Lew-Bass Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Can anyone recommend an amp for no more than around £170 that would be ok for small gigs? Are there any? Greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Lew-Bass' post='399646' date='Feb 4 2009, 02:23 AM']Can anyone recommend an amp for no more than around £170 that would be ok for small gigs? Are there any? Greatly appreciated[/quote] £170 is pushing it [i]a bit[/i], depending on your definition of 'small gigs' For new - have a look at some little Peaveys, Laneys and...er...Marshalls. May be able to get something online that's vaguely usable around that budget. Buying S/H will get you more bang for your buck - check out the amps for sale section elsewhere on the forum. in fact - look at this - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=39888"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=39888[/url] Edited February 4, 2009 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew-Bass Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 I'm not sure the capacity I only know the venues I've seen a Kustom KBA 100 for £200 plus p&p, say I managed to stretch to that, would that be a wise choice? Everywhere else I've seen it has had it priced at on average the £300 mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) A no-brainer really; for £180 you can get a 500watt Hartke amp that'll cover most gigs you're likely to encounter regardless of size. Whether the tone floats your boat is another matter but '£ for watt' it is about the best you can expect! <edit> Look here... the £180 price I quoted was an on-line price I found at the time this thread was active. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26831&hl=hartke+lh500"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...hl=hartke+lh500[/url] Edited February 4, 2009 by warwickhunt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='Lew-Bass' post='399649' date='Feb 4 2009, 02:49 AM']I'm not sure the capacity I only know the venues I've seen a Kustom KBA 100 for £200 plus p&p, say I managed to stretch to that, would that be a wise choice? Everywhere else I've seen it has had it priced at on average the £300 mark [/quote] I reckon you could do better than that if you don't mind used gear. Ebay often has a reasonable selection of combos that sell for bargain prices because the seller doesn't want to post. So the question is where are you based (and how far can you travel)? Something that is worthy of consideration from the for sale selection at a decent price - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=39669"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=39669[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew-Bass Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='Musky' post='399693' date='Feb 4 2009, 08:57 AM'][b] I reckon you could do better than that if you don't mind used gear.[/b] Ebay often has a reasonable selection of combos that sell for bargain prices because the seller doesn't want to post. So the question is where are you based (and how far can you travel)? Something that is worthy of consideration from the for sale selection at a decent price - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=39669"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=39669[/url][/quote] I don't mind it mate, aslong as the condition is very very good. That Hartke looks good but I'd need cabs to go with it right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 £180 with cabs? You want jam on that? Seriously, you'll maybe get a new combo for close to that money - Ashdown comes to mind immediately. They do a 1x12" 180 watt combo for about £220. Buying used you have much more choice. Recently there's been quite a few combos for sale around the 200 quid mark, usually Trace Elliot, Ashdown, Peavey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The Ashdown electric blue combos come up madly cheap sometimes. Might even be able to squeeze an extension cab on to that budget. That would be plenty giggable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan_da_man Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I have a Laney R2, 100w, 1x12, HF horn and in good condition. For sale at £80 in the for sale section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='Lew-Bass' post='399925' date='Feb 4 2009, 01:13 PM']I don't mind it mate, aslong as the condition is very very good. That Hartke looks good but I'd need cabs to go with it right?[/quote] don't NEED cabs, might be something to add later for bigger gigs when you have the wonga. All combos are inherently designed to work with their own speakers to a decent degree so upgrading isn't necessary in the majority of cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='Lew-Bass' post='399925' date='Feb 4 2009, 01:13 PM']I don't mind it mate, aslong as the condition is very very good. That Hartke looks good [u]but I'd need cabs to go with it right[/u]?[/quote] Ah! You said 'amp' not amp and cabs/combo. You will get something in combo form for your budget but it will need to be used to get anything near powerful enough for your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew-Bass Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='400104' date='Feb 4 2009, 04:00 PM']Ah! You said 'amp' not amp and cabs/combo. You will get something in combo form for your budget but it will need to be used to get anything near powerful enough for your money.[/quote] Yeah I'm up for used Sorry about not making it clear bud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I have a marshall Bass State combo 150 (1 x 15) that is currently for sale, 7 band eq, blend between solid state and valve pre-amp. Been gogged for a year. Versatile tone, good workhorse. I have recently upgraded to a bigger rig and need to sell this now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew-Bass Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='Al Heeley' post='400152' date='Feb 4 2009, 04:45 PM']I have a marshall Bass State combo 150 (1 x 15) that is currently for sale, 7 band eq, blend between [b]solid state and valve pre-amp.[/b] Been gogged for a year. Versatile tone, good workhorse. I have recently upgraded to a bigger rig and need to sell this now.[/quote] Could you explain please? And also, do you have the spec. please, only coming up with covers on google Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='josh3184' post='400100' date='Feb 4 2009, 03:59 PM']don't NEED cabs, might be something to add later for bigger gigs when you have the wonga. All combos are inherently designed to work with their own speakers to a decent degree so upgrading isn't necessary in the majority of cases.[/quote] ah sorry, thought you were talking about the combo that was flagged- way to confuse the matter josh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) all valve amp is generally seen as providing a warmer tone which can be "overdriven" to get a dirty gritty distortion. Solid state is the other type. Solid state is lighter (usually) and has less risk of breaking from being dropped (valves amps have components that are fairly fragile). Of course this is a generalization I'm sure there are examples of both that break the trends I'm mentioned but widely those are the pluses/minuses. Also, I'd recommend an ashdown electric blue 15-180, great amps those, can power a pub sized gig too (essentially [url="http://www.andertons.co.uk/Products/Product.asp?id=9467"]THIS[/url] but i think there are cheaper models such as the slightly older ones, and you can get em second hand for about £130-150) Edited February 4, 2009 by josh3184 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Hi there. You may want to trawl through the wiki here [url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/"]http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/[/url] The "buying your first amp" section seems to have gone but there's other articles that you'll find useful and informative. and use the search function (top right of the page) to read what other newbies have found out about things like "solid state" and "valve preamps" ... In brief for your £180 you'll get some pretty reasonable combos (that's an amp and speaker on one box like this Ashdown). as opposed to a "head" or "amp" which is just the amp bit which needs a "speaker cab" or "cab" which has the speaker in it but no amp, if you want to hear anything ... Simply put if you are playing with a drummer now or in the near future, you'll need about 300 watts to keep up reasonably well. A 100 watt combo will struggle a bit.. +1 on Ashdown, Laney, Peavey Have a look through the for sale section here, ebay and gumtree for ideas. OG Edited February 4, 2009 by OldGit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='OldGit' post='400197' date='Feb 4 2009, 05:24 PM']Hi there. You may want to trawl through the wiki here [url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/"]http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/[/url] The "buying your first amp" section seems to have gone but there's other articles that you'll find useful and informative. and use the search function (top right of the page) to read what other newbies have found out about things like "solid state" and "valve preamps" ... In brief for your £180 you'll get some pretty reasonable combos (that's an amp and speaker on one box like this Ashdown). as opposed to a "head" or "amp" which is just the amp bit which needs a "speaker cab" or "cab" which has the speaker in it but no amp, if you want to hear anything ... Simply put if you are playing with a drummer now or in the near future, you'll need about 300 watts to keep up reasonably well. A 100 watt combo will struggle a bit.. +1 on Ashdown, Laney, Peavey Have a look through the for sale section here, ebay and gumtree for ideas. OG[/quote] This, helluva reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lushuk Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 s/h all the way 150w of Trace gear should be heard ok, I reckon quality s/h gear would be a better purchase than budget new stuff! Eddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 forgot to say, watt for watt, tube/valve amps are considered louder than solid state if I recall correctly- anyone wanna back me up on that? Memory is getting hazy with my old age Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='josh3184' post='400243' date='Feb 4 2009, 05:58 PM']forgot to say, watt for watt, tube/valve amps are considered louder than solid state if I recall correctly- anyone wanna back me up on that? Memory is getting hazy with my old age [/quote] A watt is a watt... a valve watt is NOT louder than a tranny watt. However due to the characteristics of the tone of valves (i.e. distortion) it can 'appear' louder/fuller, though it is not in fact any louder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='400286' date='Feb 4 2009, 06:47 PM']A watt is a watt... a valve watt is NOT louder than a tranny watt.[/quote] A valve watt is no more powerful than a solidstate watt but it IS louder! No more dBs SPL will result but it'll peak higher on a VU meter (though not on a peak level meter) and it'll sound louder to our ears. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='400344' date='Feb 4 2009, 07:45 PM']A valve watt is no more powerful than a solidstate watt but it IS louder! No more dBs SPL will result but it'll peak higher on a VU meter (though not on a peak level meter) and it'll sound louder to our ears. Alex[/quote] Surely that is a contradiction Alex? You of all people surely accept that the measurement of a watt is a scientific equation; Hence a valve watt can be no different to a tranny watt... yes? We have both stated that it may appear louder due to the characteristics of valve distortion etc but please let's not blur the issue of valve watts and SS watts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='400372' date='Feb 4 2009, 08:09 PM']Surely that is a contradiction Alex? You of all people surely accept that the measurement of a watt is a scientific equation; Hence a valve watt can be no different to a tranny watt... yes? We have both stated that it may appear louder due to the characteristics of valve distortion etc but please let's not blur the issue of valve watts and SS watts. [/quote] It's all rather moot anyway - the issue came up over the B150's use of a valve in the pre-amp. It's not a valve amp so it's 'SS watts' that'll be heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 [quote name='Musky' post='400391' date='Feb 4 2009, 08:35 PM']It's all rather moot anyway - the issue came up over the B150's use of a valve in the pre-amp. It's not a valve amp so it's 'SS watts' that'll be heard. [/quote] Valid point, I was simply responding to the statement that watt A is louder than watt B. Just as Alex would dive in (rightly so) and nip in the bud any misconception that certain speakers can defy the laws of physics, I think 'facts' need to be just that, otherwise we just perpetrate the same myths time and again. I've known SS amps of certain wattages 'appear' louder than other SS amps either by dint of the manufacturer (cough... TE) manipulating the gains to make them seem to have masses of volume at low settings and others (cough... GK) with things like boost stages and though I can't 'prove' it, some manufactures appear to just make figures up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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