What amps are being used out there?

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 2:28 pm

It's all about personal taste and what you hear in your head as "your killer bass sound", like Bob said. The only people who notice what you're playing are other musicians in the audience.

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:13 pm

Hey Bob, I'm with you, and definately know what I like!(SVTs are a close second for me) The amp of the month club is for those who are still searching for their sound, in which I was a part of until my recent setup, so I know the pains of finding "the sound"(5 years of looking)

I also agree that we, as musicians notice the little things that most audience members may not pick up on, but like Bob said, sometimes the sounds you like may inspire you.
I was ready to quit playing bass until two years ago, when I discovered a small piece of plastic, that fits in your right hand, haha!

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:14 am

Does anyone here have any experience with Thunderfunk? A friend recommended them to me, but it seems like they're only available direct from the factory.

jps · Post by **jps** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:43 pm

I wish I knew you were think of getting one. I saw one at BassCentral this past Monday but did not try it out!

bear · Post by **bear** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:06 pm

Check out the amp threads over at Talk Bass
http://www.talkbass.com

You will find several bassists there that swear by their Thunderfunks. It's an update of the discontinued AMP heads. Similar control layout and function to SWR amps (studio 220, 400 and 500 models) but much better sounding.

I have been very impressed by the two that I heard othere bassists using this summer.

Great customer service and Dave Funk is very accessible for questions and one heck of a nice guy too.

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:44 am

did someone say, funk?

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 1:51 pm

I took my SVT-3 into the shop today to have it checked out and everything was fine. I tried a few of the heads on my wish list today - Aguilar AG500, Eden WT-405 and the Ashdown ABM 500. Let me tell you, the Ashdown sounded the best of the group! It added a lot of body to my 4003. It was very warm and deep sounding but managed to keep the piano-like ring that Rics are famous for. I ran it mostly flat with a slight mid boost and the tube mixer full on through my Aguilar GS112 cabs. Let em tell you, this setup was deeper-sounding than the 4x10 Ashdown cabinet I was using! I was actually feeling the bass as well as hearing it! My guitarist was there and he confirmed a lot of what I heard, so I can't wait to gig with it.

I tried it out on a few with a few of the songs from my band's set list, "Too Rolling Stoned" from Robin Trower and "Blood and Roses" from The Smithereens. The older salesmen loved it!!!! You can tell I wasn't in a Guitar Center

.

david_schwab · Post by **david_schwab** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:05 am

I've always liked 12" speakers for bass. My first big rig was a Vox with 4X12, and I loved the sound. Then I used a Peavey with 2X15. I've been using 4x10 cabs, but after seeing Jeff Berlin play recently I'm thinking of going back to 15"s! He got such a great warm, but bright tone.

I'd been searching for my sound for a long time. First it was that distorted Ric sound, a la Squire or the Kimono My House album bt Sparks. Then I got into Stanley Clarke, and wanted that super clean tone. I put a Hi-A (Bartolini) pickup in the treble position, and got a sound pretty close to that from my 4001 at the time.

The next closest sound I got to what I heard in my heard was playing through a very convoluted signal path... my Ibanez SoundGear 5-string with EMG J's went to an MXR Limiter, then to my GK 800 RB. From the effects loop of the GK it went to a Peavey bass chorus that had a built in cross over to split the signal, sending the highs to the chorus. It also had separate high and low outputs, so I ran the low out to a EH Micro Synth, mostly for the lower octave effect (not used all the time) and the high out to a BlueTube over drive pedal. Then the outs from those went to a small battery powered mixer to combine them to mono and back to the GK. Whew!

After that the quest for my sound lead me to design and build my own basses, and to sell my GK and buy a Mesa 400+. A real epiphany was playing though a friend's Hartkie head plugged into a Yamaha PA cab with 1 12" and a horn! There was my sound! I didn't think I would like the Hartkie, but it had a great tight clean sound with a lot of texture in the highs.

Currently I'm using a Trace Elliot combo, but I really think I want to recreate that Hartkie rig, just with a different cabinet.

I have to agree that if I were playing a Rick I would want a tube amp, and Ricks with round wounds sound best on the fuzzy side.

Speaking of The Smithereens, back in the 80's my band used to play with them all the time. This was before they were signed.

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:23 pm

David, sounds like you've been through nearly as many phases as me! My "sound" changes depending on what sort of stuff I'm doing, and also as time passes and my tastes change, although there is a common starting point for wherever I wander off to. I'm just in the process of changing from Trace Elliot to Ashdown, as much for a change as anything! Seriously, I like the Ashdown stuff, certainly for rock, which is what I'm mainly playing at the moment.

Ron, as well as an original 200W 1x15 ABM combo I lucked out with on ebay, I've just bought an ABM500 head (yet to receive), and as I'm going to be looking at cabs you'll have to let me know how the Ashdown/Aguilar combination works out (yeah, I've got a bad back too!). If you think in the ballpark of Glenn Hughes's sound on Made in Europe, you'll get the idea of what I'm aiming for (BTW, just bought California Jam and Live 72/73 on dvd; what a band they were!)

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 4:21 am

I've found that I have a lot more bottom end now and still a degree of the famous Ric ring over my Ampeg. I have lowered my bass EQ and bumped the mids a little. The Ashdown picks up everything, including any rattles or fret buzzes. But it is still a livelier amp and gives a feeling of presence. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who wants to thump along, but it's great for those famous 70s Glover/Hughes/Lee tones.

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 8:33 am

Ron, that's what I found with my combo, which is one of the first amps they made (one of the Klystron Bass Magnifiers). I've had nothing but compliments since I started using it; not massively powerful (hence the ABM500) but powerful enough and it sounds great with the Ricks. The design principal was apparently to end up with something kind of half way between an Ampeg and a Trace, and I think it pretty much achieves that; for me at least it appears to be the best of both worlds, though it may not work for others. I can get a pretty passable Glover/Hughes approximation out of it even with my CS, which doesn't really sound much like the 70s Ricks (hmm, maybe I'll put a cap in...), so can't wait to gig it with my 72 4001 (which should be having the truss rods done in the next week or so).

bigbajo60 · Post by **bigbajo60** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 9:33 am

My rig consists of an Avalon U5 preamp/DI driving both sides of a Presonus ACP22 two channel compressor (one ch. for the rig; one ch. for FOH send)... this then feeds a Stewart World 1.6 power amp putting out 1600 watts bridged mono into two Acme Low B2 cabinets.

I have been experimenting with the tone bank available to me on the Avalon, and have come to the conclusion that I just really like the sound of my C64S with the on-board tone bank completely bypassed! Basically what I'm hearing is the bass itself, through a little compression right into the power amp and speakers! Finger or pick-style, it's aggresive, hard-hitting, snarly Rick-tone! Gotta love it!

titanic_tony · Post by **titanic_tony** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:48 am

My main rig is an Ashly SC-40 preamp driving a Tube Works 300 watt bass amp, into a Sunn 215S cabinet.

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 5:33 am

A quick update on the Ashdown - I compared my Aguilar cabinets to my Ampeg SVT410HLF using my Ashdown head. The Aguilars delivered all the depth and power of the Ampeg with a little more definition. And the best part is that each cabinet weighs about 40 pounds and can fit in the back seat or trunk of most cars. Compare that to 110 pounds for the Ampeg and the need for a larger vehicle and second person to help lift it. It's real no-brainer. Two Aguilar cabinets run about $700, which is in the same price range as the Ampeg.

Tone, power, portability - what's not to like?

david_schwab · Post by **david_schwab** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 6:28 am

Hey Alvaro, that sounds like a killer rig! The Avalon U5 is amazing. Snarly is a good term to describe the sound I go for!

Since we have so photos of our rigs now...

(With my currently non working '73 4001)