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Amp to fit my 'sound' and needs


Friskydingo

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So I'm getting a squier jazz and I'm looking round at amps, preferably heads, to see what is around. 

I gig in a rock covers band with two guitars and like the sound of 90's punk and grunge. There's some great gear on sell on this forum but I don't know where to start. 

£350 would hopefully buy a good used head and I can borrow my mates hartke 4x10 for now. Suggestions? 

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My orange terror has the perfect tone for me, we play a lot of grunge/ punk and it fits in very well. Mine is the 1000w variant but your budget would get you the 500w version which is more than enough for almost anywhere you would play.

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15 minutes ago, ped said:

If you’re borrowing a Hartke can then I’d recommend the Hartke 3500 head, it’s a classic and sounds great with those aluminium speakers. 

Is that ha3500? I'm just borrowing the 4x10 but it does sound good, so may try to convince him to part with it

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Just now, Friskydingo said:

Is that ha3500? I'm just borrowing the 4x10 but it does sound good, so may try to convince him to part with it

Yep that’s the one. I used one with a 410 and 210 for years and I’m not convinced my subsequent amps sounded much better on stage than that Hartke did 👍🏼

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Just now, ped said:

Yep that’s the one. I used one with a 410 and 210 for years and I’m not convinced my subsequent amps sounded much better on stage than that Hartke did 👍🏼

You're not convinced but you kept in buying new gear? If that's not GAS in action I don't know what is 😂 

I'm more knowledgeable of guitar brands so is hartke a respected/reliable brand? I've heard of it before but don't know it's standing in the bass community 

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Ampeg pf500 used for about £250 or if the 410 is 4 ohm then a pf350 could well do the job. Great rock bass head loads of other options there’s an orange terror 500 in the classifieds fir 300 louder than a very loud thing and sound great too 

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26 minutes ago, Friskydingo said:

That Ampeg is a good bit of gear. I'll check 4 or 8 ohms

It is.  I’ve got the PF350 and love it.  If you’re patient there are bargains out there, paid £150 for mine

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ampeg-PF-500-Portaflex-500W-Bass-Head/264403381613?epid=2164357119&hash=item3d8fab6d6d:g:8fUAAOSwlmxdMcST

Edited by JohnA
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8 minutes ago, JohnA said:

It is.  I’ve got the PF350 and love it.  If you’re patient there are bargains out there, paid £150 for mine

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ampeg-PF-500-Portaflex-500W-Bass-Head/264403381613?epid=2164357119&hash=item3d8fab6d6d:g:8fUAAOSwlmxdMcST

I'm patient. My band has only just set up so still learning songs at the moment, another couple of months yet

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You can get an Ashdown RM-500 within that budget, worth checking out. I have one as my practice & backup amp and it’s a very good, powerful amp, with a great sound and very flexible eq. Probably the fullest sounding small Class D amp that I’ve used, and I’ve had many (Aguilar, Markbass, Ampeg, GK, TC Electronic). They were all good but the RM just had a depth to the sound that I found the others didn’t.

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4 hours ago, ped said:

Yep that’s the one. I used one with a 410 and 210 for years and I’m not convinced my subsequent amps sounded much better on stage than that Hartke did 👍🏼

I've actually just gone back to the Hartke HA5500 head. I used to have one back when they first came out in the late 90's and it was a fabulous head. One came up last year on Ebay and I got it for £150. Sold my MarkBass LM3 and dont regret it, it's just a bit bigger and heavier but sounds fabulous.

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13 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

You can get an Ashdown RM-500 within that budget, worth checking out. I have one as my practice & backup amp and it’s a very good, powerful amp, with a great sound and very flexible eq. Probably the fullest sounding small Class D amp that I’ve used, and I’ve had many (Aguilar, Markbass, Ampeg, GK, TC Electronic). They were all good but the RM just had a depth to the sound that I found the others didn’t.

I've actually got an Ashdown MiBass 500 head as my back up and I must say, its probably the best sounding Class D amp I've used. I've had a a LM3, Shuttle 6, Shuttle 9, Reidmar and a few others and they've all left me wanting and a little disappointed. The Ashdown has been great so far and I've not been disappointed at all. I wonder if the MiBass shares any similarities with the Rootmaster heads.

Edited by Linus27
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I bought a Peavey MiniMax 500 as a backup amp a few months ago when my GK MB200 fried.

It's so good that I gig it regularly now.  It cost £282 delivered brand new.  it's LOUD, flexible and lightweight and comes with a gig bag.

I'll be using it tonight at a festival gig with my Quilter BB800 as backup.

I've owned quite a few expensive amps but this cheap amp has really impressed me.

Frank.

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What about a combo?

Not the lightest, but ideal for a Rock band.

The Ashdown Musik Produktiv C210-300: https://www.musik-produktiv.com/gb/ashdown-amp-c210-300.html

The amp is a ABM Evo III, in a Rootmaster 2x10 cabinet, solid, reliable and most of all, reasonably priced.

You don't have to keep borrowing your friends cab, but if it's an 8 Ohm cab, then you can use it to get the full 300w.

Edited by Skybone
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At the sort of money you're looking to spend, I would think about going old school, provided you don't mind the weight. You'll get far more bang for your buck that way. The afore-mentioned Hartke, or something like an Ashdown ABM or similar will serve you well.

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On 20/07/2019 at 01:25, Linus27 said:

I've actually got an Ashdown MiBass 500 head as my back up and I must say, its probably the best sounding Class D amp I've used. I've had a a LM3, Shuttle 6, Shuttle 9, Reidmar and a few others and they've all left me wanting and a little disappointed. The Ashdown has been great so far and I've not been disappointed at all. I wonder if the MiBass shares any similarities with the Rootmaster heads.

I bought mine to replace an ABM 500. I think it has a very classic Ashdowny sound. Discontinued a long time ago now, as the EQ was too complicated for us simple minded bassists.

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One of the best value and sounding heads I have owned was a Hartke LH500 it’s insanely simple but the tone was amazing. I actually sold a Mesa Boogie M6 carbine and moved to the hartke and was in a happier place. If I were to go back to amplifiers I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another one. 

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1 hour ago, gjones said:

I bought mine to replace an ABM 500. I think it has a very classic Ashdowny sound. Discontinued a long time ago now, as the EQ was too complicated for us simple minded bassists.

I still have no idea how to get the dials on the EQ to work. The sliders work great but the silver dials in the middle either side do absolutely nothing hahaha

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1 hour ago, gjones said:

I bought mine to replace an ABM 500. I think it has a very classic Ashdowny sound. Discontinued a long time ago now, as the EQ was too complicated for us simple minded bassists.

I have an MiBass 220 - I guess it is different than the 500 then as it doesn't sound great. In fact as it has sat in my room in a corner for a few years, I probably should sell it!

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