Amp Advice

[Basil]

I'm a guitarist who's been asked to play bass in a few musical shows, I've got a bass that I play at home at low volumes through a guitar amp but I now needan amp that I can use for the shows through the PA system. It would also be useful if I could use the amp to play in a band situation with drummer, guitars etc.

I have a 30w valve combo which I find adequate for guitar but what size amp would I need for bass, I'm not talking big money here so I was thinking of a solid state combo, perhaps an old Trace Elliot or newer Ampeg or a bigger Ashdown. I've also been thinking of a smallish cab and old head or perhaps newish lightweight head.

Any comments, suggestions or recommendations ?

Cheers.

[Mr. Foxen]

Cab is a more significant limiting factor than head, but if you have a PA, with subs, you don't need much at all, just something for a monitor. Much more weight to be saved in the cab than the head too, heavy good sounding heads can be picked up cheaply (Peavey), but small cab light cab is usually more expensive prospect. Are you keeping the rig, or is it just for the shows? A Barefaced Midget and whatever head should probably sort you, and Barefaced cabs move on very easily, and you don't have to lose much on the s/h price due to wait time from new.

[garythebass]

Wise words, as usual, from Mr Foxen, but an idea of your budget would be helpful.

But something with a decent DI out would suit you, unless you feed the amp with a line in from the PA.