Upgrading my amp gear, advice wanted

[TomWIC]

Good evening all,

My current amp rig, though it has served me well for the past couple of years, is due for an upgrade over the coming months. I've been using Ashdown, an Electric Blue 180 head running to a MAG410T Deep cabinet, and while the sound has been good with my Thunderbird, it's always lacked a certain "oomph" and "punch", something that is common with Ashdown from what I've read.

A friend of mine let try out his cab last weekend during rehearsal, with a mind to sell it to me (Peavey MaxSys 312) which I realised was actually a speaker bin rather than a dedicated bass cab. It sounded fantastic though, the mids were great, very punchy and perfect for the style of music I play (hard rock and metal, drop C tuning). Coupled with my Sansamp BDDI and Boss ODB-3 distortion, it sounded pretty mean.

I'm not purchasing this off him mind, mainly due to money this month, and also the fact that it weighs an absolute tonne, but I'm pretty interested in getting myself a Peavey setup (my guitarist also uses a Peavey head and it sounds fantastic). I've been looking around, I only have a moderate budget but I've got a little list that I wouldn't mind feedback on.

Head: It's a toss-up between the Tour Headliner and the Tour 700 - this is where I'd appreciate the most feedback. Anyone used these? Is one better than the other, any snags I should know about? As far as I can remember, both can be rack-mounted which would be great as if I finally get an amp that can be mounted, I have a legitimate reason to buy a rack

Cabinet: Was thinking of the Headliner 410, coupled with a 210 for larger gigs. Of course, the VB 410 would be a lot better, but unfortunately, out of my budget.

So, yay or nay? Am I making a decent decision getting rid of Ashdown and moving onto Peavey? Are the heads and cabinets I've listed any cop?

Cheers all

[icastle]

I've been a Tour 700 user for just over a year now.

Like all Peavey kit, it weighs a ton, but I'm an 'old school' sort of chap who equates weight with power.

It's a loud, pretty much uncoloured, amp - about as 'no frills' as you can get.
I like that in an amp, people are there to hear me, not a mass of electronics.

The graphic has a fair bit of boost although the Octaver function is sh*te (as every built in one I've ever tried has been).

So, they aren't trendy, they aren't flash looking and they don't have a price tag that looks like a phone number - but it'll still be working long after most of us are sat dribbling in bath chairs... [i]<insert drummer joke here> [/i]

[Lozz196]

My fave sounding cab I`ve ever used is a Peavey 410 TVX. Unfortunately, they weigh far too much for me to ever get one, but they are very reasonably priced, virtually indestructable, and sound great.

[TomWIC]

Cheers for the replies gents, looks like it's the Tour 700 for me head-wise then one of my favourite bassists, Anissa Rodriguez from Eyes Set To Kill also uses one, and I love her sound, so I think I've definitely been swayed on that front.

Lozz196; it appears the 410 TVX was what I had picked out originally, rather than the Headliner 410 I mentioned. My list has gone missing though, and I ended up going by what Peavey has on their website at the moment.

I did a bit of reading yesterday on the 410, and it's actually a few kilograms lighter than the Ashdown 410 I'm using at the moment. The weight of that has never been much of a problem for me, I've managed to carry it up to my second floor flat on my own but it did kill my back afterwards. I'm actually moving into a ground floor flat in the same building next weekend to make carrying gear a little easier, as well as buying a trolley with wheels so I think that will be absolutely fine for me.

Not to mention if I get a 210 as well, I only have to take the 210 out for rehearsals

Thank you both again.

[phatbass787]

The Electric Blue is really a small gig amp and whilst it's a great amp at the price point it is what it is, why don't you just get a proper Ashdown? MAG or ABM if you can stretch to it, a whole other world compared to your EB, Peavey gear in my opinion ain't what it once was

[TomWIC]

I should have mentioned that I'm open to other options

I will look into other Ashdown options, you're totally right, the EB is a tiny little thing that was the best I could get with my budget at the time. If I went with a better Ashdown head, what would you recommend in terms of cab? Stick with the MAG410 that I have or is there something a bit better?

Thanks

[chrismuzz]

As much as I really hate their heads, I actually love Ashdown's cabs! Get the new head first and go from there

[Musky]

Ashdown tend to divide opinions on here, but I've found the MAG cabs to be... well, a bit wooly. If you go for an Ashdown cab an ABM may be a better bet.

Personally I'm with Lozz - I think the Peavey cabs sound great, but you'll find the TVX is much heavier than your MAG. The newer 410's are evidentally much lighter.

[TomWIC]

Ah yeah, the TVX is 46.6kg where the Ashdown is only 37. The Headliner 410 is 33kg. The trolley I'm buying from Screwfix at the weekend has a maximum load of 150kg, so that's all good.

Definitely agree with you chrismuzz, I'm going to find somewhere to try out the Tour 700 and a better spec Ashdown head and see what I prefer. I have a feeling it'll be the Peavey though. Once that's in the bag, I'll tackle choosing the cab

Cheers all.

[xgsjx]

Why not get 2 2x10s? It would be much lighter, have a consistent sound (if you used the 1 cab at a gig & then the 2 at the next gig, you'd have the same sound but more of it) and it would give you a better dispersion (I'm sure I've posted that somewhere else ).
You could probably get 2 better 2x10s for your money (depending on your budget of course).

[Who's Who]

Have you considered any of the Hartke range.

The LH500 (or the 1000!) head and the HX410 Hydrive cab would be a great gigging rig and is really good value too, the whole rig would only be £725 on Thomann. The head can be rack mounted and the cab is pretty lightweight and it comes on wheels so you won't need a trolley.

The only concern with running a 4x10 plus a 2x10 is that the power will be split between each cab, so you'll be constantly running the 2x10 a lot harder than a 4x10. This may never be an issue but something to consider.

Ashdown do have a lot of choice in their range, but I've had a few Ashdown Rigs over the years and they don't come close to the Hartke rig in my experiance.

[Bigwan]

I'm a bit of an Ashdown fanboy, but have you considered the Orange Terror Bass? I used a Terror bass and my Tech Soundsystems 4x12 in a heavy rock/metal band and it was perfect. For cabs I'd agree with others here that a stacked pair of 2x10s would give more flexibility.

[TomWIC]

Thanks for all the replies, they've all been very helpful.

I've just seen that someone on the forum is selling a Peavey 410 TVX (4ohm) for £150. Given the price and the availability, should I snap this up now? Granted, I won't get the best sound out of it until I save enough pennies for the new head, but would I be stupid to not take it?

[xgsjx]

It's 4 ohm. If your amp doesn't run down to a 2 ohm load, then you wont be able to add another cab to it.
It's also a 4x10 & heavy.

If none of those are an issue to you, then go for it.

[sykilz]

I used a Peavey TVX 410 cab for 10 years in a powerful metal band,never needed any more cabs,the head at the time was a Hartke 3500. Used a powerful active 5 string Washburn bass through it and with the volume on 4 it was able to destroy buildings.This was in the 90`s, I now use a Peavey Tour 450 into a Warwick 410,and it`s not quite as good as the other set up,but not far off. Peavey kit is good,just a bit unfashionable.

[GregBass]

I have been using a Tour 700 head for quite a while now - and it does what it says on the tin. Its pokey, loud and flexible. The octaver sounds like me after a heavy curry, and is unusable, but it has enough depth without that. If the price is right, I'd recommend it without hesitation.

If you are looking for a Peavey 4x10, I have one that I am thinking of selling to fuel another bout of GAS (nothing to do with the Tour 700 octaver ). PM me if you want some more info on that.

[Jack]

I'd certainly snap that TVX up in the for sale, would you really ever need more than that cab in terms of volume? Depends if you are planning to join a doom band really.

Certainly keep an eye out second hand, there is very little second hand market atm, people aren't buying like they used to so there are definitely deals to be had.

[Delberthot]

I'm a big fan of Peavey and MAG 4x10"s. A couple of years I depped with a band that had 3 guitarists all trying to be the loudest. At the time I had a Gallien Krueger 700RB II and 2 MAG 410"s. Made mincemeat of the lot of them.

[Musky]

I think Peavey 410's often go for nearer the £100 mark.

[xgsjx]

What is it with guitarists trying to bee uber loud? Almost all the ones I've spoken to, let alone heard, don't understand what a band mix is.
It's like the band is there for them to noodle over!

[TomWIC]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1337892954' post='1667176']
What is it with guitarists trying to bee uber loud? Almost all the ones I've spoken to, let alone heard, don't understand what a band mix is.
It's like the band is there for them to noodle over!
[/quote]

I'm lucky that my guitarists aren't like that. We all like to hear ourselves, and to hear each other. If we can do that, and everything sounds good together, we're happy

[ern500evo]

There's a Gallien Krueger 700RB in the FS section for £175, that would be worth a look/listen. Great amps for rock stuff. My wife's cousin is a pro bassist and has never used anything except RB heads in all the years I've known him. Drop thombassmonkey a pm, he's clued up on all things GK.

[Jack]

That would be a hell of an amp, even if you use it into your current MAG cab.

[ern500evo]

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1337941437' post='1667645']
That would be a hell of an amp, even if you use it into your current MAG cab.
[/quote] Agreed. Great amp for that sort of money, if I was in the market for a head I'd be snapping it up and using the rest of my budget to buy a couple of the best 8ohm 2x10's I could afford. As someone has already said, with a pair of 210's you can use one for rehearsal/smaller gigs and when you need the extra oomph, or just to get the cabs up higher you can stack them vertically. Better sound dispersion and that great GK tone, can't imagine you'd be disappointed with it.

[ern500evo]

Just been browsing eBay and if you want something with some serious grunt, there's a 1000W Warwick Tubepath on there which is currently on £200, ending on sunday. Obviously you can't guarantee it'll end up going for that sort of money but you never know! I know some Warwick gear is about as popular as a dose of the clap around here, and I'm biased but if it goes for anything near that price it's a great piece of kit for the money!