Which bass amp please?

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KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534

Greetings folks,

As part of this years' Christmas madness, Im having a go at building a bass guitar for my eldest boy. That, in itself, not an issue. However, as I have never played bass myself I don't have a bass amplifier and don't really know what I should be looking out for.

So, can anyone offer some amp advice? As it will be a gift, new is preferred, but am certainly open to secondhand. Also, anything I should be avoiding? If there is an amp out there that does bass and microphone, that would be a bonus, but not essential. Budget? £300 Style? Unknown. Likelihood of playing outside of home? Minimal/nil.

Many thanks,

Adam

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Comments

  • Kalimna said:
    If there is an amp out there that does bass and microphone, that would be a bonus.
    There, you are wandering into the realms of getting a P.A. and running the bass guitar through a pre-amplifier or multi-effect pedal of some description.

    Kalimna said:
    Budget? £300 Style? Unknown. Likelihood of playing outside of home? Minimal/nil.
    Fender Rumble Studio 40 

    Be seeing you.
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534

    Ok, so not really interested in a P.A. so a Rumble it is. I had wondered if there was something else similar to the Blackstar BEAM that might have done the trick?

    Cheers,

    Adam


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  • I have not tried any Blackstar bass guitar amplification. Hence, I can offer no informed opinion of it.

    There was a thread about these amps earlier this year. It rapidly turned into a closed dialogue between two contributors. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    I strongly doubt there is any proper bass amp with a mic input. There is no normal use for that scenario, and the tonal characteristics of the two are quite different, even for bass amps with a tweeter.

    A keyboard amp will do the job though, and some do have mic channels - and they need to handle the low-end from a keyboard, which can be even more than from a bass. You may need an external bass preamp or FX unit to make it sound 'right' though.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534

    Thanks for the advice - the blackstar amps from the other thread were the new Unity range, the BEAM was a couple of years ago and supposedly handled bass/acoustic/microphone. But I have no experience of them either.

    Understood re:tonal specs of bass amp.

    May I ask what is the practical difference between the Rumble 40 and Rumble 40 Studio (which is pushing the £300 limit a *little* bit)?

    Cheers,

    Adam

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    edited September 2018
    Kalimna said:
    the BEAM was a couple of years ago and supposedly handled bass/acoustic/microphone. 
    Ah, those. A friend of mine bought one on eBay. He arranged its return on the same day as it arrived. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534
    Ha! Fair enough :)
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  • Kalimna said:

    Thanks for the advice - the blackstar amps from the other thread were the new Unity range, the BEAM was a couple of years ago and supposedly handled bass/acoustic/microphone. But I have no experience of them either.

    Understood re:tonal specs of bass amp.

    May I ask what is the practical difference between the Rumble 40 and Rumble 40 Studio (which is pushing the £300 limit a *little* bit)?

    Cheers,

    Adam

    The studio is a modelling amp with a whole bunch of different amp models built in
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534
    Gotcha. Thanks.
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    Worth checking out the Ampeg BA-108, 110 etc. series. They don't have the bells and whistles of the Rumbles but they do sound good.
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  • pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
    edited September 2018
    Tried one of those Marshalls for acoustics? 
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  • If the mic thing is super important, get a powered wedge-style PA combo, and one of those £17 Behringer bass amp sim DI boxes.
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534

    Thanks for the further advice. I'll see if I can check out the Ampeg's too.

    Regarding the mic thing - not super important, but my younger boy wants to try his hand at one so it doesn't need to be fantastic, but if possible to kill 2 birds with one stone.... No I haven't had a shot through the Marshall acoustic amps (I understand the AS100D to be the choice of the group), but I had considered them along with the Boss Acoustic Singer (overkill for my boy, but I do have an acoustic with pickup so it would be useful there too).

    GAS is an evil mistress!

    Cheers,

    Adam

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Kalimna said:

    I haven't had a shot through the Marshall acoustic amps (I understand the AS100D to be the choice of the group)

    Yes, but still not a good idea. Don’t put bass through a AS50R/D, it won’t handle it and at best it will make the power amp shut down.

    In fact in general I would be careful about putting bass through any acoustic amp that isn’t specifically designed for electric/acoustic bass, even more than I would through an electric guitar amp.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534

    Ahh, the thread has taken a left turn. I wasn't considering running a bass through an acoustic amp at all. But mic+acoustic in the same 'box' seems rather common.

    Cheers,

    Adam

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    Kalimna said:

    Ahh, the thread has taken a left turn. I wasn't considering running a bass through an acoustic amp at all. But mic+acoustic in the same 'box' seems rather common.

    It is, because the frequency response and dynamic requirements are fairly similar, and it means a solo performer can use it for both without needing a PA - or you can use the mic channel for your guitar as well and get a better sound than with the pickup alone.

    There are definitely at least a couple of dedicated acoustic bass amps available, but I can’t remember if they have mic inputs. They’re probably also fairly expensive...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • The AER bass acoustic amps are pretty much the gold standard...
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