so for my next gigs I’ll need a more powerful bass amp, as we’ll be playing in concert halls and my Fender Rumble 40 Watts is way too weak to keep up with the deep vibrations you should feel as a concert listener.
From your experience: What are your favorite concert Bass amps you could recommend me?
It should have these features:
portable in a trolley when driving by bus/subway in Berlin City (very important to me, because I don’t drive by car)
stable (important to me, it shouldn’t easily break) to shaking during transportation
minimum 200 Watts sound power
damn good (I want it crystal clear, pure, and sharp) sound synergy on my Yamaha TRBX 604 passive/active bass
perhaps a passive/active slot, too
price range up to $1000
We’re mostly playing (hard) rock classics like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin, and many, many, many more.
I wanna feel this song perfectly pure and the deep vibrations going through all people on stage with a new amp:
You should feel the Bass as a listener here; it gives the public a damn good thrill when they feel the Bass vibes here.
Thank you very, very much in advance for your replies
I would think that concert halls would have a PA system, but I might be mistaken.
From the requirements that you list, I would go with a combo, especially since the modern ones are quite lightweight and powerful. If you are happy with the sound of your Rumble, maybe go with the Rumble 500 or 800.
An alternative could be the Ampeg RB-210 or a Markbass 2x10 combo. If you want to go beyond 2x10, cost and weight might be an issue.
Maybe someone here has a more hands-on experience and better recommendations
Is this amp meant as just a stage monitor? If so then 200W will be plenty. If it’s for live performance with a drummer and other band members and intended for the audience, you’re probably gonna want at least 500.
500 watts is not 10 times louder than your 40W amp. To double the apparent volume you need to increase the sound level by 10dB. Doubling amp power output means an increase of 3dB. So, a 500W amp is about an 11dB increase over a 40W amp - at max volume, it will appear to sound a bit over twice as loud, through the same speakers. Of course a 500W combo will also have different speakers and thus probably sound a bit louder still - but not (say) twice again as loud.
Yeah, I also think 500W is a safe bet. These days it doesn’t matter for weight if you go for a combo or a head + cab. It’s all class D unless it’s a tube amp lol.
Getting a decent cab is also half the work. For example a 2x12 cab will blow the Fender Rumble 40 away.
I was in a similar situation a few years back and - after a lot of thought - here is the “solution” I came up with, which offers, at least to me, the best compromise of performance and flexibility:
A Bergantino B Amp (700W at 4 Ohm, or 350W at 8 Ohm); very nice, very clear, transparent amp
2 (two) separate 112 cabs
This allows for a number of uses:
amp and 1 cab (amp is lightweight, the cab has dimensions and weight that is easily luggable) for smaller, medium-sized venues (output power ca 350 W)
amp and both cabs for larger venues (output power ca 700 W)
amp alone (has DI out) if there is a FOH or PA available
amp with 1 cab as a potential stage monitor, while still using the DI out to FOH
I think this covers most of the situations I can think of. 12 inch loudspeakers should be a good compromise in terms of size, power, frequency range and “luggability”.
^^ this is how to do it, some version of this. some people don’t care for twelves, I think it depends on the cabinet (which is true of any cab). you could also mix in a 10" combo, or go 2x10 and 1x15, something like that. probably aiming for 30-50" total surface area to move some air (actually the above setup has about 25" surface and seems to work fine for him). personally I like the idea of mixing two different size cabinets because you can get two different sounds separately for a little more flexibility. and a quality head between 500 and 1000w with a good DI out. as always it helps to get used if possible.
It’s under your $1000 cap, it weighs only 29 pounds, and without an extension cabinet you’re still getting 350 watts.
I don’t reccomend the Rumble 200 because the power increase from the 200 to 500 is worth more than the difference in cost between the 200 and 500.
Also, for your situation, I don’t reccomend the Rumble 800. Without an extension speaker it only going to give you 400 watts. That’s only a 50 watt increase for a considerable jump in cost. If you were going to be using an extension speaker it might be worth it but that would mean you have to carry another 30+ pounds of gear. Which doesn’t seem to meet your needs.
I’m not discounting the suggestion from @joergkutter. His solution is very flexible but that flexibility comes at a significant price increase.
This will push your budget to the max but it would also bring pro quality sound to your gig. The Genzler BA 10-2. It’s a combo amp that you can stack up to 3 ba 10-2 cabinet. Most Venice tried I only use the one combo some times 2 tried 3 once and it’s and overkill for anything but a stadium.
It’s of course above your budget but I’ve seen the combo just under $1000 so shop around.
Here’s mine. I have 3 cabs and I snatched up the Magellan 350 when one came up for cheap. I brought the single to the last socal meetup and everyone seems to like the neutral tone. I bought mine from a G&L dealer with Toby, @T_dub for $900 out the door.
Oh yeah. I don’t eat meat; so, I requested noodles and @Al1885 served them with his own teriyaki sauce creation. Life was good. To be continued. I’ll pay more attention to the amp.
Thank y’all very very much for your advice and your help
My feeling tells me to go for the Fender Rumble 500 then. I’m gonna go to a music store to check it out.
A Fender Rumble 100 with a Behringer K1800 ran together. Or a Peavey 115 combo with the 15" Black Widow. Or a Peavey series 400 with your choice of two speaker boxes. I’ve uploaded three pictures of my Fender Rumble 100 with my Behringer K1800 sitting on top. The Peavey series 400 rated at 210 watts per channel at 2 ohms. Plus my favorite, (but way too much amplifier for my needs. The Peavey 115 combo. I realize that the 115 combo and the series 400, and my rumble 100 are vintage. If you could find any one of these amps. Especially the two Peaveys a will definitely do you justice.
This is the same rig I’m using and it is unbelievablly powerful for something as small and light as it is. The combo alone @ 175w would work fine as a personal monitor in a concert hall that uses a FOH PA system. To get the full 350w I pair it with another BA-2-112 cab for a stand alone rig. I’ve played with much bigger rigs that didn’t sound anywhere near as good.
The unfortunate issue here is cost. The MG350 combo could be had for around $1000 but a second cab will add another $700-$900 or so depending upon which you select. If you prefer more low end I’d go with a 112 or a 115. A second 110 will produce more mid range punch but still provides a vert good low end. These cabs are amazing for their size and weight and the speaker array design provides off axis sound you and your band mates will appreciate.
The MG350 head attaches to the cabinet and together they weigh just 25lbs. Both can be carried in a padded carry bag designed specifically for this rig. This meets your need for portability and anything Jeff Genzler designs will meet the rest of your needs you’ve listed. The use of two separate cabs provides a lot of flexibility for different venues. Even the 112 cab weighs just 29lbs so one could be carried in each hand with the bass carried via a back strap.
In the race to make bass rigs even smaller and lighter I’m finding these to be a leading edge setup. So much so that I’ve sold my 750w and 500w heads a single Epifani 112 cab and I have another Epifani 212 cab for sale now. I’m more pleased with the Genzler gear than I was with my other rig and it was to me the best I’d ever owned up to that point. Hope this helps.
Edit; Another option would be to buy just the MG350 head and pair it with a used 4 ohm 4x10 or 2x12 cab. I don’t know what the market is like in Germany but in the US used cabs like those can be had fairly inexpensively usually in the $400-$600 USD range. The problem there however is you lose the portability the Bass Array cabs provide.
That’s awesome @soulman I made a mistake of using it with all 3 cab at a venue once. I thought that it may require extra power. It was way overkill, lol. The 3 stack is powerful enough for an outdoor gig.
Now that many venues have their own FOH PA bigger stage rigs have become far less necessary. Even the outdoor gigs I was doing a few years ago used a decent size PA. I played a few with no more than a 200w 1x12 combo for a stage monitor and I know quite a few other bassists who’ve gone with a similar rig due to weight and how compact it is on stage.
That’s what prompted me to buy the Genzler combo and just add a second speaker whenever needed. One of our local guys who plays concert size venues in a Grateful Dead cover band uses an MG350 with BA 110 and BA112 cabs and says it’s never not been “enough” to cover his needs. I believe their amazing lateral dispersion helps with that a whole lot too.
More important to me than pure wattage is how much clean headroom a rig has without unintentionally over driving the head or the speakers. I’ve played 450-500w heads with far more headroom than 750-800w heads and therefore more usable volume. I refuse to beat my gear up playing a venue that requires a huge rig. For that it’s easier to have someone backline an SVT and it’s been a very long time since I’ve played through one. But I do love how they sound.
I’ve bought a Peavey 115 combo with the 15" black widow. For or $40 at a pawn shop. Also a Peavey series 400 bass head for $200 at a different pawn shop.
These two are beasts. The combo amp is extremely heavy though. But, ran the series 400 into my fender rumble 100 poweramp input. It had the 15" woofer of the fender rumble 100. Damn near touching the grill. That is how much the series 400 was pushing out the woofer. The series 400 is two channels. Each channel is rated 210 watts at 2 ohms each.
