Rumble 40 Plus Dirt Pedal Equals...

JKos

JKos

Oct 26, 2010
4,830
11,378
5,041
Surprise, AZ
#1
Hey Guys,
I'm curious what others are getting when trying dirt pedals in front of the Rumble 40 in stock form. What I'm getting is simply not doing anything for me. It seems sterile with an unpleasant top end no matter what I do with the tone controls (pedal or amp).

I'm beginning to doubt my Rumble 40 purchase. Classic story. So many glowing reviews. Sounded ok in the store. But, at home, meh and uninspiring. Just blahs the tone of my P which sounds great direct or through some other gear. And, unfortunately, it's too late to take it back. I may try some of the mods starting with the lowest cost. Got to get that massive bass peak reduced.

- John
 
Last edited:
#3
I tried a rumble 40 once at a friends house. I found that the amp had a lot of low end, maybe a little too much, but I had trouble dialing in a good, warm sounding midrange in spite of the fact that the amp has low mid and high mid controls. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I think its best feature is its weight.

I wonder if some character pedal like the Joyo American Sound would help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: alaskaleftybass
#4
Ben B said:
I found that the amp had a lot of low end, maybe a little too much, but I had trouble dialing in a good, warm sounding midrange in spite of the fact that the amp has low mid and high mid controls.
Click to expand...
That's something I'm having issues with, too. The bass hump is just too much and I have to crank both midrange controls to reduce the sizeable mid dip (noticed by ear, confirmed by measurement). It never sounds warm. And it sounds rather sterile when I try any drive before or built-in. To me the built-in overdrive sounds rather lifeless.

Ben B said:
It just wasn't my cup of tea.
Click to expand...

It's probably just that simple. Count me in as yet another victim of poor translation from store to non-store use.

- John
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: alaskaleftybass
#8
There's a TONE POOL linked in the Rumble thread somewhere...@Linnen should be able to help here.
I found my Rumble 500C a little undefined and bassy also... I simply EQ'd differently and. . more importantly I think.... tilted the amp back, so the speaker was pointing right AT my ears. THAT made a hayull of a difference. I just put my folded gig bag under it that 1st time. . Now I'll stick a 1.5" or so.. bitta wood under the front of it. It went front being wooly and undefined to clear and precise. Sounds especially great with a P bass or my Mustang short scale...
And just for the halibut..... here IS said Mustang
20151217_110623_zpswywczbkh.jpg


And his big brother (which also sounds great thru the Rumble 500C)
Am Std Jaguar with the 500C
View attachment 2895740
 
#9
rodl2005 said:
There's a TONE POOL linked in the Rumble thread somewhere...
Click to expand...
Ok, found it. There is only one line listed as being for the Rumble 40 (well, "40 ~ 500" to be exact). Here are the settings for what is described as "Subtle Tube Like Warmth."
Gain: 10
Bright: Off
Contour: Off
Vintage: On
Drive: 9
Overdrive: On
Overdrive Level: 9
Bass: 12
Low Mid: 2
High Mid: 12
Treble: 9
Master: 12~2

I tried this. Yuck. Muddy blubber. Engaging the Vintage switch just seems to exacerbate what I don't like. Described as "Creates a dark tone rich with harmonics and some natural compression" and spec'd as "Dynamic compression (-9dB max) with low pass (-6dB/oct) @ 400Hz." I'm hearing the (too) dark tone, but no rich harmonics.

rodl2005 said:
I found my Rumble 500C a little undefined and bassy also... I simply EQ'd differently and. . more importantly I think.... tilted the amp back, so the speaker was pointing right AT my ears.
Click to expand...
Yes, I had started doing that, as well. It does help some, but not enough.

I need to try the amp with a different cab(s) to see if it is a "baked in" tone issue or I just totally don't like the stock cabinet sound.

- John
 
Last edited:
#12
JKos said:
That's what I'm thinking. I like the sound of my bass. When I plug into the Rumble 40, I don't hear my bass. I hear a rather generic version of a bass.

- John
Click to expand...

The more I read posts like these the more I realize Rumbles seem, IMHO, to be love or hate amps. Rarely do I see where someone says they're just okay. The largest group dig these amps as the end-all, but a small minority of us (yeah, me too) just can't find a good sound no matter what we do to the tone controls.

Intetestingly, we all seem to find the Rumble muddy-beyond-taming. I'd have to run my low and mid-low to about 9:00 to clean up the tone.

Then my 500 head/115 cab were getting buried in the mix of our small concert band. That did it for me, but there are too many who love the series, so I'm going to chalk it up to all our different pairs of ears. Long live the Rumble for those who love it, but I'll stick with my 'Peg.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SJan3
#14
I tried some temporary mods tonight. Plugged one port... Better. Plugged both ports... Much better. It tamed the bass bump and I could actually hear some mids.

I started with the tone controls in the "most neutral" position. With both ports plugged, I was actually able to bump the bass up just a tad. I think tuning somewhere between one port plugged and both plugged would be good.

I monitored the speaker excursion and didn't see any issues.

Next mod is some some batting.

- John
 
#15
iagtrplyr said:
The more I read posts like these the more I realize Rumbles seem, IMHO, to be love or hate amps. Rarely do I see where someone says they're just okay. The largest group dig these amps as the end-all, but a small minority of us (yeah, me too) just can't find a good sound no matter what we do to the tone controls.

Intetestingly, we all seem to find the Rumble muddy-beyond-taming. I'd have to run my low and mid-low to about 9:00 to clean up the tone.

Then my 500 head/115 cab were getting buried in the mix of our small concert band. That did it for me, but there are too many who love the series, so I'm going to chalk it up to all our different pairs of ears. Long live the Rumble for those who love it, but I'll stick with my 'Peg.
Click to expand...
Me too. I tried the rumble 40 and the Ampeg ba110 side by side in the store and, for me, the Ampeg was the better performer. Tighter with better mids and better tone articulation. I bought the 'Peg and am very happy with it. YMMV
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimmyM and iagtrplyr
#16
Thats dead right about the ba110. I too have got into this whole Rumble thing because of the weight, but yes they don't have that tight ballsy mid range that the Ampegs have.

Just sold my ba110 for the Rumble 40 and I'm missing the Peg already but not the ridiculous weight which is a shame. If they brought out a light weight Ampeg range tomorrow I would sell the Rumble immediately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SJan3 and iagtrplyr
#17
bass71 said:
Thats dead right about the ba110. I too have got into this whole Rumble thing because of the weight, but yes they don't have that tight ballsy mid range that the Ampegs have.

Just sold my ba110 for the Rumble 40 and I'm missing the Peg already but not the ridiculous weight which is a shame. If they brought out a light weight Ampeg range tomorrow I would sell the Rumble immediately.
Click to expand...
The Ampeg BA110v2 is 34lbs.
Not light by today's standards but not a brick either. Well worth it for its performance.
 
#18
iagtrplyr said:
The more I read posts like these the more I realize Rumbles seem, IMHO, to be love or hate amps. Rarely do I see where someone says they're just okay. The largest group dig these amps as the end-all, but a small minority of us (yeah, me too) just can't find a good sound no matter what we do to the tone controls.
Click to expand...
I agree. And I can't chalk it up to user error. I spent a lot of time with my friend's Rumble 40 trying all variations of controls.
iagtrplyr said:
Intetestingly, we all seem to find the Rumble muddy-beyond-taming. I'd have to run my low and mid-low to about 9:00 to clean up the tone.
Click to expand...
I tried that. When I backed off the bass enough to clean up the mud, then I was left with a very blah sounding midrange.

iagtrplyr said:
Then my 500 head/115 cab were getting buried in the mix of our small concert band. That did it for me, but there are too many who love the series, so I'm going to chalk it up to all our different pairs of ears. Long live the Rumble for those who love it, but I'll stick with my 'Peg.
Click to expand...
That what I notice when I see my friend use his Rumble 40. He uses his Rumble 40 with a semi-acoustic gig consisting of acoustic guitars through small amps and a percussionist. He gets completely buried by the other instruments. All you here is a low, undefined rumble from the bass (maybe that's why they are named Rumbles;)). And he's using a Fender Jazz Bass with upgraded pickups! That bass should be cutting through.

I'll stick to my Ampegs too. Just set the tone knobs between 12 and 2 depending upon taste and room acountics and raise the volume as needed. Done.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iagtrplyr
#20
Ben B said:
Yup. Great amp, but heavy. I suspect that's the major factor for people who purchase the Rumble 40. It's crazy light compared to it's competition.
Click to expand...
No doubt and I would have too but I just couldn't bond with it's tone. That's why we have many "flavors" to pick from.
I own Aguilar, Markbass and Ampeg. All different but I like all of them. I'm lucky like that!
 
  • Like
Reactions: AstroSonic
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back