Hi. First time poster. I'm a guitarist who is interested in bass amps, as I'd like to get one for my home studio for practice so my friends who play bass don't have to haul stuff to my place & up the stairs - all the time. (I already have a nice drum kit for same reason. It's great.)
Having played in bands for many years I've been exposed to a bunch of different bass amps. For the last 7 or 8 years both guys I've played with used GK's. But previously have played with people with Ampegs, etc.
As far as guitar amps go I favor 50 watt tube jobs and mostly use either a Fender Bassman combo (4x10) or Marshall 50 JCM 800. So, used to playing with bass players with pretty decent full sized rigs.
Looking at the state of the bass amp market, and confining myself to standalone heads it seems to me there are really three main types and tiers of amps:
Category 1. High end tube amps. Typically $1,200 to $2,200 and up. Ampeg SVTs, Orange AD-200, Fender Repos, Mesa, etc.
Category 2. High end solid-state amps (some w/ Tube preamps): Gallien-Kruger, Trace Elliot are big here, many others... From about $700 up to and above $1200.
Category 3. And now the Class D lightweight amps which almost all of the firms above have their own versions of, all of which are substantially smaller, lighter and less expensive than most of the Category 1 and 2 amps. Most under $800 or so.
Obviously tube amps have their lovers (I'm one as far as guitar amps go) and so there will always be a market for these, despite the disadvantages of weight, expense and upkeep.
And equally obvious Category 3 is here to stay. Small micro-amps putting out big power at a relatively low price will always be attractive for lots of reasons.
Which leads to my question: are the days of the (now) conventional class A/B solid state bass amp waning?
I know that in Hi Fi these are still the format for most of the super high end amps, but hi fi guys don't move their equipment around so a pair of 100 lb mono blocks from Bryston or ParaSound isn't a real inconvenience.
If you look at at the companies that were the kings of A/B amps a lot of them seem to be fading. Others (like G/K) have jumped to the Category 3 with both feet.
What's your thoughts on this? What would you buy as a guest amp in the situation I've described? (For maybe use w/ spare 4x12 cab.) Is there any real reason to favor Category 2 (what I would have been shopping for a couple years ago) over Category 3? (I'm thinking of buying new, as I get tired of taking my amps to the doctor. Vintage tube stuff is great, but needs a lot of TLC to keep sounding that way.)
What's a minimum power rating you'd suggest? I see 4x the guitar amp, which would say 200 watts. There are some a lot of 200 watt amps from good makers (G/K) for $300 new. Would that be "under-gunned" for pushing a 4x12 half stack to keep up with a 50 watt tube guitar amp? (We try to play as low as we can, drummers as always set the volume threshold).
Thanks much for your time and advice.
Having played in bands for many years I've been exposed to a bunch of different bass amps. For the last 7 or 8 years both guys I've played with used GK's. But previously have played with people with Ampegs, etc.
As far as guitar amps go I favor 50 watt tube jobs and mostly use either a Fender Bassman combo (4x10) or Marshall 50 JCM 800. So, used to playing with bass players with pretty decent full sized rigs.
Looking at the state of the bass amp market, and confining myself to standalone heads it seems to me there are really three main types and tiers of amps:
Category 1. High end tube amps. Typically $1,200 to $2,200 and up. Ampeg SVTs, Orange AD-200, Fender Repos, Mesa, etc.
Category 2. High end solid-state amps (some w/ Tube preamps): Gallien-Kruger, Trace Elliot are big here, many others... From about $700 up to and above $1200.
Category 3. And now the Class D lightweight amps which almost all of the firms above have their own versions of, all of which are substantially smaller, lighter and less expensive than most of the Category 1 and 2 amps. Most under $800 or so.
Obviously tube amps have their lovers (I'm one as far as guitar amps go) and so there will always be a market for these, despite the disadvantages of weight, expense and upkeep.
And equally obvious Category 3 is here to stay. Small micro-amps putting out big power at a relatively low price will always be attractive for lots of reasons.
Which leads to my question: are the days of the (now) conventional class A/B solid state bass amp waning?
I know that in Hi Fi these are still the format for most of the super high end amps, but hi fi guys don't move their equipment around so a pair of 100 lb mono blocks from Bryston or ParaSound isn't a real inconvenience.
If you look at at the companies that were the kings of A/B amps a lot of them seem to be fading. Others (like G/K) have jumped to the Category 3 with both feet.
What's your thoughts on this? What would you buy as a guest amp in the situation I've described? (For maybe use w/ spare 4x12 cab.) Is there any real reason to favor Category 2 (what I would have been shopping for a couple years ago) over Category 3? (I'm thinking of buying new, as I get tired of taking my amps to the doctor. Vintage tube stuff is great, but needs a lot of TLC to keep sounding that way.)
What's a minimum power rating you'd suggest? I see 4x the guitar amp, which would say 200 watts. There are some a lot of 200 watt amps from good makers (G/K) for $300 new. Would that be "under-gunned" for pushing a 4x12 half stack to keep up with a 50 watt tube guitar amp? (We try to play as low as we can, drummers as always set the volume threshold).
Thanks much for your time and advice.
