another 'what amp' thread

[William James Easton]

So if i don't get made redundant in the new year i am going to look into getting a new (decent) amp set up. But what?
I have lusted over ampeg, Eden, Aguilar, Orange, Hiwatt, Gallien - Krueger, Marshall (but only the dynamic bass rage)
For starters i cant afford a valve head so thats orange and hiwatt out the widow (but i do love the simple knobs, none of this crazy 56 band eq)
so i suppose thats aguilar out aswell then. Eden again seem to only do top end stuff. and marshal well i just dont see them as a bass amp!

So Ampeg (BR2/1 area) and GK (400 rb) have caught my insomnia eye at the moment.
can anyone give me a some plus and negative points about them? or can you suggest an alternative? Im looking at playing through a 4x10 cab (8x10 wont fit in my car) I used to own an ashdown MAG rig but never had the wow factor a bit thick and muddy i thought and i do not like trace rigs.

Lucky for me i don't have certain sound so in that respect amp choice is wide open ate the mo.

thers just to many choices! come on basschatters do my thinking for me!

oh and i have o decent music shops near me so have to put quite a bit of research on first before i do anything.

Edited December 26, 2008 by Rusty Shackleford

[Al Heeley]

Hartke LH500 valve head seems to come very highly recommended - that is a 500w valve head without fancy eq, just simple bass/treble/parametric and is a snip at £224. I saw one on Amazon dot com for £184 + P&P, thats a lot of amp for the money.

[Hamster]

This seems to be in your ballpark, and it'll leave more money left over for a decent cab

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26831"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26831[/url]

[silverfoxnik]

I think to get the best advice possible from people here you need to give a few more clues about what you really like.. For example, you say that you don't have a particular sound but there must be some bass sounds/styles that you definitely like or prefer which would help narrow down the choices? So maybe some examples of your favourite bass players, music, info on your basses might help define the picture a bit.

FWIW, I used to get a great sound with my GK 700 (older model, not the 700 RBII) and a Peavey 410 TVX and it cost me just over £350 second-hand but not everybody likes buying used gear. I currently use an Eden Nemesis head which is great, but it's very different to the GK head soundwise. I've also noticed that certain amps sound great with some cabs, but not all, so the combination of gear is an important factor too IMO.

The new Hartke heads are getting a lot of praise around here at the moment and they're very simple in terms of their layout, as well as being great value for money so they'd be worth checking out further if you can?

Like bass_ferret has said many times in this forum, we each hear things differently, so the best option will always be to check things out with one of your own basses/cabs if you can.. Good luck with the search!

[Dr.Dave]

GK 400rb - plus points

I haven't managed to break it yet - despite treating my rack like a ginger stepchild.

I haven't done a gig where it wasn't powerfull enough (neither gain or vol past halfway) negating the need for a 700rb and paying for a 50w horn amp I'd never use.

It sounds bloody good to me with all the knobs set on 12 oclock - and should you twiddle them they all actually DO something.

It didn't require me to sell a kidney - this is a new Mk4 model but the third 400rb I've owned. I kept the old ones as spares for a bit but eventually flogged them because I'm confident enough in the Mk4 not to feel the need for a spare.


If you're going the 4 10 route - go for a 4ohm and get the full monty , or 2 x 8ohm 2x10's for the same effect and a rig that splits for small gigs/practise.

[William James Easton]

Thanks guys. I think Hartke is no go. I never played through a Hartke rig that i like! but to be fair i think thats more down to the cabs than the amps. (maybe that's just my narrow minded opinion) but then again very good value on them.
Now Silverfox As for sound, well Jeff Ament is a man i've paid homage to. That gutsy growl but as the man says 'you don't always have to hear it but you can feel it'. He's using ampeg these days but back in the day was using SWR.
Also Mike Watt, Eden user, Warm but punchy sound.
So i like a deep growl bass with a bit of punch and i like to hear my the scratchyness of my fingers on the strings, nothing clean or too smooth. deep but not to deep. but not looking for a amp full of top end.

and theres nowt wrong wit second hand!

Edited December 26, 2008 by Rusty Shackleford

[Merton]

The LH500 is not your typical Hartke amp, it will definitely give you the sound you want

Equally, so will the Trace V-Type combo I'm selling... But that's a combo. And tho it says Trace, it's not a typical Trace muchlike the LH500 isn't a typical Hartke...

[Stan_da_man]

I keep repeating myself but I would go for the Peavey Tour 450. Underrated head IMO.

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='Rusty Shackleford' post='363569' date='Dec 26 2008, 11:43 AM']So i like a deep growl bass with a bit of punch and i like to hear my the scratchyness of my fingers on the strings, nothing clean or too smooth. deep but not to deep. but not looking for a amp full of top end.[/quote]

On the GK in clock terms - presence 12 contour 12 high 12 hi mid 2 low mid 12 bass 11 boost 11.

knocking that bit of bass off and boosting the high mid will get the scratch going - I know this because I'm always fighting it off!!!

The boost dials the growl in but it's not 'valvey' quite.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='Rusty Shackleford' post='363569' date='Dec 26 2008, 11:43 AM']Thanks guys. I think Hartke is no go. I never played through a Hartke rig that i like! but to be fair i think thats more down to the cabs than the amps. (maybe that's just my narrow minded opinion) but then again very good value on them.
Now Silverfox As for sound, well Jeff Ament is a man i've paid homage to. That gutsy growl but as the man says 'you don't always have to hear it but you can feel it'. He's using ampeg these days but back in the day was using SWR.
Also Mike Watt, Eden user, Warm but punchy sound.
So i like a deep growl bass with a bit of punch and i like to hear my the scratchyness of my fingers on the strings, nothing clean or too smooth. deep but not to deep. but not looking for a amp full of top end.

and theres nowt wrong wit second hand![/quote]
Ok, cool.. In that case, I think the GK would do a great job for you as the boost control plus overdriving the input volume does dirty the sound up nicely. The Eden I use has a facility that is supposed to do that in a similar way to the GK but it doesn't come close to my ears.. I don't know the Ampeg amp you've mentioned so can't comment on that one.