The Steel Guitar Forum

I've been fooling around on a Tacoma Thunderchief acoustic/electric bass with the built in Fishman pick up & pre amp. I'm having a ball even though my fingers are killing me.

I don't have an amp and would appreciate some recommendations. I play at home and would also like something that could be used in a small venue and intimate playing situation.


PS....pardon my spelling in the topic....it's early in the morning and I'm only on my 4th beer. Hey, I'm a light drinker.....<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by HowardR on 14 February 2004 at 07:13 AM.]</p></FONT>

Howard, I'd look at the new Peavey Bass amps. You can get into a nice 100 watt deal for about $400--$500. You'll get a lot of punch for your bux. So are the four beers this morning over four bowls of cornflakes? You may be a redneck if you--------------

Hey Howard--isn't bass cool? There's a bass player somewhere inside of me trying to get out. Please bring it to Hanks tomorrow!! (long story about bass player hell, totally off your topic.)
I heard someone playing bass thru a small Ashdown a while ago that sounded great.

Lay off that near-beer. It's like kissing your sister. Hmmm....you may be a redneck if you......

Hi Howard. The little Gallien-Kruger amnps are great for small gigs and at home. I played miked bluegrass with just this small unit vs the PA for years in NYC.

Hey Howard,

If it is a bass, get an Ampeg. period. end of discussion. The low-end one is great. One 15" speaker with ports in the back. 100 watts solid state. Lots of pros and ex-pros use Ampeg. Check their website for the this combo. Can't remember the model number. We have one at the studio where we jam and it sounds great on acoustic/electric bass, standup bass, and electric bass.

Ron

I have a wedge shaped Fender Bassman "60" that works great,they also make a Bassman "100" in the same style.It has an XLR line out to the mixer which is good for larger gigs.This thing also sounds great with an acoustic guitar and fairly cheap.

Ron Randall is probably thinking of the BA-115...in my opinion it is the best for size/price without sacrificing the punch and bottom.

Those old Ampegs with the fliptop tube amps sounded great too. I played Ampegs for years. Including the full twin cab SVT... what a monster.
I have no doubts a new Ampeg will be a fine amp.

PS. happy Bday Howard

Howard... I play my BTB-505 through a 100W Traynor with a 4x10 cabinet. But the cab kills my back to move it these days. I picked up an Ibanez SW-65 for $225 new that I can carry without too much pain. It's a tilt back and has RCA inputs for CD player etc. You can unplug the speaker from the amp. I have fed it into the Traynor 4x10 and it sounds every bit as qood as the tube amp. Makes a good stage monitor too if you ever step up to a big Ampeg later.

Be sure its a 65 watt version. They also make 20 and 35 watt versions that are pretty much practice amps. You wouldn't want to gig with them.
http://www.epinions.com/pr-Amplifiers-Ibanez_65_Watt_Bass_Amplifier_SW65/display_~latest_prices

If you'd like to borrow mine to try out e-mail me.

Four beers and you are already getting intimate with your bass?

Acoustic Image makes a small, hi-tech amp for bass fiddle and acoustic bass that sounds better than anything I've ever heard. Developed primarily for jazz & classical players. Also promoted as a good amp for jazz guitar. Up to 300 watts, multiple speakers w/ downfiring woofer, effects loop, line out, etc. And all this fits inside a 14" drum case! My wife uses one for bass fiddle in our bluegrass band, and it beats all. A little bit expensive, but very impressive.

(No, I've never plugged my Emmons into it, but now I'm wondering....)

Larry,

Yes,thanks. It is the BA 115. It has a lot of features also. XLR out, headphone jack, and it will tilt back.

I like it.

Ron

YEs, this model number is definitely for Bass Players. It is a secret code...
BA 115 for "bass amp with 1 15"

You should definitely check out the Tech 21 Sansamp Acoustic DI with active EQ and Speaker simulation. About $180 new and well worth it , Specially designed for acoustic instruments and my Epiphone El Kapitan Acoustic Bass finally sounds how I wanted it to. There was an impedance mismatch through my Ampeg SVT tube preamp no matter how I set it. I also found the piezo pickup does NOT like to be compressed at ALL , sounds best with the new Dean Markely PhosBronze ABG strings and the Tech 21 Acoustic DI Active EQ set flat except for a small mid cut around 250 HZ and speaker simulation all the way up. Everybody at band practice wigged when I used it after finlly getting these things squared away fine tuning it.I plug the Tech box into a small Samson power amp and a Avatar single twelve bass cab w/ tweeter. I love it's sound now.

Over the 25 years that I played bass, I played through a lot of amps. Fender, Ampeg, Peavey, Kustom, Kasino, Sho-Bud(yes, they did make a bass amp), Sunn, and Gallien-Kruger. I was looking for a very deep, solid bottom end with good note to note definition. The closest I came to the sound I was after was with the Kustom amps (ya, I know that is hard to beleive, but it is a matter of personal taste.) All of the amps where good in their own right but not all where right for me. If I was goning to play again, I would seriously consider the Trace Elliot amps distributed by Gibson. http://www.trace-elliot.com/bass/715smc.html
R.E.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by R. E. Klaus on 22 February 2004 at 07:06 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by R. E. Klaus on 27 February 2004 at 08:07 PM.]</p></FONT>

Ampeg all tube.