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Fender Rumble
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MindTheGap
1688 posts
Jul 09, 2016
12:04 AM
I had a quick noodle on a Fender Rumble (40) bass amp. It's proved really good bass amp for a small room, much better than playing through a PA. It fills the room with a warm sound.

At the end of the clip there's a few seconds of the 5W tube amp (normalised for volume), which I prefer. But I can say that even with a moderately loud band, you simple can't hear the subtle things that make it sound nice, and it might as well be a fuzzbox. It's possible that a Rumble would be a relatively inexpensive way to give enough oomph to overcome that effect. Even though the cabinet is quite big, it's very light to carry.

I don't really play like this but I understand that's what you do to demo an amp ha ha. There's the Joyo American Sound pedal to give the distortion, I didn't have time to play with settings.

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jul 09, 2016 12:05 AM
rogonzab
968 posts
Jul 09, 2016
7:27 AM
Sounds good to me!

In a live situation, no one cares for the "tone" except you. The most important thing is what (and how) you play.
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Sorry for any misspell, english is not my first language.
MindTheGap
1689 posts
Jul 09, 2016
11:05 AM
Yes, probably. My point is more about power than tone.

I know that when there is enough volume from the amplification I play better because I'm not tempted to play harder to be heard - which doesn't work anyway but is hard to avoid. For me, playing with enough oomph in the amp is more fun.

I've enjoyed experimenting with tone, trying to recreate this or that sound I hear on studio and live recordings. But now I've got some basic kit together that works in various situations, I'm happy to plug in and play.

The work was justified though, as simply getting heard over a band isn't as easy as with other instruments. Practical fact.

So...my point is that the Fender Rumble might be of interest to people as a cost-effective way of putting your sound out in certain settings. I've heard the Fender Bassman in action and was impressed by it's great big oomphy sound that muscles through even a loud rocking band.

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jul 09, 2016 12:28 PM
rogonzab
969 posts
Jul 10, 2016
12:19 PM
MindTheGap, do you think that the Rumble is loud enough for a average band? last year I was thinking about the Rumble, but I went for the Champion 40.
the rumble has a line out right?
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Sorry for any misspell, english is not my first language.
MindTheGap
1693 posts
Jul 10, 2016
2:11 PM
I only tried it solo so I don't know, but it seemed to have the 'right stuff'. I think the Champion 40 is very impressive too. Loud, light and relatively inexpensive.

Just that the Rumble has lots of bassy oomph.

Interestingly, Greg Heumann just posted something (new fender amp) where he finds small amps to sound good but for proper volume with a band he bypasses the mid-sized amps and uses something properly loud.

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jul 11, 2016 4:32 AM
Fil
165 posts
Jul 11, 2016
6:23 PM
What about getting the Rumble 100, insuring that there would be enough top end volume for loud/big room situations, and moderating the volume for smaller places? What is lost?
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Phil Pennington
SuperBee
3919 posts
Jul 12, 2016
1:56 AM
I've not really tried playing into a bass amp, although I did hook up my filmosound amp to a 410 bass cab once and though it was good. (That's a great stuck project I must unstick sometime).
I've always thought a bass amp would be clean by design, most are ss, and all the cliched ideas about ss distortion come to mind...I know I've heard solid state devices which are apparently serviceable eg almost every PA I encounter, but the bass amp speakers bother me too.
However, the proof of the pudding is in the sucking and seeing, and if the cap fits all that expectation and preconceived prejudice is out the window.
On the point of sufficient power; I hear you!
Took a 5 watt with 12" cab to a jam last weekend, with 3 guitarists and 100watt valve amp bass, plus a drummer who can hit hard...the drummer was not a problem but the guitars were out of control. I was turned up to max, tone with all the treble cut to get more twist on the volume. I was audible but the well known box of bees tone. Shake your hips, a harp song if there ever was one, just a cacophony with the signature riffs buried in the mix. my 410 would've coped.
MindTheGap
1696 posts
Jul 12, 2016
2:15 AM
Fil, I've not tried the Rumble 100 but you might start to lose the weight advantage. The Champion 40 that rogonzab has is really light, but the Champion 100 is starting to get pretty heavy with twin speakers.

I think the rumble has an overdrive, which I didn't try but I expect will be a modelling type thing rather than just nasty SS clipping. Still, that's what my Harp Break or Joyo AS are for - to stick in front of an otherwise clean amp or PA.

3 guitars, bass and drums? I think I'd have given up trying to compete.

I can't quite see why harp amplification needs so many watts and speakers to sound OK against a band, but it really does seem to be the case. Volume perception is a funny thing. Occasionally I shake a tambourine when not playing and you can hear that above everything else really clearly.

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jul 12, 2016 2:31 AM
rogonzab
970 posts
Jul 12, 2016
10:45 AM
"I was turned up to max, tone with all the treble cut to get more twist on the volume."

That is not hte way to go.

Humans does not hear well low freq sounds, thats why bass players use 500w amps, so when you take off all the trebele your are making it hard to listen to it.

You need treble to be able to maintan yourself alive in the mix. Or a lot of watts (like Dennis Gruenling, who uses a 6x10 50w harp amp, plus a band whit pro musicians)




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Sorry for any misspell, english is not my first language.
rogonzab
972 posts
Jul 12, 2016
10:52 AM
Found this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/fender-rumble-100-1x12-100w-bass-combo-amp

Please please look at the weight:

100w and 22 lb!

That is crazy light.
Sorry for any misspell, english is not my first language.
SuperBee
3920 posts
Jul 12, 2016
3:11 PM
so you think for better audibility I should have turned the volume down and treble up?
rogonzab
973 posts
Jul 12, 2016
8:02 PM
Yes, more volume = more distortion (in a tube amp), and more distortion = feedback. Is much more easly geting feedback whit a distorted signal than whit a clean one. You can make a test in your house to be sure.
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Sorry for any misspell, english is not my first language.
SuperBee
3921 posts
Jul 12, 2016
8:48 PM
perhaps you misunderstand what i mean by 'max'. i don't mean the volume knob is fully clockwise. i mean the amp is as 'loud' as it gets. that's about 2 o clock on this one. after that there is no increase in volume, just greater distortion for a while.

signal does not distort all at once. there are still volume gains to be had once signal begins to be noticeably distorted but progressively more of the signal is reaching cutoff.

i had the amp to that place where no increase in volume could be obtained. to reach that point i had to progressively cut treble and had sacrificed all the good qualities of the amp just for the sake of hearing what i was playing.

turning down would have given better sound but no-one would have known about it.

there was nothing else to do except perhaps put a finger in my ear and play along acoustically

the amp was simply overwhelmed. which was the reason i mentioned it, by way of endorsing MTG's point about the need for power.

things which can help: tilting the cab, raising the cab off the floor, getting out a sufficient distance in front of the speaker. i was able to do the last of these and that did at least enable me to hear my amp during shake your hips.
MindTheGap
1701 posts
Jul 13, 2016
12:47 AM
22lbs - ah yes that is very light. I read that this model has a Class D power amp, which are very efficient so I guess that helps too.

I think you're right about the treble cutting through but IMO it's not a great sound. I often take ambient recordings of rehearsals and when we get into that situation I think the harp just sounds a bit rubbish compared to the other instruments.

And I don't mean in a fussy "it's not perfect" way, I mean musically. It's in the mix, but it might as well not be. And we don't play at anything like the high volume I've witnessed at jams. Honestly, I don't know how they aren't all partially deaf.

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jul 13, 2016 12:53 AM
SuperBee
3922 posts
Jul 13, 2016
1:28 AM
'In the mix but might as well not be'
Yes.
I don't really enjoy playing at those levels. I think I'm probably a fogey. Looking back, I can probably spot the moment it happened. I picked up a Miles Davis CD and decided to buy it. When I got home and played it, the walls of rock began to tremble under the onslaught of the combined horns of Davis, Coltrane and the Cannonball of Adderley


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