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Okay, I know you didn't ask for my goddamn life story, but here goes: I've been playing guitar through a JCM900 SL-X and a matching 412, which has been.... okay. I got it for a really good deal and it's worked great for the past 7 years.

I've been playing bass through a Yorkville ss head and matching 410 cab which is alright but not awesome, and over the past year I've been playing bass and guitar in my band (we're pretty loose) and just been taking the bass amp to gigs so I can switch between the two on the fly. Last night I just used the Marshall and realized that it's just not for me anymore - it's virtually impossible to get a clean tone and everything that goes in gets "Marshall-ized" somehow. I've tried to make this amp cleaner, I've swapped out the preamp tubes for cleaner ones, I've adjusted the gain to so low it's at 1, but it just really isn't what I'm looking for anymore. I much prefer 10s (and maybe a 15), and a cleaner tone overall....

So I think rather than have two amps, two cabs, etc, I'd rather just buy a good bass amp and play guitar through it as well. I'm not sure if I want tubes or solid state, and I'm not sure if there's any options I might be overlooking. I apparently like clean tones and build up gain through pedals, and I like minimal controls, I don't need a lot of knobs and settings... I kind of thought about buying a Fender combo and keeping my bass setup, or just buying a bass head and an 810 and using it for everything, but I'm not sure. I'm probably going to consign my Marshall through a local shop rather than deal with craigslist and research my options in the meantime. It's pretty easy to score old Traynors around here, and old Ampeg 810s can be found for about $500... thing is I don't know a lot about bass options, so maybe there are some really great options that I'm overlooking. It's a big city so finding an acoustic head, or a Sunn is not out of the question....

I figure I can sell the Marshall for about a grand so that's (kind of) my budget, to keep my wife happy .... I also have the option to pop the 410 speakers into an old traynor fridge that runs at 8 ohms and takes 4 10s and a 12, which might work really well for a cab and leaving me with a lot more room for head options....

Any sweet ideas you guys have are appreciated.....

Chankgeez wrote:

retinal orbita wrote:The Klon can do all that for $600 more AND make trumpet sounds too....

I forgot to mention I play a six string bass... no way I'm letting A KLON near my special baby.....

I'm not much of a combo guy, but if you want a good solution, Acoustic is cheap and sounds good. I mean I have a 200 watt combo and I think I paid like 300 for it. It gets loud as fuck.

Otherwise, look into Gallien Krueger. I play an Fbass 6 and it sounds great through it.

One amp for Bass and Guitar, then yo need a 70s amp, Like a tube Univox.

haaaate to break it to you but sl-x amps are going for cheap at the moment, like I was really really lucky I was able to get 700 for mine, and it was in MINT condition and the 100 watter with winged C ruby tubes. you might be able to trade someone? with that said

old ampeg 8x10 hold out for one for 450 or less
and one of these bad mamma jammas



stupid heavy, reliable as fuck, and more power then you will EVER need. AND u can score them for 300$ - 350$ and they sound great and have a classic (for a modern bass amp) look to them.

I miss mine like crazy

whiskey_face wrote:haaaate to break it to you but sl-x amps are going for cheap at the moment, like I was really really lucky I was able to get 700 for mine, and it was in MINT condition

Yeah I know it's not exactly a sought after head, I think the cab might be worth more at this point!! I paid $500 for the head, but the cab is in great shape. Either way, I think I can move it for a reasonable price.... and if I take a bit of a loss I'm not exactly worried, I've had a great run with it. I'll look into the Carvin, thanks!

V-4 + 412 + 215 = Exactly what you need.

retinal orbita wrote:

whiskey_face wrote:haaaate to break it to you but sl-x amps are going for cheap at the moment, like I was really really lucky I was able to get 700 for mine, and it was in MINT condition

Yeah I know it's not exactly a sought after head, I think the cab might be worth more at this point!! I paid $500 for the head, but the cab is in great shape. Either way, I think I can move it for a reasonable price.... and if I take a bit of a loss I'm not exactly worried, I've had a great run with it. I'll look into the Carvin, thanks!

OHH your gonna sell the cab too!

maybe keep the cab buy an old peavey 2x15 and SS amp and have cabbage options?

MEC wrote:V-4 + 412 + 215 = Exactly what you need.

This.

I'm using that carvin b1500. It's got an insane amount of volume on tap. The other night I hooked up my fearful 15/6/1, rumble 2x8, and Rumble 1x12. All 8 ohm cabs, and it just pumped air. Like shit rattled off tables upstairs and I was in the basement. Has a decent clean tone when I run my guitar too, though it requires some more drastic eq.

Holy Schnikes wrote:

MEC wrote:V-4 + 412 + 215 = Exactly what you need.

This.

Me three

Currently I'm using a rusty box + peavey 120/120 into a couple 15s. Not counting the cabs that only cost me roughly 500 bucks and sounds great. I dunno how that would sound for guitar unless yer into the whole steve albini thing tho. Definitely worth looking into the separate pre/power thing.

MEC wrote:V-4 + 412 + 215 = Exactly what you need.

Yeah I like this plan a lot.... I might look into like an SVT or something too, run a 115 and the 412 into it.... my buddy has an SVT at our jam space and I'm gonna test it out next time I'm there.... I'm willing to accommodate on guitar (get an EQ pedal, or a boost or something too, just to make it useable for both instruments.....

An svt will definitely be fantastic as is with guitar