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Post subject: Good 50-100 watt bass amp
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:19 pm
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Im looking for a good 50-100 watt bass amp in the $100-200 for my college dorm. I have an Nemesis N28S but the tone is terrible so I'm looking to trade up for something better. Right now I have a Rumble 15 which sounds good and fills the room up, but I want something a little bit louder and with better tone. I'm looking on both the used and new market. For used Peavey amps seem to be the best bang for the buck and new I like the gallien krueger backline 110. Give me some ideas of your favorite practice amp!


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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:39 am
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Got a few ideas. Since you like the Rumble 15, the Fender Rumble 60 comes to mind. I like the tone of them too, but the red flashing lights are annoying. I tried the Rumble 2x10 100 watter and that thing is a really good amp. It is also big and too heavy for a rehearsal amp for me.

The older USA Peavey Basic 60 later called the Basic 112 is power-wise a marginal band rehearsal amp. It can keep up with a drum kit but barely. It has one or two old school tones but doesn't sound modern by any means. The keyboard version of this same amp is the KB60 and it adds a tweeter horn making it more versatile with more modern tones possible. Both are relatively heavy and bulky. They are no longer made but used ones usually work just as good as new. I would stick to the USA Peavey stuff and avoid the imported ones. Once you get into the TNT series it is really too heavy for me to move around. I don't want to drag anything heavier than the Basic 60/Basic 112 around by myself.

My favorite little practice amp now is the Line 6 Studio 110. I wanted to replace the Peavey Basic 112 with a lighter and more powerful amp so I went to get a MarkBass Mini CMD 121P but came home instead with the smallest Line 6. It has enough volume to keep up with a drummer and a wide variety of tones. Used on eBay is a good place to look for one. New they are about $300 now. That is about one-third of what the MarkBass costs. Frankly if I'm going to pay MarkBass money I would want something I could gig with and I have a gig rig so I really didn't need that much power for a rehearsal rig. With one ten-inch speaker the Line 6 Studio 110 doesn't move a lot of air, and I don't know how well they handle the B string on a 5 string bass since I only play 4 stringers, but I've found mine more than adequate for rehearsals and made small gigs. It has an XLR direct out for recording or PA with cab simulation.

The little 25 pound 12 inch cube Line 6 has 75 watts, one 10 inch speaker, headphone jack, CD/MP3 input, active passive switch, really smooth adjustable compressor, XLR out, Preamp Out and 5 pre-programmed tones. My favorite one is the BRIT tone which actually is hidden and you have to read the manual to turn it on....but it is worth it to try the BRIT tone out.

When I got it I thought I'd be using the R&B preset most of the time but actually I prefer the Brit setting and the ROCK setting to the R&B. The sales description describes the presets as they relate to what they are supposed to emulate. R&B = Ampeg B15. Clean = Eden Traveler. Rock = Ampeg SVT into an 8x10. Grind = a mix of clean bass and an overdriven Tech 21. SYNTH is a waste of space for me as it simulates a synth bass sound and totally useless for my purposes. The hidden BRIT tone = Marshall SUPERBASS.

Let me emphasize that the Studio 110 does NOT sound like a B-15, a Superbass or an SVT into an 8x10...that is just sales BS. But all the settings do sound different from one another. I have never gigged with it, but suppose with a direct out to the PA it would work ok in a pinch so long as it also got fed into the monitors. Sometimes at gigs the monitors are so loud I can barely hear my 450 watt gig rig and I'm positive I'd never hear this little thing if using only it for a monitor. BUT for home practice or casual rehearsals with the band it is fine in the rehearsal space. I've used it for rehearsals for nearly 2 years. I used it for home practice and demo recording as a direct box daily for about a year until switching back to my pedal board array to drive the mixer at home. The real beauty of the Line 6 Studio 110 is the volume related to size and weight. It may be the winner here in it's price range. If you can find one used I'd give it a try. 75 watts into one 10 inch speaker isn't going to make your pants flap in the breeze, but you can hear it over a drummer. Also it has no horn so it does the old school stuff better than the modern tones when in stand alone mode. The compressor in it is really smooth and still allows some dynamics, unlike other compressors that tend to squash everything. The other Line 6 bass amps are too heavy for me to want to move them by myself. I'm old and lazy.


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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:25 am
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+1 on the Line6

I like the Fender Rumble's tone when it comes to slapping

i also tried a Peavey 112 a month ago with an SX bass.. sounds ok i guess


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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:10 am
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Those are all good ideas, but I think the rumble 60 would be a bit too large for the size of the room. I'm really digging the Gallien Krueger backline 110, but it depends on how much I can sell my nemesis for. Otherwise i found a Peavey Minx used on guitarcenter.com for $50. Its a 40 watt made in USA 110 and has everything I need and nothing I dont. Anyone have any experience with this amp?


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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:14 pm
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Conaanthebarbarian wrote:
Those are all good ideas, but I think the rumble 60 would be a bit too large for the size of the room. I'm really digging the Gallien Krueger backline 110, but it depends on how much I can sell my nemesis for. Otherwise i found a Peavey Minx used on guitarcenter.com for $50. Its a 40 watt made in USA 110 and has everything I need and nothing I dont. Anyone have any experience with this amp?


I bought a brand new late run (final cosmetics with the metal mesh grill) Minx a few years back. I promptly traded it in after one rehearsal for a new Peavey Basic 112 which I liked much better except for the weight.

A Minx is only 30 or 35 watts I think. It would not keep up with our drummer at rehearsal. The power ratings on them changed a bit over the years. I thought they were all 30 watts but some of the later ones were 35 watts. Didn't know they ever did 40's. I've also heard of people changing the 8 ohm speaker to a 4 ohm speaker which is said to make them louder by effectively making them perform like a 50 or 60 watt amp.

My biggest beef with the Minx was the tone controls didn't seem to make much difference at all no matter how I set them. On the other hand, the tone controls on the Peavey 112 (which looks like the same amp only bigger) actually were very effective. I checked on why and found out that the Basic 112 had an active tone circuit while the Minx tone circuit was passive.

A Minx would be ok in an all acoustic band such as amplifying an acoustic bass in a bluegrass band or maybe a jazz trio, but as soon as you add a rock drummer the bass is inaudible. The Line 6 is a much better sounding amp that is at least twice as loud and has a very effective tone control circuit and is far more versatile with more usable features.

In the Peavey's favor is the fact they would probably survive a roll down two fights of stairs or possibly a nearby thermonuclear detonation and still work. The Peavey USA made combos are probably among the most reliable combos out there. I routinely see Peavey amps from the 70's and 80's that work just fine.


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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:21 pm
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I think a minx would be fine for filling the 12'x12' room. I don't expect to play with a drummer any time soon while at school seeing as I don't have a car, and it isn't worth it to carry it across campus (learned that the hard way!) I have my ampeg ba115hpt at home for when I do play with a drummer though. I do like the Line 6 110 if I could find a used one at a good price though. A musicgoround near my home town has a Peavey Basic 112, so I'll probably go check that out when I go home next week. I just can't wait to get rid of this lifeless nemesis!


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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:29 pm
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I think you'll find the Basic 112 or Basic 60 a bit much to carry a long distance. Unfortunately you are sort of limited in your price range.

If you are up for an eBay adventure, check item 270497936846.

Guitar Center has two used Line 6 Studio 110's listed:

1. $145 at Guitar Center Des Moines (Four star condition/excellent)
West Des Moines, Iowa 50266
515-267-9501

2. $179.99 Guitar Center Springfield (Five star condition/mint like new)
Springfield, New Jersey 07081
973-921-0677

Maybe you could get them to ship a used one to you. Get an old army surplus backpack and cover lots of ground. The amp is 12x12x12 and weighs about 25 lbs.


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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 3:45 am
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The TECH 21 LANDMARK 60 is another amp I'd also consider in your power class that is also compact and lightweight. Great little amp with a 12 inch speaker and a killer direct out. If you can find one used that you can afford I'd jump on it.


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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:09 pm
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I use a Rumble 60 and like it a lot, I had a Galien Kruger Backline 210 and hated it, I was glad to be rid of it.

Being that you're in a dorm, you may want to consider a Digitech processor. It has a headphone out and makes a bunch of tone and they're reasonable, just a thought.

I have a small Crate amp, for a tiny room it's good for practice. Keep an eye on Craigslist.

Good luck.


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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:39 pm
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Oxfan I'm a step ahead of you! I have the digitech bp200. Its a great pedal, I love the mesa 400+ setting. I have been watching craigslist though.


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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:10 pm
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oxfan wrote:
I had a Galien Kruger Backline 210 and hated it, I was glad to be rid of it.
Good luck.


Agreed. I've played through a ton of backlines (for some reason all the bassists in my town have them). Even with the mids maxed it still sounds mid scooped. It also makes every bass sound like an active bass.


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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:18 pm
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OxFan makes a good point about the headphones. Whatever rig you wind up with should have a headphone jack, but I'd also suggest getting one with an auxilary input for MP3/Ipod/CD player. You probably won't improve your popularity in the dorm practicing through the speaker of any amp at audible volume.

Practicing through your computer might also be a good solution for dorm practice. About any bass DI pedal will plug right into your computer's auxilary input and use good sealed-ear style phones on the computer. You might want to get get one of those dongle style USB soundcard upgrades because the onboard sound cards on most notebooks/laptops and even desktops are minimal at best and you might get into a latency problem. I use an internal Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card (now discontinued) on my home desktop. Now there are USB soundcard devices by lots of makers that are probably a simpler solution. The Behringer ones are reasonable and effective plus were designed for musicians. The audio chain would be to connect the bass to a DI pedal, connect the DI pedal to the soundcard auxilary input, connect the soundcard to your computer and then listen on headphones from the computer's headphone out. Pretty simple, very compact and saves wear and tear on your amp. You can also record on your computer using this setup too.


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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:53 pm
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Conaanthebarbarian wrote:
Oxfan I'm a step ahead of you! I have the digitech bp200. Its a great pedal, I love the mesa 400+ setting. I have been watching craigslist though.


Whatever works. One thing to remember, most people won't appreciate your talents, so get something with the capability of headphones, then there won't be any problems with your fellow students.

One lesson I learned, be patient, if you have unlimited cash, then buy whatever thrills you, if not get what you need to get by until you really know what you want and need.

I didn't lose big on the Backline 210 but it was a very unpleasant experience.


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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:46 pm
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oxfan wrote:
I didn't lose big on the Backline 210 but it was a very unpleasant experience.


Twice a week I play with a local college jazz combo, and the bass amp they use is a Backline 120. Every time I play on it I feel like I'm fighting the amp. Every time I'm constantly tweaking with it. Either the mids are non-existent and there is no note clarity, or the mids are extremely harsh and barky: there doesn't seem to be an in-between.

Anyway, enough GK griping.


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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 8:53 am
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Thanks for the information


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