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pablopepper
18-04-2014, 03:39 AM
Alrighty, inspired by Mick and his pedal thread, the next logical step in the chain is amps.

What are you running, and why? :D

My pride and joy
http://www.coveramp.com/uploads/AmpRange/Blackstar_ht20_Combo.jpg
Blackstar HT-20. Easily the best amp I have ever owned, sounds amazing and surprisingly wasn't too expensive. As my first tube guitar amp, I settled on the 20 watt version so it wouldn't be 'too loud'. Holy crap, I had no idea. If I'm playing in my house, I can barely crack the volume up to 1 before getting yelled at by wife or child, and if I'm home alone getting it up to 2 usually has me convinced the neighbours will call the cops in about 5 minutes.

As for bass
http://www.proaudio.com.au/shoppingcart/product_images/z/738/ampeg_micro-cl__50077_zoom.jpg
Ampeg Micro CL. Just a weenie baby, but packs a hell of a punch. Only 100 watt solid state (compared to the 350 watt tube driven full Hartke stack I had back in my regular gigging days), great, transportable, versatile, awesome sounding little amplifier that can take on an acoustic drum kit and win.

wokkaboy
18-04-2014, 04:11 AM
good idea Pablo an amp thread,
my main amp is a Marshall 1960 super lead cabinet, think its 100W or 300W total for the 4 speakers, and as previously stated in the pedal thread its powered by a Fender Mustang V amp head which I only got about 6 or 7 months ago. Its got plenty of power and some cool sounds.
I just got to sit down and play with the sounds more if someone can get me out of the workshop !
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/afc24-Marshall_1960A.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/88922-mustang5snap_02.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/voaj9-1600-Mustang5HD_detail1.jpg

stan
18-04-2014, 04:14 AM
nice rigs guys, I have a 1974 Fender Twin Reverb (100W), and you can have 3 guitars at once:

http://ampwares.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Silverface-Twin-Reverb-Front.jpg

wokkaboy
18-04-2014, 04:17 AM
my 2nd amp is a solid state Crate GX212,twin 100W, I wanted something that was portable and had plenty of power. I picked it up 2nd hand on gumtree for about $280. I play this amp in the 'green room' as a 2nd amp with the mustang amp in stereo, it really gives you a full wall of sound. I haven't had neighbors throw a brick through my window......yet !
An older amp which I've had for close to 20 years is the Fender M80 combo amp, had some great times with this amp, its still pretty loud for a single speaker. It's made in USA so think I'll hold onto it, it could be worth something down the track. It needs some repairs on the clean channel is crackling and not giving its full volume

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/558b7-crate-gx212.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2uk25-Fender-M80.jpg

vh2580
18-04-2014, 11:41 AM
One photo two threads

Blackstar HT5 stack and can understand about the Blackstar 20w this 5watt tube cranks have never had it over half volume cant be in the same room. Beaten up Fender Princeton Chorus ( unknown Vintage but was old when I got it)
Now just got to get it all set up again now Ive moved to Mackay.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/y310p-latest-022.JPG

dingobass
18-04-2014, 11:57 AM
My rig..
Hartke 3500 head with AK 410 cab.

I have never turned it up past 3 because I am afraid that my eyeballs will melt :)
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2f9z9-IMG_2642.JPG
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/f11ag-IMG_2643.JPG

wokkaboy
18-04-2014, 02:49 PM
yer nice bass rig DB and you snuck in a photo with the Riccy, what a sweet bass to play !

lawry
18-04-2014, 10:45 PM
OK. Seeing how we're showing off, this is my small collection. Most of you know that I'm a bassist first but I do also play lead. When it comes to amps I like to build my own. Have done for decades, so all but one are home built.

These two are my bass heads. A Carvin BX Micro Bass (250 watts and only 1.5 kg) and a homemade Dirty Angel 500 watt (it's actually 600 watts but I have built in a limiter to stop it from clipping). Personally I like solid state bass amps for clarity.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/54m0w-image.jpg

lawry
18-04-2014, 10:55 PM
And these are my guitar heads. They are all home built all valve amps. Starting with the smallest I have...
A two watt unit built into a Vox Pathfinder cabinet. I use this a lot for recording so I can get a cranked valve sound without blowing the windows out.
An eight watt unit with tremolo that I use mostly when gigging. It easily keeps up with the other guitarist's Vox AC15 and is plenty loud enough for small/medium venues.
The last beast is my Dirty Angel BlueBottle. It is 50 watts based on a Fender Bassman 5F6-A but with mods. All hand wired point to point. It is way too loud for anything I need and has hardly been used. In fact, only one gig. I'm thinking of getting rid of it.

Probably should mention that I have a GK 2x10 and GK 4x10 cabinet that I use with the heads.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/u925e-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1v4z0-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/sc5f9-image.jpg

DanMade
19-04-2014, 12:23 AM
Dibs on your Bassman head Lawry. That is awesome.

Wish I had the technical know how to build something like that. As it is I'm struggling just to fix a simple wha pedal.

DanMade
19-04-2014, 12:29 AM
Here's a pic of my DILLIGAF setup. It may not look pretty, but it gets a hell of a sound.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/9wt7c-image.jpg

lawry
19-04-2014, 04:42 AM
Is that a Fender Blues Junior? Those things really rock!

zeromick
19-04-2014, 05:59 AM
Danmande... you you should totally draw an owls beak below the speakers on that cab

lawry
19-04-2014, 07:45 AM
/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/Quote from zeromick on April 18, 2014, 14:59
Danmande... you you should totally draw an owls beak below the speakers on that cab

LOL. ZMick's right you know!

dingobass
19-04-2014, 08:21 AM
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from stan on April 17, 2014, 13:14
nice rigs guys, I have a 1974 Fender Twin Reverb (100W), and you can have 3 guitars at once:

http://ampwares.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Silverface-Twin-Reverb-Front.jpg

Great amp Stan! I reckon these twin reverbs are one of the best ever built- I am sure Ads will agree-...

DO NOT sell this amp EVER! you will never find anything as good...

VanHaydn
19-04-2014, 08:38 AM
If I showed you my amps i would have to kill you all!...
na only kidding just use my 2.5kw sound system as a bass and guitar amp ...I have 2 extra 1500w speakers to build a couple of folded front loaded reflex bin..that will be my bass amp .pretty soon really..I used to build amps and Pa systems from scratch for a company in South Africa a lot of martin long throw stadium and Club sound systems, I used to make the amp cabinets and populate the pc boards and final construction...good times them was!
I found a Marshal practice amp next to the road on a skip day...couldnt believe my eyes took me a few hundred metres of driving telling my self..that wasnt a marshal guitar amp ive just seen next to the road!!! but it was..somebody dropped it and smashed all the pots off the pcboard..easy cheap fix! and my little orange crush ou guys have seen in my pics before
cheers
H

TheDangerMan
16-05-2014, 03:50 AM
Here are my gig and house friendly rigs :)

First is my Laney cub 15 head (Tube) with my orange 1x12
Second is my ZT lunchbox head (Solid) with either my orange 1x12 or my vox 1x12

Both setups are pretty sweet and versatile. The ZT is worth its weight in gold purely from the number of times ive had another tube amp crap out on me and always keep her in the car just in case

Have tried bigger setups, but I almost always run through a PA which is worth vastly more money than my little rig/s so I let that do the heavy lifting :)
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/32c0v-Laney.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/9r74z-Lunchbox.jpg

jarrod
16-05-2014, 05:41 AM
If your a legend from the 90's rock then this is all you need. Love my Peavey
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/59q3d-amp.jpg

lawry
16-05-2014, 06:27 AM
Yeah. Sweet rigs. Horses for courses, eh?

ultpanzi
16-05-2014, 06:32 AM
Peavey VIP2 with sanpera. I play bass and electric, so it can do both with all the modelling technology I need. Its solid state so I can take it around easily without worrying about the fragility of tubes, but it has tube simulation technology which really sings. It takes a little time to set a voicing thats good, but once youve got it, its awesome.

DrNomis_44
14-07-2016, 04:41 PM
I have a few amps that I use every now and then, so I'll have to get together some pics and post them here for you guys to check out.

fender3x
29-09-2016, 06:06 AM
I had a big gap in my playing history. When I came back to the bass in my 40s I had an ancient Sunn head and cab that were just not reliable. Replaced that with a G&K that was great, but my back complained a lot. So I set out to find a scale-able rig that was as light and loud as my budget would allow. Here's what I came up with.

14183

Cabs are both horn loaded Bill Fitzmaurice designs. The top is a DR250, and bottom is a Titan 39 sub. I have them set up with a passive crossover in the sub. The newer DR250s use a cooler tweeter array, but I have not updated mine from the old design mostly because I generally switch them off anyway, and when I do use them, they give me plenty of highs. One of the things I love about these cabs is that they are super efficient, so I don't need a giant, heavy amp to run them. They are surprisingly light cabs, but they ain't small. Put my favorite G&L ASAT bass next to them for scale. I really only use the sub for gigs that are outside. The top is plenty for any bar I've been in.

Speaking of amps... I had a small G&K amp for a while, but replaced it a couple of years ago with a Carvin BX500. I have never had it past the half way mark, even outside, and at 6 lbs my back loves it. It's a solid state class-D amp, but it has a tube in the pre-amp that you can switch on and off. I can't hear much difference, so to add a bit more tube flavor, I generally use it with a Tech 21 Bass DI. With my old G&K I also used to add a home-made Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer clone with some of the caps changed out to optimize for bass. That added a little compression and even a bit of drive if I turned it up. I don't use it now though. The Carvin has its own compression and better EQ, so I don't seem to need it anymore.

DrNomis_44
29-09-2016, 07:16 AM
Okay, you guys have probably seen it already in another thread, but hey, I guess I could post a pic of it here, here's my Marshall MA100C Guitar amp, it is a 100 Watt 2 X 12 all Valve Guitar amp which I bought back in about 2014, previously I had to make do with a 300 Watt Solid State Behringer K3000FX Keyboard/P.A. amp, and a couple of Digital Guitar FX Processors, while it worked okay enough while playing guitar at home, I could never get a decent sound out of it when playing in a live band, those Digital FX Processors (A Zoom G2 and a Korg Pandora PX5D) seem to be better suited to use in a recording studio, anyway, in 2014 after buying my Cherry Red PRS SE Custom 24 Guitar, I decided to bite the bullet and buy myself a proper guitar amp, so after spending a few fortnights paying it off on Lay By, I finally got the Marshall MA100C home, it was only a week after that I started having problems with it, first I noticed that the Reverb wouldn't work, I took the amp back to the shop I bought it from and they sent it away to get fixed by a tech, I got the amp back a month later and noticed that the reverb still wasn't fixed, so, not wanting to send it away to get fixed and wait another month, I fixed it myself, as it turned out the cause was a broken wire in the reverb tray, it was only after I used my Marshall amp at a gig that I encountered more trouble with it when it suddenly went silent while I was playing onstage, to cut a long story short, I ended up getting a mate of mine to fix the Marshall amp, and after a year of waiting I finally got it back fixed, and it has been working great ever since, here she is in all her British Glory....haha...., well Marshall Amplification is based in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, England:


14185



There's also my Peavey Renown amp:


14186


Will see if I can post some pics of my other guitar amps that I have in my collection.


Okay, here's a pic of my Behringer K3000FX 300 Watt Keyboard/P.A. Amp:

14189


And my Peavey Backstage Plus 35 Watt Amp (It needs some new knobs):


14190

Dedman
29-09-2016, 07:24 AM
I have 2 amps an Orange Micro Terror Which I really like the clean sound of and a beheaded Vox VTX20 which I bought with my first guitar( it was in its proper cab then. I chose it because it had all the modelling stuff in it but I later realised I never used most of it. I mostly use it with headphones now but both amps sound really nice plugged into the 1 x12 . It has a Celestion green back in it. I can't turn either past 1/2 volume with much gain on without rattling windows.
14187
14188

DrNomis_44
29-09-2016, 07:40 AM
Those are cool amps Dedman, here's a couple more pics of my amps.


Here's my Peavey TKO80 Bass Amp, the chassis has been removed cause I'm doing some work on it to fix an issue which is causing some residual distortion:


14191


And finally, here is my little 5 Watt Solid State Pignose Amp, it can get surprising loud for a 5 Watt battery powered amp:

14192

wazkelly
30-09-2016, 08:47 PM
From 1979 to 1985 I had an Old Marshall Super Bass Head fed into a Wasp slant front 4x12" 25w greenback celestions that looked like this...1420814209

These days I take my pick from this bunch....
142101421114212

The baby is a Vox VT40+ with 10" speaker, the one in the middle is a Vox VT80+ with 12" speaker, and the one on the right being a Hartke HD75 with 12" speaker & 1" Tweeter. Hard to believe the Hartke is only 12" as the box looks big enough for a 15" speaker. These amps are plenty loud enough but more manageable than the old Marshall that was rarely played past 1, sometimes on 2 but that always resulted in ringing in the ears for a few days after. On-board effects makes up for all those MIJ Boss pedals that were sold off about 30 years ago.

andrewdosborne
01-10-2016, 08:33 AM
Ok. For home use I've scaled down the artillery. This way I can crank up the amps to get desired tone without destroying the neighbourhood. Also easy to port around. I plug the ACL4 (12 inch speaker) into a 2x12 cab for emergency requirements. Heaps of grunt. Large guns to follow (stored unless jamming/gigging). A bit of a Vox theme here.

ACL4 (12 inch)

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161001/fcfcfe23603d07f06d49c375c01b7f9a.jpg

Pathfinder Bass
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161001/bf749b163a3e6ceea73238bd9714fb6a.jpg

AC30 headphones for 2am
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161001/b82a7c51e0a809a3de8bafaab91a5ab6.jpg

And Apogeejam for iPad using bias app

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Dedman
01-10-2016, 08:40 AM
Much Vox love in this thread :)

wazkelly
01-10-2016, 07:07 PM
Much Vox love in this thread :)
Yep, comes down the whole better sounding British vibe that began in the 1960's through their use of Vox, Marshall, Orange, Hiwatt, etc. whilst in the US of A they mainly played with Fenders and later on Mesa Boogies & Peaveys. Mind you I had an Ampeg 240w Bass Head for a short while after selling the Marshall and that was a big mistake as it sounded so muddy yet equally as big and heavy to lug around. It almost made me 'holler' for a Marshall just like in those battery advertisements as I needed a replacement fast.

Dedman
01-10-2016, 08:13 PM
AC15 head is still on my wish list. I have been liking the sounds from Hughes and Kettners I've been hearing too.

wazkelly
01-10-2016, 09:09 PM
I looked up those Trainwrecks last night and wow, what a sound......even bigger wow when I found out their price!!!

Once I picked myself up off the floor went back looking at the Lamington's as they are now looking much better priced than some of the boutique offerings from overseas.

Haven't heard or done any research on AC15 heads and wonder if their night train might be a cheaper alternative worth considering?


http://youtu.be/-UiRvAZkXD4

wazkelly
01-10-2016, 09:25 PM
This is the one worth checking out....

http://youtu.be/hg8OjAhHRlQ

dave.king1
02-10-2016, 06:42 AM
G'day Waz,

If you are interested in the Trainwreck have a look at the Ceriatone kits they do a very good clone.

Link here http://www.ceriatone.com/series/model/tw-clone/

The Overtone kit is a clone of the Dumble Overdrive Special as used by Robben Ford

Edited to add, Ceriatone are very highly regarded by the guys over on TDPRI

wazkelly
02-10-2016, 12:54 PM
Thanks Dave, not ready to spend around $1k on an amp or kit at this stage nut will keep that in mind for when there is more spare coin to splurge with.

fender3x
02-10-2016, 09:31 PM
For those of us not willing to spend a fortune... is there a decent beginners design you'd recommend?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

dave.king1
03-10-2016, 06:06 AM
For those of us not willing to spend a fortune... is there a decent beginners design you'd recommend?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

There would be but it really depends on what power, sound and characteristics you are after.

Edited to add, if you know who's sound you would like to emulate and know what type of rig they are using do a google for clones of that type and then head over to the Fender or Gibson forums and see what the people there think of the clone that you are leaning towards.

If it were available I would be looking for a Gramatico clone and Harmonic Design pickups for the Tele.

I have Village Blackwood pickups ( 52 Black Guard spec ) in the Tele and will find a clone that has the same characteristics of the Gramatico DFW Twin http://grammaticoamps.com/Testimonials/redd-volkaert/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcA5oJxXu24

dave.king1
03-10-2016, 08:42 AM
Weber kits are also highly regarded and the images for each kit give a fair indication of what each one is a clone of, still close to Ceriatone kits in price though

http://www.tedweber.com/amps/kits

keloooe
03-10-2016, 01:47 PM
Anyone got some nice designs for any bass amp kits? Don't want anything that would cost an arm and a leg either... Also worth mentioning I'm looking for a practice / rehearsal head, that could be put in a Marshall style enclosure for a bigger look and not too much power.

Fuzzbeard
03-10-2016, 02:04 PM
I have these two. The Peavey Valveking 112 I have had for a while, It is 50W all tube and is loud as but these days the volume knob barely gets turned very far which is why I have the Orange Crush 20 which is a great little 2 channel solid state amp, it sounds great and is loud when it needs to be.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161003/a0f37cda0670b3f26d2339e720314972.jpg

DrNomis_44
25-06-2017, 06:37 PM
Here's a pic of my recently acquired Fender Super Twin amp sitting on top of my Marshall MA100C amp, how's this for a cool looking guitar rig?, it'll look cooler once I've fixed up the Super Twin's cabinet, I'm going to spruce it up a bit with a Paisley front panel after I've re-glued the corners and re-tolexed the cabinet, anyway:

20250

The Fender Super Twin is rated to put out 180 Watts RMS (or, 390 Watts peak....yikes!!) from a set of 6 6L6 power output valves.

The Marshall is rated to put out 100Watts from a set of four EL34 power valves.

And here's a pic of my little 5 Watt Class-A Single Ended Legacy Valve amp:

20251

Sure, it only puts out 5 Watts, but don't let that fool you....it is a loud 5 Watts!

Guvna19
29-06-2017, 01:29 PM
Anyone here have any experience with amp heads or combos made by Strauss?
going to look / listen to a 15/8 watt Strauss Valve Head. its pretty cheap which makes me nervous

pablopepper
29-06-2017, 01:49 PM
Is it an old one or a new one? They've been around since the 60s. Australian owned company but I doubt they are built here anymore. A friend of mine in high school had a combo passed down from his dad. All I can remember was it was the loudest thing I'd ever heard.

Guvna19
29-06-2017, 05:54 PM
hey all,

seen an ad today which im interested in ( hope ok to post here mods?)

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/holden-hill/guitars-amps/strauss-sv-tntb-valve-guitar-amp/1152320128

seriously thinkin of getting it, tried to research which castes some doubt re build quality, but still seem s reasonable price wise?

interested in community opinion as its unbiased and not sales orientated.

appreciate any advice on what to look for or just steer clear? , i can be a bit impulsive

cheers Gav

wokkaboy
29-06-2017, 06:16 PM
Hey Guvna for the cost of $100 I'd go and check it out and make sure he has a cabinet and guitar to test it out. Presuming it has valves check how much hum they have.

Simon Barden
29-06-2017, 08:52 PM
Presuming it has valves check how much hum they have.
Hum? You never know, they may even know the words. ;)

Guvna19
02-07-2017, 07:58 PM
Amp sounded great to my somewhat damaged ears.

not expecting much for cost, but great excuse now to build a cab and avoid some/more DIY danger with High voltage -rocknroll

20392

wazkelly
02-07-2017, 08:11 PM
How old is it and was there any history passed on from the former owner?

Guvna19
02-07-2017, 08:32 PM
How old is it and was there any history passed on from the former owner?

Hey Waz,
i was able to hear and play it today though a celestion vintage 12 and some other 12 name i cant remember, sounded good to my poor ears. way loud (maybe too loud for my intended home use) - i dont have an 8 - 16 ohm speaker as yet
said to be 2years old from eBay and used rarely.
i considered chinese make and limited reviews before buying , cost was good - no humming or crackle upon using/tapping/switching
tubes are common and thought good reason to venture into building a small cab
i got three SS Amps and decent monitors but never had the tube style yet

wazkelly
02-07-2017, 08:36 PM
Thanks Guvna. Looked long and hard at their low watt combo amps but couldn't find any sound clips or videos and Melbourne supplier didn't respond to any emails which made me wonder how one would go if there was a warranty issue. Their heritage is huge but correctly stated that they are now made in China, as are most things these days.

DrNomis_44
03-07-2017, 02:10 AM
Amp sounded great to my somewhat damaged ears.

not expecting much for cost, but great excuse now to build a cab and avoid some/more DIY danger with High voltage -rocknroll

20392


Looks like it should be a cool little amp.

JB RETRO
09-07-2017, 03:59 PM
Has anyone built a "lamington" valve amp from Valve Heaven, and if so what's it like

pablopepper
12-07-2017, 09:33 AM
Has anyone built a "lamington" valve amp from Valve Heaven, and if so what's it like

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7370
Maddog is building one right now!

JB RETRO
12-07-2017, 03:04 PM
Ok will check it out

Guvna19
08-01-2018, 05:16 PM
Researhing Bass Amp questions:

building a JB4-A atm and have no amp or experience with bass's or the amps?

seen a Fender Rumble 30 2nd hand for 100 and gonna check it out.

any feed back on the rumble or other types/brands appreciated.

also, what makes a bass amp so different from a guitar amp?

cheers
Guvna

Simon Barden
08-01-2018, 06:03 PM
Quite a few differences between bass amps and guitar amps, though in concept they are quite similar.

1. Bass amps will have different centre band values for their EQ controls. A bass is an octave or more below a guitar, with a low E on a guitar being around 82Hz and low E on bass an octave below that at around 41Hz. So typically, at least the bass and middle EQ controls have a lower frequency centre setting. Often bass amps have an upper and lower mid EQ control.

2. Most bass amps concentrate on clean headroom. Yes some will have drive and/or fuzz options, but most bass amps concentrate on sounding clean until they are very loud. Hence most bass amps are solid state and have large wattage power amps. You can get some high wattage valve bass amps, but they are very heavy as they need a lot of valves and huge output transformers. Whilst they may sound great, you need to be in a band with roadies to take care of all the lifting for you to gig one. A 250W Class D bass amp can now weigh just a couple of kg, so solid state is a much more practical proposition.

3. Almost all bass combos or cabs are tuned enclosures (with the exception of cabs designed for mid- and treble-only frequencies which are often sealed types). Guitar combos and cabs are normally open backed or fully sealed. Speakers aren't very good at reproducing the lower bass frequencies (say less than 60 Hz) at volume. That's fine for guitars with their 82Hz low E, but not for basses. Bigger sized speakers help, but a 2x18" cab isn't going to be very portable. So bass cabs use tuned ported enclosures, where the 'port' (a lengthened connection between the inside of the cab and outside) length and size, is 'tuned' so its resonant frequency boosts the lower bass range of the spectrum, so that the volume of low bass sounds put out by the speaker are amplified because of the port resonance, and so giving a much extended frequency bass sound.

4. The ear is far less sensitive to bass and high frequency sounds than mids. The lower the frequency, the louder it needs to be for it to sound the same volume to the ear as a mid-frequency sound. So in conjunction with tuned cabs, bass amps normally have a basic EQ that boosts the low frequencies more. This takes more amplifier power to do, hence the reason for most bass amps having significantly more power (item 2 above) than a guitar amp. Also why a 30W valve guitar amp can sound louder than a 200W bass amp.


Smaller bass amps (less than 100W) are really for practice only. They have smaller speakers which don't produce a lot of real bass. Which is fine for practice as a lot of bass sound is from the 2nd harmonic, so an octave above the fundamental note but it's never going to make trousers flap.

The Fender is never going to sound wonderful, but for learning bass stuff at home and being portable, it's fine. But it's not going to be loud enough to compete with real drums. Obviously the more you spend, the better sound you can get, even from the smaller bass amps. But for initially learning the bass the Fender will do. But if you stick with bass, then you'd probably soon want something bigger. With a big amp, you can let the amp do all the work and you can play really lightly. With a small amp, you'll need to dig in a lot more to get the volume. Play for too long like that and it becomes hard to change to a different technique.

Marcel
08-01-2018, 06:30 PM
There is nothing hard and fast on the "what makes a bass amp so different from a guitar amp?" topic... Many resort to the 'If it sounds good then it's fine' approach, which is fine but sometimes there is a cost...

The basic design of a bass or a guitar amp is essentially the same, although the EQ and response of the two can be vastly different. As a general guide/comment a guitar amp will often have poorer bass response than a bass amp as the frequencies below low E are simply not required, however many bass amps will have treble response that can almost match any regular guitar amp but the EQ controls on a bass amp are often not ideal to set a regular guitars tone.....

Secondly is the OD/distortion aspect. Most guitar amps have this built in to the basic design to various better or worse extents, whereas most bass amps are basically designed to run only clean. A notable of bass amp exceptions is the Orange Crush series of bass combo amps, and there are others.

The big differences are mostly in the EQ circuits and in the actual speaker itself (not the cab, but the noise producing device inside the cab). Both are usually tailored to best suit the frequencies of the instrument that is expected to be played through the amp at what is thought to be the volume levels that the 'rig' will be used at. .

Which leads us to the un-written rule that states - You can run a guitar through a bass amp and often it will work, but usually you can't run a bass through a guitar amp as more often than not the guitar amp just won't cut it... The most common reason a guitar amp will 'fail' is that the speaker cone of a guitar speaker is not designed or built to be capable of delivering bass guitar frequencies at the typically expected volume levels.... There are plenty of YouTube videos out there of guitar speakers tearing themselves to destruction attempting to reproduce bass notes at reasonably high volume levels. At low volumes they'll be fine, crank it up to any extent and you'll be down the shop getting new (expensive) set of drivers fitted to you guitar cab pretty quick.

It's not that bass speaker drivers a better, more it's that each driver be they guitar or bass is designed and built to do a different job and at the typical volume levels to do that job well.

As for the Rumble 30 for 100.... it's probably worth it, even it were for only as a universal clean bedroom practice amp...

Sonic Mountain
08-01-2018, 06:49 PM
Hmm thats really interesting. I have an old Ross bass amp from the 70's that is my main 'loud' amp. I've had it forever and it sounds surprisingly awesome. It's one of the first solid state amps from what I can gather. I mostly play straight into the computer these days though so it doesn't get much of a work out. I always get funny looks when I rock up with it, but it really does sound great.

https://i.imgur.com/EaSQ6SKl.jpg

wazkelly
08-01-2018, 07:14 PM
$100 is a pretty cheap asking price and probably good place to start for a beginner considering new price is $399. 10" speakers are quite common these days in Bass Amps too. Auxillary input and headphone socket are handy as is the tilt back design so you can aim the speaker where it can be heard rather than just blowing a breeze below your knees.

30W will sound loud enough until you get seriously into playing bass and there are plenty of 50W & 75W combos that will do a good job of keeping up with a drummer and a live stage sound. I bought a 75W Hartke about 18 months ago which is both very heavy and also very loud, and in hindsight the 50W version would have been good enough. Difference was 10" speaker in 50W vs 12" in the 75W which also had a small 7 band eq, all up cost $399 delivered or $299 for the 50W version.

Simon Barden
08-01-2018, 07:49 PM
Sonic, I'm pretty sure those Fame series Ross amps were late 80s (86-88). https://www.usedprice.com/items/guitars-musical-instruments/ross-systems-akai/bass-amplifier/fame-bass-50-191485.html
I know I bought a small Fame 10 guitar practice amp around that time. It was actually pretty neat with a great fuzzy drive.

Ross was part of the company that made Kustom amps, and Kustom did make some of the first commercial transistor amps on the market. But these Ross amps seem to be an '80s venture, with various amp series being produced from '82-'88, after making the Ross range of FX pedals in the '70s (of which the Ross Compressor is the most famous these days).

Sonic Mountain
09-01-2018, 04:11 AM
Yeah cool. It's difficult to find much specific information on them. Style wise the cab looked more retro than that to me, but entirely possible it's 80's.

EDIT:

Confirmed. I could never quite work out what the date on the inspection sticker was, but having that ball park it looks like its says '86 to me. Fun to know.

https://i.imgur.com/GJ07RBFl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fKqWzcbl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/q2xrGlNl.jpg

Simon Barden
09-01-2018, 05:15 AM
It's certainly got a 70's look about it, but that may have come from the Kustom amps side of things. My little practice amp had the same knobs and knob colours and silver grille cloth.

dave.king1
09-01-2018, 06:07 AM
Wasn't Kustom the amp of choice for John Fogerty / Creedence and from memory maybe the Grateful Dead as well

edited to add. Wiki agrees with my aging memory on the first but not the dead

Laz101
09-01-2018, 01:06 PM
Hi Guys anybody tried the Yoyo amps seem to be getting a lot of praise and love great write ups reviews for the price.
So tiny but powerful https://youtu.be/p0FjFN1CAGE

https://youtu.be/kxC9DFKlgY8