Bass Amp Buying Guide
Your amplifier is a core part of your sound as a bass guitarist. But what do you go for? Combo or stack? Valve or solid-state? There are so many different types of bass amplifiers out there from brands like Orange, Markbass, Ashdown, Gallien-Krueger, and Fender. So how do you find the right one for you? Throughout this guide, we'll look at all the different types of amplifiers that are available today, and discern which ones will suit you best!
bass amp buying guide
Unlike guitar amps, even on the pro stage you will still find a lot of solid-state bass amplifiers. Because of the lack of high-gain amp distortion and the incredibly high power of bass speakers, valve-driven bass amps do not make as much of a difference as they do on a regular electric guitar.
Solid-state amplifiers have been around since the 70s, and have improved tremendously year-after-year to get closer to the traditional valve amp sound without any of the drawbacks. Solid-state amps make up a large portion of the bass amp market at the moment, thanks to their small, lightweight nature and reliability.
Valve amplifiers have been around about as long as the electric bass has and were the only option until the introduction of solid-state amps in the 70s. Valve amps produce their sound through vacuum tubes which gives them that tonal quality that makes them so beloved.
While different bass amps will all have slightly contrasting controls, there are often similarities between them. For example, you will nearly always have at least 1 input jack, a gain control, a volume control and at least a 3-band EQ. These basic controls are what create your basic sound, and everything else is just icing on the cake.
Bass guitarists have one really cool advantage that no other instrumentalists really have, direct input. Using a bass preamp or a DI box, you can take the DI out and go straight into a PA system. This is most commonly done from an amp head, but if that is still too much to carry, brands like Darkglass make amazing preamp pedals that are made to be connected directly to a mixer.
Until the 1970s, most bass amps used vacuum tubes, and a few higher-end models still do. Some bassists prefer what they perceive as the warmer, more-natural sound that tube amp circuits produce. Tube-based amps produce a form of distortion when overdriven that is pleasing to fans of old-school bass sound. In comparing amp wattage, keep in mind that watt-for-watt, tube bass amps are considerably louder than solid state amps with similar power ratings.
During the 1970s, solid-state bass amplifiers using transistor technology became popular due to their lower weight, size, and cost. These amps were capable of producing the high-wattage output necessary to drive bass speakers at high volumes. Unlike tube amps, however, the form of distortion created by solid state amps when overdriven was not pleasant. Modern solid state gear includes circuits that emulate the warmth tube circuitry.
In recent years, new hybrid bass amps have entered the marketplace. These units typically have a tube-based preamplifier section and solid-state power stage. They produce warmer sound than solid-state units while being similar in size and heft. Overdriving the tube preamp front end of these hybrid bass amps can help replicate the warm distortion of tube amps.
As noted above, bass head amplifiers fall into three categories according to the type of circuitry they use. The great news for bass players today is the fact they have plentiful choices in all three categories.
Weekend warriors and touring pro bass players will likely focus on hybrid or tube-driven bass heads that create the kind of tone and output that best matches their music. Those who travel a lot will probably opt for one of the new breed of compact yet powerful heads.
Because of the demanding nature of bass frequencies, bass speaker cabinets need to be very solidly built and braced to prevent unwanted rattles, buzzes, and unwanted resonance. Most cabs include ports or vents that increase speaker efficiency. Acoustic-suspension speakers that are mounted in sealed cabs are fairly rare in the bass world since they tend to be less efficient.
All bass amplifiers have two amplifier stages: the preamp at the beginning of the circuit and the power amp at the end. Between the two, effects such as EQ, compression or reverb are often added to shape the sound.
Accordingly, tube bass amps are more versatile than transistor amps because transistors cannot distort. But tube amplifiers have less headroom - that is, if you want to play loud, the signal will be distorted.
This type of bass amplifier uses transistor circuits in both stages to convert the electrical signal into an audio wave. The amplifying property from the transistor produces a louder signal than the one coming in.
Transistor amps have a lot of headroom - that means you can turn the amp up very loud without distorting the signal. Since you often want the bass to be clean and undistorted, these types of amps are very popular with bassists - unlike guitarists.
Hybrid bass amps use tubes in the preamp and transistors in the power amp. Such bass amps have the advantage of giving players a tube-like overdrive when they turn up the volume or gain of their preamp.
Digital bass amplifiers have a digital output stage and either a transistor or tube preamplifier. The big advantage of this technology is that digital power amps produce hardly any heat, so you can save on the enormous heat sinks.
This means that these types of bass amplifiers are much lighter and smaller than their predecessors. By now, every brand has launched a digital model on the market - they stand out because they are much smaller than their older brothers.
For example, I use 115" + 410" speakers together. Then, when I record the bass, I mic both boxes so that I can combine both channels later when mixing. This way I can try out different bass sounds.
I would recommend anyone who can afford it to buy a combination of 2 cabinets to keep all doors open. But if you only want to buy a bass cab, then I would recommend a 410" cabinet if you play rock, punk, heavy or similar. For jazz or reggae, I would recommend the 115", because here the sound is a bit deeper.
We start chronologically: The tube bass amplifiers were already around from the 50s onwards. There are models that have remained almost unchanged even today - at least in terms of sound. Nowadays, they are still considered the best sounding bass amps.
The Orange AD200B is one of the best-known and most popular bass amplifiers, and for good reason: it delivers a crystal-clear, present sound that is truly unmistakable. The sound is very dynamic and impulse-frequent and is perfect for rock and heavy.
When you turn up the preamp, the sound gets distorted quickly, and that's where the amp can really shine. You get that typical Orange dirty distortion that everyone loves. After all, it's not the best bass amp for rock for nothing!
The Ampeg SVT is another classic bass amp - after all, it has been in production since 1969. Of course, there have been several versions over the years, but Ampeg has always stayed true to the original sound that everyone loves.
There are 2 channels in the new Heritage Edition: One corresponds to the sound from the 1969 variant, and channel 2 is oriented towards the sound of the models from the mid-70s onwards. So you have enormous tonal flexibility with this bass amp.
On the back of the bass amplifier there is an impedance selector (2 Ohm/4 Ohm), a DI Out, a polarity switch, two bias pots, a slave out, a pre amp out, a power amp in, two -inch speaker outputs and a Speakon output. So more than enough connection options!
As you can see, this bass amp offers a particularly large number of sound-shaping options - and that's exactly what I find so great about it. It can sound extremely clean, all the way to rocking and extremely distorted - and of course everything in the middle!
This bass amplifier from Hartke has 250 watts - however, one must know that the same power produces different volumes for transistors and tubes. Accordingly, 250W is much quieter for transistors than for tubes.
This small Ampeg bass amp is a kind of "mini version" of the classic SVT - but it was designed for smaller studios and stages where the SVT would simply be too loud. However, this amp is equipped with transistors in the preamp and power amp, no tubes.
The bass sounds the way it should through this amplifier: The sound is clean and present and is great for all genres of music where not much distortion is called for. And if you need distortion, you could easily upgrade with a distortion pedal.
Hybrid bass amps try to combine the best of both worlds: they are light and relatively small, like transistor bass amps, but because of the tubes in the preamp they have a nicer and richer sound that is quite capable of distortion.
I will say in advance that this bass amp is not capable of distortion at all - it can only sound clean, but incredibly good and loud. With the EQ, the sound can also be coloured very well, especially the low-band EQ brings a lot of "boom" into the sound.
The cool thing about the Markbass Little Mark Tube 800 is that it has two preamps - a tube preamp and a solid-state preamp that you can mix together. With the Gain 1, Gain 2 and Mix controls you can adjust the ratio between the two preamps very precisely.
With 800W, this bass amp is very loud and therefore well suited for large stages. And with its ridiculous 2.9 kg (which are, of course, thanks to the digital power amplifier), it is the perfect travel partner!
The unique thing about this bass amp is the way the limiter works: the built-in limiter prevents the sound from becoming too distorted. When you turn the limiter down, more of the distorted vintage sound comes through and the sound becomes really nice and saturated.
Digital bass amplifiers are those that have a digital power amp built in and transistors in the preamp. This saves an enormous amount of weight and space. The sound is usually very clean and uncoloured. 041b061a72