Starter Bass Amp

[stubbsonic]

I can't get Hartke bass amps to sound remotely organic (my signature style), but maybe they're a better match for active basses (which I no longer play, after decades of only-active basses). Very harsh and bright sound at any setting. I have to suffer them at local open mic jams and may try my J vs. my P next time as P's and J's are complete opposites.

I whole-heartedly agree that an "organic" sound is a noble goal.

Forgive a slight bit of push-back. I can't speak for all Hartke products, but my KB15 is a gorgeous, natural sound, not harsh or overly bright, and can be very easily dialed in with the onboard 3-band-- but I nearly always keep them roughly at noon. Perhaps it is different from other Hartke amps. I don't know.

The Rumble I play with is fine, as long as I turn the bass knob way down. Otherwise its a bit woofy. But that could also have to do with the room. It's a darker, warmer sound. I can't say how compressed it is, because at that gig, I don't get to "dig in" as I would in louder situations.

[mhschmieder]

Oh, I just figured a lot of people want the opposite of organic, as that's what the 90's, much of the 80's, and beyond into the 00's, were all about. That was the period when bassists started focusing more on high-pitch soloing vs. holding down the pocket. I started learning bass during that era and was taught accordingly, then turned towards old-school gear and playing styles after the Great Recession busted the bubble and many of us had to crawl our way back up the gigging ladder, often in different roles and genres than we had been carrying during the salad days of the 00's.

Jazz Fusion artists in particular wan ted a bright metallic sound so they could cut through over the guitars when doing their high register playing. I grew tired of fusion a long time ago, but my current jazz combo is focused mostly on originals (including my own) and super-modern jazz, which has fusion influences but is really a different sort of animal altogether.

Back to the Rumble series, I forgot to mention that it actually has a usable "distortion" knob -- not that I use it much, but it's probably the first on-board OD or DIST I have ever liked on a bass amp (of course, tubes have natural drive but I rarely push them). Years ago, SWR had an interesting and fairly good unit called Interstellar Overdrive.

I despise SansAmp stuff and have owned several types (rack, large pedal, small box) and literally all of them had huge noise issues and electronic faults. I have found that their impedance levels in particular, do not play well with other gear.