Bass amp help please.

[garageband]

Carvins don't suck are American and affordable.

[Sloom]

Originally Posted by garageband

Carvins don't suck are American and affordable.

The cabs are great- the heads... I'd still go with that Peavey. Honestly, Peavey is A+ entry-level anytime. It's A+ Not-entry-level too. But you're right, Carvin is a good bang. That B-800 / B-1500 gets top billing too for heads.

[jastacey]

It really comes down to what you have to spend ... if you have not much money ...a really good sounding amp is the peavey Combo 300 ( it has a 1x15 Blackwidow ) and the electronics are very muck like the Mark IV, ( same power amp ) and best of all ... it will fit in your car ... Don't be swayed by the high-priced boutique amps ... most are pretty good ( but you'll pay for the name ) old Peavey bass amps are rock of Gibaltar and the tone is ... pretty good .. I have a couple of old Peavey amps ... and they always work when maintained ... as a mater of fact ... I srill use them at rehearsles and as a back-up amp ... but like the previous poster said try as many amps as you can !!!

[johnn]

Sloom, I wonder if instructions are available for the Mark IV amp. I bought mine after a Crate amp quit on stage. The thing reminds me of the old Peavey powered PAs, which were designed for stereo use and could have power amps added to either channel.
I haven't played bass since the Crate failure. I'm thinking that I need a 1982 footswitch.

There was an early Peavey that had fuzz, which would sound like Sly's "Dance to the Music".
I wouldn't buy a stock TNT, since the ones I tried suck at high volume.
I think Ampeg would be the best bet for working bass players, but some old Peaveys are usuable and loud. The Black Widow speaker being their only option for volume.
I'm also wondering if the Mark IV would be useful for a budget PA.

[Eric Scholz]

I hate to use the "B" word, but I'll do it anyway. "Behringer!" You can get an amp that's loud as balls, and has decent tone, and it won't hurt your wallet.

[Sloom]

Originally Posted by johnn

Sloom, I wonder if instructions are available for the Mark IV amp. I bought mine after a Crate amp quit on stage. The thing reminds me of the old Peavey powered PAs, which were designed for stereo use and could have power amps added to either channel.
I haven't played bass since the Crate failure. I'm thinking that I need a 1982 footswitch.

There was an early Peavey that had fuzz, which would sound like Sly's "Dance to the Music".
I wouldn't buy a stock TNT, since the ones I tried suck at high volume.
I think Ampeg would be the best bet for working bass players, but some old Peaveys are usuable and loud. The Black Widow speaker being their only option for volume.
I'm also wondering if the Mark IV would be useful for a budget PA.

I don't know that I'd use the MK IV for PA, the specs are pretty low for that kind of use I think. If you were playing live in a smallish room and only used the PA for vox, maybe- as long as you're running into a total of 4 or 2 ohms.

I have a MK IV, which I'm now selling. I'm putting together a pretty hefty med-sized rig, and will keep a Yorkville 400B as a back-up head. But honestly I'm probably a fool, but I need to fund the new rig. I'd recommend that head though for anyone in a tight spot for an amp.

I have a .pdf for the Mk IV- sorry I took so long to get back, but I may have missed a notification here to my email... I'll see if I can post a link to it, or include it in a PM.

As far as that "B-word" goes, it's alright. I heard one and it wasn't bad- but that 'Low Frequency Generator' thing is right up there with every other pedal-encased octave thing I've ever heard. Sounds like (a subdued version of) a large animal gargling. Boss made a pedal that really sounded like a large animal gargling, which I thought was better than the Behringer version.

Forget Behringer (just my opinion- no hard feelings Eric!)- you can find an old Peavey and be happier I'd bet. Get a decent cab and you're good to go.

First try at the MK IV .pdf:
Missing Audio Recording Stuff

Or got to Peavey.com, go to "Support", then click where it says "Archived Manuals...". The page you will get to has letters A-Z on top of the page. Click on "M", and look in the list that will appear for "Mark IV Bass Amplifier".

[metal_mike]

might wanna look into hartke stuff... ive got an older "5000" model thats 250 watts a side(bi-amped),built in crossover,compression,& graphic eq....one could surely pick one up on the cheap!

good luck & happy hunting!

[garageband]

Peavey or Carvin, if you can manage it. On the Peavey side, you can swap of the middling speaker for something mega later. I've got this old TKO65 that I put a reconed 15" cast frame JBL that was stuck in a monitor I bought for $30. That little amp can perform CPR now.

The Hartke aluminum cone stuff is a special taste. Some dudes love it, I can't imagine ever using one.

[metal_mike]

yeah, i was referring to the hartke head, not so much the combo...although i love the aluminum cones... i tend to use the head w/ an eden 4x10 ...guess that kinda blows the price deal...

[Sloom]

Had a Guild/Hartke 410 with a rumpled speaker. It was the schniz, great all-around cab for small-ish gigs.

I still say Peavey offers best bang-for-buck though, esp for a first amp.