best bass combo for studio and potentially shows?

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oh_the_blood

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hit me with suggestiosn please.

dont make me buy the behringer!!! :eek:
 
Aside from some initial reliability problems causing me to go through 2 of them in a couple of months (it seems it was just a bad production run), I have been extremely happy with my Fender Bassman 250 2x10 combo. Due to the remarkable service of my local Sam Ash, I am now on my 3rd of them, and this one has shown no signs of trouble at all. According to my friend there, Sam Ash had a whole rash of them being replaced, but that now they are doing fine.

The 250 watts is a good level, not too loud for studio use, but still capable of shaking the walls in small to mid sized clubs. If more power is needed, it has a post-eq line out that can be run to a separate power amp and cab. The 2 10's give it good punch and excellent cut thru in a mix, albeit at the cost of a small amount of super-low-end power. See if you can find one locally and play it. If you want more power in the combo itself, you could always look at the Bassman Pro 450, which has pretty much the same sound, just with a few more features and a bit more power.
 
Not to undercut sile2001 but my friend had major problems with his fender bass amp as well. I recommend the AMPEG. I love mine. 400 watts I think.
 
I have always loved the SWR Red Head 2-10 and the SWR with the 1-15 combo but I lean toward the audiophile warm jazz tone for bass.

You may be looking for another sound.

The Ampeg B-15 is a studio standard.

IMHO Ampeg, SWR and Trace Elliot all have some good stuff but not all their stuff is necissarily good ;)
 
swr black beauty is hands down the most kick ass bass combo ive ever played through. 1x15 speaker, top quality swr electronics, direct out for recording. I love this thing more then women!!!!!............no not really. This amp sounds amazing live.
 
easychair said:
Ampeg B15.

Why fuck around. :)
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If he's considering Behringer, the answer is pretty obvious: Money.

The B-15R has an MSRP of US$2899.
 
indeed.

anything in a 16 year olds price range?

i still need a bass and an amp.

im only hopin to spend like 500 bucks in total.
 
frankieballsss said:
swr black beauty is hands down the most kick ass bass combo ive ever played through. 1x15 speaker, top quality swr electronics, direct out for recording...This amp sounds amazing live.
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I bought a new Black Beauty on long sale at GC a year or two ago, and it's certainly a fine amp, despite the Taiwanese "SWR Custom Speaker," which everyone probably thought was supposed to be a PAS. ;) I could live without the "Subwave" nonsense, though.

Again, it's probably out of his price range, with an MSRP of nearly US$1600.
 
Check out anything hartke.... I put this in you other post, but just incase you haven't read it yet.... They make a 2x10 X 1x15 with a horn (all in the same) cab and it only sells for 250 at sam ash..... It handle 450 watts at 8 ohms, you'd really be rocking with that sucker! :D

Hartke also makes some cheaper combos that are worth checking out.
 
bongolation said:
I bought a new Black Beauty on long sale at GC a year or two ago, and it's certainly a fine amp, despite the Taiwanese "SWR Custom Speaker," which everyone probably thought was supposed to be a PAS. ;) I could live without the "Subwave" nonsense, though.

Again, it's probably out of his price range, with an MSRP of nearly US$1600.
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I got a floor model in mint condition for 800 at guitar center BEEEEEEEEEYOTCH!!! :D
 
frankieballsss said:
I got a floor model in mint condition for 800 at guitar center BEEEEEEEEEYOTCH!!! :D
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I paid $499.99 for my new one. Yes, less than a third of MSRP.

You have to get up pretty early (literally) to beat me at hard-shopping. ;)
 
I've been playing upright and electric bass for about 20 years. Here's my $.02: Before selecting which amp you want, I would focus on what speaker size sounds best to you. 15", 12", 10" and even 8" speakers are common, and each one has a distinct sound, and one size may speak to you better than the others depending on the sound you have in your head (and the style you play). Go to a store a mess around with different sizes until one sounds better. That will narrow your choices (though, a $500 budget is also going to narrow your choices I'm afraid... :( ).
 
oh_the_blood said:
anything in a 16 year olds price range?

i still need a bass and an amp.

im only hopin to spend like 500 bucks in total.
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I got a 100% mint B-100R that was two months old at GC for US$269.

That's an extremely well-respected, old-school-style (a modern take on the B-15) 100W 1x15" amp. Used ones pop up for that if you look a bit.

But to reference the topic, bass is typically recorded direct in the studio (and always has been) due to the hassle of mastering the low-frequency wave chaos in an enclosed space, even a purpose-built pro studio with splayed surfaces and state-of-the-art acoustic treatment. I have a whole beautiful wad of pro new and vintage bass amps here and I still record bass direct or through a J-Station and digitally process the raw signal later.
 
I agree with bong...... and I'll add the 60 watts solid state (especiall in a bass amp) is not very much. Probally loud enough for band practice, but not the ungodly loud you need sometimes. (like if your band puts on a local show outside somewhere.....)
 
bongolation said:
I paid $499.99 for my new one. Yes, less than a third of MSRP.

You have to get up pretty early (literally) to beat me at hard-shopping. ;)
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You bought that amp brand spanking new in the box for 500 bucks? I find that hard to believe. That store would be losing money selling it to you at that price (granted its brand new).
 
frankieballsss said:
You bought that amp brand spanking new in the box for 500 bucks? I find that hard to believe. That store would be losing money selling it to you at that price (granted its brand new).
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It wasn't boxed, because GC never keeps big, expensive stuff not stocked in multiple units boxed, but it was new, yes.

I found the receipt in my studio records last night before I posted, and double-checked the price. It was a brand new 2004, made (if I remember correctly from the date codes) in March, a chrome grille version.

A lot of guys got them for that around the country, as GC closed them out at that price on 5-31-04, Memorial Day, as they dropped them from stocked inventory as they don't sell enough of the pricey Pro Series combos to make them worth the floorspace they take up in the smaller stores. They make far more money on the cheap SWR combos, which have rapid turnover.

I almost never buy anything from GC unless it's way below cost.

According to my store manager, it works like this: Your local GC usually gets "allowances" of so many thousand bucks from corporate for the big sales to discount merchandise below cost that is either slow, demo stock that's getting long in the tooth, or that corporate has decided to eliminate, or that has been discontinued by the manufacturer. The stuff then gets sold below actual cost, and I've bought a ton of it. Literally.

Additionally, the manufacturers (especially FMIC) cut them strange deals.

Check it: I got a brand new, sealed-box-unit SWR Pro Series 550X for $499.99 last Labor Day. MSRP on that unit is US$1428.56 and straight FOB dealer wholesale is $714.28 The chewed up floor demo in the SWR bass room demo rack was selling for $599.99. Yet my sealed unit 550X was back in the warehouse where my GC guy found it for me and was a hundred bucks less because it was marked "DEMO" on "The List." I asked the regional manager, who's a friend, to explain this mistake. He says that it's not a mistake. Sure enough, there's a sticker on the SWR shipping label that says "FOR DISPLAY UNIT." FMIC designates a unit per item per store as a display unit to go into the SWR demo rack and discounts wholesale on it $100 to compensate for wear and tear and long period in inventory. These unts are 100% identical, it's just an accounting designation on that one specific unit tracked by serial number on GC's computers. My GC did not get their display units before they got their regular stock, so units from regular stock went into the demo rack, and the designated display units -- which by agreement can't be sold as regular stock for a certain period -- went back into the warehouse where they sat until enough time had elapsed for them to be sold off as replaced demo units. So, GC made allowance to the stores to sell existing 550Xs for US$115 below cost during the sale, minus another hundred bucks for replaced designated demo stock, because GC cost was a hundred dollars less. Sure enough, my virgin, sealed-unit 550X shows as "DEMO" on the sales receipt.

That was such a strange tale that I buttonholed another GC manager I know personally about a week later and asked him about it and got exactly the same explanation from him.
 
Cool, nice deal. Out of curiosity, does your black beauty have a silver or black speaker grill?
 
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