Bass amp advice

[luau]

I need a small bass amp for home use. I'll probably never have to compete with anything but guitar with it, if that. I'll likely want to do some recording with it via a mic.

Are the Musicmasters worth a damn for bass? What's a reasonable (all things considered) price to pay for one? There's a rough one on ebay @$300 BIN ATM, and a nicer one with no BIN. Gbase prices are in the $350-400 range. Thoughts?

Also, I'm open to other suggestions too. I'd like to stay under $400, would prefer a 12"+ speaker, and fuzzy/carpet covering is out of the question.

[fuzzking]

If you can live with solid state, I like my Ampeg RocketBass Combo
pretty much, it's loud enough and it's a quite vintage sounding amp.

I use it with a little tube preamp, though.



I even did gigs with it - soundmen would always ask where the
bass amp was and when I told them "this is it" they would laugh
their arses off, only to whine later if it couldn't be turned down a bit.



M

[zhivago]

I got a Musicmaster Bass Amp...I only played a bass guitar though it once...and it really sucked, to be honest...it was very farty


for guitar though, I love the little amp

[luau]

Thanks FUZZ_KING. That looks pretty interesting. I could probably live with SS. I'm only going to be playing a Mustang through it anyway so it's not like I'm going to have the greatest bass sound no matter what amp I get. Given the Mustang, the gain control looks really nice and useful. The line out would be useful as well and I'd prefer a 15" over a 12". Plus, it looks great.

I'll research this a bit more tonight. Thanks again!

Thanks for that input zhivago. I've already got a Vibrochamp so guitar-wise, I don't have a space for the MM to fill really.

[mezcalhead]

I think solid state is fine for bass. To get a decent volume out of a tube bass head it needs to be pretty heavy.

I think that bass players who use all-tube amps are in the minority, although a lot will use tube pre-amps to get a bit of warmth in the sound.

[flatfiver]

Ampeg BA-112.  Nice little amps.  Although I'm sure the RocketBass is nice, too.

[luau]

After doing some research on Fender, GK, SWR, and other Ampeg models. the Ampeg B-100R Rocket Bass seems like the pretty clear winner to me. The reviews I could find of it are great too. The B-200R with the tube preamp is probably a bit better buy for the $, but I couldn't find a used one in my range. I need a tube pre-amp in general anyway, so I'm not too concerned about it. The B-100R is a bit more $ new than I wanted to spend but I found a slightly used one on eBay within my price range. It should be here in a week or so.

Thanks again for the direction guys.

[fuzzking]

How much did it go for? Let us know what you think of it when it arrives!

Cheers, Michael

[luau]

$380 in the original carton, BIN. I called the guy yesterday (it's at a music store in MN) and he said it was as new as it could get and still be used. Heck of a nice guy too, which goes a long way with me. If I were more patient I'm sure I could have tracked one down for less, but I'm not.

I'll be sure to post my impressions of it when it gets here. I'm excited about it. Now to get this dirty bass cleaned up and set up properly ...

* edited for grammar.

[serial]

A little late, but I would highgly recommend (yes, I can't believe I'm saying this), one of the smaller Peavey combos.  I had one (forget the model) that I picked up used in super clean condition for $120.  It was powerful enough to gig with until I got my Trace Elliot rig, but after that, it was the perfect around the house/rehearsal amp.  Small, not too heavy and it actually sounded great.  CHEAP too.

[luau]

Eh. I knew I was forgetting something.

Fantastic recommendation FUZZ_KING! It's a bit more amp than I need but that's far better than a bit too little. I'm perfectly thrilled with the sound. It took all of about 30 seconds of knob-twiddling before I found something that suited my Mustang and I.  You weren't kidding about the volume. Mercy. I cranked it a bit the other day and let fly with 'We've Got the Beat'. Nicole and the dogs came running in, we had a little dance session, and a good time was had by all.

Now for that Woolly Mammoth ... 

[fuzzking]

I already wondered - knowing you had ordered it... I thought maybe you sent it back.

Glad to hear you like it!!!