Power Amp for Bass

N

Ned Jankovic

Member
Hi there

So i have had my Axe Fx ultra for a while for guitars and love it! But now i am a bass player and i don't want to get rid of my axe. Ive seen some of my favourite players use them (Defones mainly) but due to the lack of information its hard to figure out how they are playing.

I have tried direct and i am still not 100% on the tone yet so in the meantime i want to get a power amp so i can hear through a cab. What would you recommend? I was thinking of getting the matrix again but not sure if it is suited for bass? And i would prefer solid state than any tubes as i travel ALOT!
 
Go to Musician's Friend and look up the Behringer iNUKE amps. Inexpensive and sound great. 2 rack space, light and you can get a power level that suits you. They're stereo power amps but also do bridged mono, so you can set it up any way you like.
 
I have a Matrix GT1600FX which I love - kicked the hell out of the old PA-style power amp I was using previous to that.

You could use a GT1000FX depending on the cab and your desired wattage. It might not have enough grunt for playing larger stages but would be more than adequate for club shows I would think.
 
I play guitar and bass. Buy a quality PA amp - you can get great deals on used stuff. If you don't mind the weight, Crest CA series amps are top notch. I have a QSC PLX which I highly recommend. Carvin also represents a very good value. I would stay away from Behringer and the Peavy IPR stuff. You'll push a power amp much harder with bass than guitar, so a quality amp will make a discernible difference. You've got a top notch piece of gear with the Axe, get a decent amp to do it justice.
 
I have read about problems with the Peavy, but I haven't had a single problem with my Behringer after years of use. It's worked like a champ and is nice and loud and clean. It's pushing 2x 4x10 cabs and 2x 1x15 cabs with a Pyle tweeter box on top of each stack and it works perfectly. Mine's got a protection limiter you can turn on and off and if you want to run mono, you can use it in crossover mode as well. It's very versatile.
 
A lot of the differences with lesser amps won't reveal themselves unless you really push them, then duty cycle comes into play. I know someone tested one of the Behringer bass amps and it was no where near its rated power, but if it's working for you, cool, keep crankin! Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and if you can swing it, I always recommend buying quality gear that will last - stuff that can and is actually worth repairing if it does go down - lot of great deals on the used market. The cheaper stuff may or may not hold up depending on how hard you push it and how much you use it - it's a gamble, and a lot of folks figure hey I'll just chuck it and get something else if it dies since it's cheap, but I personally hate the throwaway mentality and the flood of overseas junk because it clutters the landfills and ultimately costs you more in the end when you need to buy again.
 
I haven't had any piece of Behringer gear I've owned yet go bad on me. I know they had a quality control issue for a while and they got a bad rep over that, but I've had zero problems with my studio monitors, power amp or FCB1010 pedal. Besides, the OP said he's running direct and just wants to be able to play through a cab as well as going direct. Sounds like it's more for personal playing and monitoring, both of which would be handled just fine by the Behringer. Now mind you, I'm not totally against other brands of amps at all or trying to say your opinion is invalid in any way whatsoever, so please don't take it that way. I just come from a relatively poor background, so I always prefer to spend less on something that'll do the job well than more on something that'll do basically the same job just as well. For me it's a money issue. If something works, I'd personally rather spend less to do the same job.
 
Sure thing - I totally understand where you're coming from, and I try to do the same. I'm glad you haven't had any reliability problems - I get really frustrated when I buy something and then have it break, die, crap-out, etc. on me because it costs me more to replace it. It seems like it is becoming more and more common, and I always feel like I'm the guy that gets the lemon or the item that is missing that one screw when you put it together. :( PA amps are one area where I think it really pays to buy used - always a lot of good used stuff out there which allows you to get way more bag for your buck.
 
Tell me about the lemon thing. I was starting to feel that way too. I always wanted a Red Special guitar, and I first got a BMG one that wouldn't intonate because it was constructed wrong, and then I tried a Dillion DBM-012T Red Special, which started out great, but then the wood swelled and destroyed the guitar, which I've never seen before. It was ridiculous. They sent me a replacement, and literally a pick guard screw fell out as soon as I took it out of the box because they routed the control cavity too big and left nothing under the pick guard there. So that went back and I still don't have a Red Special.

Then I bought my Ibanez SR-800 and SR-805 basses. My first SR-800 was gorgeous beyond words, but had one magnet in the neck pickup under the D string that didn't take a proper charge, so it was weaker than all the others. So that one went back, and I got a replacement, which while still beautiful, didn't match the beauty of the first one. It showed up with a dead battery. I figured it was a fluke and changed the battery and was good to go. A few weeks later the brand new battery I put in was dead, so I checked inside the control cavity and found out why. When they soldered the jack wires, they dribbled solder on the base and it was making a constant connection, so it was like the bass was plugged in 24/7. I had to pull out my soldering iron and get rid of the extra solder and break that connection. After that it was fine, but you don't expect to see that kind of QA sloppiness in an $850 bass.

So I'm right in that same lemon boat with you. It sucks bad when stuff like that happens, but mostly it's just the feeling of being excited about something new and then experiencing that disappointment that's the biggest bucket of suck.
 
I was thinking about getting the Matrix again. I used to own one and loved it when i was using it for my guitar. I just wasn't sure if it wold work the same for bass?

I'm looking at getting an ampeg 6 X 12
 
Carvin DCM3800L

I just purchased a Carvin DCM3800L two weeks ago and have played several shows with it now. 3800 watts bridged into 4 ohms. 15 lbs. Two rack spaces high and not very deep (i.e. in the rack) at all. Couldn't recommend it highly enough. Sounds amazing/galactic/huge. Also very clear and warm sounding. Interestingly it uses a class D switching power supply which accounts for the low weight, but a class A/B amp (which some say produces warmth and solid lows). Also, it has a transparent, and switchable limiter on it...which is great for when I accidentally power down the Fractal with amp still on (POW!).

Also, I'll add its fans seem quieter than my axe fx (!) - and doesn't seem to heat up at all - stays at room temp. Carvin has a two week money back guarantee as well...I suppose many mail order places are like that though. I saw Carvin was selling a "blem" version of the amp one step below this on ebay - something like 499? Cheers.
 
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I use the Matrix 1000 for both bass and guitar. I've never had a problem with volume.

I just use a guitar cab (egnater tourmaster 2x12 with a couple warehouse speakers) for guitar and a bass cab (SWR golight) for bass. I don't even bridge the matrix and i've always had enough volume live for bass.
 
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