radiophonic

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1478623603' post='3170392'] Your ears/preferences are what matter. [/quote] This is key to me. I'm in two bands at the moment. I play mostly fretless in one, with tight precise drum sound, acoustic guitar, piano and not much distortion on the electric guitar. Here I need a clean and clear sound. The other band has two incredibly powerful female singers, fiddle, organ, furious hand percussion (no kit) and a very saturated heavy guitar sound. They were very specific about wanting 'rock' bass - and that means grit. A Stingray and a slightly overdriven preamp got the thumbs up. The BassDirect pitch was that if you need to adjust your tone on the amp away from flat, you have the wrong bass. The sound I was hearing from a MarkBass 2 x 12 setup was extremely HiFi - like plugging straight into a desk. This is not what I had in mind at all. I want to preserve the character of the bass, but most of the amps I've liked in the past have definitely coloured the sound in some pleasing way. The best live sound I've ever had (for my taste) was with Ampeg - in no way a neutral sound - and the biggest surprise was how much impact an old PortaFlex could have. It was a small cellar bar, but I wasn't mic-ed up. The amp's owner - who was standing right at the back of the room for the whole show - had never heard it from the audience's viewpoint commented after the show on how clear and full it had sounded (he'd been going through a bit of buyers remorse, thinking he should have got something bigger). I could hear - and feel - every note too. This may be heretical, but I think that the trend for ultra compact gear has parallels in the HiFi world. The principal design consideration for domestic loudspeakers is footprint, the the sound is engineered to that constraint. People don't want big boxes in their homes. OTOH, I still use huge 1970s Tannoy studio monitors with 15" coaxial drivers, weighing 50 Kg each. I understand why not everyone wants to lug an SVT around, but I'm pretty sure that even a Mini can transport a 15 and 2 x 10. I'm looking at Hartke gear as a probable route (I used it once in the past and it did the job fine). Single 2 x 10 cab for practice room and add a 15 for live. It won't break the bank either.

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1478618090' post='3170326'] Ha - that is a classic Bass Direct story! [/quote] I wasn't aware they had a back story. I despair sometimes.

Well I took the advice of some above and went out to BassDirect at lunchtime - turns out it's only 20 minutes up the road. Bonus. Except... not. It's a very long time since I've patronised that badly by anybody who wasn't an estate agent. I certainly didn't feel welcome or even comfortable playing in there. Not only did the sales person have no interest in letting me hear the gear I went there for, but he'd already decided what I needed, without taking any time to ask what kind of music I played, what kind of gear I had played before, what I liked or disliked, how loud we play, what size room I'm likely to be in or anything at all really. If I'd had the opportunity to compare, I may well have reached the same conclusion and dug in for the extra few hundred. Having proved his own opinion right, he simply walked off and left me to leave. Which I duly did, none the wiser and still amp-less.

Thanks for all the replies. I've updated my profile for location (Nottingham). I'm not too bothered about a heavy-ish head, it's more the thought of lugging big cabs up flights of stairs. I figured probably spending a few hundred on a head, use the cabs in the practice room for now (they are OK - definitely a big improvement on what I put up with in the late 80s) then get a cab as soon as I need it for gigging, probably early next year. I see a lot of those Mark Bass amps for sale but I have no idea about them and I've never heard one used in anger. I must admit that I'd never considered a 12" speaker - nobody used them for bass in the 80s, it was all 15 or 10. Again, I'd need to hear one at volume.

Apologies if this is a bit vague. I've come back to playing after a longish hiatus and everything has changed. I currently have no amp. Unless you are a beginner, shops don't stock gear you can try out any more! Class D amps exist! More than three brands of rig exist. I'm simultaneously spoilt for choice and unable to make an informed decision. I'm in need of flexible set up for practices and gigging (pub/club gigs), probably without any micing up. Ideally compact enough to fit in the back of a mini with the back seats down. Must be a head and enclosure (I'd like to be able to use my own head at practices, but don't want to lug cabs up flight of stairs every week). The band I play in aren't super loud and don't go in for very saturated guitar sounds (cutting through isn't an issue). I'm not into a hifi sound, not distorted either but definitely with a bit of grunt. I'd imagined a compact 1 x 15 cab or maybe a 2 x 10, but honestly I'm just guessing. In the past I used a Trace Ellliot AH350 + 4 x 10 cab and later a 1 x 15 combo. I never really liked either though. Loud enough but too clinical sounding. I've also played Ashdown (again, no keen on the sound of the heads), Ampeg (great - but I've no idea about the new stuff) and Marshall (OK, but just OK). The one thing I have liked the look of is the Orange OB1 300. The basic sound is pretty much what I'm after, but I doubt I'd ever use the gain and blend. Anything else in this sort of ballpark, but without the un-needed functionality? Cheers.