What bass set up for around £500?
Asking on behalf of a friend.
New or used. If used he'd prefer something not too rare so he won't have to spend ages waiting for a good example.
Head/cab or combo (no 8x10s though! 4x10 ok)
Must have the power handling to keep up with a loud rock band for rehearsing, less of an issue live as he'll DI.
Tone - he likes a fat rock sound but it is less important than reliability, as he'll DI anyway for gigs. He just wants something that looks in keeping with a rock band and will be powerful enough to use as a monitor. Solid state preferred.
Any ideas?
If it helps the other details I know are it is a 5 string active bass and he uses a Blackstar HT Dual for drive tones.
Hartke LH500 head. Used for £200
Hartke Hydrive 4x10. Used for £325 ish (one on basschat at £300 at the mo)
Superb rig. Takes pedals really well, and the cab is pretty light too.
The Reverend Lord Henry was not one of those new-fangled parsons who carry the principles of their vocation uncomfortably into private life.
If you're around the West Midlands: http://forum.musicradar.com/showthre...-West-Midlands
Otherwise I'd usually look at Ashdown ABMs, lovely 'round' rock tone and (IME) totally reliable (the UK-made ones anyway). Hartke I've had, not especially fond of personally; I LOVE my Marshall DBS but they are rare. Peavey are reliable as it gets; usually really fucking heavy but reliable as it gets (their Black Widow 1x15" bass cabs are great, but weigh a ton).
You'd get a decent rig new for £500 (I've been very impressed by the lightweight Ampeg Portaflex heads, if lightweight's important to him), or a PHENOMENAL secondhand rig (particularly if weight's not an issue) as everyone's getting rid of their old, heavy stuff and moving over to new lightweight stuff. Mine came together for half of that, would have been the thick end of a grand when it was new, and I loves it.
Check out Basschat's amp & cab classifieds, loads to feed your GAS on there.
Last edited by thebeagle; 12th February 2013 at 02:42 PM.
Had a quick look at Basschat, thanks guys I'll point him in that direction. Looks like there's plenty for sale I guess the issue will be how far he'll drive from Manchester for a used rig.
Yeah bassists seem to be more accepting of modern design when it comes to weight, nothing much has taken off in the cab world for guitarists as far as light weight goes, and nobody really has gone big style into compact full power heads. I know he's used guitar half stacks in the past before he switched to playing bass though so I reckon he'll put up with a bit of weight if the value is there.
As Beagles post suggests, big powerful cabs arent expensive 2nd hand. That one he posted would be ideal for most gigs aslong as your happy with the size/weight. I've got an LH500 which I got for £180 second hand - I'm really happy with it (apart from the fact its in the shop getting fixed just now) but it might be on the clean side for him. Super loud, but if he wants dirty he'd need to dirty it up himself with a pedal or 2.
I would say though for that price he would be able to get a stunning rock rig. Lots of options 2nd hand!
I've been looking into this myself recently so here's the fruits of my research to date.
Used - I just seen a 300 watt Trace Eliot head and 4x10 go for £300, that was Darwen so not far from yourself. An Ashdown ABM 115 cab went for £92.00 the other day.
New there's the :
Hartke Hydrive 115 Combo - £569.00
TC Electronic BG 500 - £477.00
Ashdown Mag 210 - £389.00
Laney RB8 £391.00
Fender Rumble 350 Combo £428.00
Peavey TKO 115 (400watts) £345.00
All these combos are rated 300 watts and above, but you can probably take these values with a pinch of salt.
Back in the day I had a Trace Elliot 130 combo which was hands down the best amp I'd ever used.
To date I've tried the Ashdown and the Fender. I wasn't particularly impressed by the Ashdown, but the Fender was quite good for a so called beginner's amp. Although neither came close to my old Trace Elliot unless that's nostalgia talking.
I would also suggest that if a 300 watt amp is not loud enough for a rehearsal room then you need to turn down.
(thanks Dad)
664 - The Neighbour of the Beast
300 PROPER Watts thoughOriginally Posted by BigLicks67
I would also suggest that if a 300 watt amp is not loud enough for a rehearsal room then you need to turn down.
(thanks Dad)probably the reason that old Traces and suchlike seem (are?) way louder than contemporaries with similar or even higher power ratings is that they measured the power output at actual RMS, with low total harmonic distortion, into a reasonable load for a reasonable length of time.
What a lot of engineers term 'Disney Watts' are the likes of Skytech, Alto, Behringer et al rating an amp at 300W because it produced 300W RMS once at 5% THD for thirty seconds into a two-ohm load before it fried; sadly the major part of the reason that unless you REALLY know what you're looking at amplifier specs are pretty meaningless now.
Thanks for the very detailed post!I've been looking into this myself recently so here's the fruits of my research to date.
Used - I just seen a 300 watt Trace Eliot head and 4x10 go for £300, that was Darwen so not far from yourself. An Ashdown ABM 115 cab went for £92.00 the other day.
New there's the :
Hartke Hydrive 115 Combo - £569.00
TC Electronic BG 500 - £477.00
Ashdown Mag 210 - £389.00
Laney RB8 £391.00
Fender Rumble 350 Combo £428.00
Peavey TKO 115 (400watts) £345.00
All these combos are rated 300 watts and above, but you can probably take these values with a pinch of salt.
Back in the day I had a Trace Elliot 130 combo which was hands down the best amp I'd ever used.
To date I've tried the Ashdown and the Fender. I wasn't particularly impressed by the Ashdown, but the Fender was quite good for a so called beginner's amp. Although neither came close to my old Trace Elliot unless that's nostalgia talking.
I would also suggest that if a 300 watt amp is not loud enough for a rehearsal room then you need to turn down.
(thanks Dad)
I don't think this guy knows much more about bass wattage than I do, as until recently he's been a guitarist who played a 100 watt tube half stack. Other bassists I work with/have worked with in the past use things from 120-500 watts in various types of bands, but without having any personal experience I've got no clue what is appropriate beyond their personal choices.
Cheers for all the posts
I agree after being told a tiny Ashdown amp with a 12 inch speaker was capable of 300 watts I was dubious to say the least. Take the Peavey amps they used to be rated at 115 & 130 watts respectively with a 300watt version that had a black widow speaker, now the same TKO/TNT amps are rated at 400 & 600 watts, I know things have moved on but that seems a bit of a leap.300 PROPER Watts though
What a lot of engineers term 'Disney Watts' are the likes of Skytech, Alto, Behringer et al rating an amp at 300W because it produced 300W RMS once at 5% THD for thirty seconds into a two-ohm load before it fried; sadly the major part of the reason that unless you REALLY know what you're looking at amplifier specs are pretty meaningless now.
664 - The Neighbour of the Beast
Old Trace and Hartke watts were always loud!
YOu could find a used Mark Bass CMD 102P combo for about £600. That's a super amp - best combo on earth I reckon.
The Reverend Lord Henry was not one of those new-fangled parsons who carry the principles of their vocation uncomfortably into private life.
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