Best Amp For A Fender Bass VI....?

[DarnWeight]

I have a "Frankenstein" early 70s Fender Dual Showman that is housed in a Twin combo cab...couple of mods have been performed on it over the years (master volume, crude attempt at footswitchable channel switching) but the core tone is all there. I just cut a new baffle and replaced the 12s with a single 4 ohm 15" Peavey Black Widow (1502-DT). Sounding pretty damn great with an Eastwood Sidejack VI, right now...very deep, full and rich...just looking for a window of opportunity to wind the volume up a little higher.

[GAZINGUK]

Hi everyone,

I know it's been years since I started this thread, but I've just got my Bass VI out of storage again. I'm not really a bass player and I don't know a lot about Bass rigs, however I sold the Fender 75 years ago and I'm now looking for a bass amp. I'm not going to play live, it's just for home and studio use. I have access to many amp sim plugins, so I can get a range of tones, but I wouldn't mind an actual amp, so I can run pedals etc. I'm trying to get a Cure tone out of it. I understand that Peavey Musician Mark III Bass with Black Widow speakers would get me there, but I think it's too much amp for home use. Also, I'm not that familiar with Peavey amps, so did they do a combo version? I've seen the Combo 300 and 150 are they similar in tone? The power of the 300 is unnecessary for me. What about the TNT 150 with a Black Widow speaker or the TKO? Do they have a similar tone to the Mark III head?

Alternatively, what practice bass amps on the market today are good for the Fender Bass VI. I've been looking at the following:

Orange Crush 50 Bass

Fender Rumble Bass 40 v3

Peavey Max 100

Bias Spark (cool but maybe unnecessary, as I have the software in my studio)

ASHDOWN STUDIO-12

Vox VX50 BA


Is there anything you would suggest?

Thanks!

[wproffitt]

I have a Gallien Krueger MB110 that I got for my Yamaha Sa70 and love it! It sounds great, and has controls that allow you to dial in excellent usable sounds right away. It’s plenty loud for home use or recording. It also weighs nothing and can be fit on a book shelf when I’m not using it. For a few dollars more, you could upgrade to one of its 200-watt brethren, if you really think you need more. For my uses, I will not. Also, when I finally play in public again, it has an XLR output, so I can use it as a monitor and go straight to the board, if need be.

[tdbajus]

I am fooling with the Spark amp I got two days ago, and it's impressive, if weirdly inflexible.

Unlike their desktop stuff, you can't reorder pedals- for instance, the delay is, for some mysterious reason, "plugged into" the speaker output.

There is no way to put the delay where God intended- before the amp, like you can in the software. So if you use the delay, you get that overproduced (IMHO, natch) CA cheese sound like Satriani. It's a shame, because the delays I have built in their FX software are a friggin gas.

I'm keeping it though, because I need something for home that works with headphones. Also, it comes WAY closer to feeling like a real amp. Works as a boom box too, even though their seems to be no battery pack for it.

[GAZINGUK]

Thank guys let me have a look at them see if they're what I'm looking for. Want a tone similar to Robert Smith.

[GAZINGUK]

Just a quick update I'm going for a Mark Bass amp. I was sold after hearing Debbie Googe play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wO___8FlFw

I think I'm going to go after the CMD 102P. Mark bass seem so have that clear punch without too much character, but also a great pedal platform, similar to Hiwatt Customs for the guitar.

[MattK]

I would have thought a JC120 was the obvious choice!

[rumfoord]

So, sorry I don't actually have experience with finding Cure tones or Bass VIs, BUT

In my experience playing bass, some cabs sound really good on guitar and some sound like bass cabs. Do you still have the JCM 800 or another tube amp..or a guitar amp that you like or is fairly stiff with bass frequencies? I'm thinking you should look into getting the right cab to run with an amp you already have instead of spending money on a practice bass amp. YMMV of course!
[If you come across an old Peavey VTX series hybrid, you might also get along well with that.]

Maybe look into an one of those adorable SVT210AV,


or an Ampeg PF210he?




Here's my short list of experience looking for cabs (ordered worst to best *for guitar*):


Carvin BR210: sounds like a dull bass cab, fine for guitar but slightly meh (still plenty workable though!)(I still would recommend this + a tube amp for home use over a SS practice amp TBH.)

Ampeg Classic Series SVT112he: I remember this one sounding ok with guitar, but I don't think I tried it much

Fender neo 112: slightly meh for guitar, but surprisingly not bad at all

LDS 410 with B&C neo speakers: not terrible, pretty tight, but slightly fizzy in the highs

Ampeg Portaflex Series PF210he: solid, no complaints, sounds great...maybe not surprisingly great just straight up great

old $60 craigslist Fender BXR 410: honestly pretty great for both guitar and bass, open with a nice roar, loose enough with the lows to sound nice on guitar but tight enough to still cut through in a band practice setting anyways, maybe tames the highs but in a pleasing way

some custom 2x10 cab I bought from guitarcenter.com with eminence bass speakers: FANTASTIC for guitar. Seriously, for some reason, and in my experience with my particular head, I LOVE this cab for guitar. I borrowed a friends jcm800 4x12 with GT-65s, and I felt like it made the Marshall channel of my Peavey Penta head sound much too brittle in comparison to this random 2x10 bass cab.

[GAZINGUK]

I would have thought a JC120 was the obvious choice!

I've never really cared for them. Always thought they had an average sound when I've used them. I know many people like them though.