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Best Bass Amp?
Submitted by lee_UK on Tue, 06/28/2005 - 08:24.
Question for or Bass players.. which one of these is the better for Classic rock? need it for gigging in small/medium size venues and rehesarsing, not interested in slap/popping bass stuff, just classic 70's rock stones/ Led zep/ who/ Free/ Bowie etc.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=22669&item=7331845335&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58719&item=7332013260&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58719&item=7332996949&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58719&item=7333155082&rd=1
which is the better?
or any other amp head suggestions?
Do not want to be a smart arse, but would it not be the one YOU like the sound of the most. Music to me is a really personal thing. I know what I like and it's hard to change my mind. If you buy something from e-bay it is very hard to return it if you do not like it.
I tend to go to pawnbrokers, they will normally let you plug in and give the amp a run.
Im not a Bass player, would'nt know one end of a bass amp from another, so i was kind of hoping a Bass player would tell me what these are, if a bass guy comes on here and says can you tell me which is the best amp for rock? a Roland a Trace Elliot Tramp, or a Marshall Stack?
i would tell him, thats the idea of a forum is to post in questions/suggestions in the hope of getting some answers or suggestions, i dont have the time (work 9 hrs per day with weekends mostlt family time) to seek out all these amps and play them, expeirenced bass players can give their opinions, thats all i want, an opinion.
I have been PMing Lee with my personal ops. Emphasis on "my personal ops" and - must state - I am NOT the last word/oracle on bass playing. Please take the time to chime on this thread if you're a visiting BP. I'd be interested too.
All sorted now, have a EVO ll 325 watt Ashdown Head, a MAG 410 4x10 cab, and a spare 15" blueline ashdown driver waiting to go into a cab.
Must mention, Lee, you're in good company. I know Macca (officially, Sir Paul McCartney) is an Ashdown user. He sounded rather good at the last Superbowl half-time slot and, again, ABM 500s were lined up behind him for Live 8 tonight. Roger Waters, back with the Floyd, was also sporting the blueys. Roger seemed a bit out of practice, though. Nice to see the hatchets buried and, yes, I was singing along. :!: Has Gilmour been mentioned in the "guitarists" thread :?: :oops:
I know this is a ancient thread but I was wondering how you've found the Ashdown over time as I'm currently looking at one.
I want something that can stay punchy no matter how low or (if the madness grips me) high I take it. Probably be playing a B sting, any 5-stingers use an Ashdown? I know a lot of this depends on the cabs but I can only afford 1 at a time and the head will probably come first.
Any comments on the built-in sub-octaver on some Ashdown heads?
Thanks,
Tim.
Wouldn't mind an update from Lee, nyself. We had a lengthy in the 'invisible' moderators forum about this, before he settled his gear (at annoyingly good prices). Although I'm def no guru (try "the bottom line" forum, but they're mostly Americans and not much Ashdown mentions), here's why I suggested Lee went for it...
I'm a valve man, myself - I sniff EL34s and nod approvingly at Blackburn coded Mullards. A real tit, in other words. Every time I got a "you can't fail to be impressed by this" routine in the store, I usually failed to be impressed. The two heads I did like were both hybrids; the Marshall DBS (1990s) and the Ashdown ABM. I never even tried the ABM's "legendary" sub-harmonic (the Ashdown's gotta lotta knobs) but I do like the separate valve and solid-state preamps, with a blend knob.
In all honesty, you might as well have an SS power amp section. I think I'm the only one who notices my bass amp's EL34s in my own band - never mind the audience. The ability to dial in a variable amount of valve preamp (12AX7/ECC83) is very nice, though. Try the ABM (hybrid) against the Ashdown MAG (all SS) and you'll hear the diff. If money's tight, a 2nd hand Marshall DBS 400 is also decent kit.
As for the 5-string, it is really down more to the speaker drivers. An open low 'B' is just under 31Hz. Most amps can handle this transparently and good bass amps have a decent eq that can cut/boost usefully at this region. A lot of speakers suck majorly below 50Hz, though - the falloff can be dramatic. It's boring, but have a look at some of those graphs they print alongside the spec sheet for speakers. Every 3db lost is a halving of the volume.
Although 15" speakers are generally better, there are 10" speakers, even, that can do it. For bass, I'd avoid any "vintage" speakers like the plague. My amp maybe a marshmallow-toasting old valvie, but the speakers are alu-cone things with 30-4000Hz flat responses. Not expensive, either and they beat the pants off some prized "vintage" Fanes that were in previously.
Hi Bass, ive played the Ashdown for a total of 8 hrs, 2 rehearsals since ive had it, and to be honest all ive done is switch it on and turn up the volume knob, got a bassy sound that pleased my ears and left the knob there, i havent tried the blend knob, im happy with the driving bass sound i got straight out of the box. The guitar is great, the Thunderbird is light and well ballanced over the shoulders, bit difficult to lean against a wall though!, so the EVO ll is fantasic, but i knew that from our old bassman mick , he has the 500 watt version and the sound is very similar. Im glad you steered me away from the Trace stuff i was looking at.
Blimey! You've mastered the difficult changeover from lead guitarist to bass player pretty quickly, haven't you? :lol:
I forgot to mention in my "worst gig" post that the MC, who knew me, could see I was standing around, ready to go, so he introduced the band. Both guitarists were still sticking their butts out at the crowd, twiddling knobs, "trying to get the tone right".
:lol:
maybe they werent twiddling with the knobs but having a whiff of the Mullard EL84's to see if they were up to optimum gigging temprature before wading into the first intro. But then only true pro's would do that, your 2 sound like a pair of Dempsey and Makepeace characters, all hair do's makeup and Fila tracksuits.
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