perfectly clean hi-fi quality amp for recording/practise

[zawinul]

Dear bass heads I've asked a similar question but asking it again.

I want to record bass and may Di but still need a very good quality amp for practise.

What is the amp with best sound as it clean pristine sound. No colouration no distortion etc I can add all that later with a tech 21 bass fly rig!

Pure clean tone bright punchy no low rumble

I'm thinking phil jones maybe?

Any recommendations?

Budget? Up to £1000

[Guest bassman7755]

By "practice" do you mean purely for home use, or something that will cope with rehearsals (and possible small gigs) ?.

As I recall the upshot of the last time you asked this question it was assumed to be the former and the answers were along the lines of "dont get an amp at all - get a good audio interface and a set of studio monitors". If this is the case then I guess that answer still stands, but if you desperate for a stand alone unit then something like the ashdown b-social might work as it combines a home practice amp with an audio interface.

Edited June 19, 2016 by bassman7755

[zawinul]

Yeah i want to be able to practise at decent volume and experiment with sounds, I may even go down route of miking up a cab etc, so I deffo want an Amp and cab, Yes i will be getting an audio interface too, I want a stand alone Amp and cab, combo or head and speaker ...

[Mornats]

Markbass are quite clean sounding and I use my 121p as a DI into my audio interface. I'm getting a much better quality signal into the interface as a result.

[ezbass]

Your initial shout of Phil Jones is a good one. The Cub is a tad quiet when in a band situation (unless your sitting next to it) but the 4x5 Flightcase will get you where you want to be I reckon.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='zawinul' timestamp='1466328534' post='3074910']
Yeah i want to be able to practise at decent volume and experiment with sounds, I may even go down route of miking up a cab etc, so I deffo want an Amp and cab, Yes i will be getting an audio interface too, I want a stand alone Amp and cab, combo or head and speaker ...
[/quote]

OK so the problem you have is that the vast majority of bass cabs are not designed to be "pristine and uncoloured" and the ones that are, and are capable of rehearsal/gig volume levels, are very expensive. This holds to some degree for amps as well.
I'm a little confused when you say you want to mic it up for recording as the design aim of such gear is that it sounds as much like a DI'd sound as much possible - micing such a rig up is a bit like investing in an expensive large screen TV and then using a camera to record the TV. In summary I cant see why you would want to mic a rig up unless the rig [b]is[/b] actually adding some colour to the sound that you desire.

So I'm left not really understanding exactly what you want, but having said that the phil jones route is probably somewhere close.

Edited June 19, 2016 by bassman7755

[zawinul]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1466329622' post='3074918']
OK so the problem you have is that the vast majority of bass cabs are not designed to be "pristine and uncoloured" and the ones that are, and are capable of rehearsal/gig volume levels, are very expensive. This holds to some degree for amps as well.
I'm a little confused when you say you want to mic it up for recording as the design aim of such gear is that it sounds as much like a DI'd sound as much possible - micing such a rig up is a bit like investing in an expensive large screen TV and then using a camera to record the TV. In summary I cant see why you would want to mic a rig up unless the rig [b]is[/b] actually adding some colour to the sound that you desire.

So I'm left not really understanding exactly what you want, but having said that the phil jones route is probably somewhere close.
[/quote]

I want as clean and uncoloured bass amp and cab as is humanely possible so I then **** about with the sound with effects, or miking up the cab, or with effects in the computer, its really very simple and you are making it complicated!!

[BassBod]

SWR electric/baby blue..also makes a great tube DI.

[zawinul]

[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1466330565' post='3074927']
SWR electric/baby blue..also makes a great tube DI.
[/quote]

not made anymore, got to be currently available cheers

[Trueno]

Someone above mentioned the Markbass 121p... I've got one of them. I bought for the weight, had arthritis so couldn't lug around my old amp any more. I found it a bit clean sounding so have to mucky it up with an EBS Microbass for gigs. Quite small and light, so I can easily use it as a home amp, but loud enough for gigging. I used to have a 15" Markbass extension cab, but found I didn't need it... although that was DI'd through the PA.

Expensive, though.

[project_c]

[quote name='zawinul' timestamp='1466330434' post='3074924']


I want as clean and uncoloured bass amp and cab as is humanely possible so I then **** about with the sound with effects, or miking up the cab, or with effects in the computer, its really very simple and you are making it complicated!!
[/quote]

Sorry but he's right, you're making this complicated not him. Why bother with a cab at all? Either DI and use plugins, or DI once you've gone through your pedals. People mic cabs because they like the colour they add to an otherwise potentially sterile recording, but if that's not your intention, the TV / camcorder analogy is correct.

[Musashimonkey]

Phil Jones d400 with a Barefaced Big Baby 2... Sorted (mods you can now close the thread) 😊

[zawinul]

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1466332417' post='3074954']
Sorry but he's right, you're making this complicated not him. Why bother with a cab at all? Either DI and use plugins, or DI once you've gone through your pedals. People mic cabs because they like the colour they add to an otherwise potentially sterile recording, but if that's not your intention, the TV / camcorder analogy is correct.
[/quote]

why all this aggression? i'm asking a prefectly reasonable question and get all these ****Y answers. If you've nothing useful or positve to put on here please don;t bother to post go and take your aggression elsewhere please . Goodbye

[zawinul]

[quote name='Musashimonkey' timestamp='1466332443' post='3074956']
Phil Jones d400 with a Barefaced Big Baby 2... Sorted (mods you can now close the thread)
[/quote]

finally a decent suggestion !! i'll look into this!! thanks

[zawinul]

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1466332417' post='3074954']
Sorry but he's right, you're making this complicated not him. Why bother with a cab at all? Either DI and use plugins, or DI once you've gone through your pedals. People mic cabs because they like the colour they add to an otherwise potentially sterile recording, but if that's not your intention, the TV / camcorder analogy is correct.
[/quote]

Because i want to practise because i want to hear my bass, because I want an AMP AND CAB , did you even READ MY POST!!!

[ezbass]

If you don't want a combo and if you don't mind a very small amp, Phil Jones Bass Buddy plus a PJB300 powered cab; works for me.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='zawinul' timestamp='1466330434' post='3074924']
I want as clean and uncoloured bass amp and cab as is humanely possible so I then **** about with the sound with effects, or miking up the cab, or with effects in the computer, its really very simple and you are making it complicated!!
[/quote]

Sorry if it sounds complicated. The thing is though is that if you really want a "pristine uncoloured" sound then you really [b]do not need a bass cab [/b]becaue the vast majority are simply not designed to do what you want. IMO a good quality powered PA cab will do what you want for a lot less money e.g. [url="http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/JBL-EON612-12-Active-PA-Speaker-with-Bluetooth/13N6?origin=product-ads&campaign=PLA+Shop+-+GENERIC&adgroup=GENERIC&medium=vertical_search&network=google&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=51378d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=175837492639&gclid=Cj0KEQjwhZm7BRCUyfS6ho2VjOEBEiQAumpGMs6KKlEqV-eCHTgKglKadL5GC3FYVayluJcptYR4DsMaAnWf8P8HAQ"]this[/url].

EDIT, if money really is no object then by all means get a barefaced BB2 and say a eich amp (youl need a fair bit more than your £1000 budget though, ditto for the BB2+PJB amp suggested earlier), but you are paying essentially an extra £1000 over the price of a PA speaker for lots of extra power handling that you wont need if its just for home use.

So as I see it your options are (in order of least expense):[list]
[*]A good powered PA speaker.
[*]One of the smaller PJB combos
[*]A BB2 + decent amp
[/list]

Edited June 19, 2016 by bassman7755

[Musashimonkey]

Some good suggestions coming through here. IMHO Mark bass has always sounded a bit 'vintage' where as PJB seems more transparent. BB2 is the most transparent cab I've tried, though PJB comes very close.

I would recommend the second hand market though. BB2's tend to go for around £550 so that will help keep some room for the amp.

The good news is that there is loads of great equipment in your budget range.

[zawinul]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1466335193' post='3074986']
Sorry if it sounds complicated. The thing is though is that if you really want a "pristine uncoloured" sound then you really [b]do not need a bass cab [/b]becaue the vast majority are simply not designed to do what you want. IMO a good quality powered PA cab will do what you want for a lot less money e.g. [url="http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/JBL-EON612-12-Active-PA-Speaker-with-Bluetooth/13N6?origin=product-ads&campaign=PLA+Shop+-+GENERIC&adgroup=GENERIC&medium=vertical_search&network=google&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=51378d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=175837492639&gclid=Cj0KEQjwhZm7BRCUyfS6ho2VjOEBEiQAumpGMs6KKlEqV-eCHTgKglKadL5GC3FYVayluJcptYR4DsMaAnWf8P8HAQ"]this[/url].

EDIT, if money really is no object then by all means get a barefaced BB2 and say a eich amp (youl need a fair bit more than your £1000 budget though, ditto for the BB2+PJB amp suggested earlier), but you are paying essentially an extra £1000 over the price of a PA speaker for lots of extra power handling that you wont need if its just for home use.

So as I see it your options are (in order of least expense):[list]
[*]A good powered PA speaker.
[*]One of the smaller PJB combos
[*]A BB2 + decent amp
[/list]
[/quote]

thats great thanks , hadn't thought of PA route, could use for other stuff to

[project_c]

[quote name='zawinul' timestamp='1466334490' post='3074979']
Because i want to practise because i want to hear my bass, because I want an AMP AND CAB , did you even READ MY POST!!!
[/quote]

Calm down princess. People are offering you pretty good advice here, there's no need to act like a stroppy teenager.

[zawinul]

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1466345509' post='3075102']
Calm down princess. People are offering you pretty good advice here, there's no need to act like a stroppy teenager.
[/quote]

sorry dad

[mrtcat]

Tecamp puma with barefaced big baby would be pretty close to what you want. Clean, loud and the big baby will basically put out whatever you put into it and will go as load as you want. Maybe a touch over £1000 but quality clean sound is hard yo find at a low price.
Powered pa cab and a di box would also be a good starting point

[51m0n]

REDDI

Best DI for bass there is.

Cleaner and more accurate than any mic'ed up amp/cab combo could possibly be.

[molan]

The new PJB BG400 is cool.

I tried one of these recently and it sounded pretty good. With the matching extension cab it'll handle a lot of gigs too

[Phil Starr]

OK I hope everyone is calm now.

If by uncoloured you mean that you want to get as close as possible to the sound your bass is putting out at the jack socket, with nothing added or taking away then taking the signal from that point is really the only way. Wanting to hear that in your room is perfectly sensible too. The best way of doing that would be to split your signal at that point using a DI sending one signal to the recording and the other half to a PA speaker of floor monitor, the only system really designed to give you a flat response. even the highest quality PA will add distortion and subtract information as will any mic and so will room acoustics.

Any bass amp with tone controls is going to colour the sound and any bass speaker will almost certainly have had some optimisation for bass. Even a PA speaker (true of any speaker) is an engineered compromise so 'uncoloured' is a relative term.

If you go this route you are guaranteed as uncoloured as you can get for your recording and the demands you are placing on your bass amp/monitor become practical considerations. You can probably try an active PA speaker easily enough as any muso mates will probably have one.

If this advice isn't what you wanted to hear then don't get angry, it is well meant, I think it is accurate and you are free to ignore advice you don't like.