Amp/combo help

[soulstar89]

Hey peeps. 
 

I started bass with a small stagg combo amp then decided to pickup a Melvin Lee Davis peas Al so I can carry long with me and practice at home and away. I’ve found I just don’t get on with headphones compared to actual real speakers. The MLD pedal has IR’s which are great but I always go back to a physical speaker. 
 

Im based in central London and now PMT near old street is gone I have very few places (guitar guitar and Yamaha ) to try amps/combos. I doubt the amp will leave the house.

 

what advise could you give on getting a physical amp/combo?

 

most of the low priced combos have 8” speakers. I don’t want Meh sound. 
 

Price limit is around 400. I’m happy to go used or new.  
 

Any ideas or help? I have little experience in this area. Coupled with limited places to try with my bass. 
 

cheers 

[Lozz196]

The Fender Rumble combos are very good and def worth checking out, though an idea of the type of music you play will help in recommendations.

[BassAdder60]

2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

The Fender Rumble combos are very good and def worth checking out, though an idea of the type of music you play will help in recommendations.

+1 ^ this 

[soulstar89]

4 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

The Fender Rumble combos are very good and def worth checking out, though an idea of the type of music you play will help in recommendations.

 

Shame i didn't say.  I like to play funk, soul, a little jazz and Motown. Not really a rock kind of guy.

 

Guitarguitar have the ampeg and fender rumble in store. Heard good things about the laney digbeth, gk, mark bass.... some many dam options i cant try lmao

 

another question is how does monitoring speaking hooked up to computer and using software like logic etc compare.?

 

You can tell i have not experience lol

Edited March 5 by soulstar89

[Mykesbass]

Jump on a train to Guildford (just over half hour from Waterloo). Anderson's have lots of small combos being shown as in stock. 

[soulstar89]

1 hour ago, Mykesbass said:

Jump on a train to Guildford (just over half hour from Waterloo). Anderson's have lots of small combos being shown as in stock. 

I totally forgot about Anderson’s. That would make all the sense. 
 

Thanks for this. 

[xgsjx]

Don’t let driver size put you off. Have a look at PJB combos & also the smaller Markbass combos. 
Though for in the house, I use my preamp into my studio monitors & for gigs it’s my preamp into a PA cab. 

[JPJ]

There's a great 1x15 500W Ashdown combo for sale on here at the minute for an absolute bargain price (I have no affiliation to the seller) 

[soulstar89]

On 06/03/2024 at 22:18, JPJ said:

There's a great 1x15 500W Ashdown combo for sale on here at the minute for an absolute bargain price (I have no affiliation to the seller) 

Cheers it’s a great deal. Sadly it’s the other side of England for me. I’m London based. 
 

I actually just lost a bid by £1 on a Ashdown mag200 combo located close to me. Went for £21!!!! Didn’t think anyone was going to bid so walked away from phone as I was the highest bidder! Noob move 

Edited March 12 by soulstar89

[soulstar89]

i went to wunjo in central london. Tried the fender rumble, ampeg, markbass. Really didn't like the fender. Mark bass was killer!!! killer price though lol. ampeg rocket bass was alright nothing like the markbass. I may have to head to andertons to try GK,Hartke and laney. 

 

 

[police squad]

this Ashdown RM200 combo is on ebay in Kingston upon thames (i'm not the seller)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156152191145?itmmeta=01HTPGYZ1NR4HSB7EKD9XX6FAX&hash=item245b6558a9:g:hNMAAOSwhZtl1x5a&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwDWu0gWsJXGzjkX96LxfjQuPZcuixL6Tw9XUf%2Fw2jeR0XX8R6VElxns3gmOVEyphjkUVwIRuYyK1gaJyPn7ZD6XfSEKkOgleRtNpxLpo8xqjWXMj86NqvAFavPbMqvtHMAlhCfBx4KUywmn2CyF51DhPr%2FlDjPKdR2EfZH8S92tj4L%2Br5zTD%2Bfjyrqn9agRIQ87G7aXdxsFZ%2BXfxOi9%2FwSfdwJdKYWnFm%2F2NcGFALxatCF5L5rrgHH3k7c9wr6nTWg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_Lw-9DVYw

[soulstar89]

4 hours ago, police squad said:

this Ashdown RM200 combo is on ebay in Kingston upon thames (i'm not the seller)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156152191145?itmmeta=01HTPGYZ1NR4HSB7EKD9XX6FAX&hash=item245b6558a9:g:hNMAAOSwhZtl1x5a&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwDWu0gWsJXGzjkX96LxfjQuPZcuixL6Tw9XUf%2Fw2jeR0XX8R6VElxns3gmOVEyphjkUVwIRuYyK1gaJyPn7ZD6XfSEKkOgleRtNpxLpo8xqjWXMj86NqvAFavPbMqvtHMAlhCfBx4KUywmn2CyF51DhPr%2FlDjPKdR2EfZH8S92tj4L%2Br5zTD%2Bfjyrqn9agRIQ87G7aXdxsFZ%2BXfxOi9%2FwSfdwJdKYWnFm%2F2NcGFALxatCF5L5rrgHH3k7c9wr6nTWg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_Lw-9DVYw

cheers. I’ve not played a ashdown before I’m not sure of the tone. 

[Pea Turgh]

There was a nice looking Blackstar 2x10 in the classifieds the other day.  See if I can find it now…

 

Found it:

 

Edited April 5 by Pea Turgh

[uk_lefty]

On 05/04/2024 at 12:06, soulstar89 said:

cheers. I’ve not played a ashdown before I’m not sure of the tone. 

If it's a Rootmaster then you can bypass a lot of the EQ etc and get it sounding fairly neutral, run your MLD pedal into the input and you get the sound of that pedal.

[BassAdder60]

If you’re a soul / funk player then Ampeg, Ashdown, Fender may be a bit vintage sounding for you 

 

Mark Bass would be the way to go I think as they are better at the clean tone stuff 

[Jack]

Or Phil Jones bass. Super clean tone, extreme lows and to be blunt the resale value sucks so buy second hand to get a fillet mignon rig for beefburger money.

 

 

Edit - There's a GSS combo/cab rig in the classifieds in London for £20 over your budget. I can't think of a better solution for you.

Edited April 12 by Jack

[gjones]

On 04/04/2024 at 23:10, soulstar89 said:

i went to wunjo in central london. Tried the fender rumble, ampeg, markbass. Really didn't like the fender. Mark bass was killer!!! killer price though lol. ampeg rocket bass was alright nothing like the markbass. I may have to head to andertons to try GK,Hartke and laney. 

 

 

Part of the fun of looking for an amp is trying them out. I know you say it's unlikely to go out of the house but you can spend a lot of money on a brand new amp that really doesn't go very loud. My advise is always go for more power than you think you need, just in case you do get that out of the blue gig sometime in the future. Amp manufacturers have all gone the small but LOUD rout in recent years and if you can buy secondhand you can get a small, light and loud amp that won't take up much room in your house.

 

I've owned some big amps and cabs in my time but now own a Markbass CMD 121 P, which ticks all the boxes above. You can get one secondhand for the £400 you mentioned above.

Edited April 12 by gjones

[Baloney Balderdash]

I know this is not answering your question, but which headphones do you use?

 

You would want them to be FRFR, that is higher end "studio" headphones (you should expect spending at least 120£ or so for a decent pair), not "Hi-Fi" ones.

 

Edited April 12 by Baloney Balderdash

[soulstar89]

4 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

If it's a Rootmaster then you can bypass a lot of the EQ etc and get it sounding fairly neutral, run your MLD pedal into the input and you get the sound of that pedal.

cheers for the response. I’ve seen a fair amount of secondhand ashdowns some may be an older generation of the rootmaster as the amp layout looks very similar. 
 

I’ll keep this in mind. 

[soulstar89]

1 hour ago, BassAdder60 said:

If you’re a soul / funk player then Ampeg, Ashdown, Fender may be a bit vintage sounding for you 

 

Mark Bass would be the way to go I think as they are better at the clean tone stuff 

 Funny stuff it say this as when I was in wunjo guitars the 12” markbass combo was what my ear preferred. 
 

I’ve been thinking of maybe getting an amp head and cab. Which ever is more cost effective. Also I realised I need to up my budget. 

[soulstar89]

1 hour ago, Jack said:

Or Phil Jones bass. Super clean tone, extreme lows and to be blunt the resale value sucks so buy second hand to get a fillet mignon rig for beefburger money.

 

 

Edit - There's a GSS combo/cab rig in the classifieds in London for £20 over your budget. I can't think of a better solution for you.

I’ll check it out. I always felt that Phil jones is perceived as hi-fi sound 

[soulstar89]

1 hour ago, gjones said:

Part of the fun of looking for an amp is trying them out. I know you say it's unlikely to go out of the house but you can spend a lot of money on a brand new amp that really doesn't go very loud. My advise is always go for more power than you think you need, just in case you do get that out of the blue gig sometime in the future. Amp manufacturers have all gone the small but LOUD rout in recent years and if you can buy secondhand you can get a small, light and loud amp that won't take up much room in your house.

 

I've owned some big amps and cabs in my time but now own a Markbass CMD 121 P, which ticks all the boxes above. You can get one secondhand for the £400 you mentioned above.

 
great advise. I think I tried the markbass you own. It was monstrous. Shock the basement of the shop even with me trying to tame it. 
 

I love the sound of the acoustic control amps back in 70’s. The videos I’ve seen show them being the size and weight of a teenager lol. You are so right about how things have changed. 
 

the laney digbeth seems interesting also. I’ll have to head to Anderton’s to try it. It’s interesting that it doesn’t have a gain control knob. Just to channels (clean and tube) both with volumes so I presume the tube emulation channel acts like the gain. 

[soulstar89]

49 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

I know this is not answering your question, but which headphones do you use?

 

You would want them to be FRFR, that is higher end "studio" headphones (you should expect spending at least 120£ or so for a decent pair), not "Hi-Fi" ones.

 

I’ve got akg k52 headphones. I used someone’s bose noise cancelling headphones which you need batteries to activate that feature. Once the Bose headphones is driven by the batteries, my lord it made a world of difference. My akg seem wanting compared to the Bose. 
 

issue with headphones is there are so many. Audio technica ath-m50 are ment to be amazing, never listened through them though. 

[Baloney Balderdash]

40 minutes ago, soulstar89 said:

I’ve got akg k52 headphones. I used someone’s bose noise cancelling headphones which you need batteries to activate that feature. Once the Bose headphones is driven by the batteries, my lord it made a world of difference. My akg seem wanting compared to the Bose. 
 

issue with headphones is there are so many. Audio technica ath-m50 are ment to be amazing, never listened through them though. 

I am extremely satisfied with my Sennheiser HD 380 Pro studio headphones.

 

Very faithfully neutral and clear reproduction of the audio source, which is what you would want from a set of studio headphones.

 

Unfortunately they are not in production anymore, but suppose the Sennheiser HD300 Pro would be the closest current production equivalent. 

 

Those are not crazy expensive, 152£ at Thomann, but about the same I paid for the HD 380 Pro ones, from new, over 20 years ago.

 

That said my ultra cheap (23£ at Thomann) Behringer BH470 studio headphones are surprisingly decent, even if they definitely far from have the same neutral flat frequency response and clarity, and there is a bit of a boost of the lower frequency spectrum.

 

But on a very tight budget I would absolutely recommend them for practicing bass, if that was all that could be afforded (but would strongly advice against using them for music production/mixing). 

 

Edited April 12 by Baloney Balderdash