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Best Bass Heads...


Huw

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As of late I've really not been happy with my sound, playing through my SVT-3 (I have recently got new pickups installed so hopefully that might help out my sound, but i thought this thread might not just be of help to me) so I've been looking around at bass heads for the last couple of weeks and am getting a bit stuck.

In terms of all tube bass heads I've seen a couple that look like they might 'do the job' (around the 1300-1500 mark)...

Mesa 400/400+ - pretty impossible to find, but sound pretty darn good from what I've heard.

Orange Thunderverb 200 - look quite the part, really like that I could use it for both guitar and bass, just not sure whether it would be as good at bass as it is at guitar.

Orange AD200B - The only dedicated Orange Bass head, no frills and all that.

I would be partial to rack set ups, hybrids or vintage stuff too as long as they sounded good...

So far I've seen Orange Bass Terror, Sansamp PSA (obvz through some sort of power amp), Fender Bassman 300 (discont. i think), Marshall Superbass.

So many choices, if anybody has any experience with the above or has any words of wisdom they would be much appreciated.

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I was in Lofi Studios the other day and the band were recording with a 1974 Fender Bassman through an Ampeg 8 x 10, it sounded unreal. I'll try get a copy of the recording when it's finished so you can hear it.

awesome! that sounds sweet. looking forward to hearing that. Unfortunately, with this much expenditure on a head, the cab is going to have to wait a while, but I'll get there!

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As of late I've really not been happy with my sound, playing through my SVT-3 (I have recently got new pickups installed so hopefully that might help out my sound, but i thought this thread might not just be of help to me) so I've been looking around at bass heads for the last couple of weeks and am getting a bit stuck.

In terms of all tube bass heads I've seen a couple that look like they might 'do the job' (around the 1300-1500 mark)...

Mesa 400/400+ - pretty impossible to find, but sound pretty darn good from what I've heard.

Orange Thunderverb 200 - look quite the part, really like that I could use it for both guitar and bass, just not sure whether it would be as good at bass as it is at guitar.

Orange AD200B - The only dedicated Orange Bass head, no frills and all that.

I would be partial to rack set ups, hybrids or vintage stuff too as long as they sounded good...

So far I've seen Orange Bass Terror, Sansamp PSA (obvz through some sort of power amp), Fender Bassman 300 (discont. i think), Marshall Superbass.

So many choices, if anybody has any experience with the above or has any words of wisdom they would be much appreciated.

pretty hard to find, but the GK 800RB is a world renowned amp for bassists, I've wanted one for ages, but can never find one.

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pretty hard to find, but the GK 800RB is a world renowned amp for bassists, I've wanted one for ages, but can never find one.

GK=Gallien Krueger? there meant to be pretty good value for money.

Out of interest what do you put in front of your Mesa, or does it growl like that all by itself? The bassist from desalve... it was the PSA he was using was it not? What power amp, do you know?

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GK=Gallien Krueger? there meant to be pretty good value for money.

Out of interest what do you put in front of your Mesa, or does it growl like that all by itself? The bassist from desalve... it was the PSA he was using was it not? What power amp, do you know?

I don't put anything in front of my mesa, i just go bass > amp.

Sounds sweet, so why ruin a good thing?

Bassist from desalvo used a QSA poweramp if I'm correct with a Tech 21 PSA Preamp.

Although, last time I saw them at converge, he was using an Ampeg SVT2 Pro, those things are lovely.

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pretty much the ampeg version of the mesa 400+

they are nice heads too

:D

ho ho ho.

You are a legend for selling me that amp. But also a fool.

How is the SVT getting on? I Am tempted, but I want a Sunn 300+ instead and so will be saving up all my cash for one of those. The time will come when I can have one. :(

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Haha maybe.

I need to blast a 2 pro with my stuff and see how it sounds. Though i do love my SVT4 - Finally happy with my recorded tone. yuss.

a lot of top engineers use the ampeg svt4 as the bass amp in their studio. True story.

Shame I could never get it to work for me. I think maybe I was just driving it too hard, and hating the sansamp tone.

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ho ho ho.

You are a legend for selling me that amp. But also a fool.

How is the SVT getting on? I Am tempted, but I want a Sunn 300+ instead and so will be saving up all my cash for one of those. The time will come when I can have one. :(

could have sold it for much more than I got from you, but i wanted it to go to a good home and it has done so

the classic is teckle although for the last year it has been used without the 8x10 as I aint been gigging. hopefully sometime soon I will be :D

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could have sold it for much more than I got from you, but i wanted it to go to a good home and it has done so

the classic is teckle although for the last year it has been used without the 8x10 as I aint been gigging. hopefully sometime soon I will be :D

this is true, and for that i am truely grateful.

Jazz Bass pLzZzz

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Shame I could never get it to work for me. I think maybe I was just driving it too hard, and hating the sansamp tone.

That's the exact same problem I think I've got. I hate the way the sansamp sounds through it... when ever i want to turn up the drive it just gets wierd and buzzy. I want to turn up the drive and get that awesome growl that you got on those last blessed recordings.but I wouldn't sell the Sansamp because it's so useful for its recording applications.

I just want a tube power section because I'm certain they'll fill the void. I'm in love with the Orange AD200B... it's so pretty. Is there anywhere I could try it out.

We practice on a Sunday just off market street, so i might just take the whole band down to play the open mic night! yeah!

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pretty much sold on either of the oranges, today im more leaning towards the thunderverb. some guys on the orange forums use them and say they're pretty darn good for bass as well as guitar.

I would love a Thunderverb. Is 200 watts enough power for a bass head though? Presumably it'll be 'louder' since it's a valve amp, but my Ampeg is 350 watts and doesn't really give me much headroom.

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I would love a Thunderverb. Is 200 watts enough power for a bass head though? Presumably it'll be 'louder' since it's a valve amp, but my Ampeg is 350 watts and doesn't really give me much headroom.

350w solid state? probably give you as much head room as a 100 w valve head if i had to guess, i'm by NO means experienced or an expert in any way at all ever. my ampeg is 450 and its got quite a bit of headroom, not masses though.

what i read some where on either punktazzztik,talkbass or summat was that because valve amps create usable sounds when the power section is being driven as well as the preamp section, they tend to put out a lot more volume with lower wattages when cranked. a solid state head with a driven power section sounds like audio aids - digital clipping and all that nasty business i believe. therefore, to compensate for it solid state heads must have more power to produce the same volume, so the power amp isn't being driven. thats what i read into it anyway, it's probably bollocks, or i got it wrong.

Anyway, the largest commercially selling bass heads with valves seem to go up to 350w namely the boogie 400+ and the ampeg 2 pro. so i think it will be more than loud enough. also oranges designated bass head is only 200 w, and surely they'd equip that with plenty of head room. plus nate newton uses one and converge play LOUD!

so basically i reckon yes, it would be enough.

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