MisterZ
Friend of Leo's
Came here to say this. Use the XLR out for FOH and the internal speaker as your monitor.
Hype aside, I need a lightweight bass amp!
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loudboy
Friend of Leo's
Another vote for the GK MB115, I got one for $200 and it's got a lot of power, tons of big low end, and is very light.
Linus Pickle
Tele-Holic
I had an old SWR combo amp (Workingman's 15), it was a fine amp but it wasn't light. I don't know if the redheads are any better but they're of an older generation that tends to be on the heavier side.
The only other way to get much lighter is to ditch the combo idea and go with a micro head and keep a small collection of cabs. That's actually what I do. I have a couple of different 12" cabs and a 4X10 when I need to push air. That way I can take a tiny one speaker cab or two or all 3 if required.
Most of the time (98%) I use a preamp/DI and leave the amp stuff home. Invest in some good in ears
I can offer a solution but it’s going to be a lot more that $500.00.
Genzler 350 watt head with a Genzler 1-12” (w/tweeters)bass cab.
Head weighs 4.5 pounds and the cabinet weighs 21 pounds.
“Buy once…cry once” has always been the best advice I ever heeded…you need the gear that you KNOW is going to do the job….if not you will be buying rig after rig after rig.
Don’t mess about….get what you need the first time.
This is my rig at church:
Genzler 350 watt head with a Genzler 1-12” (w/tweeters)bass cab.
Head weighs 4.5 pounds and the cabinet weighs 21 pounds.
“Buy once…cry once” has always been the best advice I ever heeded…you need the gear that you KNOW is going to do the job….if not you will be buying rig after rig after rig.
Don’t mess about….get what you need the first time.
This is my rig at church:
padreraven
Tele-Meister
I used a Rumble 100 for a while. I'm not really a bass player, but the bass player in our group, who had a more expensive amp, liked it and REALLY liked how light it was. When I found it used in a store I didn't trust the weight or the price but thought it would be fine for practice, but used it in a small gig and it was fine for that space. I never tried it in a larger space, and gave it to a family member before I did.
Twang-ineer
Tele-Holic
The 801 is pound for pound the best sounding bass amp I have ever used.
From personal experience what I would suggest is a used TC Electronic BG250-115. It should be well under $500. I've played Rumble and Ampeg combos in rehearsals before but 75-100w isn't usually enough to cut it on a gig with a full band. That would be my main concern.
I played a BG250-115 while in a 7 piece blues and r&b band with a loud drummer, two guitars, a harp player, and a horn section. It was more than powerful enough to stay clean and keep up. I never had the master above 5-5 1/2. It's not too heavy either. Check one out.
I played a BG250-115 while in a 7 piece blues and r&b band with a loud drummer, two guitars, a harp player, and a horn section. It was more than powerful enough to stay clean and keep up. I never had the master above 5-5 1/2. It's not too heavy either. Check one out.
dougbgt6
Tele-Afflicted
I recently bought a Rumble 100 and was astonished at how light it is. A flyer comes with it says it's 33lbs. I feels much lighter than my Blues Junior which is also a 12" speaker. I notice the cabinet is made with thinner wood than the junior, Is it as robust? Time will tell. The tone is magnificent and plenty loud enough for my house, there is also a 200 and a 500.
I got it for £200 nearly half RRP. The guy had bought it new and after 3 months decided Bass wasn't for him. A common story, a little skill on guitar and bass must be easy, right?
Doug
I got it for £200 nearly half RRP. The guy had bought it new and after 3 months decided Bass wasn't for him. A common story, a little skill on guitar and bass must be easy, right?
Doug
GorgeousTones
Tele-Meister
Either the old grey Gallien-Kruger MB200; Currently no longer in production but can still be found used on GC.Com, Reverb, etc for a steal. If you need more power/headroom MB500 or MB800 or SWR Redhead (not the smallest/lightest but KILLER) SWR Shuttle 3.0 or Headlite covers simple 4 band to tube multi-channels with compression & voicing switches to 16 knob 7-band fully variable parametric eq/pre..
**Again; Like the GK MB200/500 the SWR shuttle series (crazy high quality & great feature set for size at great value!) aren’t in production but still used everywhere
I’ve got some VERY high $$ bass amplifiers (Glockenklang, Bergantino, MarkBass, Ashdown, Phil Jones) yet I still schlep my MB200 & Neo2x10 cab to rehearsals & small performances through the subway, in/out of cabs, up & down the city because the head fits in my gig bag, it sounds amazing & weighs practically nothing! If you’ve got decent $$ to spare I would definitely go with the Genzler amp suggested above but SWR & GK will get you darn close for several hundred bucks less..
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GorgeousTones
Tele-Meister
Yeah I definitely agree with this one! But only if you’ve got some decent dough $$ to spare!!
GorgeousTones
Tele-Meister
I love my SWR RedHead 2x10 combo but it’s definitely NOT small or lightweight!!
maxvintage
Poster Extraordinaire
I was a gigging bass player, electric and upright, for decades. I used a Class D solid state digital switching head made by acoustic image, which is now out of business after the founder/owner died. It was rugged and versatile and always sounded great with elecgtric or upright. Still using it.
Bass in general has been revolutionized by class d switching amps. All good as far as I'm concerned, because I can remember lugging an SVT head at 75 pounds. And an SWR 2x10 combo--that thing was heavy! After much experimentation I used an Epifani 1x12 neo speaker cab for a lot of smaller gigs and a Genz Benz neo speaker 2x12 for louder gigs. These were all more in the "boutique" range of gear, not found at guitar center, but hi quality and hi performance.
There are a lot of great options at Guitar Center but in my experience the key is not raw wattage, it's EQ. Took me years to figure this out. You really really don't want the mid scoop/smiley EQ unless you are a slapper. You want less bass frequencies and more low mids--that's really the key to being heard in a band. Pushing really low frequencies takes a lot of power, and a lot of bass cabs don't actually even reproduce a low E at 41 hz. You just get mud. Focus on 150-500 hz. If the guitar player has a BF/SF Fender 800 hz is probably your friend because the fender amps scoop out that range.
All this can be done by ear but really, as with guitar, often a sound that's "ugly" solo'ed sounds great in a mix. I got to where I didn't really care what amp because I could dial in an effective sound quickly once I realized it was mids, not bass, that made a mix work. I'm pretty sure I could get a Fender Rumble 100 to work in gigs where other people were saying it;s not loud enough, because a mix is less about volume than it about "hitting 'em where they ain't."
Also I found head/cab to be better than combo amp for bass. You really don't want to be lugging a big cab if you don't have to.
Bass in general has been revolutionized by class d switching amps. All good as far as I'm concerned, because I can remember lugging an SVT head at 75 pounds. And an SWR 2x10 combo--that thing was heavy! After much experimentation I used an Epifani 1x12 neo speaker cab for a lot of smaller gigs and a Genz Benz neo speaker 2x12 for louder gigs. These were all more in the "boutique" range of gear, not found at guitar center, but hi quality and hi performance.
There are a lot of great options at Guitar Center but in my experience the key is not raw wattage, it's EQ. Took me years to figure this out. You really really don't want the mid scoop/smiley EQ unless you are a slapper. You want less bass frequencies and more low mids--that's really the key to being heard in a band. Pushing really low frequencies takes a lot of power, and a lot of bass cabs don't actually even reproduce a low E at 41 hz. You just get mud. Focus on 150-500 hz. If the guitar player has a BF/SF Fender 800 hz is probably your friend because the fender amps scoop out that range.
All this can be done by ear but really, as with guitar, often a sound that's "ugly" solo'ed sounds great in a mix. I got to where I didn't really care what amp because I could dial in an effective sound quickly once I realized it was mids, not bass, that made a mix work. I'm pretty sure I could get a Fender Rumble 100 to work in gigs where other people were saying it;s not loud enough, because a mix is less about volume than it about "hitting 'em where they ain't."
Also I found head/cab to be better than combo amp for bass. You really don't want to be lugging a big cab if you don't have to.
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I agree on the EQ approach.
I can't tell you how many times I've been in a recording studio where the bass player was complaining his bass wasn't loud enough. As you said, it wasn't the volume, it was the EQ.
That said, I bought a Rumble 200. I like how narrow the cabinet is with the handle on the top. Makes it really easy to carry. And as many have said, if it's not loud enough, send a line out to the board. I think I'm covered for now!
Linus Pickle
Tele-Holic
Yes, I too made this error for years. "I'm a bass player, if I want to be heard obviously the knob that says 'bass' is the one I should turn up!" was my approach for a long time. All the while wondering why my SWR115 with another 15" extension cab wasn't pushing out enough volume...
A high pass filter is a great tool for a bassist to have. Some amps come with them but you can also get a simple HPF pedal, or even an EQ pedal for finer control over your sound. I use a $40 mini EQ pedal I got off Amazon but you can spend a lot more than that if you want more features or finer control.
Intermediate EQ tip, figure out which frequencies your other bandmates aren't hogging and boost there. It's often in that 150-500Hz range but not necessarily. And remember that a little bit of boost/cut can go a long way, don't start off with EQ knobs at 3:00 or 9:00 - start at 11:00 or 1:00 and adjust a bit from there as needed.
I use a Boss GE7 because it has a separate volume slider on it. I can just step on the pedal and go from one EQ setting to another and be at the perfect volume
Workd the treat!
Linus Pickle
Tele-Holic
Boss also makes a GEB-7, which has slightly different center points for the bands that are supposed to make it better suited for bass, but the one I have has the same EQ points as the GE-7 and it suits me just fine for both guitar and bass. It also has an overall volume control so it could be used as a clean boost.
Tele-beeb
Friend of Leo's
Not sure I am recommending, as I’d consider other options(personally.)
My two Rumble 500’s work well at all gigs. No issues. They sound really good.
But… they have very little, if any visual character. Just bland boxes. I have replaced the grill cloths with a Western Tribal Fabric.
<ed> oh, and comparatively light.
My two Rumble 500’s work well at all gigs. No issues. They sound really good.
But… they have very little, if any visual character. Just bland boxes. I have replaced the grill cloths with a Western Tribal Fabric.
<ed> oh, and comparatively light.
WireLine
Friend of Leo's
An Aguilar TH500 head and a Phil Jones Compact 4 (4 5" speakers, 400W RMS, 30-15K, 29lbs, sounds like the hand of God) will get it done
