New to me Fender rumble 200.

[jonno1981]

Decided I needed something new to inspire me to practice more. Ever get stuck in a rut and need something shiny to encourage you to get back to the bass shed? Well that was me and scratch definitely itched! 
 

My orange b25 was ace at outputting  meagre fart impressions at low volume so decided to up it a bit. 
 

I’ve been keeping an eye out for a new amp on BC and FB for a while and this rumble combo turned up for sale a couple of miles down the road. I’m not gigging at the mo but wanted to get something that would work if the opportunity arose. I’ve had big rigs in the past and miss the weight (tone-wise) a decent size cab can deliver, even at low volumes. 
 

Fantastic enjoyable, easy purchase and nice chat from the seller led to me purchasing this 1x15 200 watt combo. Pretty much mint condition and barely used. 
 

It sounds great, is super light and works brilliantly at low volume. Initial preference is to run the gain really high, vintage switch in and eq mostly flat. No real tinkering to get a good sound.
 

I get a lot more noticeable variation in tone now when changing pickups/ right hand position. 
 

It’s made practice fun again. I’m flicking through tuition books that I’ve ignored for years. For the first time ever my neighbour told me he could hear what I was playing and gave me a compliment. I think it was a polite way of telling me to turn down! Reminder to self to be reasonable with the volume. 
 

So far so good! If I actually get the chance to play out the house I’ll update this thread with thoughts.  

[BassmanPaul]

The first Fender amp I ever liked was a Rumble 2x10 I plugged into at a jam here in Toronto. I was not expecting much but it handled every thing that my six string bass threw at it. A very pleasant surprise. I was pleased that Fender had grown up and were finally designing speaker cabinets using TS parameters. 

 

In a word: Enjoy!

[cetera]

Hey John!

Didn't know you were on here! So glad you're enjoying it!

Will we see you at the SE Bass Bash?

 

Cheers,

 

Gary (your seller!)

[jonno1981]

Hi Gary! I’ll look into it and see if I’m free. 

[casapete]

Great amps, good choice! So simple to dial in good sounds too. They all punch above

their (light!) weight volume wise as well.

[gjones]

Good choice. I own a Rumble 100 V3, it has a great sound, it's loud enough to play live with a quiet drummer and is ridiculously light. 

[Japhet]

I use a Rumble 100 V3 for practice and it also handles smaller gigs with no dramas. Would love to try a 500 at some point.

[casapete]

36 minutes ago, Japhet said:

I use a Rumble 100 V3 for practice and it also handles smaller gigs with no dramas. Would love to try a 500 at some point.

I use my 100v3 for acoustic duo and small gig duties, and it’s been amazingly good. Everyone who 

picks it up can’t believe it’s not an empty cabinet. 
 

I’m looking at getting a 500, or possibly 800 in the near future. Unsure whether to go for combo or head

option though. The 800 comes in two formats, standard and ‘stage’ varieties. The stage version is of

no interest to me with bells and whistles I will never use or need, but the regular model is giving

me GAS every time I see one. Probably wait for a nice s/h one to surface, although they seem quite

rare.

[JohnDaBass]

21 hours ago, casapete said:

 

I’m looking at getting a 500, or possibly 800 in the near future. Unsure whether to go for combo or head option though. 

I highly recommend the Rumble 800 combo. It’s light powerful and can easily keep up with a couple of guitars and noisy drummer. It's my current goto amp at present from my other Mesa D800, Rumble 800HD , Rumble 500 head, Barefaced SC and BC 1x12 Mk3 Silvertone cabs.

PS

I agree the  800 Stage has far too much stuff , the simpler 800 Comb is just right with the pedals of your .choice 

Edited September 17, 2023 by JohnDaBass

[Linus27]

I did a gig the other month and the backline was a Rumble 500 and it sounded fantastic. Even our singer looked at me and said that thing sounds amazing. Super tempted to get one now although I love the look at the Ampeg Rocket as well.