New amp opinion/advice - Darkglass, Blackstar or Orange

[markbunney]

Hi all

I am looking for opinions/advice on which bass head to purchase.

 

I have just sold my Orange Terror Bass mk1 which I had been using for 12 years as I had got a bit bored with it. For context, new amp will be used for a pub rock covers band with a Fender Jazz Bass special and Orange SP212 cab (for now, I might get a new cab depending on what head I end up getting).
 

I don’t use any other effects at the minute, but am also considering getting a Helix Stomp for distortion, compression and chorus, again this depends on what amp I get.

 

I have been looking at the following options and would be grateful for any opinions good or bad:

 

1. Darkglass Alpha/Omega 500. This looks and sounds great from the videos I have seen, but I have read several reviews that they are unreliable and stop working a lot. 
 

2. Blackstar unity 700. Also sounds good from the few review videos out there. Doesn’t seem that popular though and I can’t find many real users videos. They all seem to be from endorsees or employees.

 

3. Orange Terror Bass mk2. My old terror bass did the job well enough. 
 

Thanks for reading and for any advice.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by markbunney

[fretmeister]

I have heard of reliability issues in the 500w versions of the Darkglass amps, but none about the 900w versions.

That would make me get a 900w version.

 

I did have a V1 of the MT900 and did really enjoy it. I found the clean tones a bit uninspiring so I always used a tiny bit of drive and that really made the tone come alive.

 

I thought its main strength was a sort of rock P bass tone with a good bit of grind. It was very good at that. It wasn’t so good at huge low end funk or reggae type tones, but I’ve got a Mark Bass AG1000 for that.

 

With a little drive, barely noticeable, and a P bass with flats  it was really good at Duck Dunn Blues Brothers type tones too. I was surprised at that. 
 

I haven’t tried the others so can’t give an opinion on them.

[Dan Dare]

Don't listen to us (or anyone else). We, naturally, will tend to point you in the direction of what we like or own. Reviews can be helpful, but remember reviewers tend to like the king's new clothes. Not surprising, given that they spend much of their time reviewing variations on the same theme and are probably a bit bored by it. Some may even be constrained by commercial pressures. Go to a few decent shops and try things. Most important, take your time. It's helpful to go during the daytime in the week when they aren't busy. I ended up buying an amp that I hadn't considered because I tried a lot of things with my speaker cabs and instrument. I'm still happy with it several years later.

[TheGreek]

20 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

Don't listen to us (or anyone else).

 

Now there's a paradox if ever I saw one. 

 

"If you want my advice, I wouldn't take anybody's advice..."

[Lozz196]

Yep as per @fretmeisters post Darkglass don’t just do metal tones. The bassist of The Cockney Rejects uses a DG amp and gets a very good but decidedly un-metal type tone, more classic rock sound really.

[Dan Dare]

55 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

 

Now there's a paradox if ever I saw one. 

 

"If you want my advice, I wouldn't take anybody's advice..."

 

If you can suggest a better way to convey my meaning, I'm all ears.

[MrDinsdale]

If you have no complaints with the orange gear I would stick with them. Not spent much time with them personally but seen some ace bassists using them and getting some great rock tones.

 

If you have an opportunity to try them out that's always gonna be best.

[Lw.]

Are you specifically trying to save weight? Class-D amps are great for that but when using for a rock tone (ie slightly over-driven) I've found a lot of them just seem to add a fake fizz over the top of your tone then make that louder or quieter, they're not very dynamic. 

 

Orange are the archetypical pub rock bass amp & the terror bass is good. If you don't mind weight, I think their OB1 amps sounds really good. 

Darkglass, very much have the fake fizz thing going on. 

I've never seen anyone using a Blackstar bass amp so can't comment on those. Though the fact that no one seems to be using them probably tells something, maybe just that we bassists are very conservative (small c, not the evil C).

 

I don't currently use any of the above btw. Best bet is going to some shops!  

[BassAdder60]

Ashdown ABM600 and your search is over 

[markbunney]

21 hours ago, Lw. said:

Are you specifically trying to save weight? Class-D amps are great for that but when using for a rock tone (ie slightly over-driven) I've found a lot of them just seem to add a fake fizz over the top of your tone then make that louder or quieter, they're not very dynamic. 

 

Orange are the archetypical pub rock bass amp & the terror bass is good. If you don't mind weight, I think their OB1 amps sounds really good. 

Darkglass, very much have the fake fizz thing going on. 

I've never seen anyone using a Blackstar bass amp so can't comment on those. Though the fact that no one seems to be using them probably tells something, maybe just that we bassists are very conservative (small c, not the evil C).

 

I don't currently use any of the above btw. Best bet is going to some shops!  

Thanks.

 

weight not really an issue, I had a terror bass head before and that was ok, plus it will be transported in the car anyway

Edited March 20, 2023 by markbunney
Typi

[thisisswanbon]

I'd throw the orange little bass thing into the mix... different sound to the terror bass, and sounds huge (not just for it's size).  500W and I never have it above 9 o clock.  Orange customer service can't beat either. Adjustable mid freq, and the most musical signal knob compressor I've used that really adds weight and warmth.

 

As previously mentioned, you're unfortunately going to get nothing but peoples preferences here (mine included).  If it's any help, I've had ALOT of amps before landing at the little bass thing, some highlights were:

 

Aguilar TH500, lovely warm tubey character with natural sounding saturation. Although I find the Little bass thing to sound a bit "fuller".

 

Mark bass LM Vintage 1000, great big warm tube tone, sounded great with the gain pushed - Loved this tonally as much as I love my Little bass thing, but there were QC issues.  

 

GK 700/1001RB-II - Discontinued, but available used - Relatively heavy A/B heads, sound huge with more "heft" than you can shake a stick at.. I found the 1001RBII a bit too clinical for me, but the 700RB sounds legendary pushed!  My 1001RBII lasted 15 years heavily gigging before having issues (which resolved them selves anyways).

 

Hope this helps!

[pbasspecial]

+1 for the Ashdown ABM 600 or

How about keeping your cab and getting an Orange AD200b? The big brother of what you already have. 

[BassAdder60]

5 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

I'd throw the orange little bass thing into the mix... different sound to the terror bass, and sounds huge (not just for it's size).  500W and I never have it above 9 o clock.  Orange customer service can't beat either. Adjustable mid freq, and the most musical signal knob compressor I've used that really adds weight and warmth.

 

As previously mentioned, you're unfortunately going to get nothing but peoples preferences here (mine included).  If it's any help, I've had ALOT of amps before landing at the little bass thing, some highlights were:

 

Aguilar TH500, lovely warm tubey character with natural sounding saturation. Although I find the Little bass thing to sound a bit "fuller".

 

Mark bass LM Vintage 1000, great big warm tube tone, sounded great with the gain pushed - Loved this tonally as much as I love my Little bass thing, but there were QC issues.  

 

GK 700/1001RB-II - Discontinued, but available used - Relatively heavy A/B heads, sound huge with more "heft" than you can shake a stick at.. I found the 1001RBII a bit too clinical for me, but the 700RB sounds legendary pushed!  My 1001RBII lasted 15 years heavily gigging before having issues (which resolved them selves anyways).

 

Hope this helps!

Orange LBT is indeed a great amp 

Very loud 500w and in my opinion a nicer tone compared to the Terror series 

[thisisswanbon]

6 hours ago, BassAdder60 said:

Orange LBT is indeed a great amp 

Very loud 500w and in my opinion a nicer tone compared to the Terror series 

Unbelievably loud! I found between notches 2 and 3 it went from too quiet to too loud, spoke to Orange though and after a bit of protest from Andertons, Orange changed the control out for a linear pot under warranty. Fantastic sound and fantastic service to boot!

[markbunney]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

have ordered a little bass thing.

 

looking forward to it arriving

[Chienmortbb]

On 20/03/2023 at 22:00, thisisswanbon said:

Unbelievably loud! I found between notches 2 and 3 it went from too quiet to too loud, spoke to Orange though and after a bit of protest from Andertons, Orange changed the control out for a linear pot under warranty. Fantastic sound and fantastic service to boot!

Strange, you get a linear sound from a logarithmic or nonlinear pot.

[thisisswanbon]

7 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Strange, you get a linear sound from a logarithmic or nonlinear pot.

Not sure what language you're even speaking at this point! 🤣 For the more simple folks (like myself) they exchanged the notched volume control for a normal non-notched control. There was a big volume jump between notches 2 and 3...

[BassAdder60]

29 minutes ago, thisisswanbon said:

Not sure what language you're even speaking at this point! 🤣 For the more simple folks (like myself) they exchanged the notched volume control for a normal non-notched control. There was a big volume jump between notches 2 and 3...

I found that, but could minimise it by turning back the compression which also seemed to add drive as you turned it up. A very nice amp and easy to get a good tone 

Edited March 22, 2023 by BassAdder60

[goonerjoe]

On 22/03/2023 at 08:19, markbunney said:

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

have ordered a little bass thing.

 

looking forward to it arriving

I'd be interested to know your thoughts as I've had my eye on one of these...

[markbunney]

1 hour ago, goonerjoe said:

I'd be interested to know your thoughts as I've had my eye on one of these...

Good first impressions, but haven’t had much time on it yet.

 

very clean sounding compared to my old Terror Bass.

 

 As others have mentioned, it goes from quiet to loud very quickly, but can manage this through the compressor.

 

taking it to rehearsal this week, and then gigging with it in Friday so will post more after that.

[markbunney]

Well after initially being pleased with the LBT it is going back to the shop as faulty

 

I used it at rehearsal last night but the sound kept cutting in and out all the time. I initially thought it was due to guitarists new wireless system conflicting with mine but it wasn’t.

 

disappointing, but I am glad I found out before our gig tomorrow night!

 

luckily I’ve been able to hire an amp at short notice 

[BassmanPaul]

@markbunney So speak up. How did the gig go? 

[markbunney]

It was brilliant! 
 

it was our first gig as a band, and went really well. The pub was very busy and all the songs were very well received.

 

the hire amp I used was fine as well, and i might hire it again for our next gig.

 

I posted a few pictures in the how was your gig last night thread.

[markbunney]

Hopefully this will last longer than the Little Bass Thing did.

 

Great first impressions. Will post more when have had chance to use it more

[markbunney]

My new amp woes continue.

 

This time the new Darkglass amp had developed a fault after only being used a couple of times.

 

the light in one of the eq sliders has stopped working.

 

I did have some reservations about the reliability of the amp before I bought it, and my concerns proved to be correct.

 

back to the drawing board again.

 

Ps the EQ settings in the picture are not what I would normally have - I was just seeing if any of the other sliders had a problem 😀