james_guitar Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Having switched from electric to double bass a few months back and gigging a lot, I have not only been enjoying playing the instrument, it's also paying my rent. Bearing that in mind, I feel it's time to upgrade my rig to improve my amplified tone a little and hopefully avoid feedback in rooms with more awkward acoustics... At the moment I'm running a Stentor Elysia with a Fishman BP100 pickup through a Fender Bassman 400 Pro, which is no longer in production and I think was based on an Swr Redhead or Gallien Krueger combo. Now I know there's probably no easy to get a good amplified tone and that I'll probably never be 100percent happy whatever I spend, but there must be something out there that will noticeably improve my sound. In the worst cases, I find my sound can be a little muddy and not cut through the mix very well. It can be a little boomy on higher volumes and will even create a high pitched feedback in more unforgiving rooms. Having said that, I've had bassists and other musicians complement me on the tone I'm getting and say that it's an improvement on bands' previous bassists sound/rig. The amp I have is more than powerful enough for electric bass, but I feel I may need something more powerful with more headroom to help avoid sound gremlins. It's also far too heavy for the stairs in my flat, so maybe a good head and cab with neodymium speakers is the way forward. Are there any amps that are particularly complimentary to double bass that anyone can recommend or vouch for? I'm not hugely worried about sticking to a low budget as long as the improvement is big. Should I also be thinking about upgrading my pickup to a Realist or a Shertler system? There don't seem to be half as many posts on this forum about amps as there are about pickups... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnasher1993 Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Check out some of the Genz Benz shuttle combos, they sound great with double bass. Also, check out Euphonic Audio (particularly the Doubler) and Acoustic Image, they both make some great stuff. Your pickup should be alright, perhaps a preamp is what you need. Could be low input impedance on the Bassman that's losing volume...you could try something like [url="http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/hpfpb.pdf"]this[/url]. Of course, that's just my opinion... AJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_guitar Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Assuming there are stores in the Uk that stock Genz Benz combos, I'll have to check them out. I'm preferably after a head and cab setup, preferably with lighter Neodynium speakers (since moving to my new place, the stairs have made me re-think my rig). I neglected to mention I already have a Fishman bass pre-amp, although I've only tried it in conjunction with my P.A. - it came with the bass and the previous owner said he never needed to use it with his amp, so I assumed it wouldn't be necessary. I'll give it a go with the amp at the next gig and hopefully it'll solve some problems. Either way, I definately want to update my rig... any recommendations for head and cab? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnasher1993 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='james_guitar' post='631643' date='Oct 20 2009, 06:46 PM']Either way, I definately want to update my rig... any recommendations for head and cab?[/quote] Sorry I didn't put it very well. The Genz Benz 'combos' are head and cab. [url="http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=category&cid=95"]Have a look[/url]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_guitar Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 [quote name='gnasher1993' post='631719' date='Oct 20 2009, 07:43 PM']Sorry I didn't put it very well. The Genz Benz 'combos' are head and cab. [url="http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=category&cid=95"]Have a look[/url].[/quote] They look very light and portable! - do you use one yourself? Ideally I'm looking for a rack-mountable head as I have a Korg rack tuner that I'd like to make use of. They look a little bit small for that use, but I'm definately going to try them out. Do you know who stocks them in England? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnasher1993 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 There's a fair few [url="http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=dealers_europe&country=England&pg=1"]dealers[/url]... I have played through them before and liked them so much that I have a Shuttle 3.0-8T on it's way to me . They're great little amps. Very loud, very powerful, really light. The Shuttle 6.0 is rack mountable but the 3.0 is not. Whereabouts are you based? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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