I only have money for one amp and I play thre instruments

[diverse379]

I am starting this question here because the bass is one of my better instruments and It is very important to get good bottom

I only have money for one amp though and I play a lot of keyboards


I also play some guitar but not muich on gigs


basically I will need a double duty amp for when i go play keys and when I play with the bass

I was thinking of either doing Two 2x10 cabs and a harke 4000 or 3500

with the eq they provide I was thinking i could get good sound out of my eyboard with that set up


or i was going to go with a decent keyboard amp

and run my bass with a preamp
through the keyboard

any suggstions out there?


I am going to pose this same question in the keyboard room

[diverse379]

I play bass and keys and will need to get an amp that can do double duty if i could affod to buy both now i would but i need one amp that can proffessionally function


Here are my thoughts thus far

A eon or samson powered amp  beczuae they are all pupose

a good keyboard amp because they need to function on all frequencies

a hartke head with two tx10 cabs  because the eq can really boost the higs and mids for piano and strings

[Mysteryman]

I thought about doing something like that.
You may want to consider the roland kc550. Im not sure if a store will let you hook a bass up to it you can try. Its made for vocals and keyboard. Plus you can buy the roland sunwoofer and connect it. One of the guys at church has the kc500. He has it on casters so he can roll it in and out of the church pretty quick. His amp does sound good with a keyboard running through it. It basically sounds live like the keyboard does through the headphone jack on it.
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-ROL-KC550--src-D0407FG0HAMS0000--cm_ven-Froogle--cm_cat-SearchEngine--cm_pla-Feed--cm_ite-ROL-KC550.html

Our old bass player had a stack and let me hook my xp10 keyboard up to it. My xp10 sounded so good I wanted to buy a bass combo amp. Thing is you dont have a large EQ on a keyboard amp. more than likely 3 band.

Here are some more links
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bass/navigation?N=100001+304541&Ns=P_Price|0&page=5


Check out this beringher amp.
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-BEH-BX4210A--bass-guitar-amps--m-03_20.html
I thought about buying this for my bass and keyboard but Im not sure how it would handle it.

There the peavey kb5 keyboard amp it has 2 10s in it.
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-PEV-KB5--keyboard-amps--m-4_59.html
Im not sure how this amp will hold up to a bass guitar especially a 6 or more string. 

There is always the option of getting a 2X10 cabinet with a couple of tweeters that can handle alot of wattage along with a small amp head. One that is small enough to fit in a rack with alot of power. Put it on top of the cabinet and put casters on it.

One guy I saw before had a hand truck with all his equipment stacked on it. When he was done giging he just rolled it out and laid it down in the back of his SUV. He played in service with it on the hand truck. Ofcourse you can get a mice looking hand truck on that is small and light weight.

It would be nice if the companies would ask gospel musicians want they would like in equipment because then they could make the ultimate amps and keyboards. It wolud be nice if you had a keyboard amp with rotary speakers, multiple low and normal inputs for mics and instruments, a large range eq, and about 500watts.

[diverse379]

it sounds like if I got it right that you

enjoyed playing your keyboard through a bass rig

and recommend a pa type set like with the roland

I am kind of with you there I feel that a god bass head with the two 2x10 (each has a tweeter ) may very well be the way to go it is small light weight so it is very portable

You also mention that the keyboard setups have less contro over the eq

[malthumb]

I'd go with a nice bass amp.  Basses tend to require more power from the amplifier, so IF you had a guitar amp or keyboard amp that is underpowered, your bass could sound distorted.  On the other hand, if you play a guitar or keyboard through an amp that has more power than necessary, you just dial it down.

Peace,

James

[diverse379]

another vote for the bass amp situation I am inclined to agree
I have never owned a keyboard amp I used to use my keyboard going through my little hartke kickback

and I never had a complaint

I never knew any bass players who ever said hey i need a good keyboard amp to play my bass through

but I have heard keyboard players who have mentioned they liked the sound they got ftrom someones bass rig just on another post that was mentioned

i will be buying one or the other  i will say that if I go the bass rig route i need to make sure There is a tweeter present and some serious eQ

[malthumb]

.......i will say that if I go the bass rig route i need to make sure There is a tweeter present and some serious eQ

Check out a Gallien-Krueger 800RB or 1001RB head matched with an SWR Triad (1 15", 1- 10", and a tweeter).  I use the G-K 1001RB and a Triad as my church rig.  REAL Sweet.

Peace,

James

[diverse379]

thats a great head doc but the price is a little out of my price range

i have maybe 550 to spend

[malthumb]

thats a great head doc but the price is a little out of my price range

i have maybe 550 to spend

Got mine for $350.  Gotta look at used.  It's REALLY hard to trash an amp.  And easy to fix 'em if they are broke.  Pawn shops and music stores take in a lot of like new stuff from people who thought they wanted to play, but found out they didn't have the  [time / desire / talent]  <=== pick one.

[sixstringpoet]

i agree with malthumb, i have bought some very good equipment used.  check this site out

http://www.bassgear.com/

[Mysteryman]

thats a great head doc but the price is a little out of my price range

i have maybe 550 to spend

If you have a visa check card you can always buy first american musical supply online. If it is under $1000 you can get a amp with no credit check. They will only charge you 3 payments to your card. You get your amp as soon as your card goes through. So that will give you a new bass amp on the spot plus you got 2 months to pay it off.

[diverse379]

We have to talk about finances mystery man

because when I said I have 500 to spend I meant 500 not 500 this month and 500 next monhs or even next year see they have us hooked with that credit and buy it on time stuff


I know you are helping I just thought that that was funny you saying hey i know you can only afford 500 but you could spend a thousand if you spread it out over three months  See I have a budget now that extends 4 months deep

I am trying to save money and call in all my markers so i can have money to move in a few months
so from a four month perspective i can only allow myself to spend 500 -550 on amp equipment


I actually found a 400 on ebay I was thinking of bididing on.

after I read your post i went looking for one on ebay but only found the 400

[funkStrat_97]

I've heard that the new Fender Bassman amps make nice guitar amps too.  Give one of them a try.

[Mysteryman]

I was thinking more so that if you wanted more time money wise you could do that plan and yet still have a amp with the first payment. Im not sure I would spend $1000 on a amp right now. 

[diverse379]

I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to help me make a deicision
I think I will go the route of bass amp

all of your suggestions and the web links

were very much appreciated

I have decided based on the posts and infromation shared

to go with a bass head by who I dont know yet

maybe GX or SwR and a nice 2x12 cab iniet wth a horn.

mal thumb and mystery man
six string poet

special shout out to yall

[MikeGee]

I go with a strong keyboard amp, and use a bass pre amp of some sort and a guitar pre amp of some sort.


you know a keyboard amp can hadle the lows of a bass then same amp can give you the clear highs for the guitar.

[GoatRdr1787]

I must agree with Funkstrat, I've played my lead on a friend's Fender Bassman and it definitely has a good sound.

[Mysteryman]

Before you get those 2X12 cabinets you may want to look around on the cabinet specs. I was thinking about doing this same thing a while back and from looking online there are some 10in speakers that can actually get a lower frequency than 12s and 15s. If I got a amp personally I think I would want to get 2X10 combo amp. Which I probably will in the long run. Im pretty sure it would be punchy too. I wish I could remember the type of amp our old bass player had. I know he had a 2X10 peavey cabinet with a tweeter, another peavey 15 in cabinet. I think he also had a yamaha trb bass custom made.

[diverse379]

i am with you on that I think the best thing for me to do is once I get my head

I should bring the head to shop for the cabiniet

At this point money is more the issue then sound

I will upgrade later as I make more money with the gigs I just need this to get my foot in the door