Band-aid Bass Amp Shootout - SVT Micro-VR vs Sunn Concert Bass vs Peavey Max 450

[Spacebone1.02]

Hey so I'm currently between major rigs and would like to get something on the cheap, that will deliver enough power to play alongside a metal drummer and 5150 half stack.

The cabs I have are an SVT 410-hlf (4-ohm), and Behringer 115 (actually sounds pretty good, though not super-efficient output, 4 ohm.)

I also have a Fulltone BassDrive pedal, and enjoy driving pre-amps well into clipping.

There's a decent price on all 3 of these heads in my area; the tone of the Sunn Concert Bass or Micro-VR would be preferable, but I think that the Peavey's 450 watts may be necessary to sufficiently deliver the goods at a medium sized metal club, vs the formers' respective 200w.

Any opinions about the comparative power outputs of these amps, given the cabs I have? Tone of the Peavey Max, with compression defeated?

Will any of them doom?
(Leaning towards the Concert Bass on this point obviously, but it's about 2x the price of the others, & not sure how its volume holds up.)


Thanks

[zachoff]

Can't comment on the others, but I had a Micro-VR for a while.  The tone is great, but it doesn't have the power you need.

One of the best cheap heads I ever had was a Yorkville 400B.  It was loud enough to do anything you wanted and can be had for super cheap.  The old 70s Peavey Bass heads are also super cheap and will do you right if you're in a pinch.

[Spacebone1.02]

Thanks--yea that's what I suspected about the micro-vr but thought it could be cool if it just made the cut, & if it were a 70s Peavey I'd have grabbed it up right away for the price, looks more like a '90s jobby though.

[giantchris]

I'd probably get the Sunn because it has great tone and will retain $$$ value so if you end up not liking it flipping it isn't an issue.  I would also take into account that I don't think the Sunn SS heads have a decent DI out (not sure on that tho).  I have a Beta Bass and the preamp out sounds like dogshit into a PA.  Depending on whether the clubs you play mic or di or both combo you might want to take that into account.  A lot of the smaller places here will only DI bass and not let you turn up so having no DI out on your head kinda blows because they just run a DI box with no tone shaping so its just boomy through the PA and has shit tone. 

[Danny G]

The new run Acoustic amps they sell at guitar center sound surprisingly awesome for the price (tho arent super road-worthy)


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[Spacebone1.02]

Yea thanks for the replies, guys!

Ended up just grabbing one of the new a*CHOO*stics from guitar center, the B600H for $150; I know they're not too reliable, but with the added $20 12-month coverage it's not a bad price for a year's worth of 600 grody watts :]

[mortlock]

Yea thanks for the replies, guys!

Ended up just grabbing one of the new a*CHOO*stics from guitar center, the B600H for $150; I know they're not too reliable, but with the added $20 12-month coverage it's not a bad price for a year's worth of 600 grody watts :]

probably a good choice. ive always liked acoustic gear. admittedly ive never owned any myself but always like what ive seen with other people who use it. update us on how you like this down the road, im curious how it holds up. ive been thinking of getting an amp as well as a 4x10 cab.

i have a 90s peavey mark vi head with a killer usa made ampeg 4x10 and a crappier china made ampeg 1x15. i was thinking of ditching the head and 1x15 and getting the acoustic head and acoustic 4x10 to pair with my ampeg 4x10. im not sure if its a good idea or not.

[jibberish]

i was just pondering, as i sit here looking at my crown X3000.  i got it out of GC's rack on the floor for $250. it is my studio subwoofer amp.
it puts out a mere 750watts/channel RMS into 4 ohms.   

then i compare numbers: a grody600watts for $150, or a bridged 2000watts of Godzilla power for a buck more....hmmmmm
you can get a 10 pound class-d amp with huge power also. that's what all these powered monitors etc have, lightweight class d amps

that's what all these new bass amps are too. all class d
liquid was playing around with one. i still believe he should hav gotten a bigger one. watts are actually cheap vs most other music stuff

just because the form factor is different doesn't mean the guts aren't the same.  also PA amps are always cleaner than music instrument amps.

[Pissy]

Did this with a Stewart world 1.2.  1200 watts bridged into 4 ohms.

I then realized that the thing will draw close to 15 amps on its own when run in that configuration.  I decided that I'd have a tough time not overloading a clubs circuitry, as there is no club on earth that dedicates a separate circuit to each power drop on a stage and I'd be sharing with either the guitar or the monitor board or something worse like lights or the microwave in the office.

Haven't gigged with it, but if I did I would expect power problems.

[Danny G]

Good choice in the Acoustic. Baby that piece of shit. And the things on the top probably are actually vents, so watch your beer...

If I could get my B200H repaired and properly re-housed I'd keep it in service as a back up.

For what it is/was, God I loved that thing.


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[jibberish]

Did this with a Stewart world 1.2.  1200 watts bridged into 4 ohms.

I then realized that the thing will draw close to 15 amps on its own when run in that configuration.  I decided that I'd have a tough time not overloading a clubs circuitry, as there is no club on earth that dedicates a separate circuit to each power drop on a stage and I'd be sharing with either the guitar or the monitor board or something worse like lights or the microwave in the office.

Haven't gigged with it, but if I did I would expect power problems.

heh. that's good.   \m/ go for it \m/

also, you would have to be running actual full out to draw that. they draw much less avg power at avg output. 100w continuous with a 6dB peak would hit 1000watts rich and clean. 100w continuous is insanely loud, but that big amp could do it, and not at full rated draw either.

back on more realistic topics, I snagged a B200 1x15 combo old 10-ton style for $300 in august because they were coming out with their new series with neodymium speaker and class d amp and serious weight reduction.   I really like it too, although I have no other perspective. it can sound really nice and there is a shitload of tweaks and eq.

I will say one thing, that 15 gets a little blappy at really low frequencies pushed hard. I can see the attraction of 10" for super solid clear bass with no speaker flexing.
or possibly upgrade the speaker some day.

[Spacebone1.02]

Yea what I've run for years is my svt4-pro bridged into the 410hlf (sometimes + a 115), never any complaints from the cab but the lights always dim when I turn the thing on, and've definitely flipped the breaker at a club a few times, once 3x in one night ha. That's the main reason I wanted to avoid anything that goes over 1000 watts now really, because then external power issues start to become a problem--sharing the circuit with the guitar amp, etc.

Also speaking of using PA's, I have been thoroughly enjoying this old Peavey CS-900 stereo power amp that looks like it was ripped out the back of a military jeep in 'Nam, 450 watts on each side with my Fulltone Bass Drive acting as pre-amp ha--I would still be running it at shows, but sometimes the volume cuts way out and I have to beat it until morale improves. (though of course unlike this one pictured, mine looks like it was dragged around behind that jeep for a few miles first ha)

[BastardCthulhu]

For the couple of years that I gigged with it, my Acoustic B600 was pretty damn solid.  Here's the fun part, though.  I can only get the full 600w @ 2 ohms.  I'm running a couple Bassman cabs, which stacks up to 4 ohms, and only gives me around 350w.  When I'm only running my 410, that's 8 ohms, and I have no clue what the output is....in any case, can't go wrong with Acoustic.  Very usable eq section, with a neat shelving feature.  The newer models have a respectable separate distortion channel as well.  I just bought a 3-channel Sansamp, because even though I can get any tone I damn well please out of that head, I don't have the patience to do it on the fly.  So the Acoustic is basically just a power amp to me now.

[CID Vicious]

Sansamp Bass Driver, and an iNuke.

Get the DSP version and you gain all sorts of utility. Biamping is a breeze.

The BDDI is industry standard. What every sound guy wants to see.

Franken P mids mod for "SVT everything up full".

[eoin_not_ian]

Sansamp Bass Driver, and an iNuke.

Get the DSP version and you gain all sorts of utility. Biamping is a breeze.

The BDDI is industry standard. What every sound guy wants to see.

Franken P mids mod for "SVT everything up full".

Sansamp is a very cool bit of kit. I've had mine for years. Even if I don't use it all the time, I always have it in my gig bag for the 'what if my amp fails and I need to run a DI and nothing else'.

[CID Vicious]

Behringer BDI21 is just as good tonewise, doesn't quite drive power amps like the original Tech 21 box.

I've a/b'd the BDDI with PF500 & SVT 7 Pro preamps using their own power amp Ins, and frankly the BDDI always sounds better to me.

Buy the BDI21 & If you like, used BDDI later, BDI21 becomes a backup.

Also will work as a guitar preamp stage to hit pedals with.