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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink BASS amps

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Mitch with The Surge! uses a Bassman 400 that I built a special cabinet for the chassis to make it look somewhat like the blonde amps we normally haul around. I also built him up two special "Katcher Kabs" which contain one JBL M-151-4 speaker each. That bad boy will stand up to anyone's bass rig.

When he's not too serious, he generally plays out of one of my "Katcherized" Dual Showman (reverb) heads on a dual cab with one EV-15L (yep that's right) and one EV-15B. That rig is no slouch either.

It also helps that he can play his butt off too.

ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

I really dig the aforementioned GK-800RB. I play through one in a hard rock outfit and it suits me just fine and has just enough versatility for almost any style I feel.

For upright bass I love my GK-1001RB. Endless headroom and full clarity. Though for bass guitar its way too clean and practically sounds like you're plugged directly into a mixing board.

I used to run upright through an Ampeg SVT-3 Pro head with an 8x10 Ampeg fridge and it was awful. For bass guitar it handled itself pretty well, but the fridge was so unnecessary and I needed an amp for upright more than bass guitar.

for electric upright bass (EUB), I've been using the Sans Amp Para and the Crate Powerblock. it sounds awesome and doesn't overpower.

image

Last edited: Jun 28, 2011 12:04:20

+1 for a Sans amp.

The electric upright is more for the tiki/lounge/jazz/ acoustic/low-volume sort of vibe of course...not so much the surf bass machine.

WoodyJ wrote:

...or for REALLY, REALLY BIG surf bass, this...(300
watts)
image

WOW! A Fender Rumble? That's pretty rare! Is it yours? How does it sound?

Every word is like an unecessary stain on silence and nothingness.

Last edited: Jul 09, 2011 19:09:03

spy wrote:

WoodyJ wrote:

...or for REALLY, REALLY BIG surf bass, this...(300
watts)

image

WOW! A Fender Rumble? That's pretty rare! Is it yours?
How does it sound?

Yep, I bought the head new back in 1998. The cabinet is actually a '70's Peavey 215D that my 'ol pal Eddie Katcher recovered in Fender Tolex. Add oxblood grillecloth, some Fender hardware, lay it on it's side and, voila!, the slightly oversize Dual Showman bass cab from hell.

The speakers are 400 watt Electro-Voice 15BX's. No other bass speaker I've tried is on the same planet with these E-V's.

How does it sound? If Zeus was a bass player, this would be his amp. It isn't just loud...lots of modern bass amps are plenty loud. But the TONE is to die for. It is an amazing amp.

I've never seen another one in person, either. I guess Fender didn't make very many of them.

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money
(1978-1990)

Last edited: Jan 15, 2012 08:28:09

Ha, poor Peavey cab! Yup, I can imagine Zeus playing bass into this monster.

Can you post some more photos? It would be interesting. I have never seen one from close and I don't think that you can find any good photos with google search. Do you believe it's a 300W Bassman or it's completely a different circuit? With what does it sound but louder?

Every word is like an unecessary stain on silence and nothingness.

I need to go back and do some research but I believe this is pretty accurate: Back in the 90's when Fender was starting their Custom Amp Shop, they hired Bill Hughes to design a pro-level bass rig. Bill was one of the designers of the Ampeg SVT and the CS Rumble circuit is very similar to the SVT aside from the second channel (which can be mixed with the first) and an effects loop. So it is more "SVT" than "Bassman". I also believe that the Sunn 300 bass amp that Fender released in the early 2000's was essentially the same as the CS Rumble but in a different box. Fender has since killed the Sunn brand (like so many others they acquired)...sad, since Sunn built some awesome amps back in the day.

Interestingly, this Fall, Fender is introducing a new all-tube Super Bassman amp line, in 300 and 100 watt versions. I've seen pics of the 300 watter (I can post later if you are interested) that uses the same head cabinet size as the old CS Rumble. It has blackface cosmetics. However the innards and controls are different. Evidently there were some thermal issues with the CS Rumble although I've never experienced any problems with mine.

I don't have any close-ups of the Rumble head but I'll shoot a couple if there is any interest.

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money
(1978-1990)

Last edited: Jul 10, 2011 09:57:13

Here's the new 300 watt all-tube Super Bassman that Fender will be releasing in a few months.

image

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money
(1978-1990)

Woody's Peavey cabinet is basically a Sunn 200S knock off. Great bass cabinets. Both PV and Sunn realized the advantage to having a cabinet with greater volume and tuned porting. The standard Dual Showman cab works hard to produce the low E string fundamental. The ported Peavey and Sunn cabinets will reproduce it with ease. Think..........woof.

ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

Yes, any close ups would be great! I'm trying to find a schematic but I think it's so rare that even a schem is impossible to find.

It looks like a Sunn without the EQ. I don't know about the other controls if they're the same.

Every word is like an unecessary stain on silence and nothingness.

Last edited: Jul 11, 2011 05:34:57

spy,

Here's the front panel. Nothing really out of the ordinary on the rear - EFX on/off for each channel, EFX send/return, XLR line out, etc.

Sorry about the pic quality. No flash, no tripod.

image
image

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money
(1978-1990)

From above showing how deep (15"+) this thing is.

image

And here's a pdf file of the owner's manual:

http://support.fender.com/manuals/bass_amplifiers/Rumble-Bass_manual.pdf

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money
(1978-1990)

Great pics Jack! Thanks!

Wow! Blonde, brownface, amber jewel, I like this beast! Too simple with just two channels that you can combine them. I believe the preamp sections are based on one of Fender's preamps. AB763, Bassman, who knows?

Sunn 300T looks like a different animal but Super Bassman looks very similar with some extra features that I don't find appealing.

Every word is like an unecessary stain on silence and nothingness.

that super bassman is kickass!

formerly SvD, bots.... member since 2006. Same game different name!

WoodyJ wrote:

Here's the new 300 watt all-tube Super Bassman that
Fender will be releasing in a few months.

image

Drool,
want,
need,
cry,

Jeff(bigtikidude)

bigtikidude wrote:

Drool,
want,
need,
cry,

My thoughts exactly. No sooner do I finish paying off the lay-away on my Squier Vintage Modified J-Bass (many thanks to all who provided guidance about good affordable basses) than this turns up. Fortunately(?) it would take me a ten-year lay-away to buy this so I'm off the hook.

Just for fun though, the guy who owns the guitar store won't let me buy the 30 watt Peavey Minx 110 bass amp until he sees what he can come up with for me at the Nashville NAMM show. He knows I want a vintage bass sound. This could be interesting. Any ideas what else is coming out?

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Jul 12, 2011 17:19:59

They're here!

http://www.fender.com/products/bassmanpro/

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Jan 14, 2012 19:19:05

The Ampeg B-15 (from 64 & 66) is the most recorded bass amp of all time! I used to listen to them regularly when I worked @ a high end studio in NYC! Best bass sound I've heard hands down with just the right amount of gain. I always thought that every club & studio should own one. Can't speak for the reissues but I think they have just the head reissued as well. And it's Tube goodness! Warning: Weighs a ton.... Trust me...I know Cry

The Ampeg B-15 does NOT weigh a ton--they're quite light and portable. A B-15 is also only 25 watts, so most guitar amps nowadays will eat the poor thing for breakfast. Maybe you're mistaking them for their later, heavier (and much louder) cousins, the SVT and V4?

My bass guy in Killer Filler has a whole line of vintage Ampegs he takes out to our shows: A 70's SVT, a V4-B, and a 70's B-15N. The V4-B is the best compromise between a good thumpin' bass sound and not having to drag several thousand pounds of amp in and out of the club each time, although all of them sound great. He also uses my '64 B-15 for radio gigs, small parties and studio work..(and you know that sounds good! Big Grin )

My Bass player in Phatlynx has one of the great forgotten Fenders--The Fender Studio Bass amp. One fifteen, two hundred watts. Sort of a bass version of the Super Twin, except this beast sounds GOOD. Recommend this rascal highly if you can find one.

--Crispy

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