It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:15 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 58 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:54 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:08 pm
Posts: 253
Location: New England
I know GK had those MB series made in China originally , but apparently Bob Gallien oversees the factory there, himself. So I would imagine the QC would be the same, more or less. That's cool that they are still making some things here. The only thing I didn't like about GK originally was the way the cabinets looked. Of course, that is just aesthetic and nothing to do with sound or quality.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:10 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:54 am
Posts: 438
Location: Alabama, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Tennessee seasonally
As long as this thread is discussing the competition, I'd like to make mention of one brand that has not impressed me and several others in my local area... and that is the Ibanez bass combo SW80.

A couple of us tested the Ibanez SW80 combo at two different stores and came up with the same result. They rattle internally as well as through the front grille mesh. When we tested the first one, we thought that it might just be a one time issue, but after testing the second amp at a different shop and hearing the same 'loose' sounding rattling noises from the combo, we walked away from those as practice amps. We wanted to try one of the P115C 300 watt combos in the Promethian series, but neither store stocks those at this time.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 9:32 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:50 am
Posts: 1399
I was trying out different basses in a music store this Summer. To try them out I was plugged into am Ibanez Promethean 500w 2x10. I had never heard of the amp, having just come out of a musical hermit stage, and was trying out basses when all of my attention focused on the amp. It was pricey, but it had a tone that was very clean and present. Beautifully rich tone. Never cranked it though. One of the class D amps. There was something special about that amp. It was priced around 800.00. I see it now at guitarcenter for 900.00.

If I ever start playing out regularly again, then I will reconsider gigging amp. My Bronco with with my beast set-up enhancer have me covered for now.

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 1:32 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:54 am
Posts: 1179
Location: Florida
I was surprised that after testing many amps at the local GC and Sam Ash that I ended up coming back to the Rumble 350 and the Rumble 4x10. My main concern for the cab was 4 ohm and for the head, it had to be versatile. Yes, both are made in different parts of Asia. Will they hold up to heavy gigging? Beats me. I play for enjoyment and when I play out occasionally, so much the better. But it won't be heavy gigging. :lol: Those days are long gone. The pair kicks butt, it's loud, it sounds great at low volumes, a world of tones available. They "appear" to be a solid build. They don't look as impressive as an AsianPeg stack, but looks don't provide tone. The XLR line out with ground lift and effects loop is an added plus.

Point is, I "thought" I would need to look elsewhere to get the cab with the right impedance and at least 12 inch cones to get what I needed. All along, what I needed was right here at Fender.

Art


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:11 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 11:33 am
Posts: 65
I've gigged a Peavey Tour 115 combo for the last two years also driving a 2x10 Mesa cab with absolutely no issues and great overall sound for the price. The only issue I have is portability as it is not possible to add casters and it is a bid of an odd shape with the curved front edge which is pretty well marked up and a couple of tolex tears. My Mesa cab does have casters so the portability issue doesn't usually cause me a problem especially with ramp equipped venues. There is no one making a road case for this amp so it is a custom build probably costing 1/2 to 2/3 of the price of the amp itself.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:59 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:30 am
Posts: 375
I actually just bought one of the new Peavey max112's. Seems to be very high quality, and is built like a tank!! The tones are very good, and with a 3 band active eq w/midshift, you can get quite a few different sounds. Roll up the gain a bit, and you start to get a very good sounding crunch.

Since it IS a Peavey, and 200 watts, it's VERY loud. At low volume settings, it still has good tone. The tiltback cab helps ease the "floor rumble", and thus the disposition of my downstairs neighbor.

The only real drawback is: Weight and size. Being built like a tank means it weighs like one, too. The cabinet is very deep to accommodate the tilt back- it's basically cube shaped. This makes it somewhat awkward to lug around in tight places. Luckily for me I don't play in a band, and thus it rarely needs to be moved! The huge flat top does make a nice place to set pedals though!

I have to agree with a lot of the other posters:

I tried out every small to med bass combo I could find, with similar results.

Ampeg BA-112. Decent sound, but it was just lacking that extra something. I was 90% sold, but opted to keep looking first, before pulling the trigger. I'm now glad I did!

Acoustic BP100 mhz. YUCK!!! What could have been a really good amp was absolutely hamstrung with a flappy,muddy, boomy monstrosity of a cheap 15" speaker... Very nice functional controls, attractive price, but the sound killed it for me.

GK not sure of the model, but it was a 200 watt combo. NOW we're talkin'! This is an awesome sounding amp, and I'd love to own it, but it was simply out of my price range. It was the winner in every category.

Orange Orange Krush 50. Not bad at all! Sounds were rather good, And it certainly didn't lack for volume. I'd heard some not so positive reviews on another board from those who would know. It scared me off a bit. Still, I'd have been perfectly happy with it.

MarkBass Micro Mark 1x8. JEEZUS- all THAT sound from that tiny amp?? Excellent tone, too. It really lets the individual bass's sound shine through. I loved this little guy!! I should have bought it last year, when it was selling for $350. Now it's $500...

I was upgrading from a Rumble 15, and the 150 and 350 GC had were a bit too much amp for my needs. The 150 did sound really nice when another customer was demoing it!

After all that, I thought the Peavey gave me the best combo of great sound, features and bang for my buck. The 2 amps that sounded significantly nicer also cost FAR more. An fx loop and a speaker out would have been nice though. ( there's a nice Hartke aluminum cone 2x10 on CL right now I'd love to buy...)
(Fwiw, I thought I was getting a 35 watt amp when I bought the Peavey. GC hadn't updated their signage for the new model... It wasn't until I got home and read the manual then looked it up on the website that I found out what I'd really gotten.)

I also got a chance to hear a GK head and 4x10 cab when I bought a used eq pedal off Craigslist. The guy plugged it in and demoed it for me- I fell in love- with the amp! Wow, what a great sounding rig, and sooo punchy! I darn near got wood.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:08 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:16 pm
Posts: 18659
Location: In this country town, where the laughter sounds...
I like the TC Electronic heads. The RH450 head works well with almost any cab combination. It gives a great 60's tube sound with it's Tube Tone setting. The RH450 weighs 8.8 pounds, functions un-pluged from a cab. While un-pluged from a cab, it can be used as a pre amp, or very easily taken into another room with headphones. @ 4 Ohms, my Jazz sounds great through an Ampeg SVT-410HLV cab. The onboard tuner is handy, and accurate also. Quality of both the head, and cab are very good.

Image

_________________
"Electric Lady"
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:00 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:14 pm
Posts: 3169
Location: Linningrad
On paper and in demo videos, I like the RH-450. The spectracomp and tubetone seem very good. The best thing that I like about it is that you can pick your frequency that you want to boost or cut on each of the four tone controls. That's great flexabilty. Plus tone setting memory recall at a touch of a button. Dial in your Jazz tone and put it in memory. Dial in your Precision tone and memorize it. Switch back and forth with the ease of a single press of a memory button. Very cool. Would love to live with one for a couple of months to really wring it out. $650-700 is a good price for all it offers.

_________________
2012 Lefty American Standard Jazz
2017 Lefty American Professional Precision
2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:14 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:16 pm
Posts: 18659
Location: In this country town, where the laughter sounds...
The RH450 is a pretty versatile amp. The paper specs don't do it justice. it's one of those amps you have to plug your bass into, and play.

Image

_________________
"Electric Lady"
Image


Last edited by Mr. Nylon on Mon Apr 01, 2013 4:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:33 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:21 am
Posts: 27
Not 'the' perfect bass amp, but works for me. Eden CXC110/D115XLT/D210XST. 'tis all I need. Very, very pleased with this rig! Perfect bass amp would be to delete the CXC110 and add a WT800C and a D210XLT!

Image


Teer


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 5:29 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:14 pm
Posts: 3169
Location: Linningrad
Went to a jam session and had the opportunity to play through a 200 watt Kustom KXB200HR head running through an older Trace Elliot 2X15 cab. The Kustom didn't actually sound bad, but try as I might, I could never get any decent tone out of it at all. It was brittle; cold and sterile. All the things people love to hate about solidstate amps. The TE cab was its only saving grace. Yet after my set was finished I did have several musicians tell me how good I sounded. The two bass players that followed me left the tone controls as I had set them. I am spoiled by the rich; warm, thickly textured tone of my Rumble 75, and am totally sure a Rumble 150 head would have sounded killer through that TE cab and blown that Kustom away to the scrap heap to be melted down and recycled.

_________________
2012 Lefty American Standard Jazz
2017 Lefty American Professional Precision
2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 9:17 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:19 pm
Posts: 1480
Location: Vancouver, BC Canada
I agree with Dave............. amps made in the USA will Definitely outlast amps made in China, Indonesia, & Thailand but that being said Gallien Krueger makes several of their amps in China,...........apparently Bob Gallien is there monthly checking the quality control, & he has an American team in place there,...I wonder how much of a difference this makes? I'd like to know what quality control Fender has in China with regard to Their line up of guitar & Bass amps,.... I think that my Mexican Made SWR Rig (Amplite, Headlite with Goliath 2x10, Wrorkingpro 4x10 & Golight 4x10 cabinets) will out last the Chinese stuff .......... I still can't believe what Fender's done to SWR ( letting it fade away & they're now starting to do the same to Genz Benz ) I've recently seen some fairly new SWR Heads going cheap on Craigslist & I think a hardly used fairly recent SWR head would be the way to go as I've been thinking about getting a back up head.
I should also mention Amps made in Great Britian (Marshall, Orange, Ashdown ) & amps made in Canada (Traynor), Sweeden ( EBS) Italy (Mark Bass) are also good, reliable Quality.... it all depends on what you're looking for in an amp.
as Dave said there's a lot of good quality used amps out there,....... some of them barely used .......... they're worth taking a look at....... :)


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 10:18 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
James Coderre wrote:
..... Gallien Krueger makes several of their amps in China,...........apparently Bob Gallien is there monthly checking the quality control, & he has an American team in place there,...I wonder how much of a difference this makes? I'd like to know what quality control Fender has in China with regard to Their line up of guitar & Bass amps,....


If GK's quality in China is supposed to be so superior, why does GK have one of the shorter amp warranties at 2 yrs? You'd think it would be longer than say Kustom or Fender or Ampeg who back their amps for 5 yrs but it is much shorter.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 7:39 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:19 pm
Posts: 1480
Location: Vancouver, BC Canada
brotherdave wrote:
If GK's quality in China is supposed to be so superior, why does GK have one of the shorter amp warranties at 2 yrs? You'd think it would be longer than say Kustom or Fender or Ampeg who back their amps for 5 yrs but it is much shorter.


Yeah I agree Dave,...GK's shorter warranty doesn't make me feel confident about their over sea's products however I like what GK is doing with their Micro Bass amp line ( MB 200, 500 800, & MB Fusion 550, though I don't own one of these amps) GK has had a bit of issue getting the much anticipated MB Fusion 800 to market, (it's now a year past it's original release date,....GK now say's it will be out by June) but ya, the whole made in China thing makes me feel skiddish with regard to amplifiers, how ever I do have a made in China Fender Bronco 40 that I use for practicing & so far so good,...haven't had any problems.
The TC Electronic (from Denmark) line of Rebel Head amps is intriguing I like the RH450 & RH750,....looks like a lot of thought went into them, I'm not sure how long the warrant is & TC Electronic has them made in Thailand,.....TC electronic is a very reputable company, maybe Mr. Nylon could share with us a little more of his opinion with regard to TC Electronic since he's been using the RH450.... I know it's gotten rave reviews. :)

One little side note that I just remembered,......3 months ago when I was visiting the Bass department at Long & McQuade Music in Vancouver I asked the sales guy what his opinion & experience was with the GK Micro Bass amps (as someone in the store had just bought one) ....his reply was that they sound great but at the end of the day the SWR Healite & Amplite that I have will last longer,....it's just over all better made.....so who knows, maybe he's experienced customers who have had issue's with Gallien Krueger micro Bass heads.. :(


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: The Competition
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 1:44 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:16 pm
Posts: 18659
Location: In this country town, where the laughter sounds...
Hi James C.;
I'm very pleased with the TC Electronic RH450 head. I really don't know what else I can embellish on the RH450. The quality is excellent, the tone settings are everything TC E claims the amp can move. I was going to go for the Ampeg SVT tube monster, until I tried the Tube Tone on the RH450. The big tube heads look impressive, but the RH450 has more going for it in options.

You shouldn't be surprised about Fender's SWR raiding. Use what they want from SWR designs, apply them to Fender brand amps, and SWR sinks into the sunset. They did it to one of the most famous names in the history of amps,.... SUNN.

_________________
"Electric Lady"
Image


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 58 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: