A GREAT BASS AMP...CHEAP the power of the pedal strikes again

A GREAT BASS AMP CHEAP !!!

There are some really great bass amps out there! BUT!  They are not cheap. You need great EQ...maybe even a little distortion for warmth...the kind the big Ampeg amps give you. You also need a lot of power. Again....up goes the price. Then you get the thing and as much as you love it...you go into the studio and out comes the engineer with a direct box to bypass your amp and go straight into the board. LOL

So...let me tell you how to beat the system. There are some great pedal preamps out there. Like the

                      Sans-Amp Bass Driver DI. .....Current Price $200.00 USD
        or a...     Dr. J Sparrow Driver & DI.......Current Price   $68.00 USD

They sound great. You can have a nice warm clean tube amp sound or push it a bit into a punchy overdrive... So if you now are getting by with practice amps or rentals...your sound will instantly improve just by plugging this into them .If you do any recording going direct it will not be an issue for you or the engineer .He just takes his DI right off your preamp out  & you both are happy with the sound.

"BUT I NEED A BIG AMP!.... I NEED CLARITY AND POWER !!!" you say.

This is where it gets good. How about 560 watts RMS of studio quality power!!! fairly CHEAP.

What you do is buy an ART SLA-2 studio power amp with 560 watts RMS ..into mono.
....you should be able to get one for around $350.00 USD

....plug your preamp pedal directly into it....and like magic you are rockin...with the big boys!

Now for a speaker...look local...a good plywood 15 inch bass cab will getcha going. Ideally one of the big names....USED....better still pick up a cabinet that's empty or has a blown speaker in it.


The industry standard is an Eminence 15....an equivalent
Celestion could work. It depends where you live in the world.

TWO ARE GOOD.

Eminence Legend CB 158.....for about $135.00 USD  (good)

Eminence BN 400x Green Label Neodymium  for about $200.00  (best)



I would go with the Dr. J Sparrow,...a used cabinet for maybe $100.00 the better BL 400 and the Art.
This would cost you about...$650.00 USD

You then have a great starting rig. Fat and punchy...and no more will you have dreams of  assassinating the drummer and the guitar player.

Later add a cabinet with two 10''s and horn in it. You will probably find that you stop there. Spend any money after that on a new bass.

mmmmmm.....a compressor might be nice though...maybe a Keeley 4 knob or ....LOL

Just recently I saw this cab going cheap in the Rentals of a local store. So check around!

You never know what you might find....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE

If you always loved the sound of a P bass but hated to be part of a full 80 percent of players in all styles of music that use it... check out the Orange O Bass. It DOES have 'the' sound. It is dirt cheap with a 'street price' around $400.00 USD. 
The quality is mind blowing...flawless fit/finish/hardware...it sounds very much like a 57 P. Bass.
If you want to make it second to none sound wise I would go for the 62 P-Bass sound...this is the sound that nailed it...all new American P Basses
come with the 62 PU's.

Put in a Duncan SPB-1 Vintage PU.
 ($75.00 USD) 
...this one is the best of the '62 type PU's.

Best of all this bass has cache...unlike a Squier or Mexican P bass
... most musicians when they tell you they have one
 follow up this statement...
by making excuses or a defense on why they have it.

You won't be saying 
             "I got an Orange O bass but I will soon be getting an American P bass."

You may get another bass later...but you would NEVER SELL THIS ONE!

Belcat Bass Amp 1/2 watt $50.00USD

5 1/2"x 5 1/2 x 3 1/8"4" speaker