Please advise me on a Bass amp

[Frantic_Rock]

Hi Guys.

Me and my jamming friend are buying a bass amp 50/50.
Our budget is under 200 US. We need an amp loud enough for the drums in garage and basement jams, and possibly bar, large club gigs.

We've been using a Roland 120 Jazz Chorus amp, but that amp keeps electrecuting us and its huge and heavy.

I looked on musicians friend and a Rogue RB60 60W Bass Combo was a likely option.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=bass/search/detail/base_pid/487151/

Can anyone recommend me this amp? Has anyone been using it? Harmony central is pointing out reliability issues on these Rogue amps.

What else are our options?

Thanks,
Alex

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

http://carvin.com/products/single.php?ItemNumber=PB100-15&CID=BA

 

[Tom M]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

1) Don't buy Rogue under any circumstances. There's a reason they're so cheap.

2) You won't find much for $200. Jolly has a good suggestion for under $300, though. Carvin makes some pretty decent stuff.

Shop used.

 

[casblah]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

1) Don't buy Rogue under any circumstances. There's a reason they're so cheap.

2) You won't find much for $200. Jolly has a good suggestion for under $300, though. Carvin makes some pretty decent stuff.

Shop used.

+1. Save your money and buy something nice. You'd prolly be able to get into a good bass amp for around $400. It sucks cause you need something now, though. :yell:

 

[A Skater]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

Try the one above(if you guys can get the money), or just shop used as mentioned before. There's a store by my house that is selling a Fender Bass Half Stack for $300. Plenty of power.

 

[Frantic_Rock]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

We don't really have money problems, but it's just that I'm buying so much stuff lately!!

Skates, snowboard, bought a yamaha keyboard yesterday (the dgx200), new Les Paul, airline tickets to europe, tuition, etc ...

But ya... I'm getting a feeling we'll just spoil ourselves and get something real nice.

 

[Norman_T]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

We don't really have money problems, but it's just that I'm buying so much stuff lately!!

Skates, snowboard, bought a yamaha keyboard yesterday (the dgx200), new Les Paul, airline tickets to europe, tuition, etc ...

But ya... I'm getting a feeling we'll just spoil ourselves and get something real nice.

This is at odds with your first post - where you said that you only wanted to pay $200. As others have mentioned and what is very true in life you get what you pay for.

For the sort of thing that you want/need the minimum power rating that you should be looking at would be in the region of 100-150W. Bass amps need to have plenty of (clean) headroom as opposed to guitar amps - and I would suggest that you get a good combo which has a 15" speaker or get one with 2x10's with additional speaker outputs so that you can plug an ext cabinet when you want it. If you are serious of upping the money then Ampeg, Carvin, SWR, Laney, Fender, Ashdown & Mesa Boogies should be in your short list. Remember one thing don't forget who's going to be carrying this around!!

 

[Frantic_Rock]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

This is at odds with your first post - where you said that you only wanted to pay $200. As others have mentioned and what is very true in life you get what you pay for.

For the sort of thing that you want/need the minimum power rating that you should be looking at would be in the region of 100-150W. Bass amps need to have plenty of (clean) headroom as opposed to guitar amps - and I would suggest that you get a good combo which has a 15" speaker or get one with 2x10's with additional speaker outputs so that you can plug an ext cabinet when you want it. If you are serious of upping the money then Ampeg, Carvin, SWR, Laney, Fender, Ashdown & Mesa Boogies should be in your short list. Remember one thing don't forget who's going to be carrying this around!!

Yes I think I can't get what I'm looking for without spendin like 500. I didn't realize the amp has to be 100-150W - wow. Are most bass amps solid state? We'll probably go half n half for a downpayment and then finance the rest. A combo is preferable - cuz dragging a head and cabs would kinda suck!
We're just gonna go downtown and try out a bunch in the store. It's kinda pointless to be hunting on ebay - the shipping and customs just take the edge off the deals.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[B2D]

Re: Please advise me on a Bass amp

Yes I think I can't get what I'm looking for without spendin like 500. I didn't realize the amp has to be 100-150W - wow. Are most bass amps solid state? We'll probably go half n half for a downpayment and then finance the rest. A combo is preferable - cuz dragging a head and cabs would kinda suck!
We're just gonna go downtown and try out a bunch in the store. It's kinda pointless to be hunting on ebay - the shipping and customs just take the edge off the deals.

Thanks for the advice.

Bass requires more power to be amplified so yeah I'd go 100-150 minimum. One of my bassists used a 200W Ampeg combo and got some wonderful sounds out of it.

Most bass amps are solid state although you'll find a few that are tube, or that have tube preamps. SS for bass amps sound just fine, it's just better for reliability and lightweight power issues. Can you imagine lugging a 500W tube amp with huge transformers and a 15'' speaker around?

My fave bass amps usually have Harkte, Ampeg, SWR, or MESA/Boogie on them.