Good cheap bass heads...

[bigreddestroyer]

Well, its official, I'm a more effective bass player than guitarist, as I'm now in 2 bands as bassist, and both of them are likely to be gigging more than my originals band where I play guitar!
So, I've managed to score a JCM 800 bass cab dead cheap and need need a solid reliable head to go with it. Not looking to spend more than £300.
Thinking of the Fender Rumble, or Gallian Kruger Backline.
Just wondering if any one has experience with either of these, or if you have any better/cheaper alternatives...
Thanks in advance!

 

[Varcolac]

Well, its official, I'm a more effective bass player than guitarist, as I'm now in 2 bands as bassist, and both of them are likely to be gigging more than my originals band where I play guitar!
So, I've managed to score a JCM 800 bass cab dead cheap and need need a solid reliable head to go with it. Not looking to spend more than £300.
Thinking of the Fender Rumble, or Gallian Kruger Backline.
Just wondering if any one has experience with either of these, or if you have any better/cheaper alternatives...
Thanks in advance!

I use this.

BEHRINGER BX4500H - Thomann UK Cyberstore

Been gigging and recording with it since January, works well. 100 watts more than the Rumble, 150 more than the Backline. The EQ's more detailed than the Rumble, but less so than the Backline. It's got a couple of nifty onboard effects and a footswitch for them included. So far it's sounded killer out of my 115 and through another bassist's 410. It's given me that low-mid punch I'd been craving, really cuts through the mix live.

Kind of helps that it's about a hundred quid cheaper than your other options.

 

[bigreddestroyer]

Thanks for the quick reply Varcolac, I'll keep an eye out if I can get to have a go on one of these!

 

[deevit]

I'm not really a fan of the Behringer stuff, but some of the heads are ok. Don't look too much at the power rating of those, I'm sure the GK Backline heads go at least as loud as the Behringer. And about the EQ; that's just a matter of taste, I like them simple.

But on your budget I would really recommend buying used. For £300 you should be able to get a nice, decent head used. When on a budget, I am a big fan of the Hartke HA3500. They seem tot pop up used about everywhere, IMO always sound good and are quite loud.
Another good option for you might be a used Trace Elliot head, they go cheap too a lot of the time and are very good heads with lots of power. IME a 300 watt Trace head is easily as loud as other heads with twice the rated power. Remember, back in the day Trace was the high-end stuff.

Peaveys are great too. Good sound, great volume and built like tanks.

 

[TemjinStrife]

Used Peavey stuff is hard to beat. Heavy, loud, and reliable. You can also get Edens pretty cheaply too these days, and GK 700RBs and 800RBs if you dig around on used sites, ebay, and used.guitarcenter.com.

Carvin's stuff is surprisingly affordable too.

 

[signalgrey]

Peavy TK stuff is loud as shit

 

[Goatfork]

Bugera BVP5500. My bass player got one and it's pretty fucking ballsy.

 

[deevit]

Used Peavey stuff is hard to beat. Heavy, loud, and reliable. You can also get Edens pretty cheaply too these days, and GK 700RBs and 800RBs if you dig around on used sites, ebay, and used.guitarcenter.com.

Carvin's stuff is surprisingly affordable too.

Good options, but here in Europe Edens don't really go cheap and you don't see as many Carvins and GK's over here.. But those are some great options, especially the GK heads kick some serious ass.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I use a Hartke HA2500 with an Ashdown 410. Being an 8 ohm cabinet, the head can only do 180W into the 450W cab, but it is plenty loud. I practice by myself with the master volume at 1, and with the rest of the band in our practice space I turn it up to 3.

If the HA2500 is any indication of the HA3500's performance, I would definitely recommend it.

 

[TemjinStrife]

Keep in mind some amp companies like to use "front-loaded" master volume pots that give up the goods early, so master volume position isn't always indicative of max volume.

My Eden maxes out with gain set optimally and master at noon. It's fucking loud, but if you run the master any higher you risk blowing something up.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Keep in mind some amp companies like to use "front-loaded" master volume pots that give up the goods early, so master volume position isn't always indicative of max volume.

My Eden maxes out with gain set optimally and master at noon. It's fucking loud, but if you run the master any higher you risk blowing something up.

Definitely true. My volume knob loses steam around 7 or so.

 

[Razzy]

I use this.

BEHRINGER BX4500H - Thomann UK Cyberstore

Been gigging and recording with it since January, works well. 100 watts more than the Rumble, 150 more than the Backline. The EQ's more detailed than the Rumble, but less so than the Backline. It's got a couple of nifty onboard effects and a footswitch for them included. So far it's sounded killer out of my 115 and through another bassist's 410. It's given me that low-mid punch I'd been craving, really cuts through the mix live.

Kind of helps that it's about a hundred quid cheaper than your other options.

A band my band played with in New Mexico the other night was using one of these.

GREAT bass sound. He had a 15 band EQ on it as well.

At one point, I heard a bass drop, and I was confused because I didn't see any pads anywhere, so I didn't know how they triggered it, and the next time it happened is when I saw.

THE BASSIST JUST DID A SLIDE AND IT SOUNDED LIKE AN EPIC BASS DROP.

I would highly recommend that head.

 

[deevit]

Not to bash or anything, but those Behringer heads really aren't that good..

 

[TemjinStrife]

Behringers are cheap but functional. I have a BX1200 kickback combo that's not the best sounding thing in the world, nor the lightest, but it was cheap, punchy, and survived being kicked around in a college dorm for four years and on stage as a glorified stage monitor/backup amp for another two.

 

[bigreddestroyer]

Wow, thanks for all the replies everyone, definately a few options there for me to look into!
This is gonna be a particularly noob-ish question, but as I only ever worked with combo amps before, what do I need to know regarding impedence and wattages between heads and cabs?

 

[Razzy]

Not to bash or anything, but those Behringer heads really aren't that good..

Can you give us reasons or examples?

It doesn't hold much water when all you say is, "It's not good."

Why is it not good?

 

[deevit]

For the price it's allright, but it's a cheap head and it shows. I know several people who have had Behringer stuff break down, the rated power is often quite high, but the actual power isn't and the parts are not of very good quality. That's logical, cause they are so cheap!
Personally, I would never trust on one single Behringer product sithout a backup to reach to. I've seen and heard too many problems for that. Also, when you turn the heads up, you can really hear the lowend getting less and less. So if there is budget for something better, I'd suggest that.

But, on a good cab, they can sound quite decent.

 

[Varcolac]

A band my band played with in New Mexico the other night was using one of these.



GREAT bass sound. He had a 15 band EQ on it as well.



At one point, I heard a bass drop, and I was confused because I didn't see any pads anywhere, so I didn't know how they triggered it, and the next time it happened is when I saw.



THE BASSIST JUST DID A SLIDE AND IT SOUNDED LIKE AN EPIC BASS DROP.



I would highly recommend that head.

Yeah, the onboard effects include one called "ultrabass." That's pretty much what it does. I just use it for enormous crashing ringing notes at the end of the set, there's no real call for bass drops in our songs. The other effect is an EQ scoop, which isn't anywhere near as awesome as the "instant subsonic button."



I haven't ever cranked my Behringer enough to hear the low end give out. Even gigging it's never really gone above about 10 o'clock on the output, and that was plenty loud for the venue. So even if the rated power is deceiving, the actual power that comes out of it has been more than satisfactory. There may well be Behringer gear that is shoddily made with substandard parts, but in my somewhat limited experience that hasn't been the case. Remember, Rondomusic sells some insanely cheap guitar but on this forum you can count on one hand the people that've been disappointed with an Agile.



It's all anecdotal anyway. Me and Razzy seem to like 'em, you don't. Of course if you've got the budget get something better. If I had a grand to spend on a bass rig it'd look a lot different to my curent setup. But for under three hundred pounds I'd go with Behringer any time

 

[bigreddestroyer]

Well, I think I'm gonna go with the Behringer...
Money being the main issue at the moment this one sounds like the most bang for the buck. Slight issue I have is that the cab I'm getting is 16ohm, so the behringer being 450@4ohms is gonna lose a lot of power right?

 

[HaMMerHeD]

A 16 ohm bass cab? What, pray tell, is this monstrosity?