Recommend a bass amp for a guitarist who dabbles...

Kylef

I'm looking for a new bass amp, after my friends Crate BT220 crapped out on me. I only play bass in the house, but I play guitar in bands and do alot of depping on the guitar for bands and would like to end up doing the same with the bass, so would like something that would cope with the odd gig aswell as being a practise amp for the house. I've been looking at Orange amps, particularly the Crush 100pix. This looks ideal in that it's not too expensive, and not too big but could cope with a small gig? Just looking for options and opinions from fellow users that know about these things. Any recommendations would be great.

John_P

I'm in a similar position and looking for an amp for bass dep gigs.   I'm very close to grabbing a tc electronic bg250 combo,  probably the 1x15.   It looks like it'll be just loud enough to gig but it's nicely compact and has the toneprint thing for fx. 

The cheap gigging option would be an older trace or peavey rig as they seem to go very cheap and last well but I'd like something smaller I can grab and go.

I haven't tried the orange crush but I would be wary of trying to gig with a 100w bass amp unless the band are quiet onstage.

Paul_C

For that sort of money I'd consider something a little bigger - I have a TC Electronic BG250 - 112 which will cope with small gigs and can be DI'd for bigger gigs.

100w isn't really going to cut it unless you're playing with an acoustic guitarist.

 

ICBM

Have you tried getting the BT220 fixed? It's quite likely to be the extension speaker jack, the headphone jack or one of the internal jumper connectors, since those are the most common faults with them and easily (and cheaply) repaired.

I do it by rewiring the output so the extension speaker jack becomes the only speaker connection and the internal speaker plugs into it; you can then bypass the switch in the headphone jack as well since if you want to use headphones you just unplug the speaker. It's not a lot of work.

100W will cope with a gig with the right speaker and cabinet. The problem is that this tends to mean the amp is even bigger and heavier than a modern higher-powered one, but at least has the advantage that most old amps like this are quite cheap. A great example is the old Peavey TNT, which started out as only an 80W amp but eventually went up to 130W and then (I think) 160W.

Nomad

I got a Laney RB3 for use in the house. Arguably too much at 65W, but it means it has plenty of headroom. Sounds good to me, and looks to be well built. 1x12, adjustable compressor on the input, 3-band EQ (parametric mid), FX loop and XLR DI. For more volume, the 160W RB4 might be worth considering - 15" speaker and 7-band graphic. About the only downside is the covering, which is that beer- and crud-absorbing fabric stuff rather than wipe-clean tolex.

I tried the RB3 alongside a Fender Rumble 40 and the TC250 with the 2x8 speakers. The Fender and Laney were pretty close in terms of sound, but the 2x8 TC was a disappointment. (I wanted to like the TC, but it just sounded mince.)

I felt that the Laney was a good, solid, workmanlike bass amp, and it was a close-run thing between that and the Fender. The compressor and FX loop were what swung it for the Laney. The Fender Rumbles are ridiculously light in weight.

Kylef

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately the Crate is very old, every pot crackles and it's very intermittent, in and out all the time. Don't want to spend any money on it. Now turned my attentions to an Ashdown EB 15 220 as I've found one local for £149 in excellent nick. I cant see much demos though, YouTube hasn't many but looks good and at 220 it's bound to be loud enough for a small gig?

Moe_Zambeek

How about the Ampeg combo guitarguitar have on offer at 199? I know nothing of ashdowns other than that as supplied backline our bass player never liked them .

mart

I've got that Ampeg, and it's really not bad. A bit old school, and a big heavy beast for its volume. But the 5-way style selector does give quite a range of usable sounds.

John_P

mart said:

I've got that Ampeg, and it's really not bad. A bit old school, and a big heavy beast for its volume. But the 5-way style selector does give quite a range of usable sounds.

I thought about one of those - certainly a good price but how have you found the volume with a band?  Can it keep up with a drummer or would the 300w version be more practical?

mart

I've not pushed it against a loud drummer, but my impression is it would struggle.

John_P

mart said:

I've not pushed it against a loud drummer, but my impression is it would struggle.

Thanks - I thought that might be the case.   Seems odd they would make an amp with that weight that doesn't have the volume to match - probably explains the price they are clearing them out for.

mart

Yes, but I do wonder if changing the speaker for something more efficient might help. I've no idea whether the stock speaker is a good one or not, but my impression is that it's not as loud as 100W could be. Maybe @ICBM has some knowledge of the speaker?

mart

If any of you were nearer, you'd be welcome to borrow mine for a trial, as I don't use it now, not since I got a tiny Genz Benz head and Barefaced cab.

ICBM

Kylef said:

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately the Crate is very old, every pot crackles and it's very intermittent, in and out all the time. Don't want to spend any money on it. Now turned my attentions to an Ashdown EB 15 220 as I've found one local for £149 in excellent nick. I cant see much demos though, YouTube hasn't many but looks good and at 220 it's bound to be loud enough for a small gig?

Yes, but Ashdowns can be unreliable. If it matters, it's not 220W either, Ashdown exaggerate their performance figures and that (if it is even that much) will be into the minimum impedance of 4 ohms rather than the internal speaker of 8 ohms. It's probably less than 150W into 8 ohms.

mart said:

Yes, but I do wonder if changing the speaker for something more efficient might help. I've no idea whether the stock speaker is a good one or not, but my impression is that it's not as loud as 100W could be. Maybe @ICBM has some knowledge of the speaker?

I'm not sure - it's probably not too bad (it's an Eminence, I think a Beta but I can't remember for sure - a Delta is more efficient but it's a fair bit extra to pay). The amps themselves are just not that loud - the power section is quite flimsy, the weight seems to be in the cabinet and not the transformer!

Seriously, look for an old Peavey. Cheap, reliable and loud.

DartmoorHedgehog

When I played bass briefly in the band I used to use an old Peavey 15" combo that was rated at less than 100W (TKO80 I think it was).  Although that sounds ridiculously low powered compared with most modern bass amps I never had any problem being loud enough in a one-guitar fairly loud rock/punk band (unmiked).  I never had it on full volume.  Not the best bass sound in the world, but not too quiet.

Kristo

I'd go for a new Fender Rumble 100/200. I had the 500 combo version but just sold it and bought a 100 as I was only ever getting the volume to about 1/4 for practices and gigs. The 100 is quite a bit lighter and easier to move. Sounds awesome both at home and cranked. DI out should you need it. As a guitarist also it's a bonus that electric six string sounds great through it too!

Jalapeno

I picked up a s/h old GK MB100 combo (still looking for a matching extension speaker).  The more modern GK MB112 (200w) looks pretty good.

I quite like the look of RedSub 150W combo if buying new, much cheapness !