Bass Amp: 1, 2 or 4 Speakers?

[Baldrick]

Hi

I'm looking to buy a decent bass amp but finding the vast choice rather difficult. I'm after a good sound for my aging Gibson EB0 which has a VERY beautiful bassy sound (not to everyone's taste I suspect) and ideally would like a few electronic features to vary the sound range.

I'm tempted by something like the 150 Watt Marshall MB150 but have wondered about their similar priced 2 speaker MB4210 which has 3 times the wattage. Then there's the 4 speaker MB4410 which also has 450 watts but weighs a great deal more (51 Kgs). Something tells me more speakers might prove better, but how much better for a small time band playing in nothing bigger than a reasonable sized town hall.

The question I ask myself "do I really need 450 watts?" Is it really 3 times louder than the MB150? Why is it around the same price as the MB4210 (in the UK)? In fact the MB4410 is only another 50 UK pounds more.

Behringer seem to have similar 2 and 4 speaker models to Marshall. Is there much difference between the specifications of Behringer and Marshall? Peavey, Indie..... What do I go for?????

Any guidance will be much appreciated for this long time playing bassist who's come out of retirement over the past few years to give his 1960s Gibson some serious action.

Cheers

Rick

[Enzo]

Should I order the salmon or the shrimp? SHould I put salt on my steak? Or pepper?

You need to listen to these speakers and amps, and choose the one or ones that sound good TO YOU. All those amps and speakers work. That doesn;t tell us if YOU prefer one over another. It is your ear we need to please here.

One thing we MUST cover: bass amps and speakers are a totally different game from guitar amps and speakers. ANd power in watts is not loudness. 450 watts is not 3 tomes louder than 150 watts. Doubling power results in only 3db increased loudness - 300w is 3db louder than 150w. 600w is 3db louder than 300w. SO 450 w is maybe 4db louder than 150 w. To put that in perspective, on many amps with a high and low gain input jack or "active" and "passive" jacks, the difference between those two jacks is 6db. So the loudness difference between those two input jacks is the same as between150w and 600w of power.

On a guitar amp, power can be about loudness, and screaming overdrive and noise. On a bass rig, though, IN MY OPINION, more watts is about keeping the sound together. I'd have a 1400 watt bass rig, not to be tons louder, but to sound tons cleaner and more effortless than some small 200w amp. Effortless is the sound I like. I don;t want the amp to sound like it is cranking for all it is worth just to keep up. I want the sound to just flow from the speakers. I want the peaks in their full glory.

Depending of course on how you play, there can be a ton of percussive content in the bass - popping and slapping especially. But even just plucking strings generates huge peaks. Smaller amps wil compress or lop off these peaks. It is not like it sounds bad, but to me a more powerfil bass rig sounds more open and free. It isn;t about louder.

I don't know what is available in your market, but Peavey makes some nice cabs and amps, and Fender makes a couple nice 4x10 cabs too. Audition as many as you can.

[Steve Conner]

If I remember right, the EB-0 has an amazingly overwound pickup that gives it the darkest, heaviest tone ever. I think Gibson said they wanted it to sound like the bass pedals on an organ. I know a guy who has one, and it sounds more like an earthquake than a bass guitar.

So I'd be looking for a big amp with lots of power and bottom end to complement that. Basically the biggest amp you feel you can be bothered moving around! An amp head with a separate cabinet is better than a combo because you can carry it in two trips.

In any case, I think Enzo is right, you need to try it before you buy it, and don't forget to try lifting it too The best bass amp in the world is useless if you can't move it to the gig...

PS, in the UK market you might want to check out Ashdown, Markbass and Trace Elliot. Maybe even second-hand Trace Elliot from their green carpet era. Trace amps always had a voicing that really snarls and cuts through the mix, and maybe that might complement the tone of your bass.

[Enzo]

And to my ear those old Trace amps had that effortless sound about them.

[Baldrick]

Many thanks Enzo and Steve for your advice. 'Effortless sound' is key to this - the amp I've been using for a few years struggles at times. Weight is another, so a separate head is a good idea and I might go for 2 cabs to avoid doing my back in.

cheers guys

Rick