Superbass 100

[Lambent Animal]

Hi, I'm kinda new to bass guitar and I'm looking for my first non-practice bass amp.

I know Lemmy from Motörhead uses a Marshall Superbass, but I'm wondering how well they work for those of us that aren't playing to crowds of quite that magnitude. Are they too loud? Not loud enough?

What do you guys think?

P.S. I'm not really concerned about clean headroom or really hifi sound, as I'll mostly be using it for dirty rock 'n' roll or heavy, sludgy metal.

[Ed G.]

The Super Bass was one or two component values from the Super Lead.
I've never heard of a 100w Marshall not being loud enough. Nobody ever says that.

[ettsn]

Honestly, it's not really enough for a bass rig. 100w is paint-peeling, omigawd loud on guitar, but it really isn't for bass. I'm serious. The Superbass works with the eight 12" speakers (or in Lemmy's case 412 and 415), but it isn't super loud with much less.

Really cool rig, however. :)

[Lambent Animal]

That's what I was worried about :(. I keep hearing that I need much higher wattage than I would if I was playing guitar. But I can compensate for lower wattage with more speakers?

[ettsn]

Yes. For a 3dB increase in loudness, you can either double your power or double your speaker area. The increase in overall loudness achieved is logarithmic, so doubling either or both will scale your overall SPL accordingly.

Think of it this way: assuming everything else equal, a 200w 2x10 setup is capable of producing the same general loudness as a 100w 4x10 setup. Make sense?

[walterw]

...But I can compensate for lower wattage with more speakers?
you're looking through the wrong end of the telescope.

power is way cheaper and more plentiful than in days past, so you'll have more luck (and save your back) pushing fewer speakers with more wattage.

these days, you can get a bass amp that's ten times more powerful than a 100w marshall, weighs ten times less, and costs less to boot. the class D revolution has changed everything.

for "dirty" or old school tones, flavor it with things like tube preamps or fuzz pedals.

hell, i just use a sansamp bass driver pedal into a PA power amp, and it kills for grindy rock tones.

[picassographic]

I think Duff while he was in Velvet Revolver used a Super Lead for one of their albums along with some GK amps. I dont think it can compete with some 600+ watts amps but they are great to provide natural gritt and overdrive from what I know. :)

[ettsn]

Oh, absolutely. I used a Marshall 2061 Lead and Bass 20 (20w) head, plugged into an Ampeg 115 cabinet on a recording once, and it killed! Not very loud, but I could get sensitive grit from digging in just a little more and smooth warmth if I backed off a touch. Killer amp! Just not loud enough to gig with a live drummer, ever.

[Lambent Animal]

Thanks for all of the helpful responses! Most of the appeal of the Superbass was knowing that Lemmy used one and I could build the Ceriatone kit relatively inexpensively. But if it can't produce an appropriate level of volume for a loud band without a fairly absurd number of speakers, I guess I'll scratch that idea.

On that note, does anyone have any particular recommendations for a loud, grindy bass amp? How about the Orange Bass Terror?

[Alvis]

This from a review of a gig we did in London last summer using my homemade Superbass or Major ,we haven't figured it out yet...power-wise

Anyway, a good-sized and enthusiastic audience enjoyed a night of varied and high-quality music. Those who like their music dished up at very loud volume indeed will also have been satisfied, especially as the bass was at the kind of level that can cause your vital organs to relocate themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kat4QocV08



I kinda built this rig on the cheap for my European backline. Stuff is so expensive over there . The head was an early 70's German hybrid head with a ss preamp and 4x el34.
I made a bassman preamp with a 12ay7 in V1. I stuck 4x6550 in the power section. The cabinets are 2 1980s JCM 800 bass cabs that I got off Swiss ebay . 100 bucks for one 450 bucks for the other. As a bass player I've always been a fan of the Andy Fraser sound and wondered over the years ,where did it go !!??
I was really lucky to find a bass player in Europe who is into the same kind of bass playin I like
If you want that sound ,there's nothin like using a Marshall style rig. And yeah, it's a lotta exercise!!!

[Lambent Animal]

Cool stuff about homemade Superbass

...Or maybe I'm dismissing the idea too quickly. That sounded really good!

What speakers are in your cabs, if you don't mind me asking? Would really high efficiency speakers help me get more volume out of a rig like that?

[Alvis]

Those are the stock speakers. G 12 65's with 444 bass cones
While bass amplification has come a LONG way, there's still somethin to be said for that Marshall sound . (Although I always thought Jack Bruce's 60s tone needed some help )

Dig this !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDHNZuAnBoU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiN2kjP7U9g&feature=related

[hardus]

I dare anyone saying a 100 Watts Superbass is not loud enough to put their ears where their mouth is.
In front of my 100 Watts Superbass rig that is.

[ettsn]

You play it with a full stack like Lemmy does? If so, I would heartily agree. Plugged into a 210 cabinet, no freaking way.

http://www.ballewsmusic.net/images/marshall/Lemmy_pose_stack.jpg

[hardus]

I play it through the 4x12 400W '1984' cabinet.

[americananalog]

A 2x15 cab with EV woofers would dominate.