I've got $1000. I need an amp.

[jamiefbolton]

The church needs a bass amp. Budget is $1000 or less. Buying used to great. So i'm looking at a Markbass Little Mark II and an cab. Probably Ampeg HLF or the HE cab. I can get that for less than $450 shipping included. And about the same for a LMII head.

Is this a good route? Is there a better direction for tone and budget?

thanks
jamie

[iualum]

...for tone, absolutely, a quality tube head, like a Sunn 300T...PM sent...

[BluesyCat]

The church needs a bass amp. Budget is $1000 or less. Buying used to great. So i'm looking at a Markbass Little Mark II and an cab. Probably Ampeg HLF or the HE cab. I can get that for less than $450 shipping included. And about the same for a LMII head.

Is this a good route? Is there a better direction for tone and budget?

thanks
jamie


All kinds of pre-owned goodies for you on: www.talkbass.com (http://www.talkbass.com)

Are you a memeber, if not, you should be! Great place, great people, safe selling, trading, etc.

[Zim]

Where are you located?

[claudel]

In the last couple of months I've gotten a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 for $525 (including soft case ) and a Genz Benz NeoX112 cabinet for $400.

Great little setup.

The deals are out there.

[Timmylikesthing]

I recommend the HLF over the HE.

The HLF sounds great, like a bass amp should. The HE sounds cheap, not enough low end.

[derekd]

I agree about the talkbass recommendation. The Markbass stuff is great for the $. Can't go wrong there.

[PinoyBoy]

I say get a Markbass combo and use the line out to the church's PA.

[rsm]

Trace Elliot, these were on sale recently, still a good price new. Other dealers have these for much more: http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TRC-715

TraceElliot (http://www.trace-elliot.co.uk/)

musicgoround has a few used, as does ebay.

Not affiliated with TraceElliot or AMS, but I'm a long time TraceElliot user and proponent.

[TedintheShed]

The New Acoustic 600 watt 8x10 stacks are going for $1000 new retail. too, from what I read. I haven't heard any yet though.

[thesedaze]

Any way you can just run a nice Tube Pre into the church's PA, and use floor monitors? If so, I'd highly recommend the Demeter VTBP-201S (http://demeteramps.com/products/bassamplification/vtbp201s.html). You can get it for $800 new (http://cgi.ebay.com/Demeter-VTBP-201S-Tube-Bass-Preamp-BRAND-NEW-Warranty_W0QQitemZ120446696501QQcmdZViewItemQQptZL H_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0b2ebc35&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116).

Great sounding unit, used by Alphonso Johnson and a hand full of others.

[PremiumPlus]

I second the vote for the new Acoustic B600H head and I'm running two of the Acoustic 4x10 cabs. I got both cabs and the head, new in box, for under $900 at GC. They were blowing the 600 watt heads out for under $300 back in July, and the manager met the price for me. I'm really, really loving the tone that rig gives up! It sounds great and it has a lot of versatility.

[TedintheShed]

Any way you can just run a nice Tube Pre into the church's PA, and use floor monitors? If so, I'd highly recommend the Demeter VTBP-201S (http://demeteramps.com/products/bassamplification/vtbp201s.html). You can get it for http://rover.ebay.com/ar/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?mpt=%5BCacheBuster%5D&adtype=1&size=1x1&type=4&campid=5335828753&toolid=10001&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2FDemeter-VTBP-201S-Tube-Bass-Preamp-BRAND-NEW-Warranty_W0QQitemZ120446696501QQcmdZViewItemQQptZL H_DefaultDomain_0%3Fhash%3Ditem1c0b2ebc35%26_trksi d%3Dp3286.m20.l1116$800 new (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&campid=5335828753&toolid=10001&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2FDemeter-VTBP-201S-Tube-Bass-Preamp-BRAND-NEW-Warranty_W0QQitemZ120446696501QQcmdZViewItemQQptZL H_DefaultDomain_0%3Fhash%3Ditem1c0b2ebc35%26_trksi d%3Dp3286.m20.l1116).

Great sounding unit, used by Alphonso Johnson and a hand full of others.

Get them used for $450.00 to $550 as well. These are great for a fixed application. They have Jensen output transformers that sound nice.

I use the HBP-1 preamp in my rig.

[TimmyP]

Get the smallest thing that will get the job done. I've had even "little 2x10" amps overload rooms with ease at certain frequencies. Once you have too much, the only way to get a good mix is to crank everything else up to match what's too hot. The only exceptional bass sounds I've heard were from guys who had a 1x12 or no amp at all - the bass on stage was via IEMs or the wedges, on-stage bottom being provided by spill from the PA subs.

[rsm]

Any way you can just run a nice Tube Pre into the church's PA, and use floor monitors? If so, I'd highly recommend the Demeter VTBP-201S (http://demeteramps.com/products/bassamplification/vtbp201s.html). You can get it for $800 new (http://cgi.ebay.com/Demeter-VTBP-201S-Tube-Bass-Preamp-BRAND-NEW-Warranty_W0QQitemZ120446696501QQcmdZViewItemQQptZL H_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0b2ebc35&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116).

Great sounding unit, used by Alphonso Johnson and a hand full of others.

If you are going to go direct into the PA, you may want to look at a Tech 21 Bass Driver DI. I have the Programmable version (3 presets) that I use to go direct and I also use it with my Bose L1 Model II system. Sounds great for what I need and the price. I think these are around $200 new? This way my Trace Elliot MP11 preamp gets to stay safe at home. :)

[Brim]

The church needs a bass amp. Budget is $1000 or less. Buying used to great. So i'm looking at a Markbass Little Mark II and an cab. Probably Ampeg HLF or the HE cab. I can get that for less than $450 shipping included. And about the same for a LMII head.

Is this a good route? Is there a better direction for tone and budget?

thanks
jamie

How big is the room your playing? With proper PA support, you might not need anything bigger than a 2x10 or 1x12. I used to lug around a 4x10 before I saw the "light" of smaller compact cabs. Seriously check out the GenzBenz stuff. I bought my Eden rig a few years before GB released their new Shuttle line but it looks like it could give my Eden rig a serious run for its money (size & power for $$$).

If you're going direct only, consider a nice tube DI for the same cost you'd spend on a nice amp (http://www.adesignsaudio.com/reddi.htmlA-Designs REDDI (http://www.adesignsaudio.com/reddi.html) or GT Ditto Box (http://www.groovetubes.com/The_Ditto_Box_P1605.cfm)).

Here's my current rig (Eden wt550 & d210xst 4-ohm cab):

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/Brim79/DSC02989.jpg

PS...I replaced an Ampeg rig with the Eden. Night and day difference.

[jamiefbolton]

thanks guys for the responses and information.

the room isn't too big and its an acoustically treated gymnasium. it seats about 400 at capacity. when the room is full of people things sound okay. i can't afford much more stage volume though. but here are a few other questions and ideas.

first off, the bass players are good players for what we do. they aren't great and don't know much about tone and gear. they just know how to play the music, and the do a good job at that. so i don't really trust them to shape the tone before it gets to me. i'd rather have as much control over that as possible. not to mention that the other sound guys who mix when i'm on the guitar have no clue about anything so i don't want them touching things either.

i like the idea of a preamp. maybe back at the FOH?? i think the deal is, the bass players just want to sound better to themselves. it would give them more confidence. and the guy buying the rig wants something no one would be ashamed to play.

so you think the Markbass combo would be good? the Little Mark II is in combo form right?

[theroan]

Mesa Walkabout!!