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NEED HELP w/ a bass amp
Submitted by shakedown_04092 on Mon, 10/08/2007 - 01:51.
For some reason, I figured this might be a good place to ask... :lol:
Hey y'all
So my brother (who plays bass in our band) is looking to upgrade his bass amp. Currently has a Fender Rumbler (I think) which is a piece of shyt, and he's looking to get a head w/ a cab or 2.
So we went down to Guitar Center, talked w/ that guy I know down there, and got him a Gallien-Krueger 1001RB-II 700/50W Biamp Bass Head w/ a Peavy 15" speaker cab to start, with the thought of adding another cab w/ two 10" later on.
Here's the thing: I'm not so sure I like it. We giged w/ it the other night and have had 2 practices w/ it so far, and I'm not sold on the sound. I also wonder if it's because he's missing the other cab (w/ the 10's), but I don't think it's just that. I don't know much about the Gallien-Krueger, but I don't think I like the Peavy cab at all.
So what do you guys think? Opinons on this gear?
I know there's a lot of you on here who've been playing bass for a long time, so I'm hoping you guys can direct us in the right direction.
Our band is a mix of jamband, classic rock, etc. music, with his influences being Phil Lesh, Roger Waters, Mike Gordon (Phish), John Paul Jones.....you get the idea: the greats. So that's the kind of sound he's going for, but if I were to narrow it down, I'd have to say Roger Waters or Phil Lesh is the *ideal* tone he wants, and then he'll manipulate it from there.
Any suggestions???
Hoping for help soon, because the 30 day money back guarantee runs out in about 2 weeks.....
THANKS GUYS!!! :D
PS - still waiting on my guitar...... :)
Tell you more? Certainly can. I'll save on lovetoning your meatballs (or whatever) for now. I stick very firmly with valves for bass overdrive, because the bottom end is so desperately lost with solid-state pedals. If more is of interest, I'll link to another thread here.
Back to the valves, I can bore you on that subject too. I noticed that Ampeg's site said that the SVT3 Pro has "one Groove Tubes 12AX7" and a number of others. The GT will be in the position V1, the most important for determining the amp's tone. Being who I am, I'd be very tempted to pull that out and replace it with a better valve. IME, the General Electric 12AX7 (shortplate or longplate, but the shortplate is more rugged), is the best valve for bass ever made.
I did a "blind" test once, and was surprised that the GE beat the English Mullard. When my (very decent) guitarist used the amp, the Mullard won. So I did a non-blind test with my bass and the GE won yet again. It's a wonderful valve for bass in V1 of an amp. Clear, punchy but neutral (whereas the Mullard is middish - great for guitar but less so for bass). The GE is less expensive to buy as NOS, and worth having at current prices.
Thanks 1b for all the help! New rig sounds great! Still twidling with it, dialing it in over the last few weeks - man was he loud at last practice! like a little puppy with a new toy! And man is that cab heavy! Holy shyte man, thing weighs a metric ton!
Sent him an email w/ the reco's for the GE tubes, I'm guessing he's gonna hold off for a bit to see how he likes these ones, this being his first tube amp and all.
Would love to see that thread you mentioned regarding the solid-state pedals. That'd be interesting. And the reason I asked about the Lovetone Meatball pedal is because I think it's made on that side of the pond, so figured you guys would have more info than I would. Tried online everywhere (that I know of at least) and can't find one for him. Oh well....he's got enough to play with for now, and plus he's already got a Bass Balls pedal which is doing the job for an envelope-type effect for now. Though I've heard great things about the Meatball, which is why I was on the look-out for more info.
Anyways, now that he's taken care of, it's time to take care of myself, though I'm going to be broke in about 2 weeks when my custom gets here, but I'm still thinking of stuff. Want to get a new amp, just don't know what yet. Also just carelessly/flagrently/obsessively/etc. put an order in for an Analogman Bi-CompROSSer (compressor/juicer stomp box) because I've been on the waiting list for one since June of '06 and my turn finally came up, so I irrationally just bought it. Oh well. I'm sure I've made worse decisions. :lol:
Shake, apols for not replying (I'm busy at the mo) but it really is appreciated, by me, to hear feedback on whether the ops here are useful and how the new toys appeal. Although I'm a valve-sniffer by trade, I agree that you should play with what you have before opening the back and swapping glass around (not too complicated, but something for the distant future for now).
I can't pin the exact thread, but overdrive/distortion came up and I was saying how much I like the DHA pedals made here in England. I've always found SS OD pedals suck the bottom end out of my bass and these valve-driven ODs add excellent crunch to fuzz without losing the bottom E. Maybe there's a one-man-operation in the US making something similar. The big-name valve pedals are horrendously expensive.
It was here I think:
http://guitarsite.com/hotlicks/viewtopic.php?t=1417&start=20
Page 3 onwards...but the whole thread may be worth a quick glance (yeah, ok, it's MY thread :D )
Hi,
here to introduce myself as the builder of DHA pedals and to answer any questions.
1. We do sell in the US via a rep that will be building them there as well very soon.
2. The thump 1bassleft gets when switching the effect on is now fixed (has been for a while) and there is a mod you can do. It's a known problem with all true by-pass effects.
3. We now build a hybrid power amp. But, it is unlike many other hybrids as it has a valve/tube 3W power stage as well as an all valve pre-amp, compressor and Fx loop. The 3W valve stage drives a dummy load and then on to line out, DI out and a 400W class D power amp. This way you get output distortion and warmth as well as pre-amp tone. It's called the VT5-400-Bass and we are doing different versions with 180W, 700W or no SS power stage.
4. I am a guitarist and have been building amps and effects for 30+years.
We have a website for more info on what we do - www.davehallamps.co.uk
I am very happy to answer any questions I can.
thanks
Dave Hall
DHA
Per Daves's note above, I am the rep in the US. You can find all of the same products at davehallamps.com
Donn Hall (No relation that we have discovered yet, except for great effects and amps)
DHAUSA
Welcome, both, to Guitarsite and I'm happy to recommend these peds, purely on a "bought it, played it, liked it" basis.
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