Best Amp for Ric bass?

[basmansam]

I've had great success with my Walter Woods Ultra - 1.200 watts @ 4 ohms and 800 watts into 8 ohms. I pair it with a 3 way 2x 8 LDS and 1 x 12 LDS. It delivers the Rick sound.

[blue_meanie]

Gallien Krueger!

[antipodean]

I struggle to find a really bad amp these days, unlike the '80s, when I struggled to afford a good one. I use an SWR redhead (tube pre, SS power, 2x10 + horn), a GK micro bass (pure SS, 1x12) and an ancient Vox AC50 (pure tube,1x15 or 2x12), though not simultaneously, and the Rics sound great through them all. Maybe I'm just easy to please. There are so many great options out there that you are pretty much assured of finding the right rig if you look hard enough.

[buzzsaw]

FWIW, I use an Ampeg BA-115 as a monitor, with a SansAmp Bass Driver DI. BA-115 is a solid state amp with a direct out which goes through a Peavy Black Widow PA sysyem. I get a really crunchy sound with this set up.

[weemac]

As strange as this sounds, the best sound I've ever got from my 4001 basses was with a Roland supercube 60.
Ok, not real loud but a quality sound none the less. With the parametric mid control and the 12" speaker I could get the old marshall sound without murdering anyones ears....
I started with a Supercube years ago and after having many other amps I got another one (which I replaced the speaker with a fresh 120 watt roland PA speaker)
However the 4003 bass sounded better with a more modern sounding amp (too much mids for the roland)
I still use the Roland live with the signal split and a sansamp (doing a slightly driven ampeg mimic sound) looking after the PA input bit. With both the roland and the sansamp via PA, I can get a real three dimensional sound happening without excessive volume or resorting to using rick-o-sound etc

Rolands sound good with old rics and fender types but sound a bit ****** with active pickups (emgs)

someone has to rub against the grain!

emac.

[ben_brown]

Wow. No Eden votes.

I've used an Eden WT-550B and now run an Eden WT-800C through D112XLTs and D210XST combinations. I go for a Dave Meros of Spocks Beard and a '80s Chris Squire clang out of 4003s. The midrange articulation from the 12s and deep bottom end of the XSTs really bring out the aggressive Ric sound. I play with a heavy pick but even fingerstyle comes through clearly

I've used Ampeg SVTs and 8x10s in my younger days and I can say for this tone, my Eden gear is more articulate and waaay more portable.

+1



There is no comparison....

[vin*tone]

I have An Ampeg B100R that my Ric sounds great through. I play Classic rock- Heavy Metal through it and it holds its ground.

I was a diehard Fender Bassman user prior to geting the Ampeg

How do you find it?
Is it loud enough?

Another vote for the Ampeg B15 here. God's tone- but not very loud.
I'm thinking of putting a B100r under it to boost its volume.

[Droog61]

+1 Mark Bass Fan!

I've played pro back in 1979-1989 had Marshalls, Peavy's, Traynors, Ampeg, Acoustic, Fender... and I got to say MarkBass blew my mind... the power and tone this little Combo CMD 121P puts out... unbelievable!

All my basses sound great, Rick 4001 V63, Rick 4003s, 1982 Ibanez Fretless Musician mc924, 1984 Ibanez Roadster 2 RB 850.

I was just looking for a practise amp when I was in the store... something i could kinda carry around since I travel alot, this thing starts to shake the walls at around the 2 setting... have yet to crank past 4 without pissing off the wife (she goes to 11) I still have some old heads a cabs in my basement...curious on running it through some of my old cabs

I have a line 6 bass pod xt... but i think it sounds like **** running through the Mark.


Cheers,

[mike_d]

Thanks to all of you for the great advice. It seems bass players are not as adverse to solid state amps as guitar players; several of you recommended solid state models, and some recommended tube models. Why are solid state bass amps more acceptable by bass aficionados?

Maybe because a bass rattles the tubes loose! You don't get that with solid state.

[tallpat1]

Ampeg SVT, my buddy has a rare Classic 400 Peavey awesome sound and an old Traynor cab and Mono block head also kicks
keep in mind Chris Squire now plays out of an Ampeg SVT, used to play out of an old Sunn or Marshall. He says he likes the AMPEG.

Tallpat

[henry5]

Where are all the Markbass fans?

I'm here.

But there's really no point going there, since these type of threads only end up with people mentioning their own amps in response to the question. For example nobody is going to say, "I own a GK rig, but Rics sound best through Eden".

Absolutely.

The problem I find is that there are so many variables. I currently have 4 Rics; a 72 4001, a 73 4000, a 91 CS, and one I haven't played yet (it's with Paul). My CS probably sounds best through my Trace Twin Valve. The other 2 seem to sound better through my Ashdown. All 3 sounded pretty good through my old Trace 300SMX. I've never got on with Ampeg at all (used a 70s SVT in the past, also spent a couple of years gigging with an SVP Pro pre and power amp). I've tried loads in shops and not liked any of them; they never worked for me, but I'm sure that's as much because of how I play as anything; they work fine for others. I even tried a B100R combo and it didn't work for me at all. Mind you, Lemmy hates 'em too.

Tried the Markbass 2x10 combo; thought it was miles away from the sound I want, one of the least satisfactory things I've ever played through Ric-wise (the worst being Euphonic Audio which I wouldn't have given 10 pence for). I recently took my 72 to the Bass Gallery in London and tried out just about everything in the shop, including Epifani, Hartke, Aguilar,Ampeg, EBS etc etc; some of the Markbass gear was great (I hate tweeters so the 2x10 combo was never going to be a winner since the tweeter is non-attenuable/defeatable), but by far the best for Ric that I tried were Trace and Ashdown. I still want to try a Markbass Jeff Berlin combo as that's more up my street (single 15, no tweeter). I also once tried my 4000 through an Ashdown Superfly/Accugroove Tri110 set up; not too loud (very small rig) but unbelievable sound, probably the best I've had from that bass, although recently I've managed to get a killer sound from my Ashdown head/Aguilar cabs with that bass.

The main problem is, I have 2 friends who play Rics, and who are after "the Ric tone", but the Ric tone they are after isn't the same as the one I want. You have to get out there and try some amps and find out what works for you; there's really no substitute. One of them recently brought his LMK head to our rehearsal; it sounded nice, very responsive, but I liked my Ashdown better. I don't do polite, and the LMK was a little too polite for my tastes using my Rics.

Interestingly I've never liked Chris's sound half as much since he moved to Ampeg. Whether it's wear and tear on the bass or the sound of the amp, somewhere, some balls seem to have been lost, although it's still a darned good sound. Just not as angry as it used to be.

BTW, I do love a good Marshall Superbass. Wish I still had mine. Dirt for days.

[rickaddict]

The main problem is, I have 2 friends who play Rics, and who are after "the Ric tone", but the Ric tone they are after isn't the same as the one I want. You have to get out there and try some amps and find out what works for you; there's really no substitute.

+10

Ricks are very versatile basses. Some people want to sound like CS, some want to sound like Macca, some want to sound somewhere in between, and some want a different sound altogether. If you want to sound like CS and you get an answer to a "Best Amp for Ric Bass?" question from a guy who wants to sound like Macca, you might be disappointed.

My best advice: Get out there with that Rick and play some of these amps!

[Droog61]

+1 Mark Bass Fan!

I've played pro back in 1979-1989 had Marshalls, Peavy's, Traynors, Ampeg, Acoustic, Fender... and I got to say MarkBass blew my mind... the power and tone this little Combo CMD 121P puts out... unbelievable!

All my basses sound great, Rick 4001 V63, Rick 4003s, 1982 Ibanez Fretless Musician mc924, 1984 Ibanez Roadster 2 RB 850.

I was just looking for a practise amp when I was in the store... something i could kinda carry around since I travel alot, this thing starts to shake the walls at around the 2 setting... have yet to crank past 4 without pissing off the wife (she goes to 11) I still have some old heads a cabs in my basement...curious on running it through some of my old cabs

I have a line 6 bass pod xt... but i think it sounds like **** running through the Mark.


Cheers,

Actually I lied its an Ibanez muscian fretless MC 940 not 924

[dombain]

In my opinion the Italian MARKBASS amps is very good for RIC. I have a RIC4003 and I use Markbass TA-503 and Markbass Mini CMD121P combo.
These amps are designed to faithfully reproduce the sound of the instrument (for example our RIC).

[flats4003]

Anyone know of any good websites that list famous bass players and what gear they're using?

I'd love to try and get that mellow Ric growl Royston Langston (Spacehog) gets on "In the Meantime."

Also, what kind of rooms are you guys playing in. I'm on the bar and saloon circut, and I'm having no problem making noise with a 300wt head, 4/10 Hartke cab and 1/15 Ampeg. I'd like to get a decent tube head as I'm playing out of a Berringer head, but the tone I get isn't that bad...it's just not that good. But I can easily compete with my drummer and guitar player.