What does everyone find all these amps and cabs?

[trent900]

Hi all,

Hoping you can help. There's lots of 'recommend amps' threads on here most of which contain several posts recommending Genz Benz, Aguilar, Eden, Epifani and what have you amps and cabs and at least one post saying 'buy what sounds good to you'.

All this is very fine, but take, for example, someone who lives in the East Midlands. Someone who, for example, is looking for a new rig. Someone who, for example, goes by the username of trent900 on basschat.co.uk.

All the music shops near me seem to stock Ampeg, Trace, and GK. I have two questions: those of you who have all these wacky amps - how did you hear about them? And second - where did you try them?

I would [i]love[/i] to have a session on an Epifani UL310 since it sounds ideal for my requirements, but where the hell am I going to find one to have a bash on without spending at least £60 and most of a weekend trogging down to the big smoke that is London?

Yours in possibly retarded exasperation,

Jon

[The Funk]

[quote name='trent900' post='191402' date='May 4 2008, 12:18 AM']those of you who have all these wacky amps - how did you hear about them? And second - where did you try them?[/quote]

Wacky?

Sites like basschat are excellent to find out about amps that aren't necessarily stocked in your local shop. Trying them out is difficult, hence the large number of people who GAS for things then sell them on.

There's nothing wrong with Gallien-Krueger heads or the big, old, valve Ampeg and Trace Elliott heads. I'm not really a fan of any of their cabs but I think it takes owning and getting to know a few bits of gear before you really know what sound you like and what equpiment works for you.

All bass amps - even the budget ones - are too expensive to just buy at random and then continually chop and change. Try as many as you can and check out other people's rigs as much as possible too - even from the crowd at gigs. When you do buy, be prepared for the fact that you might want to change some of it further on down the line for various reasons.

The quick answer though [i]is[/i] to waste one weekend going to London and spend the whole of Saturday at The Gallery trying everything they have. Eden, Epifani, Aguilar and Genz Benz are hardly stocked in the UK anywhere. There are a couple of other places but I think they're both in the South East too.

[warwickhunt]

Find other bassists in your area (local rehearsal rooms, gigs etc) and ask nicely if they'd let you try your bass through their amp etc

I don't know many bassists that would tell you to bog off, by and large many bassists are more than happy to help a fellow bassist out.

Of course...

I'd also suggest buying something completely blind off another BCer and if it doesn't suit sell it back on here... this is called GAS and is what keeps the sale forum ticking over nicely

[wateroftyne]

+1 to what's already been said.

All of my current gear - amps, cabs & basses, was untried by me before I bought it.

There's probably a lot of good fortune involved, but I negate as much of the risk as possible by doing research (online, that is) until my eyes bleed, and asking questions on the relevant forums.

[bass_ferret]

Tis a problem to be sure. There are other places that stock other wacky gear like the Overwater Bass Emporium in Carlise and Bass Direct in Kenilworth (is that in the midlands?), but unfortunately in the music biz the world does revolve around London, and the Bass Merchant in Essex.

You could always go to the next bash in Northampton - thats north of Watford to.

[Gunsfreddy2003]

I was in exactly the same predicament that you were not so long ago! I had been on a break from playing for about 4 years and when I came back into this wonderful world of music everything had moved on a I found that I did not really know much about the new names on the block and what they were capable of!

I found Bass Guitar Magazine pretty helpful and bought back issues on disc to read reviews etc and at that time I was also using the forums on the Stuart Zender site to talk to other bass players about what they were using.

In the end I had to make the considerable trip to London and spent hours in The Bass Gallery in Camden which had everything that I was interested in looking at and playing. I have to say that that shop is great the owner is really helpful and they have practically all of the top makes. I took my basses down with me too so that I could find the sound that I wanted using my own gear. It may be a trip and cost money but in the end it has to be worth it to get the sound that you want. I ended up buying an amp and a cab from a manufacturer that I had little knowledge of but the sound that they delivered was all the persuading that I needed!

One word of advice thought about forums is that you do have to take most peoples comments with a pinch of salt! What sounds great to one can sound awful to another! I made the mistake of taking advice on forums and buying products from Ebay without ever trying them out first and never managed to find the sound that I was looking for! A lot of wasted time and money!

Make the trip to The Bass Gallery - you won't regret it I can assure you.

[wateroftyne]

Personally, I can't equate how an amp/cab sounds in a shop to how it sounds at a gig. They're totally different environments.

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='191546' date='May 4 2008, 12:56 PM']Personally, I can't equate how an amp/cab sounds in a shop to how it sounds at a gig. They're totally different environments.[/quote]

That remark's bang on the money. As an example I couldn't get a 'gig' sound out of a high end Eden combo which sounded superb at home/shop levels. Had I had the chance to hear or try one at a gig I wouldn't have bought it.

Don't forget the bass bash as a place to try other members gear. Alternatively -using the epi cab you mention as an example I went to see OBBM's band both to hear the cab at gig levels and to meet one of our bretheren. Later , Homer was kind enough to bring his to one of our gigs and let me use it. By all this I'm saying Basschat is a great way to make contacts - doesn't have to be limited to reading posts on a PC - get out there.

You never know what you may pick up on - it was playing OBBM's Status necked Ray with side LED's in his dressing room that convinced me to make side LED's part of my Shuker build. I wouldn't be without them now , they do improve my gig performance and it wouldn't have happened unless I'd gone along to see OBBM and his band.

No substitue for trying things in the environment you want to use them. It's not a waste of time though to try stuff in shops.

I take your point about trogging down to London and I don't know how easily 60 brick comes to you but spending it could save you a hell of a lot more than that in the long run.

And - whoever posted the thread you read re. 'buy what sounds good to you' was correct. I hope it was me!

Edited May 4, 2008 by Dr.Dave

[bass_ferret]

Totally agree with the view that the shop sound is not a good indicator of the gig sound with your band in your venues, but it is better than nothing and the days of shops letting me try stuff at gigs is long gone.

I will absolutely not tell someone what to buy - I would hate it if they bought what I said and did not like it. My idea of a good sound may not be the same as anyone elses and frankly all the guys that just recommend what they use (sometimes without even reading the OP properly) wind me up.

OP. Just joined a Level 42 tribute band wot amp should I buy.
Reply. Ampeg

[The Funk]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='191663' date='May 4 2008, 04:18 PM']I will absolutely not tell someone what to buy - I would hate it if they bought what I said and did not like it. My idea of a good sound may not be the same as anyone elses and frankly all the guys that just recommend what they use (sometimes without even reading the OP properly) wind me up.[/quote]

Some really good comments in this thread. I don't think there's a single thing I disagree with so far.

When it comes to recommending equipment, be wary of any comments along the lines of "you can't go wrong with...". The type of rig you should get depends on what sound you're after - and what sound will actually work live - in the band or bands you're in.

You can research what kinds of rigs people use for different types of sounds but bear in mind the fact that records probably won't help you as people use all kinds of equipment in the studio that they would never use live.

[warwickhunt]

'THE' vital component in any quest for tone is often the most overlooked... you!

I always smile when people try gear out that I own as it rarely ever sounds the same when played by two (or more) different people. I'm not talking about pick V finger-style; even 2 fingerstyle players will illicit different sounds out of the same amp/cab/combo.

[Marcus]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='191546' date='May 4 2008, 12:56 PM']Personally, I can't equate how an amp/cab sounds in a shop to how it sounds at a gig. They're totally different environments.[/quote]

Never, Ever a truer sentiment expressed within this forum...... god knows how much cash the lack of this understanding has cost me over the years...... I shudder to think !!

[wotnwhy]

i don't think there's any shops in Wales that stock a range of high-end, or or little known bass amps makes. and i live in the far left hand corner. so like you i've never had the ability to try-before-buy, and all my amp purchases have been blind*

on every occasion i've tried to build up as big a picture as possible on the properties. and to be honest, every single time the cab or amp has performed and sounded exactly as i have expected them.

i think the trick is;
ignore the 'i think (insert name) is the best around' and the like. focus on people who say things like 'i like (insert name) [i]because[/i]'
make yourself a checklist (punch, mid scoop, sparkle, clean, rich, deep etc.) and keep an eye out for when people mention these things in relation to a particular brand/model. soon enough you'll see that there are a few options that seem to tick all the boxes (as you've already noticed with the epi)
once you've got down to a handfull of choices, start searching for any direct comparisons between cabs (this shouldn't be too hard if the equipment is similar as there will bound to be a gear nut somewhere whos had both), and talk to people [i]directly[/i] who own the equipment, ie pm them asking a couple of specific question. in my experience as long as your polite and don't go on for too long, people are more than happy to talk about the equipment they own!

as long as you put time, thought and effort into it. and don't just talk to 2 people who say 'i think (insert name) are the mutts nutts' and go on that. you should be happy with the choice you come to.


*which so have have included Trace, Peavey, Sansamp, Glockenklang, Schroeder and Euphonic Audio.

[Thunderthumbs]

I went through a new GAS just around Xmas. At the time I had an Ampeg top and SWR cabs. Prior to that, I used Trace Elliot. My gear was quite a few years old and I just wanted a change.

I'd heard some stuff at the Bass Day in Manchester, but never got any real chance to sit and test them out.

I was impressed from what I'd heard from the EBS stuff, so drove down to Brighton at the beginning of January to Bernie Goodfellow's place, as he's the supplier of EBS in the UK. Gave him a ring the day before, and told him what I was looking for, and when I got there, he'd pretty much got one of everything in so I could try the lot. I spent about 5 hours there, and went home a very happy chappy with my new EBS rig.

As I saw it, even if I went home with nothing, all I'd lost was a tank of diesel, rather than buy something on someone else's say so and then find out it's not for me.

So my advice would be as others have said. Source the kind of gear you might be interested in, take your own bass (very important), and go to every place you can in at least a day or two (London's the obvious place, but I'd try and get Brighton in too if I were you). Ring all the places you're thinking of going to beforehand, and make sure they've got in what you want to look at/try out. Tell them how far you're travelling so hopefully they'll make the effort. In my opinion, it's worth the long drive and a stop over in a cheap B&B to go home happy with gear you love, than get something mail order and not be happy.

Edited May 5, 2008 by Thunderthumbs

[steve-soar]

I took a break of nearly 8 years from playing and from the Peavey and Ampeg I used back in the 90's, the whole thing has become incredibley complicated. First reason being, there are so many choices for Hi End gear than say 15 years ago.
Second reason, the internet has brought peoples GAS levels to unprecidented heights, as pre internet days you played what was around in your local shops and took your chances.
When the band I was in signed our record contract, we had some money for gear, so I went shopping. Ampeg, SWR, Trace Elliot, Mesa Boogie and that was it.
I bought an SVT II to use with the 8x10" I already had.
If I was in the same position now and had £2000+, I wouldn't be able to make my mind up as easily.
After all this time, I'm still finding my way and it pisses me off.

[trent900]

Cheers guys, all that is really helpful!

I think I'll pop up to Electro music in Doncaster and try out all their Ampeg and GK stuff, then down to Leamington to Bass Direct to annoy them too...then if something from that lot really grabs me I at least know I won't be making a bad decision.

If not - London and Brighton it is!!

[Mr Bassman]

[quote name='trent900' post='191402' date='May 4 2008, 12:18 AM']Hi all,

Hoping you can help. There's lots of 'recommend amps' threads on here most of which contain several posts recommending Genz Benz, Aguilar, Eden, Epifani and what have you amps and cabs and at least one post saying 'buy what sounds good to you'.

All this is very fine, but take, for example, someone who lives in the East Midlands. Someone who, for example, is looking for a new rig. Someone who, for example, goes by the username of trent900 on basschat.co.uk.

All the music shops near me seem to stock Ampeg, Trace, and GK. I have two questions: those of you who have all these wacky amps - how did you hear about them? And second - where did you try them?

I would [i]love[/i] to have a session on an Epifani UL310 since it sounds ideal for my requirements, but where the hell am I going to find one to have a bash on without spending at least £60 and most of a weekend trogging down to the big smoke that is London?

Yours in possibly retarded exasperation,

Jon[/quote]

If you can get to Harrogate up't A1 sometime you can try my UL310 with an LMK