Which Amp? Tuning to B

[Jayfaedoom]

hi,

I play in a band that is tuned to B E A D and use a Warwick Streamer Stage 1. I was wondering what amp would people suggest for playing live? I am strugling to find an amp that sounds good and has enough power for the live environment in this tuning.

I am willing to save up and buy something decent, but is there anything out there for folk on a ight budget?

A few suggestions woul be great, if it is a case of saving more then i will.

Oh and is a combo better than a head and cab?

cheers

JaY

[umph]

think you'd be better looking for a cab rather than a head if your having problems with the lower frequencys

[thomas]

You need a cab that cab reproduce the low frequencies effectively, as said this Is the more important than looking to get an amp with bags of power. Saying that you do need plenty of power to get the volume you want (I assume that you're playing in some sort of doom band, either that or Nu-metal) something like a Mesa Boogie 400+ would be good. Oh I happen I'm to be selling one .

[Galilee]

I'd suggest trying a 5-string bass. Your strings must be flapping all over the place and that's not going to help the clarity of your output.

[JakeBrownBass]

I play two 5 strings and use an EBS Fafner with a matching 410! The low B is monstrous though this set up, but best thing to do is go to a shop and try as much as you can!

Jake

[alexclaber]

[quote name='Galilee' post='208806' date='May 29 2008, 01:13 PM']I'd suggest trying a 5-string bass. Your strings must be flapping all over the place and that's not going to help the clarity of your output.[/quote]

Presumably he's using the bottom four strings off a five string set! It seems that many five string players would be just as well served by doing this than having an unused G-string.

Alex

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='Galilee' post='208806' date='May 29 2008, 01:13 PM']I'd suggest trying a 5-string bass. Your strings must be flapping all over the place and that's not going to help the clarity of your output.[/quote]
Why is that then?

[Galilee]

Well I assumed from the original post that the guy is detuned from E to B. Don't you think that would affect the sound? I reckon it would, perhaps you know better.

[bass_ferret]

Well I assumed he was using the bottom 4 strings from a 5 string set.

[Galilee]

If that's the case (and I must admit it didn't occur to me :wacko: ) then I respectfully withdraw the 5-string suggestion.

[Dubs]

The Ampeg SVT410-HLF was specifically designed to handle lower bass frequencies from a 5 string (low B ). That might be a good starting point?
It’s not all about the size of the driver, ie – the tendency to believe that a 15” driver will produce a lower frequency than a 12” or 10”. It’s all about how much air it can move (volume – obviously also depends on the power of the amp) and the internal volume of the enclosure (cubic feet/meters) + the diameter and length of the ports (frequency response and tuning frequency – that’s if it’s a ported enclosure though ).
If you’re looking to keep the lowest of the low frequencies that the B is going to be producing then look at the specs of any potential cabs and check out the frequency response and the drop off – the SVT410-HLF has a frequency response of 48Hz – 18kHz @ a -3dB drop off and the “usable low frequency “ is 28Hz @ a -10dB drop off. The term “usable” is subjective though, but a drop off of only -10dB @ 28Hz for a bass cab is pretty damn impressive.
When you’re looking at the specs for other cabs and they’ve not stated where they’ve measured the drop off for the frequency response from then generally take it as -3dB because for the manufacturer that’s good practise/industry standard, but there’s a slim chance that this may not be where they’ve measured it from.
As for amps – it shouldn’t really make a difference as long as it’s reasonably powerful (300W RMS @ 8ohms +). You need to have a good amount of power for the drivers to be able to produce the lower frequencies. Other than that it’s just going to be down to your personal preference of what tone you prefer because a 400W Ampeg is as powerful as a 400W Genz Benz or Mark Bass or EBS etc….
Frequency response is hugely dependent on the enclosure (cab) though.

Oops – I’ve written a bloody essay! Didn’t mean to go on for that long and you’ve got to take some of the things I’ve said with a pinch of salt – I’m not a speaker engineer but these are just some things I’ve picked up from designing Subwoofer enclosures with my housemate and I’ve tried to translate it to bass cabs.

Edited May 31, 2008 by benwhiteuk

[bass_ferret]

there is no difference, rig wise, to tuning a 4 BEAD and using a 5 with low B.

[Dubs]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='210022' date='May 31 2008, 10:28 AM']there is no difference, rig wise, to tuning a 4 BEAD and using a 5 with low B.[/quote]

Yeah because the issues are with reproducing the low frequencies from the B so it doesn’t matter if the G is there or not.

[Jayfaedoom]

I do indeed use the 4 from a 5 string set a strings, works ace and me bass sounds good.

Thank you for all the replies i am gunna study up on a few amps and then go and try a few out

cheers

[Welshbassist]

Ive always found 10" drivers to have a better low b sound than 15" drivers - so much tighter and much less boomy. But as usual this always true in all cases.