn't be the best tone ever- but it would be solid, it would be reliable and it would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HADGE Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Hi iv tried just about every amp there is over the years i now have a peavey combo a ashdown 300 2x10 combo a markbess 102 combo plus markbass bass bin and a ampeg 350 amp with cabs to match so i more or less tried em all and would suggest if you want a decent amp try a ampeg ba 100 watt combo real good value for money great sound and you allways get a good price when you sell it . Hope you get sorted keep on rockin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin E Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Just an observation but I also own a Fender Blues deluxe guitar amp. Only 40 watts maybe but it's very, very loud. I would be looking at the most powerful set up you can afford to be honest to compete with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinaelias Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 And in the end . . . . . . 'Clarence' finally arrived on Christmas eve, and he was accompanied by . . . . . . . . . . . . . an Ashdown EB220 1x15. I now have a very stupid grin on my face an an immense amount of satisfaction by learning to play (I use the term VERY loosely!) Come Together, the Get Carter theme, and Walking on the moon in just one afternoon! Now off to re-learn Day Tripper and all the other bits of The Chain I never realised were there! My ventures to the low end continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Hadn't seen this thread before, but what a nice read! Congrats with Clarence and the Ashdown. Keep venturing! best, bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinaelias Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 . . . . . . and in the very end, I decided to 'just listen to' a Fender Bassman TV Ten. The next day I returned the Ashdown to Andertons and went straight back to Guitar Village with 2 guitars to trade in for the Bassman! So I have my Clarence and my valve amp, and they sound and look fabulous together, and my stupid grin has got even bigger! Don't get me wrong the Ashdown was very nice, and by comparison the Fender is very much more of a 'one trick pony', but it gives me exactly the tone I wanted and doesn't have too many knobs to confuse me! Pound for pound, I know it's not great value compared to a 'proper' 4x10 reissue Bassman that you could probably pick up for around £800 second hand, but while that does indeed sound glorious, it would blow the cats, and probably windows out of the bedroom where is is going to get used, and so my baby Bassman is far better for me! The TV Ten is also more than capable of playing along with my main guitar amp, which is now a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, producing 22watts of Celestion blue loveliness via a mahogany cab with cane grille. (The Blues Deluxe is now for sale - see ad in the appropriate gear forum to follow.) So, like I said, I have fussy - and evidently expensive - ears, I was very supised to find myself spending almost twice as much on the amp as on the guitar, and I'm not sure how much of that is down to Clarence being extremely good value for money, and the Bassman having an expensive nametag, but once I knew the combination was right just had to go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monckyman Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Good choice,though you messed up my "Man at C&A" gag. "Man at C&F" just doesn't scan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Just checked out The Bass Whisperer demoing these on Youtube, nice amps, great sound - have always liked Fender bass amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.