My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

[Corbic]

Like the title says, my bassist is looking for a larger amp for playing out. I was helping him look for one when I came across this one.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product?sku=482546

The price is great, has 125 watts and a 15" speaker. The amp has overdrive, which my bassist likes a lot, but I don't know if it would be loud enough. I'll be getting a 50 watt guitar amp soon (tube), as will my rhythm guitarist. Would 125 watts be enough for the bass to be heard? Thanks!

-Corbic

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

125 is WAY underpowered.....

Look around for a Peavey Mark bass head, probably 400 watts or so. Snap up a cheaper Hartke cab....there's a good solid rig.

 

[falloutboyroXXX]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

that is probably not enough watts. my bass dude had a crate 125 watt bass amp once and we could never hear him. the band drowned him out too fast. he got a 200w ampeg now and its not as loud as hed like but at last we can hear him now.

 

[Pecan]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

My bassist used a 10 watt amp the other day at a practise bewcause he was lazy. We obviously couldn't hear him in any way over the drums and my peavey classic at 90% volume. 125 watts can barely keep up with that kinda gear imo. If you want bass to be heard and your other band members have decent gear like 50 watt tube amps than you will need at least 200 watts I reckon.

 

[Corbic]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

I'll look for more wattage then, thanks guys!

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

Rule of thumb... The Bassist should have 2x's the wattage as the guitars. It looks like a cool amp. I like the GK Bass stuff. The only band I ever played bass in, I used a GK 400 w/t a Hartke 4x10 transporter cab and my G&L L1000. IMO that was a great bass rig for the $$.

 

[ksmith63]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

Our old bass player had a crate 100watt x 1 15". Amp would be loud enough to make the mix sound good but not much else. After long practices it would start to clip (volume was on 9.5 for 2 or so hours, who would have thought). I'd recommend at leat 250 watts for bass, but if you want to feel it: 3-400

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

Doing a rock band I wouldn't want to have any less than 300w SS per cab.

The GK 800 RB is a fantastic head, they're inexpensive, rugged, simple and plentiful. That head was THE standard of what was to become today's bass amplification. I had one as my bass head for around 4 years, until I got my first Seymour Duncan head- which seems to be modeled after the GK...

For a cab, I'd go with a single 15 or a 4x10 with a rating of no less than 400w.

If you do get the GK 800, pay attention to your impedance... Everything I said about how great the head is goes out the window if you use it improperly.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

If you do get the GK 800, pay attention to your impedance... Everything I said about how great the head is goes out the window if you use it improperly.

I also hear the older ones are more rugged than the newer ones.

My source on this is my brother who is one of the worst gear whores I've ever known and a full-time bass player.

My GK's in the closet being hoarded....

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

I also hear the older ones are more rugged than the newer ones.

My source on this is my brother who is one of the worst gear whores I've ever known and a full-time bass player.

My GK's in the closet being hoarded....

You know, I never know how much stock to put into things like that. I had one of the old ones with the side to side power switch, which is "supposed" to be "better" than the up/down power switch... And I'm sure the newer ones are probably made a little more "price point conscious," if you get my drift. Honestly, the experience I had with mine was great, I just needed more power from both channels.

What you need to do is hunt down one of the old Seymour Duncan bass heads... I've got two of the 300x300w heads and I'm kinda half-ass looking for one of the 400x400w models. It crushes the GK, but the problem is finding them...

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: My bassist is looking for a new amp, what do you think of this one?

You know, I never know how much stock to put into things like that. I had one of the old ones with the side to side power switch, which is "supposed" to be "better" than the up/down power switch... And I'm sure the newer ones are probably made a little more "price point conscious," if you get my drift. Honestly, the experience I had with mine was great, I just needed more power from both channels.

What you need to do is hunt down one of the old Seymour Duncan bass heads... I've got two of the 300x300w heads and I'm kinda half-ass looking for one of the 400x400w models. It crushes the GK, but the problem is finding them...

For what I got the GK head for I know that my luck is down to about nothing when it comes to bass gear. I got to meet the guy that sold it to my brother and I felt apologetic about getting it for what I paid; bought him a couple of drinks to say thanks.

If I do decide to go with something different eventually I'm blessed to have someone in my immediate family living out in L.A. and is picking up endorsement deals like they're going out of style. All I really need to do is ask him what I should be looking for and odds are a week later something will show up at my door. It'll cost me some top-shelf Vodka and nice cigars, but all the had work's been done for me!