I have an inkling about what makes tubed (SET) amplifiers sound good, but I've been thrown a curve to select a tubed or SS amp & speaker for my talented grand daughter & her Bass Guitar. I'm open to refurbishing/rebuilding or just shopping for one on eBay that's suitable.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Frank
Any advise would be appreciated.
Frank
these combos looks great Bass Central - Line 6 Amps, Cabs, and Combos
and they have some great looking Orange combos too
or one of the small Ampeg combos
and they have some great looking Orange combos too
or one of the small Ampeg combos
Guitarists like tube amps for their distortion, bass players don't usually want distortion, so a transistor amp is probably better.
I wouldn't consider a tube bass amp, too heavy, too expensive, too unreliable and all for no advantage.
I bought my daughter a Behringer BX1200, it's been great - it's been used a number of times at multi-band gigs - and everyone has loved it.
More information about your granddaughter would be helpful - age, gear, genre, venues....
But I'm guessing she would be best served by a Peavy combo of the appropriate size. They range from little 10" practice amps to 15" monsters that can keep up with a drummer. Good sound (old school, like an Ampeg), very reliable, good resale. Hard to beat for the money.
Since you're on this forum, you might be tempted by this:
fEARful™ enclosures for bass/drums/keys
But I'm guessing she would be best served by a Peavy combo of the appropriate size. They range from little 10" practice amps to 15" monsters that can keep up with a drummer. Good sound (old school, like an Ampeg), very reliable, good resale. Hard to beat for the money.
Since you're on this forum, you might be tempted by this:
fEARful™ enclosures for bass/drums/keys
Keriwena,
I know I'll sound like a doting grandfather, but, she's a 16 year old prodigy. She's in the school band & will be playing at the next Macy's parade. She prefers to write her own music, play & record the keyboard, drums, bass guitar & wind instruments. She then mixes them into her own CDs.
I would think she would need a combo, or separates, that could keep up with other Rock band members' equipment.
Frank
I know I'll sound like a doting grandfather, but, she's a 16 year old prodigy. She's in the school band & will be playing at the next Macy's parade. She prefers to write her own music, play & record the keyboard, drums, bass guitar & wind instruments. She then mixes them into her own CDs.
I would think she would need a combo, or separates, that could keep up with other Rock band members' equipment.
Frank
I just got an Acoustic B20 from Guitar Center. It has a 12" driver, fairly small but loud amp.
Acoustic B20 1X12 Bass Combo Amplifier and more Bass Amplifiers at GuitarCenter.com.
Acoustic B20 1X12 Bass Combo Amplifier and more Bass Amplifiers at GuitarCenter.com.
my bass amplifier has both fet and tube option .I never use the fets , annoying metalic thin sound , so i can only recomend a tube amp.10 years ago the best amps i heard where SWR , better than Ampeg , peavey and so on...but they might be too expensive.Tube works had some cheap and good sounding tube amps , they where bought by Genz Benz.
Genz Benz Amplifiers - Guitar Amplification, Acoustic Amplification, Bass Amplification, Guitar Enclosures, Bass Enclosures & More
Genz Benz Amplifiers - Guitar Amplification, Acoustic Amplification, Bass Amplification, Guitar Enclosures, Bass Enclosures & More
Okay, then you need to find out what that level is. How many amps, how loud they play (which is often influenced by the drummer), and whether they run the bass through the PA.
I'm on the small side myself, and I'd prefer a separate head with a cab as big as a 1x15. Below size that a combo would work, but a 1x12 won't keep up with an enthusiastic band.
sounds like a 'hybrid' with tube pre and SS power amp
maybe not forget bass guitar pickups
passive or active design
I reckon a good combo will have input for both options
sounds like a 'hybrid' with tube pre and SS power amp
maybe not forget bass guitar pickups
passive or active design
I reckon a good combo will have input for both options
probably a hybrid , never did open it to see , the bass has active yamaha pickup
Yamaha Attitude LTD II , a good bass for everything except slaping.
Okay, then you need to find out what that level is. How many amps, how loud they play (which is often influenced by the drummer), and whether they run the bass through the PA.
I'm on the small side myself, and I'd prefer a separate head with a cab as big as a 1x15. Below size that a combo would work, but a 1x12 won't keep up with an enthusiastic band.
I agree with you , i have a 4x10" in the garage and a 1x15"
I would suggest building the speakers yourself. I was gonna venture into this for my bass and electric guitar, but haven't found reason to dedicate the funds to make this idea plausible, as i don't play in a band. One idea i was looking at for myself was a 3-way speaker using an 15" or 18" woofer, 8" mid and a horn loaded tweeter. I know a bass guitars frequency range is narrow, but i feel it's important somewhat to have the full audio range covered. why not? it could be used for an electric guitar, drums, vocals, all if designed correctly.
And a story, as i was keen for a reason to build this speaker, one night i tried selling the idea to a local pub cover band. The responce to this was them showing me one afternoon, an 18" folded horn they had built for the bass guitar. They had used a DEQ to cross it into some existing full range speakers to cover the mids. This was such a beast, so much they couldn't use it as it overpowered everything else.
So in short, you should consider building a speaker yourself, it's cheaper, can be somewhat better sounding if done right. And it's not hard to build some heavey duty PA speaker cabinets, and make them look good.
And a story, as i was keen for a reason to build this speaker, one night i tried selling the idea to a local pub cover band. The responce to this was them showing me one afternoon, an 18" folded horn they had built for the bass guitar. They had used a DEQ to cross it into some existing full range speakers to cover the mids. This was such a beast, so much they couldn't use it as it overpowered everything else.
So in short, you should consider building a speaker yourself, it's cheaper, can be somewhat better sounding if done right. And it's not hard to build some heavey duty PA speaker cabinets, and make them look good.
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Something like these ain't so silly of an idea. One half of this set could be enough for your grandaughters bass guitar needs, or even the second half could be used to compliment her bands needs.
Parts Express DIY Project
Parts Express DIY Project
You only lose sound quality if you clip it, and most transistor bass amps have limiters.
Mostly the power from the bass (and the guitar) should becoming from the PA, not the onstage amps. But a 100W transistor bass amp copes easily enough with a rock drum kit played hard.
It certainly won't cope with a 100W Marshall 2x12 played hard though, but neither will the drum kit
Best solution for a loud Marshall is a pair of pliers applied to the guitarists fingers - or other appendages
It's only a 'boy thing' though, girls don't seem to have the idiotic urge to play so loud you can't hear any tune.
You only lose sound quality if you clip it, and most transistor bass amps have limiters.
Mostly the power from the bass (and the guitar) should becoming from the PA, not the onstage amps. But a 100W transistor bass amp copes easily enough with a rock drum kit played hard.
It certainly won't cope with a 100W Marshall 2x12 played hard though, but neither will the drum kit
Even with a 50W guitar amp , the bass will be buried in the global sound...
So far , the bassists who i played with always have about 250 clean watts
along with at least a 15" cabinet.
It can be built on a relatively small case of about 50X50X35 cm
with bass reflex tuning.
Good think is to have the preamp + amp in a little 2U 19" case,
as it s better to have two light parts than a single heavy one.
A really big plus is to have 4 little wheels fixed in a lateral face of the cabinet....
You only lose sound quality if you clip it, and most transistor bass amps have limiters.
Mostly the power from the bass (and the guitar) should becoming from the PA, not the onstage amps. But a 100W transistor bass amp copes easily enough with a rock drum kit played hard.
It certainly won't cope with a 100W Marshall 2x12 played hard though, but neither will the drum kit
.
if you need using the limiter of the amp too mutch , shouldn´t you buy a more powerfull amp ?
i agree that the PA should do that , but many small places like pubs dont have PA , so always nice to have a powerfull amp and for bass 300w rms is not that mutch, trust me.
and if you want to play hard rock or heavy metal ? you cant cause the bass amp is not powerfull enough ?
anyway a 300w amp is cheap , not worth getting less.
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