New Bass Amp

[davewarden]

I am currently looking to buy a new bass Amp as the guitarist in my band has just bought a full stack and keeps drowning me out in rehersals.I am looking to purchase a head and cab and was wandering what are the best value ones for around 500.

Cheers

[spellchecker]

not being funny here, but tell the bastard to turn it down. unless you actually need a new amp because what you have is rubbish.

the reality is that when you play live, it's not a case of turn things up as loud as they will go anyway, you will often be told to turn things down so that the sound engineer has more control of the front of house sound.

in rehearsals, the drum sound should be the guide volume... if everything is being drowned out by the drums, then of course, you need to turn things up. but you should be working to create a balanced sound as a band, not having a pissing contest about whose amp is loudest.

however, if you do definitely want to buy another bass amp, then i'd advise buying second hand. you tend to get more for your money that way. have a look on ebay for guide prices for things like 4x12 cabs. i'd spend more on the head than on the cab, as the cab can be easily (a) fixed / repaired if broken and (b) replaced at less cost if you decide to upgrade again. not saying you should get a pissy cheap cab, but the head is what will make or break your sound.

i managed to pick up a marshall 400w head and marshall 4x12 cabinet almost half price from ebay about 3 years ago (brand new), there are some truly great deals to be had if you look carefully and do your research.

remember though, unless you want to play in a rehearsal rooms all your life, volume isn't everything!

[threeornothing]

Also remember....not every venue has in house PA's! When Eradicate toured our bassist had a 500Watt Hartke head with Laney 4x12 cab and a Trace Elliot 1 x MASSIVE FUCK OFF bass bin....didn't need all that power but always helped at venues where only vocals and kick/snare were going to the PA....

The only thing with fuck off rigs, is transport. I'm carless just now and can't get my own amp anywhere, if I had a nice little AC30 this may not be the case

Anyway, if you're looking at NEW gear, Behringer do very cheap rigs, could prob get a bass head and 8x10 cab for that price, then you'd be the daddy! Although I'd agree with checkers that second hand is best bet, especially for bass amps as its harder to damage a bass amp than it is a guitar (within reason!!!) so 2nd hand gear is always going to be a lot more reliable. Trace and Peavey stuff is always bound to be going cheap and has been used everywhere....

Currently at 25! (although 6 days to go) | Postage 20

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58719&item=7318648285&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Currently at 250 | postage 40

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58719&item=7316237580&rd=1

[davewarden]

Its not as bad as I made out, my amp is small and I need a new one anyway.

[Tav]

www.ashdownmusic.com look at the MAG300 head and 4x10" MAG Deep Cabinet. I picked up both for under 500 at soundslive.co.uk though you can get them in Aberdeen at RnB but expect to pay just over 600 I think. It's 307watts...so ample power for playing at rehersals.

[Blair Quik]

Definately agree there, the Ashdown rig you've got is the same as mine and it does the job nicely. The cab's not the best in the world, but for the money you pay it can't be bad. I'd recommend a 4x10 cab, as they sound the shit! Personally I hate 15" speakers as there's either no clarity to the sound, or no matter how you EQ your amp you get a stupid trebley ping all the time.

Check ebay as there as some amazing bargains going. Incidentally, I saw a vintage solid state Ampeg head go for 280. How gutted was I due to the fact it was about 2 weeks before my student loan came in.