kwmlondon Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Well done little fella!!! So, turned up to open mic night with my band and the back line was a Fender Rumble 40. I am very grateful that someone provided the amp (my car is not in service so no way to get my rig there) and I was prepared to be buried but I took down the low bass and ramped up the low mids and fair play it did the job. The 5th string was a bit lost but I would like to hand it to the little tyke and say good job for just about getting me through! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 I’ve heard one played with a big band, which can have a huge dynamic range, and it more than kept up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwmlondon Posted June 20, 2023 Author Share Posted June 20, 2023 55 minutes ago, JapanAxe said: I’ve heard one played with a big band, which can have a huge dynamic range, and it more than kept up. I was very surprised! In a good way. I did miss the range of a proper rig but I will look on them in a new light. Good job Fender. I wish I’d started my playing life with some like that instead of the Crappy Laney I had when I was young… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minininjarob Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 My GK amp has broken and I might be buying one of the Fender Rumbles - not sure on just a head or one of the combos. They have a great sound. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwmlondon Posted June 22, 2023 Author Share Posted June 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Minininjarob said: My GK amp has broken and I might be buying one of the Fender Rumbles - not sure on just a head or one of the combos. They have a great sound. I've used a few now. I'd say the 40w one is lovely for rehearsing but struggles to do the low end thing in a live situation. For small gigs the 100w would probably do okay, depending on the drummer. If you've got a GK combo and are short of money could you take the amp bit out and use it as a cab with a head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minininjarob Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 11 hours ago, kwmlondon said: I've used a few now. I'd say the 40w one is lovely for rehearsing but struggles to do the low end thing in a live situation. For small gigs the 100w would probably do okay, depending on the drummer. If you've got a GK combo and are short of money could you take the amp bit out and use it as a cab with a head? I did think that but I’ve no idea what the spec of the speaker is and I’m wanting to go around 500w next and I don’t think the 1x12 combo speaker will handle anywhere new that (it’s £200 currently) I’ve tried to fix my amp but it’s beyond me an ok struggling to find anyone who can fix it. Not great for a £600 combo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 People forget sometimes that our hearing isn't linear. Doubling the power always increases the sound levels by exactly the same amount, 3 decibels. So going from 1W to 2W you'll get 3dB, from 500W you still need to double so you need an extra 500W to get the same 3db increase. 3db isn't much either, just going up a notch. to double the sound you need 10x the power so that 40W Fender is equal to half of a 400W amp. You obviously know your stuff, backing off the bass reduces the power demand a lot maybe a 1/4 if you put in a 6db cut and adding in the low mids gives the audience the impression of bass. An extra little hack is to push the tiny combo hard back against the wall or even better into a corner. Each surface will reflect and reinforce the bass and make it sound like a much bigger amp. For an open mic I use a single 6" cab not much bigger than a handbag, volume has never been an issue so long as I can get into that corner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwmlondon Posted June 23, 2023 Author Share Posted June 23, 2023 13 hours ago, Minininjarob said: I did think that but I’ve no idea what the spec of the speaker is and I’m wanting to go around 500w next and I don’t think the 1x12 combo speaker will handle anywhere new that (it’s £200 currently) I’ve tried to fix my amp but it’s beyond me an ok struggling to find anyone who can fix it. Not great for a £600 combo. What model is it? Having had a scoot could it be the MB112? Probably a single 4 ohm 12". You could run something like a TC 250w into it, or one of those BAM200 things, that'd be fine - the BAM200 is pretty cheap too. Otherwise just get a 500w head and mind the levels. No, not ideal for a high-end amp, I'll grant you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwmlondon Posted June 23, 2023 Author Share Posted June 23, 2023 2 hours ago, Phil Starr said: People forget sometimes that our hearing isn't linear. Doubling the power always increases the sound levels by exactly the same amount, 3 decibels. So going from 1W to 2W you'll get 3dB, from 500W you still need to double so you need an extra 500W to get the same 3db increase. 3db isn't much either, just going up a notch. to double the sound you need 10x the power so that 40W Fender is equal to half of a 400W amp. You obviously know your stuff, backing off the bass reduces the power demand a lot maybe a 1/4 if you put in a 6db cut and adding in the low mids gives the audience the impression of bass. An extra little hack is to push the tiny combo hard back against the wall or even better into a corner. Each surface will reflect and reinforce the bass and make it sound like a much bigger amp. For an open mic I use a single 6" cab not much bigger than a handbag, volume has never been an issue so long as I can get into that corner Cheers, yes, and if it had been just me and guitar it'd have been fine but keeping up with a drummer is a real challenge with a practise amp. Did it though, and without any 'orrible farty distortion! Moving stuff around wasn't really an option anyway, but good tip - will bear in mind if it comes up again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 My current gigging rig is a Rumble 100, which I use on an angled stand to point at my head, with the low bass dialled out, and I use the PA for the heavy lifting of the bottom end via the second out of my Stomp. Super light, great stage monitoring, will go far louder than I need; well into the 'hearing protection required' zone. On a midweek gig this week there was a problem with the desk, so I dialled the bass back in and it did well for a couple of songs till we sorted the desk problem. Not thunderous, but still there, even with a loud drummer. I should add I had replaced the speaker with a 'proper' Eminence 12 (about £60) which copes better at higher volumes. It's a common mod, and there's lots of detail about it on a site based over the pond... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 So the question is: Are we ready to Rumble? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 25 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said: So the question is: Are we ready to Rumble? Absolutely yes! I think the whole Rumble range (V3) is great, and although popular still seems a bit underrated by some. I have the 100w combo, and have used it for many gigs with no problems including some with a quiet drummer. It is portable enough to use on small gigs with my electro acoustic Ibanez, and sounds really good whichever bass I plug into it. Haven’t needed to do the speaker upgrade mentioned above, but would happily sort that if my needs changed to use it in louder situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 My first exposure to a Rumble came when I attended a jam at a local bar. I was really impressed by the way the amp handled the Low B of my six string bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I bought a Rumble 200 after my little Mark Bass combo went up in smoke. I must say the 15" speaker makes a hell of a difference when I crank it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 I've gigged my Rumble 100 numerous times in reasonably loud situations. No problem at all. I run a MicroThumpinator on my board which filters out all of the destructive stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 My Rumble 100 V3 is a great little amp, it cost me £165 secondhand. I've used it on a few band gigs with quietish drummers. It's so light I'd love to be able to take it with me on gigs with my main band, but the first (and last) time I attempted it the drummer played so loud it looked like I was miming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 I've no idea if my substitution is totally effective, but I'd done some reading before I bought it, and it's very common over the pond, so I did it for a sort of insurance, really, but it's never not been enough. We did a gig last weekend in a big pub in Bolton where the landlord's rig (there's a dancefloor, it's a very big room, so he's keen) was absolutely deafening after we'd soundchecked, so we were more or less obliged to turn the mains up (and we're talking a pair of RCF 15s on full, plus the desk up to +10db, and we have a fully miked kit), and even then the little Rumble was fine onstage (I had my ACS plugs in)... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 My first new combo was the Rumble 100 which died 24hrs later ! Returned and purchased the Ampeg BA110 instead which is still going strong I did try out the V3 cabs and they seemed ok but not so sure how robust they would be at high band volume Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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