Advice appreciated - choosing an amp

[ZenX]

Hi All,

I recently bought a second-hand 15" cab with 250 watts power handling at 8 ohms. Now considering an amp to go with it. I play in a metal/hard rock band that is just getting going, and have been using pedals to get some grit in my tone. We have one guitarist and a drummer who I would say plays 'reasonably loud'. For rehearsals I am using a Peavey Firebass head and 4x10 cab and that keeps up quite nicely, but I have limited space at home and in my car so something of that stature is probably out of the question. I have no expectations of playing big outdoor stages with a 15" cab, I am mainly looking for good tone and stage volume.

At the moment I have three possibilities in my head (no pun intended):

Markbass Blackline Little Mark 250

TC Electronic BG250-208 - (I thought having a an extra pair of speakers in a compact package would help with volume more than extra watts)

Hartke HA3500 - (Should give me maximum power out of 8 ohms (rated at 240 Watts) but I know watts aren't everything)

The advantage of the TC and Markbass is that they are stocked at Andertons so I can try them without too much trouble (well, the TC is back in stock at the end of the month).

I am wondering if any of you fine folks had any experiences (good or bad) with these amps?

Previous bass amp experience was an Ashdown MAG 250 combo, which was fine, but I didn't exactly gig it a lot back then.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

[Lozz196]

Well the TC 208 can connect up to an extension speaker, giving you 250 watts in total, positives being a 1x15 and 2x8 giving a (probably) fuller sound due to more speakers. Only downside is pairing different speaker sizes can sometimes not work too well - especially if not the same brand. That said, I`ve always lucked out and never had an issue with it myself. Worth taking a punt on that, you can always send it back if it didn`t work, providing you chooese the right seller and return within their specified tim.

[bonzodog]

I had the Blackline for a while and whilst it sounded good with my cabs I found it a little underpowered. The extra speakers with the TC combo will certainly give you more volume paired with your cab as you are moving more air.

I like Hartke stuff and for the genre you're playing it will sound great. Also check out the Hartke LH500.  These are built like tanks, very loud and sell quite cheap at the moment. They also have very basic controls so easy to get a great tone  with the valve preamp.

[ZenX]

Thanks for the replies, how advisable is it to run the LH500 into a cab with 250 watt power handling? I know it'll technically be fine if I don't push it too hard but I am paranoid about user error.

Is the general consensus that more speakers beats more watts in terms of volume? That seems to be the advice I've found in a number of other places.

I fully intend to try out what I can, but part of me is very drawn to the TC combo as a lightweight practice amp that I can extend with a cab for gigs.

Cheers for the feedback so far.

[Lozz196]

It`s not so much volume as such, it`s more that the sound is - generally - bigger/fuller with more speakers, so that gives the impression of being louder.

Running the LH500 with a 250 watt 1x15 should be ok, you just have to use your ears to make sure that you`re not over-loading it, checking for farty/flubbing noises, and also don`t put too much low-end into it.

[Japhet]

You have to rely on your ears to not overload your cab when you are near or over the limit with your amp. It's also a case of how hot your signal is going into the head. One problem is that it is easy to push your cab too hard in a high volume situation without noticing that it's struggling.

[chris_b]

The LH500 will put out 350 watts into 8 ohm. As long as you don't push the volume to 11 you should be OK.  If you start pushing the cab to its limits you should be able to hear when it''s getting stressed.

What cab did you buy?

My advice is to get a 500 watt amp and start saving for another cab. 2 cabs will sound much better than 1 because you won't need to push either very hard to get a good sound.

[jezzaboy]

I have a LH500 and played in an ac/dc tribute band and it had all the power I ever needed and we were quite loud. I had 2 Ashdown cabs, a 2 x10 and a 1 x 12 and used both together most times. Agree totally with Chris above. Get another 8 ohms cab and you will be rockin.

[ZenX]

@chris_b this is the one. Cheap and cheerful.

 

[Skybone]

Although the Hartke HA3500 is an old amp, it's definitely a good one to go for, as you'll find good ones on the second hand market.

[Stealth]

What’s your top budget for an amp

 

[Danuman]

Congrats with the new cab! Did you get a chance to try it out?

If you’re more on the metal side of things (i.e. scooped mids) I would imagine you might struggle using the amps you listed, especially at 8 ohms.

I quite like the black line 250, but it’ll have to work quite hard even at 4 ohms. The LMIII won’t be much more expensive if you can get it used, and it’ll sound much nicer at higher volumes, plus it’ll have a bit on tap, should you need it further down the road.

I agree with @Skybone regarding older Hartke amps. Great value!

Good luck!

[Stealth]

I have a mint LM Tube for sale

[Lozz196]

22 minutes ago, Stealth said:

I have a mint LM Tube for sale

Great amps, would recommend these in a heartbeat

[gjones]

The Hartke HA3500 are good loud amps and are cheap as chips secondhand.

[Sean]

1 hour ago, gjones said:

The Hartke HA3500 are good loud amps and are cheap as chips secondhand.

LH500 good too. Cheaper and really simple front panel. 

[Skybone]

But not quite as cheap second hand

[ZenX]

8 hours ago, Danuman said:

Congrats with the new cab! Did you get a chance to try it out?

If you’re more on the metal side of things (i.e. scooped mids) I would imagine you might struggle using the amps you listed, especially at 8 ohms.

Yes, tried it out at the seller's place using an Orange OB-500. I don't tend to scoop my mids . Never have, when playing guitar or bass.

6 hours ago, Stealth said:

I have a mint LM Tube for sale

Thanks for mentioning. Had a quick look at your for-sale post and I'm afraid it's a bit too rich for my blood.

Since everyone keeps mentioning the HA 3500, I am definitely considering it. I'd certainly feel more comfortable running the cab within it's rated capacity (I know, I know, it won't hurt it if I don't crank it and I only spent £50 on the cab, but I'm just a big baby when it comes to risking gear), which puts me off the LH-500.

I'm still determined to try the TC BG250-208 when it's back in stock at Andertons, and I'll probably compare it to a Peavey MiniMax, to see how much I feel the extra 200 watts (at trying-out-in-a-shop volume, possibly not). I just have a good feeling about having a small combo that I can poke into a cab and get decent low end out of, but isn't as much of a pain to cart as the old Ashdown combo I used to have. 

Budget at the moment is around £300.

Really appreciate everyone's feedback.

[bazzbass]

The MarkBass LM250 Blackline is an awesome amp. Takes to pre amps and pedals really well.

 

Best amp I've owned, would like a 500 watter next

[Stealth]

Hi

 

The TC won't cut it for Rock / Metal even with an extension cab i had one and i just doesn't have the balls if you have a love drummer and no PA support. I also had the mini max combo and from memory you can't run an extension speaker withe A bit of wiring as the internal deriver is 4 Ohm.

Where do you rehearse (Swervejam)

[ZenX]

1 hour ago, Stealth said:

Hi

 

The TC won't cut it for Rock / Metal even with an extension cab i had one and i just doesn't have the balls if you have a love drummer and no PA support. I also had the mini max combo and from memory you can't run an extension speaker withe A bit of wiring as the internal deriver is 4 Ohm.

Where do you rehearse (Swervejam)

The mini max is a 500 watt head. 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/peavey-mini-max-500w-bass-head-pvmmax.

Thanks for the feedback on the TC.