Something, Aggressive...

TylerDurdenPSSC

TylerDurdenPSSC

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Hey guys. Now, I'm a BIG fan of my Ampeg gear,
-and the future tube gear from them I will undoubtedly
acquire at some point and time in my life- however,
I'm also looking for something, a bit more aggressive
to save my pennies for.

I know Tech 21 and Mesa have come highly recommended
for this very characteristic, but am wandering what my
fellow Warwick-ians thought!? (Considering the fact
that our bass guitars are born and bred to be AGGRESSIVE!)
 
If I were to choose between a mesa and tech21, I'd go for Mesa, but they seem really overpriced as there are great and cheaper amps on the market. Mesas also have a very big difference in sound clarity between models, the Titan sounds crazy clear comparing to M-pulse and Big Block is clearer than M-pulse, even though they all are great amps.
Ampegs=warm tube tone, I suppose going solid state would be going more aggressive. Or on the other hand, what can be more aggressive than an over driven tube amp?
 
Well you could get a mesa 400 plus or non. Great tube head. Well A trace elliot is really the main head i can reccommend, a pre gibson one for sure, an ah350 smx would be great, or any other of their head just make sure their pre, post gibson. There amazingly aggressive and growly.

While were on th subject one of my favourite setups would be two Svt II's going through a 2x15 and a 6x10, just thought id add that. The 2x15 completly clean and the 6x10 taking evreything else.
 
Gibson!?

I thought Peavey owned the Trace Elliot brand name.


I was more so thinking something along the lines of MESA,
however, as Gusts stated, they are a tad pricey.

Anyone have any experience with HIWATT heads?
 
TylerDurdenPSSC said:
Gibson!?

I thought Peavey owned the Trace Elliot brand name.


I was more so thinking something along the lines of MESA,
however, as Gusts stated, they are a tad pricey.

Anyone have any experience with HIWATT heads?
Click to expand...

You could ask entwistle...
 
Mesa 400 plus is a great amp, lightweight comparing to other tube amps. A friend of mine uses one with an Ampeg 4x10 Hlf cab and his rig sounds really great. maintenance is an issue however.
the pricey new Mesa stuff - well I think that the brand name itself makes a big part of the price tag.
=g=

Hiwatt make great amps and all, but it seems to me they are more on the vintage side.
 
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Gusts said:
Mesa 400 plus is a great amp, lightweight comparing to other tube amps. A friend of mine uses one with an Ampeg 4x10 Hlf cab and his rig sounds really great. maintenance is an issue however.
the pricey new Mesa stuff - well I think that the brand name itself makes a big part of the price tag.
=g=

Hiwatt make great amps and all, but it seems to me they are more on the vintage side.
Click to expand...

I'm going to go out a limb, and guess the 400 Plus
is no longer in production? I checked out the MESA
site, and did not see it listed... Did see the M-Pulse
600 though, which features their Simul-State technology.

I only asked about Hiwatt for seeing the Metallica video
of Robert Trujillo playing with the band for the first time.

Lars says something like "That's ah, a killer ton you got
coming from that bass there." To which, Rob replies
"Yeah, it's the Hiwatt and the Mesa."

:lol:
 
TylerDurdenPSSC said:
Hey guys. Now, I'm a BIG fan of my Ampeg gear,
-and the future tube gear from them I will undoubtedly
acquire at some point and time in my life- however,
I'm also looking for something, a bit more aggressive
to save my pennies for.

I know Tech 21 and Mesa have come highly recommended
for this very characteristic, but am wandering what my
fellow Warwick-ians thought!? (Considering the fact
that our bass guitars are born and bred to be AGGRESSIVE!)
Click to expand...

what do you exactly mean with "more aggressive"? I find my ampeg to be very aggressive. and my definition for that is that a amp has to support the "bark" off my corvette :-)
 
TylerDurdenPSSC said:
I'm going to go out a limb, and guess the 400 Plus
is no longer in production? I checked out the MESA
site, and did not see it listed... Did see the M-Pulse
600 though, which features their Simul-State technology.

I only asked about Hiwatt for seeing the Metallica video
of Robert Trujillo playing with the band for the first time.

Lars says something like "That's ah, a killer ton you got
coming from that bass there." To which, Rob replies
"Yeah, it's the Hiwatt and the Mesa."

:lol:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've seen that too. Who knows how he combines them and I doubt we'd ever get to know. Check these links out:


Robs live gear somewhat official info. Ampeg svt 2 pro all tube amp and a Mesa Dual rectifier guitar head + guitar cab!!! so this got me thinking that the Hiwatt could have easily been a guitar amp instead of bass, probably not, but who knows, there are million ways of combining things.
Mesa 400+ is out of production, but they show up on ebay quite often and don't cost much at all, all of them are heavily used, but the amp is primitive enough to sustain a lot of abuse.
I used to have an M-pulse 360, not being made anymore, they make the 600W version only. the mpulse is a different kind of animal and if you ask me, I'd say W Tubepath is way way better, clearer sounding and more versatile.
=g=
 
Peavey does own them now, but gibson did buy them at one point and they were crap then. Personally i think that The original trace elliots are the best, They are highly powerful ie, the ah300 sounds nearly as loud as any 500 watt amp. They are very reliable and have great quality. Try them out if you can. I havent had any experience with mesa boogie though, but i hear there great.

A musicman stingray, runn9ing through an swr can sound aggressive if your good with an eq, and their transparent amps for sure. What do you take as aggressive.
 
I have played an original Trace, in a small pawn shop
(go figure) in Cocoa Beach. It was a little thing, and I
made a joke at it. The guy at the shop told me not to
laugh until I tried it.

I did, and it was LOUD. Louder than the Yorkville combo
that was there... Lacked a bit of clarity in the higher end,
which is where the Yorky got it. :P

As far as what I think an aggressive rig sounds like...

Nice round low's, bright highs, and a mid range for days.
Something that is easily heard through two heavily,
possible down tuned (yuck!) guitars. This is one of the
big bonuses I found through Ampeg Tube series of heads.

Now, I'm just seeking something that takes the Ampeg,
and gives it a little extra "Oomph!" Which is why I initially
mentioned Mesa right off the bat.

(I LOVE Maple and Ash. About the only darkwoods I'm really
a fan of are Ovangkol, Wenge, and Mahogany. Since I play
solely Warwicks right now, I get the Wenge/Ovangkol in the
neck, and the Maple in the body... Which means I have a bass
that has articulate enough highs, yet a punchy midrange. Some
people don't like Maple bodied basses because they lack in booty,
which is where the warm tubes really fill in. :d)
 
Well im an ampeg fan boy, but yet if youre using "The Ampeg RIg" ie head and 8x10 the lows arent going to be hugely there. A huge amount of ampegs sound come from their cabs and i mean a hufge amount.

What you described there well ,its pretty much an ideal sound so it is.
Ashdown is bringing out a huge tube head( 400 Watts), i fined ashdown to have a woof to them, when it comes out we should all go try it.
 
When it comes to Ampeg... I have no idea why
anyone would go with the fridge... Personally, I
prefer a 4x10 + 1x15... Even over that 4x12 would
be nicer.

Not quite sure what you're asking Woody... I don't
live on a farm...
 
You mean my collection? I don't have a collection,
that's what I'm drooling over or, wanting to acquire.

Looking for new amplification too... Like Vic, I've been
out of the loop for too long.
 
well i would say stick to your ampeg cab. Mesa cabs (in my experience with them and are great cabs) seem to sound more "pretty". The ampeg seem to be more aggressive by being punchier.
 
My attention is turned toward Orange as of now.

I'm dying to get a chance to try one of their rigs
out. I don't have huge expectations for it, but I'm
guessing it takes the Ampeg tone, and runs with it.
The 40... The 30... The 20... The 10!!! That's kind
of what I'm expecting the Orange to do. ;)

(It's kind of hard to beat hand-wired British valves imo.)
 
Have you played the peavey vb-2, i hear there cheap and really nice tube heads. Theirs also stuff like the ampegh vb4, 100 valve watts, really loud.
 
I actually haven't had the pleasure of test driving
a Peavey tube head as of yet. Every time I head
up to a shop that carries Peavey, it's always just
the basses... And it's always the Millennium BXP
models and ONE Cirrus that's in dire need of a set up.

I would LOVE to try one out though. I'm also looking
around for Traynor as well. (I'm a HUGE Yorky fan.)
 
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