Fender Rumble Bass Combos - Advice Please

[Stub Mandrel]

I remember buying my Flea Jazz. I was tryinh it out along with some modern jazz basses. I couldn't get a tone I liked, the guy at the shop said you prefer a more traditional sound? He plugged me into a rumble 100 and lo! There was the sound I wanted. 

[jonno1981]

On 01/09/2025 at 15:35, cetera said:

The V3 Rumble 100 is great for practice and small gigs. For larger club gigs I'd go straight to the 800 though. It has an output power attenuation switch for low or full power, according to your performance situation, aiding with a solid tone at all levels.

Part of the reason the V3's sound so good is they took on some of the tech they acquired when Fender purchased (and sadly disposed of) the fab Genz Benz company.

I still have the rumble 200 I bought from you and really rate it. It’s not as loud as the 4x10 half stack I used to have (no suprises), but it’s a quarter the weight and sounds marvellous. If you’re not playing a big stage or with a daft metal drummer it’ll suit most folks more than adequately. 

[Dan Dare]

On 30/08/2025 at 04:52, Cornwall Steve said:

More recently I've thought about getting shot of these and replacing them with something of better quality. I'm not in the Mark Bass league I'm afraid and at pushing 70 years old and not in the best of health so little point spending hundreds of £ !

 

Rumbles are very much the standard recommendation for moderately priced bass amps. However, I wonder if one would be all that much of an improvement on what you have. It would certainly be better, but by how much?

 

Re. your comment above, I'm in a similar position, although I'm a couple of years older and, touch wood, in good health. My attitude is that if I want something nice, I'll have it if it's within budget. I can't take it with me. If I do save my pennies and end up in a care home, they'll take most of it off me to pay the fees. So treat yourself to that Markbass if you can afford it.

[Cornwall Steve]

On 04/09/2025 at 00:43, Dan Dare said:

 

Rumbles are very much the standard recommendation for moderately priced bass amps. However, I wonder if one would be all that much of an improvement on what you have. It would certainly be better, but by how much?

 

Re. your comment above, I'm in a similar position, although I'm a couple of years older and, touch wood, in good health. My attitude is that if I want something nice, I'll have it if it's within budget. I can't take it with me. If I do save my pennies and end up in a care home, they'll take most of it off me to pay the fees. So treat yourself to that Markbass if you can afford it.

Many thanks for your reply and advice.  I'm pretty much in agreement with all your observations and recommendations. I started off down the Behringer simply because they give me what I wanted at the time and I didn't know any better. That journey began a decade ago when I retired and now I've accumulated five (of different sizes). Buying gear sucks really. You buy for Pounds but end up selling for Pennies. Living down in deepest darkest Cornwall there are very few half decent music shops selling amplification worth buying at a price worth paying. Since posting, I've had a chance to actually try out a mid size Rumble. It was good but frankly I wasn't blown away. Better than my equivalent Behringers -  'Yes'' - but not enough to justify flogging them off for pennies then hammering the bank account. If I were gigging it'll be a different story. So I've invested in some decent (but not Behringer !😂) headphones instead. They've certainly upped the sound quality !

N.B. Big thank you to all members who have offered help and advice

Edited Friday at 05:24 by Cornwall Steve

[Minininjarob]

I was going to buy a new rumble when I started 3 years ago as I think they are the best sounding combo by a long way BUT I ended up getting a GK combo really cheap. Theres not many around and people don’t go for them as they are a bit unknown but my 112 200w combo kicks ass and is plenty loud enough - I go it for £150.  Look out for the old 400rb combos too - very reliable and sound amazing but heavy - if you are keeping it at home that won’t matter. 
I think you’d be really happy with a relatively recent Rumble though. 

 

[Dan Dare]

On 05/09/2025 at 06:22, Cornwall Steve said:

Many thanks for your reply and advice.  I'm pretty much in agreement with all your observations and recommendations. I started off down the Behringer simply because they give me what I wanted at the time and I didn't know any better. That journey began a decade ago when I retired and now I've accumulated five (of different sizes). Buying gear sucks really. You buy for Pounds but end up selling for Pennies. Living down in deepest darkest Cornwall there are very few half decent music shops selling amplification worth buying at a price worth paying. Since posting, I've had a chance to actually try out a mid size Rumble. It was good but frankly I wasn't blown away. Better than my equivalent Behringers -  'Yes'' - but not enough to justify flogging them off for pennies then hammering the bank account. If I were gigging it'll be a different story. So I've invested in some decent (but not Behringer !😂) headphones instead. They've certainly upped the sound quality !

N.B. Big thank you to all members who have offered help and advice

 

Glad it was helpful. Your story is similar to that of many of us. You buy something that, at the time, seems just the job and doesn't cost too much, but quickly outgrow it or become aware of its limitations. Then you buy something that's a little better (on paper, at any rate), outgrow that, etc, etc. Rinse and repeat and you end up with a pile of gear and none of it does the job for you.

 

Had you bought what you really wanted in the first place, it would probably have cost about the same as all the stuff you've bought and you'd still be happy with it. One advantage of buying quality kit is that it retains some resale value, even if the initial expenditure hurts a bit. Stuff from firms such as Behringer et al never holds value. Why would people buy it used, with no guarantee or comeback if anything goes wrong, when they can buy it new and avoid the risk for not a lot more?

 

If your headphones don't scratch the itch, I'd suggest selling your existing gear for whatever you can get for it (the money's already been spent and anything you can recoup is a bonus). Then ignore the local shops that don't have much by way of stock. Instead, hop in the car and have a day out at somewhere like Bass Direct (other shops are available, etc), try stuff and buy what you really like. Ignore reviews and other peoples' opinions and choose what you like.

 

Being retired, you can go in the week when they're not busy, so you can take your time trying things and make the right decision.. I finally saw the light and did just that some years ago after I retired. I spent a chunk of money, which hurt, but I've had no wish to upgrade since. Buy once, cry once, etc.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Dan Dare

[Cornwall Steve]

I think you've summed the whole the thing up very well, and how you explained this cycle of buying in the beginning, realising your mistake, so you buy again, rinse and repeat' is just about the story of my life 🙄

Now that I've amassed a plethora of basses of all shapes and sizes (and spending a fortune in the process!), you turn your attention to the rest of the kit around you, and start throwing that out and replacing it. GAS I think they call it ! 

Frankly, if I had the best of the best I'd still wonder just how much better (or different) something else would sound.

And you wouldn't believe how often I wished I lived closer to the likes of Bass Direct, Bass Gallery, or Andertons, etc. As it is, it's a five hour return journey just to get to somewhere with pavements, proper road signs, and street lighting. And the last time I ventured off on that pilgrimage I came home empty handed ! 😂

I most certainly will purchase a quality bass rig at some point. I had high hopes for the Rumble but after testing was a bit deflated. Time to save the pennies again !

Thanks once again for all the help and advice ☺️

[Minininjarob]

23 minutes ago, Cornwall Steve said:

I think you've summed the whole the thing up very well, and how you explained this cycle of buying in the beginning, realising your mistake, so you buy again, rinse and repeat' is just about the story of my life 🙄

Now that I've amassed a plethora of basses of all shapes and sizes (and spending a fortune in the process!), you turn your attention to the rest of the kit around you, and start throwing that out and replacing it. GAS I think they call it ! 

Frankly, if I had the best of the best I'd still wonder just how much better (or different) something else would sound.

And you wouldn't believe how often I wished I lived closer to the likes of Bass Direct, Bass Gallery, or Andertons, etc. As it is, it's a five hour return journey just to get to somewhere with pavements, proper road signs, and street lighting. And the last time I ventured off on that pilgrimage I came home empty handed ! 😂

I most certainly will purchase a quality bass rig at some point. I had high hopes for the Rumble but after testing was a bit deflated. Time to save the pennies again !

Thanks once again for all the help and advice ☺️

Keep a look out on eBay or Facebook marketplace locally. Be open to anything and if it’s local go and test it out before you buy.