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OT...sorta - Bass Amps
What would be the minimum sized bass amp you would recommend for playing with acoustic drums and 1-2 guitarists in a room that is about 10' x 25' in size?
Comments
You need something that can fill a room. Do you have a budget? I would go with either a 112 (single 12" speaker) or 210 (2x 10" speakers) configuration. There are numerous companies that have a combo in these sizes - the Fender Rumble series and MarkBass also has some items.
Your budget will really be the determining factor here.
I was looking at the Rumble series, and think that might fit the bill. Budget-wise....the cheaper the better. I would say that under $300 could be considered. How about wattage? I'm thinking a 100W 112 might be enough.
Try it out in the store, and don't be afraid to turn it up. That's the only "real" way of getting an idea how loud it is. Trust your ears over the numbers.
Dont base it on the size of the room, base it on the inevitable arms race to out blast your band mates!
I use a 100w Orange bass combo. Loud enough for rehearsals and even small gigs.
Yep - loudness wars are always a problem, and low frequencies take considerably more power to get "up to volume" than high ones. This means as a bassist/synth bassist you need more power just to get you to the same level as the others.
Remember too that a place like Guitar Center has a 30 day return policy, so you could always "test" one out at rehearsal and bring it back if it doesn't suit your needs.
I've also got a 15W tube amp for the guitar, and that's certainly enough to cut through with the drums. I don't have many music stores within a 45 minute drive, so that makes demoing them a bit tougher. Thanks for the suggestions and feedback to all.
100 W of bass with a 15 W guitar should be fine. When I played bass in a band, we were especially loud. I had to deal with 2 guitars, both cranking 100 W amps, so I used a 400 W bass head, and that was enough. If you compare the power ratios of our 2 bands between bass and guitar, you should be good.
Thanks @CracklePot. That’s where I’ll start looking.
100w is audible, but a little wimpy for a full rock band, unless your drummer is a finessey, mellow type. 200w is better, for keeping up with average volume rock. They make really powerful bass amps now, that are lightweight. The bass response gets noticeably better going from a 12" combo amp to a 15" combo. I like the Ampeg combos. Also Mark bass, and Eden/Nemesis, but those are creeping over your budget. Fender is decent. The important consideration in budget bass amp choice is if it is loud enough and the speakers are big enough, it doesn't matter if the tone is amazing, if no one can hear it.
Hi ,
Bass player here , 100 watt rms is the minimum. The fender rumble 100 will not keep up with the drummer (tested) , can’t recommend a combo without knowing the budget .
I have a Benz Benz streamliner 900 with a 112 cab that is fantastic , the cab was given to me by someone and I just had to replace the speaker, I also have a 3x10 cab that sounds nice. I never had a powerful bass amp until the streamliner, now I see why you want more power than you think you need. I’m finally getting compliments on my tone, after almost 30 years of playing.
I got the streamliner used on reverb, I think it was $400. You can find the hartke rackmount heads pretty cheap and they are solid. An old gk 400rb is a great amp and can be found for not too much.
Guitar centers used site has a lot of great deals and they’ll ship to you. I hate the store but the used listings are very good, even better because the trend is for smaller lighter bass amps and so some of the heavier stuff can be had for very little.
Bass amp power ratings can be confusing - the traditional one is based on sustained sine power, while the modern rating is usually peak based.
Most lightweight modern amps are PWM based (so called 'digital') and you'll want at least a 300Watt model, 500 or more doesn't hurt.
I once had a cheap Dynacord, 60W sine rating, 80W RMS that drove a (quality) 240W cabinet to it's limits.
You also have to consider the efficiency of the speaker, which has more influence than the power rating. A 6dB increase in effective loudness requires 10 times the amp power iirc.
Unfortunately the budget is significantly limited here, which rules out practically all quality cabinets. Good speakers are the most expensive part of the equation.
The absoutely best cabinet I ever listed to was the old Genz Benz T112 (not made anymore) which sold for about 600 bucks. The double version was kind of an acoustic wrecking ball (rule of thumb: rather buy 2 of the single driver version and leave one at home for small gigs...)
With a 300 budget I'd also suggest 2nd hand purchase, as mentioned by mrufino1.
The type of music is also very important for amp/cabinet choice.
This is why I encourage using your ears first. With bass especially, the numbers can be a bit mystifying. I've had 400W amps that sounded completely wimpy and 200W amps that blew the room out. There are numerous factors contributing to how the bass sounds in the room: the amp, the speaker cabinet, the room, the power rating, the porting on the cab (or lack of it), newer/older tech/gear, etc. It goes on and on forever. As I mentioned before, low frequencies are much more difficult to "control" so bass amps are more difficult to nail down than say a guitar amp.
I currently have a Genzler Magellan 800 that is more power than I'll ever need in a very small footprint. I've been using various 2x10 cabs and that will more than fill the room for me. This rig may be overkill for most, but I do a lot of pick-up gigs and recording work so I need flexibility in a small package.
If you can carve out a few hours some Saturday afternoon, take the drive to the nearest big-box store (I know you mentioned that they were at least 45 minutes away) and just blast through as many different amp & cab combos as you can. You'll pretty quickly get a feel for what works for you and your needs, which is the ultimate determining factor here.
Lots of great advice on this thread. I am not sure how loud your band gets, but definitely take that into consideration. You need the power if the music has a high level of energy, would be the most generic way I can think of putting it.
If you are playing more laid back, at cafe volume levels, you won’t need as much. In fact, you will most likely need to hold back a bit.
If you plan on going outdoors ever, then you will need to have the more powerful amp/speakers as well. Seemed like every time I played outside, the bass was so quiet since there wasn’t a room to sympatheticly vibrate the low frequencies.
Yep, really good advice here. When I last played out it was with a 3 piece rockabilly band. For that group I used a Genz Benz 200W 115 combo/tilt back and it was plenty and it fit on the front seat of my car.
With larger/louder bands I used a stereo SWR bridged for 500W into a 212 cabinet. That was my favorite.
If things got real crazy I would biamp with a QSC power amp and add a preamp and 118 cab.
I tried amps with less power than the Genz Benz (200W) and was left wanting every time.
@Processaurus mentioned Mark Bass offering some quality stuff and I agree. I heard an 800W tube/SS hybrid through a 210 cab that sounded fantastic and really compact!
If you can spend a little extra do so. I think you’ll wish you had in the long run. Hey,you’re worth it!
Seems like there are more bassists on here than I thought.
Not to hijack the thread, but I'm going to hijack the thread for a minute here...
I've been considering doing some bass-centric videos on my channel. Would anyone here get anything out of that?
Oh, hell yeah!
My 100w Orange is loud enough for me, even when the drummers wigging out and the guitarist blasting through his Marshall stack.
I’m in!
The band is fairly loud, and it’s mostly blues/rock style. I suspect second hand might be the only option.
I've usually played guitar but trying to pick up bass, since we're lacking one. Finding it to be good fun.
Second hand is a good option for combos - you can soon tell if there are any issues. I paid £140 for my Orange, and it’s in pristine condition. Would have been £400 new.
Nice price on the Orange! A combo would be fine if it cuts through and sounds ok, but either option would work. I won’t be hauling it around.
It’s got a really good EQ, so I can usually cut through the guitarists Marshall wall of sound. Only downside is it weighs a bleedin ton. The guy I bought it from had bought one of those micro orange rigs instead.
I just checked it out online, and yeah...that 's a hefty amp! I do like the EQ flexibility.
It’s very loud, very punchy sound. Flexible too, works well with keyboards and synths.
And if you have issues hearing yourself through all of that guitar noise, earplugs cut most of that out and let you hear your bass much better.
Everyone will probably be happiest if I can't cut through!
I discovered this at the last rehearsal. I’ve been getting a bit of tinnitus recently, so took earplugs with me to the last session. I used the excuse it’d help me hear the bass better, so I didn’t get called a wimp, but it actually did. Took the edge off the drums and guitar so I could hear the chords and bass better.
Wish I’d thought of this years ago.
My bass player used a big Ampeg amp and speaker cabinet. Fantastic sound.