Guitar and Bass Combo Tube Amps on a Budget?
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Death by Uberschall
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Carvin
rockskate4x
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+1 amen and halleluja!Death by Uberschall said:
dudesweet157
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Welcome to the forum!
To give you a serious answer, we need a bit more info about your situation. First, are we talking one single amp for both bass and guitar or an amp for each instrument? Your post wasn't entirely clear. Second, what styles of music do you play, and when you play live, are you going to have PA reinforcement or carry the room with your stage volume?
Personally, I would totally abandon the idea of an all tube bass combo amp for live music. I don't even know if they make one for less than $600, and if they do, it's going to be stupid heavy and in all likelihood won't be able to hold it together in the low end at gig volumes (unless you're going for the distorted bass tone).
For guitar, you can get a lot of amp for $600 if you buy used. I can't really give you good suggestion without know what you play. Do you need clean volume or are you going to be playing mostly distorted?
To give you a serious answer, we need a bit more info about your situation. First, are we talking one single amp for both bass and guitar or an amp for each instrument? Your post wasn't entirely clear. Second, what styles of music do you play, and when you play live, are you going to have PA reinforcement or carry the room with your stage volume?
Personally, I would totally abandon the idea of an all tube bass combo amp for live music. I don't even know if they make one for less than $600, and if they do, it's going to be stupid heavy and in all likelihood won't be able to hold it together in the low end at gig volumes (unless you're going for the distorted bass tone).
For guitar, you can get a lot of amp for $600 if you buy used. I can't really give you good suggestion without know what you play. Do you need clean volume or are you going to be playing mostly distorted?
dudesweet157 said:
As he is my old roommate, and I was in his wedding.. and he's going to be in mine...
He plays a bit like Everclear.. wants to push guitar through a big muff, more of a vintage sound. Uses an LP, an Ibanez Artcore, and a fender blacktop, dual hum.
Bass he has a T-bird, and wants to do a Jazz V.
I still say AC 15, as I love mine..
New carvin for guitar is def above that price range.. they do have a 500w combo I believe for bass though.. I'm personally not familiar with their bass stuff though.
Justinginn
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There's a carvin bass amp at my school and it's a firebreathing monster. Best bass amp I've ever heard. Of course it's a full stack so I can't speak for how a combo would sound.
dudesweet157 said:
I definitely want 1 amp for guitar and 1 amp for bass. For the guitar, I need something with the flexibility to play clean, warm tones, but can also handle big, Sonic Youth level distortion. For bass, I don't like effects, except occasional fuzz, so I need something that can carry the bottom end clearly to reinforce the wall of distortion from the guitars. As for playing live, I'd like as much as the volume as possible be provided from the stage, rather than PA.
erogenousjones17
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I don't really have anything to add to the discussion. I was just enthused to see someone mention Everclear! They have been one of my favourite bands for a long time, even though they've pretty much gone to crap in recent years.
On topic: for bass, I've heard really good things about MarkBass. I know their stuff is pricey, but the bass player in my band recently bought a used head for a couple hundred bucks.
On topic: for bass, I've heard really good things about MarkBass. I know their stuff is pricey, but the bass player in my band recently bought a used head for a couple hundred bucks.
what is the budget again?
I agree on the Egnator Tweaker.. that just has to be a fun amp to play around with.
other budget tube amps:
Blackheart
JetCity Woman Amp
Bugera
VHT
and then there are all those lunchbox heads, and those fender and epiphone one knob amps
I agree on the Egnator Tweaker.. that just has to be a fun amp to play around with.
other budget tube amps:
Blackheart
JetCity Woman Amp
Bugera
VHT
and then there are all those lunchbox heads, and those fender and epiphone one knob amps
Try this for bass:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/ampeg-ba115hp-220-watt-1x15-bass-series-combo-amp
It's not tube, but honestly, for what you're looking to get out of it, you don't need tubes, and I'm as hardcore a tube fan when it comes to guitar amps as there is. But bass is a different beast. I traded in my old SVT-4pro half stack (tube pre, SS power) for the predicessor to this amp and it sounds every bit as good.
Usually Guitar Center has a couple of these in stock at any given time, so it shouldn't be hard to find one to try. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I like GK well enough, just always seem to come back to Ampeg for some reason. Never owned a GK, but have spent several hours noodling on them at GC over the years. They seem to growl a bit more for me than the Ampegs, which is great when that's what you want, but not so much if you don't. If I wanted a more overdriven sound all the time out of my bass, I'd likely play a GK.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/ampeg-ba115hp-220-watt-1x15-bass-series-combo-amp
It's not tube, but honestly, for what you're looking to get out of it, you don't need tubes, and I'm as hardcore a tube fan when it comes to guitar amps as there is. But bass is a different beast. I traded in my old SVT-4pro half stack (tube pre, SS power) for the predicessor to this amp and it sounds every bit as good.
Usually Guitar Center has a couple of these in stock at any given time, so it shouldn't be hard to find one to try. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Luke by Vox said:
I like GK well enough, just always seem to come back to Ampeg for some reason. Never owned a GK, but have spent several hours noodling on them at GC over the years. They seem to growl a bit more for me than the Ampegs, which is great when that's what you want, but not so much if you don't. If I wanted a more overdriven sound all the time out of my bass, I'd likely play a GK.
As for a guitar amp, consider a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe or Blues Deluxe. The 1x12 combos are both a bit more than your budget for a new one, but you should be able to find them used for right around $600. Also can't go wrong with that AC-15 I keep seeing mentioned. Finally, the Carvin Nomad 1x12 is $600 and the Belair 2x12 is $630 (which has to be a sale price right now) and both run around $40 for shipping, so just a bit over your budget, but worth looking into.
Edit: And I just realized I was assuming the budget was $600 per amp, so if it's $600 total, then I'm probably not helping much.
Edit: And I just realized I was assuming the budget was $600 per amp, so if it's $600 total, then I'm probably not helping much.
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