bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

[ginormous]

While guitarists have been stubbornly loyal to the growl of the glowing glass, bassists have been thirsty for enough power to lift the ladies' garments in the air. With tube amps, that power has come at the expense of herniated spinal discs and torso muscles.

The first generation of transistor bass amps made that power somewhat easier to carry (even though the power transformers were still ship anchors), and today's Class D's are ridiculously small.

With all practical considerations in mind (price, sound and portability), what's your preference, bassists? Stacks, racks or combos? Totally tubular or citizens of the solid state?

My needs are simple: Something within a $500 or less US budget, with an extension speaker out to drive a 15" bottom. I'm thinking perhaps a 2-10.

 

[jeremy]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

my rig is a heavy ass 1000w ss head and two feather weight 10" cabs

im not sold on the class d stuff but ss is the way to go for sure unless you have a roadie to haul your svt or b15.

a 2x10 combo with neo speakers would be what i would look for. even head and cab could be ok if the price was right.

 

[trevorus]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

Gallien Krueger. I will play these until the end of time.

 

[CTN]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

My bassist has a 700W Gallien Krueger head which can be carried in one hand (it's only 22 lbs.). It's loud as fack, and sounds great. My only complaint is that it has no overdrive.

bass + overdrive = win.

 

[Bludave]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

While guitarists have been stubbornly loyal to the growl of the glowing glass, bassists have been thirsty for enough power to lift the ladies' garments in the air. With tube amps, that power has come at the expense of herniated spinal discs and torso muscles.

The first generation of transistor bass amps made that power somewhat easier to carry (even though the power transformers were still ship anchors), and today's Class D's are ridiculously small.

With all practical considerations in mind (price, sound and portability), what's your preference, bassists? Stacks, racks or combos? Totally tubular or citizens of the solid state?

My needs are simple: Something within a $500 or less US budget, with an extension speaker out to drive a 15" bottom. I'm thinking perhaps a 2-10.

I've always preferred the sound of the SVT, but I never carried it. In todays world I think you can get a solid bass sound without all the weight. SS systems sound excellent. I think it has more to do with the aluminum cones that are made for bass rigs today. They are very crisp and punchy. If a vintage vibe is what you want the SVT may be the way to go.

 

[DankStar]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

I need a bass amp. I want something small and solid. For some reason, I want a hybrid, cause that's how I take my guitar amps.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

My Music Man HD-150 through a good cab does the tube thing to pieces. Absolutely killer warm tone. However, it's not good to carry that pig to a little bar gig, so I'm thinking about an Acoustic B-200 combo...200w RMS, 15" speaker, extension cab output for a 2x10 or 2x12 later.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

If you want vintage vibe but not the price or weight of an SVT, then you owe it to yourself to check out the Traynor YBA200. I've got one - all tube and very warm sounding.

 

[GLJazz]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

My bassist uses a SWR Workingpro 700. Really reasonably sized and light - its a rack head but he lays it on top of his 6x10 cab and it will blow your effing pants off above four.

Tons of tone controls and sounds great. Honestly can't imagine how a tube bass amp could improve - but i've only heard a few mesa bass tube heads so i can't speak for all of them

 

[Oceano]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

I really like my Acoustic b450. It has a great range of tones with a 6 band eq, enough power to blow the panties off of women in front of the stage, and it has ernie ball caster slots on the bottom

PS: It's a 2x10 and has a speaker out. I got mine for about 400 bucks, but I lucked out and used a coupon at guitar center that technically shouldn't have worked.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

I think solid state is the way to go, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have a tube front end. In order to produce the amount of wattage to efficiently amplify a bass signal a tube amp would have to be fairly heavy, while a solid state design can produce a lot of wattage in a small package.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

I really like my Acoustic b450. It has a great range of tones with a 6 band eq, enough power to blow the panties off of women in front of the stage, and it has ernie ball caster slots on the bottom

PS: It's a 2x10 and has a speaker out. I got mine for about 400 bucks, but I lucked out and used a coupon at guitar center that technically shouldn't have worked.

Not only is it a 2x10, but the speaker outs are wired in parallel, which means that you can safely take the amp down to a 2ohm load with another 4 ohm cab. I wanted one of those, but for my needs, the B-200 1x15 will work fine for years.

 

[Oceano]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

Not only is it a 2x10, but the speaker outs are wired in parallel, which means that you can safely take the amp down to a 2ohm load with another 4 ohm cab. I wanted one of those, but for my needs, the B-200 1x15 will work fine for years.

Oh yeah baby!

I actually originally bought the B200, but it just didn't cut through 2 guitars like I wanted, and didn't give me the quick punchy response of 10" speakers for rock. I also wasn't a fan of the cutting down watts thing when you plug in a cab. If we played blues or jazz or anything more mellow than full out rawk I would have stuck with it cuz it sounded really good and was quite a bit lighter.

 

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

Nothing beats the warm tone of a all tube head, with that said nothing hurts your back either lol! I hate solid state, but like a hybrid like Ampeg or Trace.

 

[Oceano]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

Nothing beats the warm tone of a all tube head, with that said nothing hurts your back either lol! I hate solid state, but like a hybrid like Ampeg or Trace.

Mmmmh that is a very sexy Eden cab good sir. I do agree with you about wonderfully warm tube tone, but for under $500 I couldn't really find anything that sounded much better being that I didn't already have a separate cab.

 

[trevorus]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

Here's my rig!

 

[Aceman]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

While I am not a bass player - when I think about what I want from bass....I find it hard to believe they don't all want/dig solid state.

And I think a lot of the guitar tube sheep actually want solid state but refuse to say it for fear of harrassment.

 

[ginormous]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

I've always preferred the sound of the SVT, but I never carried it. In todays world I think you can get a solid bass sound without all the weight. SS systems sound excellent. I think it has more to do with the aluminum cones that are made for bass rigs today. They are very crisp and punchy. If a vintage vibe is what you want the SVT may be the way to go.

Oh, my dear David, I once had an SVT (Magnavox era) head, going to an Acoustic Control 106 twin 15" cab loaded with Altecs (metal dust caps). Thick, full, loud and proud... and it needed 2 guys to carry the cab, with a dolly for the head.

My knees have enough trouble holding me up, so that's a no go on the SVT.

edit: Gotta check out the "new" Acoustic stuff -- mine was the ol' school Jaco cab.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

Oh yeah baby!

I actually originally bought the B200, but it just didn't cut through 2 guitars like I wanted, and didn't give me the quick punchy response of 10" speakers for rock. I also wasn't a fan of the cutting down watts thing when you plug in a cab. If we played blues or jazz or anything more mellow than full out rawk I would have stuck with it cuz it sounded really good and was quite a bit lighter.

I'm going to use one for a blues jam every week, so no hard rock for it just yet.

I was a bit worried that they made the speaker out in series, but that just means you can use any extension cab. The wattage with a 4ohm would go to around 165 or so with another cab, but you'll at least double the speaker cone area, so it's gonna be a bit louder just for that. From all the great reviews it gets, it should do the job I need.

 

[Got_tone?]

Re: bass amps: tube, solid state or both?

It's not an svt, but it's still an ampeg!

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ampeg-583101MicroVR-Bass-Amp-Head-and-SVT210AV-Bass-Speaker-Cabinet-Stack?sku=583101

Cab only weighs 25 lbs. and the head is pure SS with 200w.