Your favourite bass amp and why ?

[BassAdder60]

What is your best bass amp you’ve either owned in the past or currently use and for what reason it became your keeper ?? 
 

For me I’ve had from memory 

SVT CL via Ampeg 610 cab 

SVT 3 Pro 

PF800 

V4B RI 

Ampeg BA110 ( home practice ) 

Ashdown ABM600 

RM800 EVO II

Orange LBT 

Orange Terror Bass 500 mk2

GK Legacy 800

Ashdown CTM100

Aguilar ToneHammer 700 

 

The ToneHammer is my current working amp and my keeper at present !! 
The fact it runs to 2.67ohms is a bonus running my two Ampeg cabs. 
 

Some of the above were superb in their own way, some were moved on because new gear is good fun and you might just find that missing link. 
 

One thing I have learnt is mostly they all sounded similar and with an external preamp / EQ I could have made them all sound close to each other except the all valve amps. 
 

Some were average to say the least or tonally not a match for me and the band. 
 

What’s your list like and why did you change ? 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by BassAdder60

[Lozz196]

I’ve had too many to list, mainly as I can’t remember them all.

My current fave is my Ashdown ABM600 but my back has determined that’s now too much for me so from now on it’s my Ashdown RM500 EVO2.

 

Others that I particularly liked were:

Marshall DBS7400

Ampeg PF500

Markbass Little Mark Tube

Aguilar Tonehammer 500

 

I generally use a Sansamp of some kind in front of them and have found that of all the amps I’ve owned & used that the Ampeg SVT and aforementioned Ashdown ABM600 are my overall faves.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by Lozz196

[Elfrasho]

I can honestly say none of my amps have particularly stood out, sound wise. In fact, I prefer quite a bland tone so if anything, an amp with a bit of character is probably a bad thing for me.  I think for pure clean volume, I'd say my Hartke lh500 phase is quite memorable - barely had to wiggle the volume knob to get outrageous volume. But  I loved my Carvin mb10 before it died purely for size and weight. Worked perfectly as a monitor. I'll probably convert this into a single 1x10 cab and maybe pick up a micro head.

 

I think from memory my history has been:

 

Carslbro Stingray 15" (combo) - dismantled to get the amp and speaker for a project which never happened.

Behringer BX1200 (combo) - sold to a pal

Behringer BX3000 (used with a Behringer 1x15 and for a short period a thomann own brand 4x10) - broke, not worth fixing

Ashdown Mag300 (used with the behringer 1x15 then later a PA sub cab with the behringer speaker swapped in and the crossover or high pass gubbins removed) - broke numerous times, sold as spare/repair

Hartke lh500 (with the PA sub cab) - sold

Ampeg pf350 (with the PA sub cab) - broke, refunded on warranty

Markbass little mark 250 (with the PA sub) - sold

Carvin mb10 (on its own or with the pa sub as extension) - broke

Trace Elliot GP7 7215 (combo) -present but never used

 

Nothing exotic, and nothing 'valvey'. I think once i realised you can get away without an amp, I did it.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Elfrasho

[fretmeister]

Good question.

 

I am really enjoying my Mark Bass AG1000 at the moment. It has plenty of thump but always with piano like clarity.

It has a massive dynamic range that can be a bit of a challenge if I don’t use a compressor. The EQ is great, it’s lovely having a 60hz control to reduce low end boom when needed, and I can still boost at 100hz for some welly.

 

My Ashdown RM800evo2 is quite different. It’s far less dynamic even with the compression off but it has a solid tone that is always usable. The onboard compression is rather crap so I only use that sparingly.

 

I’ve had loads over the years.

 

Hartke HA3500

Ashdown MAG400H red.

Markbass LM2, LM3, F1, Marcus Goldline heads, CMD102 combo.

Genz Benz Streamliner 900 and Shuttle 9.2

Mesa Prodigy 4:88

A monster rack system with multiple preamps and a Yamaha P5000S power amp.

Darkglass M900

Tech21 VTBass 500

Demeter 800D

Ampeg B5R

 

Gawd knows what else.

 

But my favourite amp that will never go is my Roland Bass Cube 30. I love that thing. It’s perfect.

I wish they’d do a lightweight head version.

Edited May 21, 2023 by fretmeister

[Linus27]

What a good question. Generally, I'm not a big amp lover, they don't really excite me that much but I would easily say that the best amp I have owned was the Hartke HA7000. An absolutely fantastic amp and if if wasn't so big and heavy then I'd be using one now. I wish they made a modern compact version as I'd be all over it but I guess being solid state and a tube preamp is the reason it's so big and heavy and not possible to condense.

 

After that, then I would probably say an Ampeg PF500. Loved the tone and it just worked out of the box. Not massively heavy but by today's standards I guess it is.

 

I really liked my Ashdown MiBass 550. That was a great little amp and I would happily use one now. 

 

What I'm currently using through my Barefaced Two10 is a Warwick Gnome 280 I Pro and I'm actually getting a great tone from it and lots of compliments at gigs. It's a little restrictive in creating lots of tones as it only has bass, mids and treble but that doesn't stop it sounding great. I'm thinking of getting the newer 300w V2 version and then adding a Sansamp BDDI into my chain to have a few more tone options.

 

After that, I've used various Ashdown ABM and RM amps, MarkBass LM500, Genz Benz Shuttle 6 and 9 and a few Trace amps but by far the Hartke HA7000 was the best.

[Old Horse Murphy]

I'm a Markbass fanboy, in particular the Tube 800, but Markbass in general. 
 

I currently play through a Tube 800 (surprise surprise) but also own a CMD121p combo which I use for playing at home and smaller rehearsals/gigs. Both are absolutely fantastic to my ears. 

[thodrik]

[inserts ‘my current in ears/amp sim/FRFR speaker set up is superior to any traditional amp and cab set up I have owned’ comment]…

Seriously, I have been using a Mesa Walkabout 1x15 combo for 90% of my gigs since 2009. This was bought as my ‘portable’ rig when I joined a signed band. I also had a EBS Fafner (bought at the same time as the Mesa) and Peavey era Trace Elliot cabs (couldn’t afford the Mesa or EBS cabs..) as my big rig but really it was overkill for most gigs and I rarely used it. The Walkabout has pretty much handled most of my gigging needs, particularly with the development of modern PAs and tendency for guitarists to no longer use 100 watt Marshall half stacks.

 

I still love big amps and cabs but more as ‘cool luxury things’ than something that I actually need. I still own the Fafner and it is great even after 14 years of use. I also have a Trace Elliot V6 which I bought in 2013 to fix my ‘I need a valve amp’ wish.

 

I also finally bought my 2009 dream setup of a Mesa Big Block 750 and Powerhouse 6x10 over the course of 2017-2018. Utterly impractical in every sense but a tremendous piece of gear. This was essentially a ‘bucket list’ purchase and I only bought them because I found both items on the used market for a great price.

 

Going back to my first paragraph my next amp purchase will probably be a Helix or something similar. I can’t see myself needing another amp unless one of my main three amps break down. 

[Sparky Mark]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

What a good question. Generally, I'm not a big amp lover, they don't really excite me that much but I would easily say that the best amp I have owned was the Hartke HA7000. An absolutely fantastic amp and if if wasn't so big and heavy then I'd be using one now. I wish they made a modern compact version as I'd be all over it but I guess being solid state and a tube preamp is the reason it's so big and heavy and not possible to condense.

 

After that, then I would probably say an Ampeg PF500. Loved the tone and it just worked out of the box. Not massively heavy but by today's standards I guess it is.

 

I really liked my Ashdown MiBass 550. That was a great little amp and I would happily use one now. 

 

What I'm currently using through my Barefaced Two10 is a Warwick Gnome 280 I Pro and I'm actually getting a great tone from it and lots of compliments at gigs. It's a little restrictive in creating lots of tones as it only has bass, mids and treble but that doesn't stop it sounding great. I'm thinking of getting the newer 300w V2 version and then adding a Sansamp BDDI into my chain to have a few more tone options.

 

After that, I've used various Ashdown ABM and RM amps, MarkBass LM500, Genz Benz Shuttle 6 and 9 and a few Trace amps but by far the Hartke HA7000 was the best.

I think the HA7000 was only produced in the days when mosfets were used in the power amps. I've still got my HA3500 from the 90's and it sounds better to my ears than the newer bipolar transistor model.

[Linus27]

2 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said:

I think the HA7000 was only produced in the days when mosfets were used in the power amps. I've still got my HA3500 from the 90's and it sounds better to my ears than the newer bipolar transistor model.

 

Yep, totally agree. I bought mine new in 1998 and it sounded amazing back then. Bought another a few years back and it still sounded the best amp I'd ever used. Just a shame they are so big and heavy.

[BigRedX]

The problem for me with bass amps (and cabs) is they add too many extra variables into your sound when really all they should be doing is taking your sound and simply making it louder.

 

To this end I have dispensed with my traditional rig and where ever possible I always go from my Helix directly into the PA. I also have an FRFR powered cab which gets used when necessary as additional fold back and on very rare occasions to deliver the bass guitar FoH. I have noticed that the FRFR due it it's significantly better dispersion characteristics compared with the typical bass cab performs these duties far better, and now on the those few occasions when I haven't been able to use the PA for the FoH bass sound, it allows me to be only slightly louder than I would normally need to be on stage, instead of so loud that I could barely hear the rest of the band.

[casapete]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

The problem for me with bass amps (and cabs) is they add too many extra variables into your sound when really all they should be doing is taking your sound and simply making it louder.

I disagree - don't think I'm the only bassist who uses their amplification as an integral part of 'their sound', same as if you are using any tone shaping kit such as a Helix / pedals etc.

Even more so on smaller gigs where the bass isn't in the PA?

Edited May 21, 2023 by casapete

[itu]

Sessionette 100 (15" combo)

GK 200MB (12" 100 W second gen combo)

Peavey Databass (15" 450 W combo)

Glockenklang Soul (2x10" 450 W combo)

Soul head from the combo and alusonic 2x12" cab

 

GK had excellent sound. Soul combo has top sound too, but weighs a metric ton. I separated the head from the combo to a rack case and bought the alusonic. Easier to carry.

[neepheid]

RedSub BT5110 - the Ibanez Promethean in a less sexy enclosure.  I've had it over 11 years now and it's been as good as gold.  250W in the 1x10" combo, 500W with 4ohm load.  Removable head.  It has been played most weeks since I got it and keeps coming back for more.  I have not been kind to it - left it in the car boot I dunno how many times in the cold, taken it into venues on a few occasions where it has been covered in condensation, just accepted it and kept on going.  I'll try to be less lazy in future.

 

The only thing that ever went wrong with it was the headphone jack needed replaced about 6 years ago - amp would mute itself sometimes, bad contacts on the headphone jack was the cause.  Since then it hasn't skipped a beat.  I've used it with various 4x10 cabs with the head removed but these days I don't remove it, I use the 1x10" combo and stick another 1x10" cab underneath for a 2x1x10" setup.

 

It's a pokey, mid heavy little monster, a little obnoxious and boxy on its own but it certainly makes itself heard in the live band context.

 

I will be very sad and a little lost when it dies.

[DGBass]

Marshall Superbass 100 MkII '77 vintage - Was my main gigging amp for about 15 years and just had a sound like nothing else when used with a Stingray I once owned. Mostly used with a Musicman RH115 cab and for a few of those years a 70s chequerboard Marshall 4x12 with original vintage 30s.

Carslboro Stingray 150 head with the green flash and preset buttons on the front and a sound city silver face 4x12. That was the first solid state amp that made me think about giving up valve amplification.

Peavey MK8 bass head with a 4x10 and 1x15 Peavey cabs. Probably the biggest and heaviest rig I've ever owned. Run at 2 ohms and was just colossal in every way imaginable.

Musicman HD150. My first hybrid amp and always loved the way I could run it on low power 75watt setting and drive the 6L6GC output tubes into a gorgeous creamy overdrive sound. Never heard anything before it or like it since.

Trace Elliot AH250. Its a beast and i've owned two of them over the years and still using the current one for the occasional gig.  Firing it up always reminds me of the data centres I used to work in years ago when we'd give warning to the power guys of a potential surge when we were bringing a new rack online.

Ashdown ABM. Probably owned 20+ of them over the years of all sizes and shapes. My favourite was a big box ABM 500 EVOII. It sounded huge and was by far the most powerful ABM of the lot, even louder than my current ABM600 by a margin. I think Ashdown had some secret sauce in that particular model.

Gallien Krueger 700RB - I'm a fairly recent convert to GK amps and I would go as far as to say I haven't heard a finer sounding amp that just works for rock and blues in a long long time. Simplicity to use and get a tone from, and has big smooth power delivery. Very refined amp. I'll be keeping this one.

Markbass LM111 - Probably the only class D bass amp i've ever liked. If weight and portability were my primary concern, I would have kept it along with its companion Traveller 102P. Easy to get a good rock/blues tone from using the VLE and VPF knobs and light as a feather.

Harley Benton GPA-400 - this little 1U rack box wonder has re-written my thoughts and experience with class-d amps. Compact, air cooled, super simple to use, 2x200w stereo and 400w bridged mono. Just 3Kg. Used with a GP12 SMX stereo pre-amp. Both together sound fantastic. Talk about bang for your buck.

 

None of these amps has ever blown up on me (fingers crossed for my current ones) either otherwise they wouldn't have warranted a menshie 🙂

[PaulWarning]

I've owned a couple of Trace Elliots for a few years now, a GP12 SMX Ah 250 and a GP12 series 6 Ah 200, I use the series 6 as my main amp, it's simpler and,  I think, sounds marginally better, they're both heat sink models so weigh in at 13kg each, I can't see me changing them tbh

Why? Heft 😊

Edited May 21, 2023 by PaulWarning

[Downunderwonder]

The one I don't have to carry.

[Pow_22]

Ampeg SVT II Non Pro - just to heavy and 'fancy' for the small pub gigs/shared backline gigs we did

Ashdown Spyder (both 330 and 550) - superb 'plug in and play' amps

Mesa BB750 - closest sound ive got to 'all valve' without actually being 'all valve'

 

I currently get away with an Ashdown LB30 for my needs but should the bigger gigs come back then a Spyder or Mesa Walkabout will be on the shopping list

[stewblack]

Amp: Ashdown CTM100.

Why? I like to lean into it and smell the nostalgia.

[bartelby]

My favourite was a Trace Elliot MP11 preamp into a power amp, the make of which I can't remember.
Why? It was super flexible. But the MP11 developed a fault and the repair shop went under taking the preamp with it. 😭

 

My Ashdown CTM-30 is currently my favourite amp because I can get a bloody awesome sound from it at home volumes compared to my CTM-300...

[BigRedX]

13 hours ago, casapete said:

I disagree - don't think I'm the only bassist who uses their amplification as an integral part of 'their sound', same as if you are using any tone shaping kit such as a Helix / pedals etc.

Even more so on smaller gigs where the bass isn't in the PA?

 

But having your amp and cabs as part of your sound only works if you always use your amp and cabs every time you gig and either your rig is used to supply the bass guitar sound FoH or the cab(s) are mic'd up and the mic'd sound is one the one the PA system uses to project FoH. Everything else will compromise what your audience hears.

[casapete]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

But having your amp and cabs as part of your sound only works if you always use your amp and cabs every time you gig and either your rig is used to supply the bass guitar sound FoH or the cab(s) are mic'd up and the mic'd sound is one the one the PA system uses to project FoH. Everything else will compromise what your audience hears.

Agreed, but would think that (despite the popularity of Helix / FRFR / IEM's etc) a lot of players ( maybe the majority?) on here do still use 

their amp and cab on every gig, for whatever purpose ( FOH or via PA etc). 

[northcountrybob]

Orange AD200B. 

There are a couple or revisions of this amp. The earlier ones have lower plate voltages and push about 160W clean. Slightly later versions like the one I own will do 200W. The later ones also have a centre tap on the filament wind that is grounded. Early units use 2x 100 Ohm resistor faux centre tap on the PCB. It sometimes causes a kind of ticking noise and the way to get rid of that was to ground the unterminated centre tap wire from the power transformer. The faux centre tap resistors are prone to burning if there is a power valve failure where the high voltage shorts to the filaments. Shorts can also cause the resistors on the valve failure LED's at the rear to get really hot and burn the PCB. I've taken those out of my amp. Another trick is using a tiny bit of heat shrink on tops pins 2 and 3 of the power valves, just to put off the plate voltage from arc'ing across the valve base to the filament supply.

 

I like valves. It sounds good. I don't really need to use any pedals with it. It's not as heavy as an SVT. It's easier to maintain and service than an SVT. Replacing valves is a bit cheaper than with 6x 6550/KT88 amps, which is where some people cut corners and end up having reliability issues. There's no wacky extra gubbins like "auto bias" circuits and stuff to go wrong. It uses commonly available parts. It's loud enough for me for any gig I've played and I could probably have a good go an repairing one on the road if I took a couple of spares (which I do). 

 

I've played a bunch of other bass amps. Various Ampegs, Ashdowns, HH, Trace, Darkglass, Mark Bass, other Oranges... AD200 is my fave. 

 

 

 

[gjones]

I've always liked the Ashdown basic tone.

 

The Models I own/ have owned were/are...

 

EB 150 combo

ABM 500 III

MiBass 550

 

I've played through the RM 500 and really like that too.

 

I've also owned a TC electronic classic 450, GK MB 500 and 800, Fender TV 15 combo, Markbass 121 CMD. All of which were ok in their own right but not quite right for me (although the Markbass comes close)..

Edited May 22, 2023 by gjones

[Ed_S]

Markbass Little Mark 2 was my first lightweight amp head, and it's still what my bandmates say they think 'sounds like me'. A serious contender for favourite allrounder.

 

GK MB200 was my first tiny amp head for when even the LM2 was impractical. With all the dials at noon I think it sounds utterly brilliant - possibly my favourite basic tone.

 

Ashdown ABM1000 doesn't sound much like any other Ashdown I've had (ABM500/Mi550/RM800/ABM600) and that's probably why I like it so much. It's clean, clear and really powerful, and it's my favourite for 'that feeling when each note kicks you right in the trousers'.

 

And what do I actually gig with? A Markbass Nano II with my older Nano 300 as its backup. For now they're the best balance of cost, size, weight and power that I can find, plus they sound 'like me' to my band. They seem to be well built, but they're also relatively cheap so I can easily justify one and a backup. They're my current favourite for practicality and compromise, and that's what wins most of the time.

[BigRedX]

37 minutes ago, casapete said:

Agreed, but would think that (despite the popularity of Helix / FRFR / IEM's etc) a lot of players ( maybe the majority?) on here do still use 

their amp and cab on every gig, for whatever purpose ( FOH or via PA etc). 

 

I think a lot of it is to do with inertia because that's what bass players have always done.

 

I acknowledge that my journey has been very different to the typical one - spent a lot of the 80s playing keyboards in an electronic band where everything went straight into the PA, and when I retuned playing bass guitar most of my rigs were a combination of multi-effects and PA amps. The only time I was really interested in the cabs I was using was when I had a bi-amped rig and that was done so I could run chorus and other "bass-sapping" effects just into the high frequency cabs and again was based around the multi-effects I was using at the time. For me the sound is sorted out at line-level and the amp and cabs are just there to make it loud. And if I can get the PA to do that bit, it means better FoH sound, better on-stage sound and less gear to take to gigs.

 

I can totally see why if you play small pubs doing covers with a vocal-only PA that your choice of amp and cabs is important, but for if your playing originals and doing gigs where you are sharing backline and the bass goes through the PA, it's, IMO, an unnecessary distraction.

 

As I have said in other threads I found that my rig was most of time a big, heavy stage prop that took up room on stage and in the band van, and beyond the point at which the DI feed was taken contributed little to what myself, the rest of my band or the audience heard.

 

 

For illustration my backline journey has been as follows:

 

1981 - 1982 Carlsbro Wasp 10W practice amp - fine for recording and rehearsing at low volume (the band used a drum machine), and if we weren't able to use the headlining band's bass amp at the gig we'd simply mic it up into the PA.

 

1982 - 1983 No-name 100W transistor amp into home-made 1x18 and 2x12 cabs.

 

1983 - 1987 synth straight into the PA.

 

1988 - 1989 guitar and synth

 

1989 - 1995 Roland GP8 multi-effects via stereo graphic EQ into home-made 100W a side stereo power amp feeding home made 2x8 and Carlsbro 1x15 cabs (bi-amped).

 

1995 - 2002 Peavey Bassfex into Carlsbro 300W a side stereo power amp feeding home made 2x8 and Carlsbro 1x15 cabs (bi-amped).

 

2002 - 2006 Line6 BassPod 2 XT into Carlsbro 300W a side stereo power amp feeding home made 2x8 and Carlsbro 1x15 cabs (bi-amped).

 

2006 - 2017 Line 6 BassPod 2 XT into Tech Soundsystems Black Cat amp feeding EBS 2x10 and 4x10 cabs.

 

2018 to present Line6 Helix Floor direct into the PA with RCF745 as a monitor when required.

 

As you can see fairly unconventional most of the time.

Edited May 22, 2023 by BigRedX