I am really digging my new Rumble 75!

I have been playing bass off & on for a little more than 43 years. Except for a red sparkle Kustom 200, I've always played Fender Bassman amps. Tube of course.

Since I no longer play out I wanted a small but good sounding amp. Small and good sounding used to be mutually exclusive terms when it came to bass amps as small bass amps sounded like $@!.

As far as I am concerned my choice of Fender's Rumble 75 Combo was a smart move to make. The tone controls are very sensibly voiced, and they have a lot of tone sculpting ability. The 'Punch' & 'Scoop' tone shaping buttons are far more than mere marketing gimmicks. They both do exactlly what they say they do, and they do it well. Fender's Sonic Engineers choose their design wisely. I was able to dial in a solid; punchy & meaty tone quickly and with ease.

I really like the overdrive! I was able to dial up and mix in just enough 'UMPH!' to give my sound a nice warm ever-so-slightly overdriven tubey vibe remarkably close to a Bassman. I am still estatically amazed at just how good this small bass amp sounds.

The 12" woofer is perfect in this combo. It's tight; punchy, and meaty. A very pleasent surprise. I turned up to 3/4 volume, and that is pretty damn loud! No distortion from the speaker, nor any rattles from the cabinet. This combo is very well designed and assembled.

I play a (now vintage) '76 Fender Precision Bass that I bought new. And a Nathan East body style Yamaha 5-string that sounds like a million bucks.

I've had my new Fender Rumble 75 for exactly a week now, and yes I am still digging it muchly.

I've found out through Fender's customer service that the power section is a class 'F' amplifier. The 75 watt rating is in continuous "pre-distortion" watts. Clean Power. The number of absolute peak watts is not published. Fender's claim that their power ratings are on the conservative side ring true to my ears.

I wanted a real world test of this lovely little bass amp. With no input signal, and the tone controls set flat, I dialed up the power (volume) to 10. There will always be some high end hiss, and so there is, but not much. Even with the high mid & treble controls maxed out the amount of hiss was negligible. I also listened for any "crackles" or other unexplained noises. I didn't hear any.

Turning the volume all the way down, I returned the tone controls to flat, and plugged in my Fender Precision Bass Guitar. While plucking the open 'A' string, I began turning up the volume slowly. I was listening for: a) any rattles in the cabinet, b) any speaker breakup/distortion, and lastly c) any amplifier distortion. At half volume I paused and just played for a bit. Nice clean sound with tons of top end, and clear punchy bottom. I continued to turn up the volume to 7. This is very loud! Still clean and clear sound without any audible distortion or speaker breakup. Even digging into the low E didn't phase this amp. Talk about punchy attack! I am still amazed at what this little amp can do. I went ahead and dialed the volume all the way up to 10, and played for a few minutes. Still distortion free, and yes, very loud! Loud enough to play with a drummer? Maybe. I've got a jam session set up with a drummer this comming Saturday.

Finially a jam with a drummer!

I'm very pleased to report that the Rumble 75 is indeed loud enough to be jammable.

I played with the volume on '8' and asked the drummer to play at their normal volume level.

The Rumble 75 aquitted itself with deft apolmb. Tons of bottom end. The 12" Fender Special Design speaker really puts out big round meaty tone. No farting even at very high volume levels. Plenty of tight punchy attack too. Very aggressive when turned up this loud. Highs by the truck load. I had to dial the tone controls down from flat. I have to say once again that the amount of tone sculpting ability of this amp is crazy good.

I had a great time jamming with my Fender Precision Bass & Rumble 75 Combo. I enjoyed it very much.

Yeah 75 watts is enough to jam with a drummer. I remember when 60 watts seemed like a lot. My first bass amp was like 40 watts with a tail wind....it had one pair of 6L6GC output tubes. It had great tone but wasn't really all that loud. The difference between 40 and 60 watts is quite noticeable and between 60 and 75 there is quite a difference. I'm using a 75 watt combo for about everything patched into a big PA at gigs. I keep saying I'll take the 450 watt rack and the 2 cab stack to the next gig...but I never do. The sound tech likes me patching into the PA with the 75 watt combo better.

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Bookmark my electric bass resources page at: http://brotherdave.com/resources.htm (The more people I meet...the more I like my Fender Basses!)

Agreed Brother Dave. If I were gigging out with a Rumble amp, I would pick the Rumble 150 head and their one 12" Eminence speaker cabinet. Small; light weight, plenty loud, and great tone. I really like the front end that the Rumble 75 & 150 share. The semi-parametric high & low mid tone controls are excellently designed and voiced. Fender engineers picked the perfect frequencies.

Cost and size were both important factors in my decision to get a Rumble 75. I didn't see much in the way of well written and trustworthy reviews when I was doing research last month. So I wanted to get my review 'out there' to be found. I have a friend with a decent video cam, so I might put out a hands on video review.

I probably should repeat that I patch into the PA system which has powerful subwoofers. Basically I'm using my 75 watt amp as a stage monitor on an amp stand in front of me pointed at my head with the PA floor monitor next to it. My amp is patched via XLR into the mixer and the sound tech controls me in the mix. I just need to hear it louder on stage or I could just patch out of my pedal board's Tech 21 Bass Driver and I wouldn't need an amp at all. When playing indoors the tech adds less bass level than when outdoors. It seems that outdoors I need way more boost.

If you are not patching into a PA, then 60 to 75 watts is probably close to not enough power except for an acoustic type gig. Even for an acoustic gig outdoors a 60 to 75 watt amp or even a 100 watt one would be inadequate. I'm just lucky there is a killer PA rig usually at our gigs. It is nice to not have to drag around a full stack for sure, but some people have to do that. I think great big stacks at most shows where everything is miked or direct out is mostly for appearance sake and not acoustically necessary.

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Bookmark my electric bass resources page at: http://brotherdave.com/resources.htm (The more people I meet...the more I like my Fender Basses!)

For some reason, I find this amp very appealing. I already have the Rumble 350 combo, which I absolutely love, so I don't really need it. Then again, I find the whole Rumble lineup appealing. I'd almost want to get the whole lineup. Maybe an amp for different rooms and occasions. Even have one in the loo, so you can play while you're on the toilet, if you so feel inspired. I'm joking about that one, although I read an interview with someone in a guitar mag that said he kept a guitar in the bathroom, in case he felt like playing. I would imagine that could be problematic because of humidity from a shower.

Restrung my Yammy 5-string with fresh roundwounds a few days ago. Now that I've played them in and they will hold tune, I decided to give my Rumble 75 a work out!

I was digging in hard with a pick. Playing Yes; Rush, & Zappa riffs. The unseen internal "Delta-Comp" compressor works very well and contributes greatly to the goodness of the sound. It's like 'secret sauce'. Believe it

This amp handles the low B well. No rattles in the cabinet, nor any farting of the speaker.

My personal practice volume is either 2 or 3. Which is one quarter to one third volume. This is plenty for me. The sound is good with full round tone. I don't get evicted, and my neighbors don't call the police.

I have found that a lot of great sound can be had right around the flat tone settings. I ended up with:
Bass at + 5db
Low Mids at +3db
Hi Mids = Flat
Treble at +5db
Shape buttons off
Overdrive when I wanted it worked out at: Drive at 3 and Balance at 40%. This gave me a nice warm tubey vibe with just a bit of grit. If you really want tube sound you actually have to have a real tube amp like the new all tube Bassman amps. Go figure. AND also notice the new ultra-expensive Bassman amps have an Overdrive just like the Rumbles do! Yep. It's true.

That's good to know that it can handle a 5-string. If that can, then I'm sure the 350 should be able to, as well. I think someone actually mentioned that to begin with, in the past. Either here, or some review elsewhere. I might venture into the 5-string territory one of these days. I tried it many years ago, but I found the low B uncomfortable.

Same thing here, BassPaulL. I too found 5-strings to be awkward to play, but I really wanted that low B; and C, and even D! Plus I wanted a very modern sounding bass, something I could keep strung in roundwounds and attack with a pick.

My '76 Precision I keep in flats for fingerpicking classic rock & blues. The Rumble 75 really does an outstanding job in this department. I am very pleased.

Speaking of flats, I'd like to get some for my bass, again. It's been a long time since I've used them and I miss that. Also speaking of Precisions, my latest interest, or G.A.S. is a 60's P-Bass, or the '62 they currently make. Preferably with some crusty old (well, maybe not that bad) flats. I've been on that product page on this site many times. You can blame Klaus Voorman for that. I was watching VH1's Classic Albums about the making of the Plastic Ono Band album and he was playing along with some of the tracks. The tone he had with that bass stuck in my head ever since. I know there is 100 variables to tone besides that bass, but I'd love to have an instrument to get a close enough vibe. I've always loved P-Basses, anyway. For some reason the vibe of the 60's one has really grabbed me lately. It's sucks I don't have any money right now. I imagine it would sound sweet through the Rumble.

I have a similar idea like you have with the different basses. In fact, ultimately I'd like to have a specific instrument to individual sounds. I'm not interested in having 200+ guitars (I know it's easy to fall into that trap, though,) but classic pieces for a specific purpose. Like tools you use for a certain job. It's obviously a dream, since that would require some money, but if it can happen, I'd like to attempt this. Then again, this could put yourself in a corner where you don't think outside of the box and stifle any creativity. So I'm not that sure.

I hear ya! I use Tomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats on my Precision. Yes they are damned expensive {$100 a 4-string set}, but well worth it. Sound great and last a long time. On the more affordable end just go with Fender flats.

For rounds, DR's Marcus Miller "Fat Beams" suit me fine.

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A Fender Precision Bassman since 1972

I've never tried DR's or Tomastik-Infeld (probably because I'm a cheap bastard, or broke ) but I have used Fender's in the past. I've tried about everything else under the sun. It depends on my budget at the time when I shop for them. The last time I bought strings, it was from some internet company that sells their own brand. They claimed that all strings are made in the same place and you're paying for advertising, so their's are cheaper. While this could be true, I found it really isn't the case. I have notice differences. When you've played for a long time, you can tell this things. Needless to say, their brand wasn't really all that great. The bass one's are OK, but the guitar ones are kind of blah. The horrible thing is I still have them on my instruments and it's been a few years. I hit a financial rough patch in the past couple of years, so they weren't a priority. If it's between groceries and new strings, especially if you really don't need them, then you know how that goes. Fortunately, things have picked up, especially musically, so I was able to get some gear and I'll get new strings, too. I have a lot of stuff happening in the Fall, so it will be a good idea to get everything in shape.

Just a quick addendum to this thread.

For anyone that may be researching Rumble Amps I have started a thread on Rumble Tone & Overdrive settings here:

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=73385

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A Fender Precision Bassman since 1972

Two months exactly since I started this thread, and as expected my Rumble 75 is still going strong without a single problem; hiccup, or glitch. I am still very pleased with my choice & purchase. I am convinced that the Rumble 75 is the very best bass amp at it's price point/power rating class.

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A Fender Precision Bassman since 1972