Ibanez SR370E / Orange Crush 50

Gear
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Hello!

Zero experience with bass. Know a little about instrument amps (tubes, etc) from a tech perspective, not a musician one.

I’ve gone through all the reviews, but would like to source the amp / bass locally, somewhere I can touch, go back to the shop, etc. Sadly no Squier nor Fender Rumble 40.

The ibanez seems (from what I’ve read!) to be a quality, versatile, and good playability bass, some say good for beginners, but would like a pro opinion…

Fender Rumble 40 wasn’t available here, but really liked the Orange Crush 50 and 100, which again seems to be really versatile. Weight it’s not a problem…

Will those be a good purchase for an absolute begginer?

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Oh goodness, yes.
You’d be stoked on that setup!
Ibanez basses are pretty fun - they have a real big, deep and bright sound generally. They look so sleek and sharp too.

I love Orange amps - I almost went for their OB-1 300 when I was shopping recently (didn’t get it because of price only).

The only think with a 50 watt amp is to remember that you won’t be able to cut through a loud drummer, or most rock-style settings. It won’t have quite enough power to get through the wall of drum/guitar volume.
It’ll be a killer practice amp, though.

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Great! this is the kind of reassurance I needed! Thanks a lot for the reply! :smile:

I think I may go for the Crush 100 then, it may be the only amp I may need! and includes a balanced out, so will be a good weapon to have for daughter’s home studio.

My engineer side love Orange amps too, gonna be a blast for me to actually play (or attempt it!) some tunes myself with one!

Thanks!

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Is funny how memory works… I remembered I knew a kind of amps I loved back while gigging as a tech, but couldn’t remember the name.

We we’re hired to supply and cover everything including amps, I was also the “warehouse guy” fixing consoles, cabling, amps, speakers, etc so that they were in tip top condition and ready for the road.

While we had an assortment of gear, and each meaning a different price, my boss was easily convinced about competition (Expo '92 era) and trying to bring the best possible gear to provide the best quality performances, so finally cleared me to pick whatever was available, if it wasn’t going to be used elsewhere.

I remember that rig became a staple in my gear list, and after the incredolous look of the bassist, once plugged in all (but jazz guys, who would have to fight with just to place a mike, let alone use a different amp!) fell in love with it.

Fast forward watching Bernard Edwards performance at Budokan '96, tried to spot his amp, see “something” green on it… and bam! it’s funny but it was actually the green color what triggered “Trace Elliott!!” in my mind…

A quick search after I find the ELF… oh boy decisions decisions.

Sweet combo with an used 1x10 or 1x12 4Ohms, or own TE 1x10", to get a second 1x10 after to have the perfect mix and match for silent practice, practice, rocking practice and even going out…

The most portable for silent practice also, and sweet DI… only thing putting me down no aux-in, something I’ll need for the lessons in silent practice…

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After some thinking, I’m going with the Crush 50 (not the PiX!), perfect for a begginner practicing given the aux-in and built in tuner.

Once I grow up as a player I’ll go for the ELF for sure, and possibly will look for a sweet sounding second hand 1x12 or 2x12 4Ohm cab then.

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I don’t have experience with Orange or TE amps, but those Ibanez SR basses are great! Great bass to learn on.

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As the shop wasn’t updating me on the Ibanez I asked… to find out they lied to me, no central warehouse already stocking it as they said.

Knew the truth: it’s out of stock and will take another month… no way!

So went online, and after more research from what was available, listening to samples and some videos to get a hang of basses size/ergonomy, went finally for a heavily discounted Marcus Miller V9 Swamp Ash Natural.

I liked it’s solid yet articulated tone, the tech in me liked it also (can’t help it)… now it’s shipped! :smile:

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Awesome! I’m really curious about those basses, I’ve heard a lot of good things.

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Should have it by Oct 25th, cannot wait! Will post pics!

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Already posted on the Show Us Your Basses thread, posting for completeness sake, Sire Marcus Miller V9 (Swamp Ash NT) + Orange Crush Bass 50BX:

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Just got a clip-on tuner… The one on the Amp is a hit and miss, now my ears are better trained and some times the amp built-in tuner in the Orange goes nuts.

FWIW a cheap (around $10) clip-on one has proven to be much more precise.

Other than that the Amp sounds sweet.

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Orange Crush 50 is awesome, killer tone.

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i watched a review of this bass and of course it was marcus playing it but all being said the way you can shape tone with this bass is just amazing the preamp of bass it self just lets you glide through endless combinations i love this bass line and the care that was taken in the crafting of the sound quality it shines on its own so that being said i feel you could hook it up to a 6x9 and it would sound good lol i know this bass i dont know orange other than when dimebag was thinking about endorsing it the company knows how to hype that is a give in

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Hey @pukkita - how’s it working out with the Orange? I’m thinking of investing in a second hand Orange Crush 100 BXT. Looks pretty sweet and the seller isn’t asking much…

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I’m gonna push back on this a bit. Obviously @Gio has a lot more live experience than I do, but in playing neighborhood block parties and small pubs & clubs, all that most of us will ever do, I’ve never turned my Rumble 40 past 4 or 5. Use the amp for stage fill and monitoring, go DI into the board.
When I played guitar for my band, before switching to bass, my 35 watt Deluxe could get painfully loud & was all I ever needed.
Given that I’m one false move from another hernia surgery :face_with_raised_eyebrow:, the 18lb Rumble made perfect sense. In retrospect the 100w version might have been a better choice, but I have not run into a situation where that’s been an issue yet.

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Yes!
Push back welcomed.

Amp choice is totally situational. If you have people (I’m looking at you, drummers) that can play at reasonable volumes, go with whatever works!

General rules are just that.

However - if you do like to rock, get the wattage!! If you think you’re rocking at low volumes, you’re only kidding yourself. If it doesn’t generate a noise complaint, get a bigger amp.

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I’ll give ya that one :grinning:Our drummer rarely hauls out his full kit these days, mostly playing cajón or djembe, so I’m not dealing with even large club volume levels.

I’m on the hated Home Owners Assoociation board. Yes, I’m on the board and hate them, too. :face_with_monocle: That’s why I joined, to keep them from becoming the f*cking Stasi, but all 402 homes have my phone number and email address. So when I play our annual chili cook off and block party, all festivities stop at 10:00 (sigh). It sucks, and we’ll push it as loud as we can for a couple of hours, but even that gets me hate mail, Facebook posts, and the Nextdoor site blowing up. Such is suburbia :roll_eyes:
But I digress. I probably should have gone with 100w amp, but the 40w is as much as I’ve needed so far and weighs more than 100lbs less than the Ampeg B15S that is currently in my cart on Reverb, just waiting for me to push the button.
TLDR VERSION: go with @Gio ’s advice. Get the higher wattage amp if you can afford it and carry it. It’ll save you another purchase in the future.

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