Best Home Studio Bass Amp

[gi doc]

I'm more a guitar and keyboard player by heart, but I'm gradually setting up a nice home studio that will include a bass guitar setup. I already have a large amount of boutique guitar gear as well as keyboards, drums, etc. I have a few vintage Fender basses as well as a nice Carvin bass. I'm looking for a very good...very versatile...bass amp mainly for home studio work, but also must be powerful enough to handle small venues over a drum kit. Price is not really an issue. I know very little about bass amps and need some help. Thanks,

[PB+J]

Most of the time when I've been recorded playing bass I go direct

The classic bass amp for recording is the ampeg B-15. Great, great tone, but very old school. SWR was the main choice in the 80s--they have kind of a cold, crispy sound to me but they're great if you like that mid scoop, clean tone.

I'd get an Epifani combo--one of the UL series
http://www.epifani.com/products/combos

I have an epifani ul 110 cab and it's the greatest cab I've ever played through--a tone that manages to be hi-fi without sounding cold or sterile. Epifani heads are great too. They aren't cheap, but you'll get a great sound. If you want a more old school tone, get the 1x15; for more modern sounds get the 2x10 or the compromise, the 1x12

You could also look at Euphonic Audio--they make very highly regarded stuff. I find them kind of over-complicated

[brad347]

+1 Ampeg B15 Portaflex.

[Denyle_Guitars]

The B15 is a studio staple but in this case, I'd look elsewhere. It's not versatile and can't be used effectively in a live band situation, even a 30 watt guitar amp will drown out a B15. I'd look at small tube/ss hybrid combos from any decent company, ie, Eden , Epifani, Euphonic and so on.

[tedzepplin]

For recording I love my Fender Musicmaster bass amp. But at 12 watts - two 6v6 tubes, It won't be loud enough for a drummer louder than a hotel lobby jazz/blues band.

[thunderbroom]

If money is no object then i don't see why you cant have two or even three amps. The ampeg b15n is a tone monster but not quite loud enough to keep up with anything guitar wise over 15 watts in live situation.

The original swr baby blue with 2x8"s is a great clean clear recording amp with out the swr sizle or scoop.

For live pickup a bergantino ip series cab and a millennia td1 or their all in one recording channel rack. those you could use in the studio as well.

If it was me i'd already have 3 b15's. then i'd also have my divided by 13 TBL200 for live. so i'd only need a modern seinfield intro amp so i'd get a bergantino ip112 and pair it with a passive berg 112

[mainsale]

another vote for the fabled vintage Ampeg B-15-N. They are loud enough for recording. Heck, back in the 60's lots and lots of bands used them in live club gigs and they did just fine. Get an extension cabinet if you need more volume, like the current Ampeg B-15R/15E.

[agreatheight]

I suggest direct recording for bass 9 1/2 times out of 10. Lot's of good high end DIs out there, I use the Avalon U5 - highly recommended. I get lots of compliments with the bass sounds I track (and I am primarily a bass player). I am happy to mic and amp when needed, but unless a player is very attached to their amp sound (rather than their bass sound) it's usually not necessary, and it adds a lot of work on both the front end (set up for tracking) and on the back end (mixing). Amp sound versus bass sound? Think of it this way - if you want to hear a jazz bass, direct will get you there. If you want to hear a pushed tubes adding grind, a mic is a necessity.

Now, as for recording amps for bass, as mentioned the Ampeg B15 (great classic style tones) and the SWR Redhead (awesome clean 80s/modern tones) are good choices, but neither are great choices for live use (both are somewhat low powered). If I had to choose between the two I'd get the SWR for recording; it's probably better for live too. But for recording, I'd also love to get a monster tube head (Ampeg SVT, maybe an Orange or Aguilar) and an 8x10 to get nice overdrive tones. But I digress.

Even with money being no option, I'd still suggest getting a nice DI and also get an amp for live.

Best of luck!

[John Phillips]

Look for an older Trace Elliot (MkV or Series 6 are the best IMO), you don't need a lot of power so even an AH150 (or the equivalent 1x15" combo) will do. They're not very rare, or expensive, but they have an extremely powerful graphic EQ which makes them very versatile (look for one with the 11-band version rather than the 7), and up to Series 6 they had a really nice transformer-balanced DI output which works very well in the studio. They're loud enough and reliable for gigging too, although there is a small known fault with the connector on the back of the preamp - but easily fixed (even at a gig!). I've been using various examples since the mid 90s, and I'll probably always keep one around somewhere if only as a spare or for places I don't really want to take my 155lb, 400W all-tube V8 stack.

They also make a perfectly good small-PA power amp, too .

[Denyle_Guitars]

I had an AH200/SM7 years ago. It certainly had a "sound" and I never really bonded with it. I remember the DI being rather flat and noisy but like I said, it was years ago and I had some pretty crappy recording gear back then.

The SWR Baby Blue suggestion is a great one. I'd go so far as to say it's the best bass amp (of it's size) ever made.

If you can gig with a B-15, more power to you. I tried it once and was immediately frustrated. I bought my SWR redhead 2x10 for that very reason. I've tried using the DI on the SWR and found it uninspiring. I'd just assume plug my bass into an API preamp instead.

FWIW, my secret weapon for bass is an EMG "The Box." A little black box filled with all of EMG's various preamps, presumably meant to be a dealer sample device. I don't why I even mention it since you'd be hard pressed to find one.

If you simply must have a B-15 (and you should), you can try a more efficient speaker like an Emi Delta or Kappa Pro. If that doesn't cut it live, you can use the cabinet with a more powerful head. Mount it to a piece of 3/4" plywood cut to fit the flip-top hole.

[jokerjkny]

i like the B-15 idea, but i'm also partial to george alessandro's take w/ his basset hound. has that B-15 fatness, with a hifi edge.

another idea is the sadowsky SA200. gorgeous heady mix of thick meatie tube fatness w/ again that hifi edge. its gain knob also allows some killer overdriven bass tones.

http://www.alessandro-products.com/amp-basset.html
http://www.sadowsky.com/audio/SA200.html

[Thor]

Well, if price is really not an issue, a few more hours in the endo suite could get you: http://www.glockenklang.de/en/produc...ducts_bass.htm

http://www.demeteramps.com/

http://www.aguilaramp.com/

Happy hunting, and please make sure to post some pics of the "studio tour" when you are done.

Cheers,

Edward

[gi doc]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I guess I've got a little homework to do now. Keep the ideas coming!

[Jim S]

Originally Posted by jokerjkny

another idea is the sadowsky SA200. gorgeous heady mix of thick meatie tube fatness w/ again that hifi edge. its gain knob also allows some killer overdriven bass tones.

http://www.sadowsky.com/audio/SA200.html

+ 1

or simply a decent DI.

My Kern IP 777 pre has a Jensen transformer for the DI and the recorded tone is to die for.

[Ishouldbeking]

I know they're kind of cheesy, but a ton of people are using line 6 bass pods for recording these days. They definitely work better for recording than live use...