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flaxattack
Advanced Member
Username: flaxattack

Post Number: 232
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 1:50 pm:   Edit Post

i dont think my fender 10" should be allowed to plug in to the direwolf. so i am asking for some help
i dont really play out- yet
so am looking for a good rig probably 12" maybe 15". my neighbors would love me.
would probably cap at around $1000 preferably less
like a good low end rumble but not too punchy
bsee
Senior Member
Username: bsee

Post Number: 452
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 2:19 pm:   Edit Post

So, something like old fashioned Ampeg tone? Try the higher-end Ampeg and Mesa combos. Also, I heard an Ashdown combo out at Bass Northwest that sounded much warmer than my SWR super redhead. I also have an SWR baby blue (the original from around 1990) that has great tone in a very size-friendly package.

Putting an F-1X in front of any combo will make it sound that much better. I have a Hartke kickback 12 that is tight and clean, but warms up nicely when fronted by the F-1X. If you do that, then the Fender might even sound good at low volumes.



(Message edited by bsee on November 11, 2004)
kungfusheriff
Intermediate Member
Username: kungfusheriff

Post Number: 195
Registered: 8-2003
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 2:22 pm:   Edit Post

Another vote for the Baby Blue, and my Ampeg B-100R gets a nice sound. They tend to go for $300 to $350 used.
flaxattack
Advanced Member
Username: flaxattack

Post Number: 234
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 3:16 pm:   Edit Post

reviews of ampeg are good. i wouldnt go used. its like buying a used lease car..but i did like the redhead with my orion. def want a 12",2x10 or a 15 maybe
ty
jeff
ajdover
Intermediate Member
Username: ajdover

Post Number: 143
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 3:19 pm:   Edit Post

Flax,

I use an Ampeg BA-115 for a small amp, and it works fine. It has a direct out, plus it has a headphone jack and two plugs so you can plug in a CD player. Single 15 with horn, and I've used it on smaller gigs. 100 watts, so it won't be too loud. Ampeg also makes other small combos with tuners, etc., so you might want to check them out. It's not tube, so you won't have that warmth, but it sounds pretty good to me. As I recall, mine cost about $400 brand new, so it's actually quite a bargain.

Besides, anything sounds good when an Alembic is plugged into it! I know that for a fact. Last night I went to an open mike night here in Fayetteville, and played my Europa through a Fender BXR (hope I got that right) combo, with one 15. All the other bass players kept asking me what I was doing to make it sound so good. Had to tell them, "dial 1-800-Ale-mbic, and you too will have this sound!"

Best of luck,

Alan
flaxattack
Advanced Member
Username: flaxattack

Post Number: 235
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 3:26 pm:   Edit Post

thanks- not to be a total moron
if i went with an f-1x - all i need a cabinet?
think about this. when i first started playing bass, transistors were the hot thing,,, now its tubes again... wheres my edsel? lol
bsee
Senior Member
Username: bsee

Post Number: 455
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 3:34 pm:   Edit Post

F-1X is only a preamp. You would need power and a speaker. This can be separates or a combo. Using a combo works best if it has an effects loop and the F-1X can be placed to come back through the effects return.
flaxattack
Advanced Member
Username: flaxattack

Post Number: 236
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 4:14 pm:   Edit Post

after my first cd comes out basee- thanks-lol
anyone experience the phil jones briefcase??
kungfusheriff
Intermediate Member
Username: kungfusheriff

Post Number: 196
Registered: 8-2003
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 5:42 pm:   Edit Post

I know a guy who had one of the first Jones Briefcases off the boat (from China); after raving about it, he dumped it a few weeks later. How much of that was GAS and how much was related to the performance of the amp we'll probably never know.
bassdr
New
Username: bassdr

Post Number: 6
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 9:24 am:   Edit Post

I'm quite happy with my Peavy TKO 115 Sheffield that I picked up used at my local music store for $240- only problem is it weighs about 80 lbs. Michael
wideload
Member
Username: wideload

Post Number: 68
Registered: 6-2003
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 10:22 am:   Edit Post

bsee-
Does your Hartke have an effects loop, or do you just run from the F-1X to the input? Does the loop tap in after the combo preamp? My BAM 210 doesn't have an analog effects loop(but it has MIDI, go figure!), and I was under the impression that adding a preamp before the combo preamp was wrong. What am I missing?

Larry
bsee
Senior Member
Username: bsee

Post Number: 457
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 11:50 am:   Edit Post

The Hartke doesn't have an effects loop, but the preamp stage is pretty simple. The SWRs have a tube preamp stage similar to the F-1X, so I go in through the effects return on those amps to avoid multiple levels of tube preamplification. It's not that that is bad by definition, just not what I want. This config approximates plugging the preamp into a power amp and then a speaker cabinet in a smaller package.

At the simplest level, a pre-amp is just a means of raising the power of your source signal to match what the amplifier expects to receive. There are a couple ways that multiple preamp stages could be bad. If you cranked them all up to a point where the signal was way too hot for the power amp, the distortion would probably not be what you wanted. Also, every time you alter the signal, you add noise. Usually the numbers are very low, but the less processing, the cleaner the signal is likely to be.

To go back to the real world example, if I get all of my gain out of the F-1X and very little out of the Hartke, it seems to work out okay. We are talking about a low-power 1x12 combo here, though, not a state-of-the-art system.
hollis
Senior Member
Username: hollis

Post Number: 508
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 3:12 pm:   Edit Post

Okay, so if I'm playing a small venue, and I don't feel like lugging heavy Baltic birch cabs and power amps. Do I chain SWR Workingmans 15's Send to the SF-2's (in mono)channel #1 Return then Send from channel 2 to F1-X's Return then Send from F1X to SWR' Return?

Oh for an owner's manual....
bsee
Senior Member
Username: bsee

Post Number: 458
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 3:27 pm:   Edit Post

I would go bass into the F-1X, mono out to the SF-2, then effects return in to the SWR. That would give you the F-1X preamp stage through the filters of the SF-2 and then the power amp section of the SWR only, bypassing the preamp.
hollis
Senior Member
Username: hollis

Post Number: 510
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 3:48 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks Bob, I'll give it a shot this weekend.
lbpesq
Intermediate Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 149
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 4:50 pm:   Edit Post

Hollis:

If you go through the F-X1 first, you should then go through the back input on the SF-2 to bypass its pre-amp stage. Alternatively, I guess you could switch the internal switch to set the pre-amp at 0db (it can be set at either 0, 10 (factory setting) or 20 db).

Bill, tgo

(Message edited by lbpesq on November 12, 2004)
hollis
Senior Member
Username: hollis

Post Number: 511
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 5:16 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks Bill.

That's how I'm running through my rig, but I get a little lost when I'm chaining through a combo amp. It's so much more straight forward through separate pre-amp to power amp to speaker cabs. Know what I mean?
flaxattack
Advanced Member
Username: flaxattack

Post Number: 248
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2004 - 8:13 am:   Edit Post

anyone famialir with the eden nemesis series?
bigredbass
Advanced Member
Username: bigredbass

Post Number: 342
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2004 - 12:55 pm:   Edit Post

I'd really suggest you look at Mesa's Walkabout Scout, available with a 12 or a 15. I never thought a passive radiator would work in a bass amp, but there I go thinking again ... Cool looking, Mesa's terrific tone and construction, not something you see every day.

Eden I believe has recently re-done the Nemesis line, so you might investigate. They recently were acquired by the holding company that owns Washburn, so the usual cautions about companies changing hands whould apply.

J o e y

J o e y
flaxattack
Advanced Member
Username: flaxattack

Post Number: 256
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 12:16 am:   Edit Post

thibk i am going with either an eden metro 2x10 or eden nemesis 2x10
bassdr
New
Username: bassdr

Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 9:58 am:   Edit Post

Joey- I have found that a passive radiator can work well in a bass cabinet. My big rig has 2 old Thomas organ cabinets with the internal amp and high driver removed and then tightly sealed. The drivers are JBL D140 and passive JBL 15". I blew one of the JBL D140s and replaced it with an Eminence Omega Pro 15" which works well. I occasionaly use an octave doubler and get a clean A below low E on my Eminence. I will try to get off my lazy butt and send some pictures soon. Michael

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