BillFitzmaurice.info

I currently play guitar in a rock covers band and use a 2x12 Line 6 Flextone and FBV shortboard. Sounds are fine but the amp is a bit on the large side for some of the places we play and also suffers from poor horizontal dispersion which is a PITA on a cramped stage. I am also getting back into playing bass and am looking to get a backline rig to do everything. Styles are mostly rock and blues with some occasional jazz.
I've settled on a J110 with melded array for the cab and plan to change the Flextone for a POD floorboard (probably the X3). The remaining issue is selecting a suitable power amp. Being averse to lugging around any more weight than necessary I've been looking for a lightweight power amp that will give me north of 100 watts into 8 ohms but most of what I've looked at so far is too big and heavy for my liking. Playing with my existing Jacks has shown me that I'm unlikely to need any more than that amount of power for what I will use the rig for.
As a result I've started looking into some of the lightweight bass amps that are available which has thrown up 3 likely candidates which are available in the sort of price range I can live with and on paper at least, look like they will do the job. They also give me the option of a simpler rig for bass. Basically they all provide sufficient power and have auxilliary inputs for an external preamp.
Our contestants are:
Ashdown Little Giant 350 (cheapest option and what looks to be a flexible eq)
Eden Nemesis ENX260 (very small and light)
Ibanez Prometnean P500H (most expensive and aux in is only a minijack)

Does anyone out there have any experience of any of these amps or any other you think might fit my needs? Thanks in advance.

Jerry

JerryTyzack wrote:Does anyone out there have any experience of any of these amps or any other you think might fit my needs?

No experience with those amps, but I have two small digital switching amps that I've used (when not bi-amping) successfully for about 5 years for electric bass.

I have the same flextone and shortboard that I use rarely any more, great amp and tone with significant volume. I now use the POD X3 Live through the PA. The Vega amps and models are much better than my old Flextone XL has. It also has several bass amp models and effects and vocals. The obvous advantage is the guitar is now heard every where and not just in ftont of the stage. And the best thing is , you don't have to carry an amp. The X3 Live also allows you to use two different amps and models at the same time. So you can have really neat sounds from just one guitar, sounds like two guitars. Build two jacks and use them for your PA and run the POD though it. In small setups, have one of the great BF PA systems, forget the individual amps for bass, guitar, organs and run every thing through the PA. Less crap to carry, more room on stage. and a better sound. You can always get a large poster of a Marshal half stack for ombience to hange behind you. Just remember I am an old man with failing hearing and a weak back so these opinions are based on just that. Phil

WB wrote:No experience with those amps, but I have two small digital switching amps that I've used (when not bi-amping) successfully for about 5 years for electric bass.

Thanks - I'd be interested to know more.

pwfirst wrote:I have the same flextone and shortboard that I use rarely any more, great amp and tone with significant volume. I now use the POD X3 Live through the PA. The Vega amps and models are much better than my old Flextone XL has. It also has several bass amp models and effects and vocals. The obvous advantage is the guitar is now heard every where and not just in ftont of the stage. And the best thing is , you don't have to carry an amp. The X3 Live also allows you to use two different amps and models at the same time. So you can have really neat sounds from just one guitar, sounds like two guitars. Build two jacks and use them for your PA and run the POD though it. In small setups, have one of the great BF PA systems, forget the individual amps for bass, guitar, organs and run every thing through the PA. Less crap to carry, more room on stage. and a better sound. You can always get a large poster of a Marshal half stack for ombience to hange behind you. Just remember I am an old man with failing hearing and a weak back so these opinions are based on just that. Phil

In the larger pubs we run the Flextones' DI into the PA and have the amps turned relatively low for monitoring (both guitarists use them). Our bassist is planning on getting an X3 live. My existing Jacks are now our PA so we will be able to feed him in as well - previous small PAs we've used couldn't handle the bass. We have tried running with no backline (volumes turned off) - curiously our drummer ran into problems because he had no way of judging how loud to play - also in part due to inadequate monitoring. As a result we tend to keep the backline at rehearsal levels and DI/mic stuff as needed. My long-term aim is to ditch the backline alltogether but there are a few more hoops to jump through first. Despite all this I still need a backline option as my intention is for the X3 live plus whatever to be my sole backline for both guitar and bass for use in all situations. As for the posters - well definitely Marshalls for me although I'm sure our other guitarist will want Rectifiers, the bassist will want SVTs and the vocalist will bitch and moan because he hasn't got anything.

I really need to reply to this thread but I'm short on time.......

Flextone's are great, I use the Vetta II, my mini bass amp is the Mark Bass but I've also used the Ashdown - I'll report back later.

JerryTyzack wrote:

WB wrote:No experience with those amps, but I have two small digital switching amps that I've used (when not bi-amping) successfully for about 5 years for electric bass.

Thanks - I'd be interested to know more.

I have two of these AI Clarus SL. Weighs 40 ounces. Bought them when they first came out. Thoroughly abused them with 2.6 and 2 ohm loads, and never shut down. This particular model is out of production it seems. I really like the preamp in it.
When testing my 8 ohm woofers, I can get about 32 volts output, not sure how many watts that equals. When I need more or biamping I use my Crown K2.

WB wrote:I have two of these AI Clarus SL. Weighs 40 ounces. Bought them when they first came out. Thoroughly abused them with 2.6 and 2 ohm loads, and never shut down. This particular model is out of production it seems. I really like the preamp in it.
When testing my 8 ohm woofers, I can get about 32 volts output, not sure how many watts that equals. When I need more or biamping I use my Crown K2.

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately AI stuff is a little beyond my budget at the moment - possibly a future upgrade.