|
|
Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 1017
Location: Budd Lake, NJ | Good afternoon, everyone;
The regular bass player for our bluegrass group will be taking time off here and there, and I've been nominated to be his replacement. He plays a wonderful ol' Fender bass from about 1965; I have a 5-string Steinberger cheapie--I'm already at a disadvantage, sound-wise.
Can anyone recommend a small bass amp that can be toted by a middle-aged grandma without a great deal of difficulty? I can manage one about the size of a Genz-Benz Jr; any bigger than that and they'll have to get a replacement for the replacement.
I'm hoping to not have to go higher than $500, tops.
Thank you, all; I appreciate the help.
--Karen (A/K/A "The Walkin' Bass Grandma") ;) :D |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | I have this Fender amp and it sounds great, and is not terribly heavy. They make as smaller one as well. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | Carvin 100D 35 pounds and has one channel for bass , one for vocals and one for acoustic. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 195
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | Hi Karen,
That Fender amp might be a pretty good choice. You also might look at SWR, Gallien-Krueger.. Or even Behringer.. Lots of stuff on ebay and craigs list.. Power is pretty important in bass rigs.. 35 watts from on guitar will be pretty loud.. 35 watts from a bass amp will be pretty quiet. If you have more questions, please ask!
Cc |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2005
Posts: 486
Location: North Carolina | SWR Workingman's 10 or Workingman's 12. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Mesa Boogie Walkabout Scout. Huge sound, small box. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Originally posted by Cc:
35 watts from a bass amp will be pretty quiet. I remember in the last band I was in, (last century) I plugged my Fender Precision bass into an SWR 300W head on a Hartke 4x10" cab and the lead guitarist had a PRS plugged into a 50W Marshall, or something like that.
My amp was constantly on '9', his was on '3' and he still drowned me out.
Yeah, we were loud. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2005
Posts: 486
Location: North Carolina | The thing about amps is: Go small, especially with bass. If it's a small venue or practice, you've got what you need. If it's a large venue, you DI to the board anyway. I did this for the 8 or so years I was a dedicated bass player and it served me well. I never understood hauling around amps the size and weight of refrigerators just to get "your tone".
We opened for a lot of national acts. During one of my earlier experiences doing this, I noticed that the bass players' stack of four speaker cabs had only one plugged in. Thinking the roadies had made a mistake, I went to their bass player and told him. He gave me a real annoyed look and said,"I know." |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | For a bluegrass band, portable ... Hog 30. You can also use it for acoutic guitar and keyboards. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 195
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado | With all due respect to An4340, If you are talking about a Pig Nose Hog 30, I would still recommend something in the 100+ watt range.. Ideally, with at least a 10" speaker. There are many light (less than 40 lbs) combo amps designed specifically for bass. The Fender John mentioned or the ones I mentioned previously, would meet all of your needs and still could be used for 6 string or keys. Conventional guitar amps are just not up to the rigors of running bass through them. You might end up with more amp than you may ever need. But when dealing with bass, that is a good thing! Now there are some very new tech bass rigs that are almost tiny. Mark Bass and Phil Jones and alike. These are very nice, but can be very pricy too.
Hope this helps!
Cc |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 80
Location: On The Fringe Of Ground Zero | For a practice/portable bass amp I have a Genz Benz Tranz Amp (10 Watt) similiar to the following link :
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/product_id-1615.html
inexpensive and does the job. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Originally posted by Cc:
You might end up with more amp than you may ever need. But when dealing with bass, that is a good thing! I agree 100% with that statement. I think it's always best to buy as much amp as you can afford. It's always nice to have a little "head room". The Fender that I mentioned is in Karen's price range and has some nice features. It has a ton of EQ control, compression, aux. input (great for practicing with an mp3 player), and an XLR output with seperate volume control for connection to a board. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | 1 watt per pound is about the right ratio |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | J.J. Cale said in an interview a few years ago, that after screwing up his back for years hauling a big amp around that these days, his "sound is no bigger than his back". |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Yeah, that's one of those signs that you're getting old, whe you choose your amp for weight rather than tone. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I guess I'm old now. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | A decent keyboard amp can make a good bass amp too and typically not weigh as much. I like the Carvin AG100D that was mentioned earlier. With a 15" and a horn, it does a credible job and you can find them dirt cheap on the bay.
I have a Barbetta Sona 23C that is 175 watts with a 12 and horn. Weighs about 30 lbs, has 5 inputs and is a decent small venue bass amp. Got it as a mini-PA and it did 2 acoustics, 2 microphones and a keyboard to about 50 for church for a year or so.
The small peavy bass units are built like a tank and plenty loud too. For $500 you might be able to pick up a neo 2x10 cab (around $250 used) with a horn, and then a seperate amp. The neo cabs run about 40-50lbs, and any power amp would work fine for what you are doing, another $100-250 and another 15-20 lbs.
Poke around the bay and you will find something that works.
P.S. At least you know you are only temporary, as they usually make the bass player provide and set up the PA system too (at least that is what they always told me). |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | genz benz shuttle
small light powerful |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Didn't Phil Jones perfect the small bass amp and take it to an entirely new level? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | phil jones is very good
and expensive |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 383
Location: Indiana | I've been using a Hartke 2000 head w/a Mesa Boogie 1-15" cab w/ wheels of course for several years now. Plenty of power (200W)and easy to move around. A new one would be a 2500, but it's about the same power. Any cab would work, too. I just happen to use a Boogie. Mine does have an EV spkr in it.
Bill |
|
| |
Looking for advice on bass amps...
