Rumble 40 vs 100 - V3 - My experience.

[darwin-bass]

A year ago I bought a Rumble 100 V3. Very light weight and good tone. I used it as a home practice amp for most of that time plus a handful of "coffee house" gigs on Friday nights. It worked well.

A month ago I donated it to church for use as our stage bass amp so I bought a Rumble 40 V3 as a replacement.

The 100 has a very warm tone. It is full and rich but achieves that at the expense of clarity. In contrast, the 40 seems to be a smoother response. Not as warm, not as beefy but clearer.

For home practice I prefer the 40 :-O

 

[Stdjazz4]

I chose the 40 because I like my windows.

And my neighbors!!

 

[Linnin]

There are several Fender Rumble Club members that also prefer the Rumble 40 over the Rumble 100. I myself prefer the Rumble 200 over all others.

 

[Jim Pen]

In the past, I've had both the Rumble 40 v3 and the Rumble 100 v3, and for playing at home, I preferred the 40. It was crisper, the 100 was muddier.

 

[AstroSonic]

LOL. I guess it's all about personal preferences. I found the 40 v3 to be too boomy on a moderately narrow range of bass notes. Very much liked the mids and highs. Couldn't live with that bass, so replaced the driver (S2010) and retuned the cab. Greatly improved the overall tone, got more volume and it weighs a pound less than stock (now 17 lbs).

 

[darwin-bass]

LOL. I ... replaced the driver (S2010) and retuned the cab. Greatly improved the overall tone, got more volume and it weighs a pound less than stock (now 17 lbs).

How much retuning of the cab? Did you design / compute & measure or just wing it by ear?

 

[AstroSonic]

How much retuning of the cab? Did you design / compute & measure or just wing it by ear?

I used the stock amplifier for several weeks. I tried the cab sealed and with one port plugged (best tone, but could be farted out when turned up). Then I measured the TS parameters of the driver, the cab volume and the tuning. I realized that I would not be able to get a satisfactory tone with the stock driver and cab, regardless of tuning. I then ran sims of various drivers to select an upgrade driver. I purchased an S2010, measured the TS parameters, used them in sims, and chose a target alignment. I tried the driver in 4 alignments, ranging from EBS to flat to mildly peaked. Then selected the one I preferred, which was different than the 'target'. I also tried different amounts and distributions of acoustic damping material - makes a pretty big improvement in the mids. The difference in tone between stock and upgraded is major. I later discovered that the Dayton PA255-8 also works well (at about half the cost of the S2010). It produces a richer, deeper tone (and less maximum volume), but increases the weight to 25 pounds (up from 17 with the S2010). Overall, I considered the lower weight and higher max spl of the S2010 to best meet my needs for a highly portable combo to use for home practice, and for small gigs. For home practice only, I would have used the Dayton driver.