Let's see your guitar and bass gear!

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

Thanks. I'm hoping this all works and everything jells well. The drummer and I seem to be in synch, and that's important. I know my friend and I from dance get along

Antihero said:

How did the 40w hold up against the drummer?

Meh. I had it up to 3/4 and I could hear what I was playing when I stood next to it. Next session I was going to crank it up to full and probably still patch it into the PA that we used for our accompanying track.

Congrats on the new band forming, it's a fun time.  I know it seems like we are raining on your parade on the amp but if everyone is like me, I've played some E36 M3ty venues and I've seen good bands fall flat because the bass player was trying to go for "small and compact" rather than " I can be heard".

Nah. If it's going to be something I regret getting, I'd rather be steered away from it. This deal is available through every major retailer (at least GC, Sweetwater, and Amazon) and will be through the new year. So I'm not in a rush, but don't want to miss this if it's the right choice.

The goal is to eventually get the right setup. But I think that will evolve over time and am not worried in advance. If that's a head and a cab, then cool.

Just quickly looking, I don't see any Mark IV's for sale locally. On Reverb, they're going for $350 - $400.

Having a head and leaving cabs at different locations may or may not work. The rehearsal space is shared and we just rent time there. But, I know there's equipment that lives there and I could probably get away with leaving something used and functional.

It's kinda silly, but aesthetics are also a factor. My practice space is in our basement, which is also a nice lounge space to listen to records and sip alcoholic beverages. Having bulky, older, kinda grimy used equipment is not going to make my wife happy.

If the market on Mark IV has gone up that much maybe I should sell one of mine since I'm in a gear purging mood lol

I'm not saying the Mark IV is the end all and be all, but , Pete,Tony and barefoot can probably back this up, I've never heard anyone say they hated them. Maybe it wasn't the best amp they've ever played but it's hard to see a lot wrong with Mark IVs. They can be bi amped, they have 2 channels you can use together, they run at 2 ohms and are loud as berkeley. I used it in our tiny band room at one point to amp the bass and 3 sets of keyboards with a stereo guitar amp for highs. Sounded great and I personally have.....$145 into that and the cab.

I haven't played any of the Katanas but they seem like great practice amps, I'm not sure how great they are in a band setting. The fact that you can even be heard with 40w is a good sign that the drummer has control, I think I can clap louder than a 40w amp lol.

I will say onboard effects are kinda cool to play with at the start but individual pedals are usually a whole hell of a lot better. God help you if you get into fuzz though, there is no amount of fuzz that is enough fuzz.

They make some nice looking cabs too for home decor reasons, pic at the bottom even though I've never bought anything from them. I've never had that problem, I use Shure Vocal Master columns for home sound and my wife thinks they look cool.

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

In reply to Tony Sestito :

There are a bunch of things with specs that I don't fully understand. Like I really don't get the deal with class A/B vs D, but in reviews comparing the Boss Katana to comparable Fender amps, the Katana has a *much* thicker tone.

This one is 160w continuous rms, but 300w peak. I don't know how to compare that to other other "300w" amps.

The options on separate heads and cabs seem to be going for a lot more than $450. Especially since in has a built in Comp and Chorus, and lots of other pedal modeling options.

The class d thing is kind of weird. Technically a watt is a watt is a watt but it also is totally wrong.

Sometimes they will massively overrated them or use some tricky math to make it more powerful.

Tube amps are rated before distortion so that 150w Bugera plexi have? It consumes 600w turned up, I actually tested it .

But mostly it's the tone. If an amp has a lot of ass AKA low mids and bass , it'll sound significantly louder. Even if it's a good tone it'll sound louder.

But class D sounds ....one dimensional. I haven't played every one but all short of the Ampeg have been bleh. It's hard to say unless you hear it.

And older Peavey stuff is underrated. I have a 60w bass amp that I guarantee is louder than the Katana, and gives the Mark IV much more of a run for it's money than it should.

And don't even get me started on a Sunn Beta Lead, 100w my ass, someone forgot a zero or 2

Watts can be confusing. My first amp was a Marshall mg15dfx. 15w. That's always been my reference point. 
 

My current "big" amp is my Orange B.H. Terror. 15w. 
 

Not even the same species. In fact, I've used the orange as a bass amp through a 2x12 with a loud ass punk rock drummer and didn't get lost. 

Antihero said:

Also what kind of music? And scaling your amp to what the guitarists play is a good idea, especially if new amps add to the eyerolling you mentioned, you probably don't want to upgrade again in a month or 3.

Got response back from my friend about their gear. They've been playing as a family, with her dad on drums, and sister on bass.

Guitarist is using a Roland JC-40. Her sister has been using a Hartke HD-50 for bass.

I suspect the drummer I connected with is probably louder than her dad. Going to see how things go on Monday to judge what the balance is like, and if this is even likely to be a longer-term group. If I need more oomph, I can plug into the PA mixer for a bit.

I don't think it's going to be quite this situation...

Antihero said:

But class D sounds ....one dimensional. I haven't played every one but all short of the Ampeg have been bleh. It's hard to say unless you hear it.

Yeah. That's a lot of what has me intrigued. I listened to some head-to-head reviews comparing the Katana 110 to comparable power/price Fender and Ampeg amps... and it's not even close. The Katana is just a lot thicker.

On the Class D weirdness... 

Yeah, that's the trade-off for portability. It's really basic, flat sound, even with EQ. A DI or effects processor might help with that a bit, but it's not going to replace the tone of something like an Ampeg SVT Classic or anything like that. 

The Peavey Combo 115 I have sounds decent for what it is all by itself. It has a 7 band EQ and a bunch of other features that are really handy. The biggest "feature" is just how loud it is. It's a single 15" in a ported cab with 200W running it (not Class D). That thing moves some air; Up about halfway is all it needs to be heard with other instruments. It's no 8x10 cab, but it cuts through in a band setting. If you can find one, they are pretty cheap too. I bought mine new for about $300. They don't make them anymore, and the old adage "ALL PEAVEY $100" may apply. The TKO 115 is its little bro and can be had even cheaper. And do not be afraid to buy used! 

That Katana sounds like a great amp, and Boss/Roland know what they are doing, but I'd still go old school Peavey over that thing for a full band practice setting and get a good effects processor to mess with. Then again, I am a card carrying member of the Peavey CVLT, so YMMV. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Okay. I'm also trying to understand how resistance figures into it. I'm seeing specs of things with 4 ohms and 8 ohms (think I saw one mention of 2 ohms).

How does all that play together?

I guess a lot of this is that I don't understand how to shop around for heads and cabinets to be sure they're going to play nice together. Getting a combo is just kind of an Easy button.

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

Any amp will state its lowest stable impedance. It is safe to plug a 8ohm amp into an 8 or 16ohm cabinet, but not 4. 
Matching the impedance means you'll get the stated output in watts. Doubling impedance cuts the output in half, but is safe on hardware. THIS DOES NOT CUT VOLUME IN HALF. it will be reduced, but usually by only about 5%

If you under-impede your amp, the transformer(s) will flow too much juice and overheat. Most modern equipment will have built in protection that will trip like a breaker and put your rig into protect mode. Most, but not all. Don't under-impede your amp. 

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

Antihero said:

Also what kind of music? And scaling your amp to what the guitarists play is a good idea, especially if new amps add to the eyerolling you mentioned, you probably don't want to upgrade again in a month or 3.

Got response back from my friend about their gear. They've been playing as a family, with her dad on drums, and sister on bass.

Guitarist is using a Roland JC-40. Her sister has been using a Hartke HD-50 for bass.

I suspect the drummer I connected with is probably louder than her dad. Going to see how things go on Monday to judge what the balance is like, and if this is even likely to be a longer-term group. If I need more oomph, I can plug into the PA mixer for a bit.

I don't think it's going to be quite this situation...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/31PrzVpMktE?rel=0

 

The jc40 is a 20w a side stereo amp so it really won't be too loud either so the Katana would easily hold up to it. Good idea to just stick with what you got for a bit too

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Okay. I'm also trying to understand how resistance figures into it. I'm seeing specs of things with 4 ohms and 8 ohms (think I saw one mention of 2 ohms).

How does all that play together?

I guess a lot of this is that I don't understand how to shop around for heads and cabinets to be sure they're going to play nice together. Getting a combo is just kind of an Easy button.

Essentially most amps run at either 16 ohms ( usually only guitar amps) 8 ohm or 4 ohms with some special heavier duty ones able to run at 2 ohms. There are outliers to that but let's start there.

The vast majority of bass cabs are either 8 ohm or 4 ohm.  Adding cabs changes the ohm rating

16+16 equals an 8 ohm load

16+16+16+16 equals a 4 ohm load

8+8 equals a 4 ohm load

4+4 equals a 2 ohm load.

Higher impedance will cut the power a bit, but you can't go lower than the stated minimum ohm rating.

Usually combos with extension jacks only reach their full power with an extension cab but in the Katana case it defeats the internal speakers from a quick web search. That's kinda dumb really, essentially then you have a huge heavy amp head.

In reply to Antihero :

Yeah, what he said. 

For example, looking at the instructions of my Combo 115, it says you can connect an external speaker, but it cannot be lower than 4 ohms. The internal speaker runs at 4 ohms. So, connecting another 4 ohm cab to the built-in cab makes the whole deal 2 ohm. It also unlocks more power; the amp runs at 200w by itself at 4 ohms and 300w with an extension cab at 2 ohms. Both the internal and external speakers do stuff with an extension cab connected. 

That's really bizarre that the Katana doesn't do that and defeats the internal circuitry. What's the point of having an external cab then? Weird. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Yeah he did lol

I started writing the whole thing in-between chores and apparently in the mean time he posted roughly the same thing 

And here's something that this crazy left handed bass player from Mississippi....um......I mean Pete found.

This would also be cool as hell for you

Okay. Understanding a bit more. I'm kinda thinking the better option then would likely be a modular one. Not buying everything I might need before I need it, but getting a head unit with excess headroom and probably a separate 2x10 (or maybe 1x12) for the short term, with the ability to add a 2nd cab if needed later.

This Orange LBT 500 is on sale locally for $375. Could probably talk them down a bit from there. Something like that would have me set up for a while.

Then the Rumble 40 remains a useful grab-and-go.

Not jumping yet, just wrapping my head around the best plan.

In reply to Antihero :

Umm... I saw this add locally for basically that, but in white...

They want $500 though.

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

White tolex Peavey are a pretty rare breed if it's stock. Like, only made for a band or 2 and only a few

I'm guessing that it's not since they are matching and it's a 4x12 carvin. I think that the cab is a guitar cab though. Technically the one I posted can be used for both and is ported for extra awesome.

The amp though is great

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

Modular is best IMO. I know nothing about the Orange though I'll look it up when I get a chance.

Cab choice is funny, and highly personalized. I prefer big speakers and a lot of them. To give you an idea of what I consider a great bass tone, here's a song that shows it well. It's also an instrumental with a lot of present bass. If you add a bit more low-end and more balls this is what I mix too and am used to

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

I'd be tempted to show up with four bills and a pizza and see what's what. That may be dated, but damn if I don't love a well set up cougar. 

barefootcyborg5000 said:

I'd be tempted to show up with four bills and a pizza and see what's what. That may be dated, but damn if I don't love a well set up cougar. 

...are we still talking about guitars? 

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

It's all the same, really. 

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

In seriousness, I'm assuming the Peavey Series 400 is the "cougar" you are referring to. What is the strong appeal of them?

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

The perfect sweet spot of function, capability, reliability, simplicity, and price. 
I'll dog on peavey harder than Pepper Kenan, but that's because I flirt by punching. 
 

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

In seriousness, I'm assuming the Peavey Series 400 is the "cougar" you are referring to. What is the strong appeal of them?

Most old Peavey is awesome, I have a few from the dawn of Peavey that are also awesome.

Like......I contacted them about a question I had about their very early amps and Hartley Peavey had to search around and sent my tech handwritten schematics and how he thought it needed to be fixed. Sadly I rarely play it.

The 400 series is robust, loud, has great tone and is cheap. These are the kinds of amps that you keep forever and don't need to upgrade if you like the sound. The Mark IV is the same. Standard 160s, the Century series, Firebass, VB2, Roadmasters...all great. There's very few Peavey products that were a total miss.

The f800b has huge fans but I've owned 2 and they are not my favorite. In fact the one in the pic needs some help just like my last one, but it's a 450w amp from a time where 150w was a lot of power and it'll run 2 ohm too.

Hmm... that amp is tempting. But $500 is steep and I really do not need a 4x12 cab.

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

Hmm... that amp is tempting. But $500 is steep and I really do not need a 4x12 cab.

I'll check but very few stock white tolex one exist, like.....a dozen or something stupid low.

Don't quote me on a dozen yet, research is needed