Marshall Super Bass amp

drbassman · July 17, 2014, 06:09:27 AM

I thought I'd start a new thread since my last one wandered all over the place. Well, I took the SB amp to practice last night and it surprised me. Nothing like the Prodigy. It's clean and clear, and can be jangly like Scott said. But you can dial in the bass, set the mids and trebles at 12 o'clock and the presence and gain to a point it has that old timey warmth and slight bit of distortion I remember as a teen. The tone is so much more pleasing to my ear than the Mesa.

Other positives: no big delays in attack, it's right on, the way I like it; no woofing or mushiness; tons of power, nothing lacking there. It's not an easy amp to dial in. With separate presence and volume/gain controls, it's got a learning curve. This one was modded with a master volume on the back so you can jumper the first and second channels and then you plug your input into channel 1 and you can mix in the gains for both bright and normal channels at once. Kind of complicated for a simple bass dude like me, but I'm working on learning how to make it work. I could always have it put back to normal by my tech, but may not need to. It sounds most like my B-15 and I do like the sound a lot so far.

My band mates really liked the sound, that's always a plus too. So, it looks like I'll be experimenting with this and the Orange 1000 for the next few weeks.

Happy Face · July 17, 2014, 07:17:50 AM

Now that's very cool! Thanks for the report.

Dave W · July 17, 2014, 08:17:23 AM

Could this be the end of your tone search?

amptech · July 17, 2014, 09:05:26 AM

Finding the superbass ended my search, love it! I use a HD130 with a 115 along with it when I need more bottom, but usually
the SB with 412 is enough. It is simple and great sounding.

drbassman · July 17, 2014, 09:30:29 AM

Quote from: Happy Face on July 17, 2014, 07:17:50 AM
Now that's very cool! Thanks for the report.

My pleasure, more to come in the next weeks.

drbassman · July 17, 2014, 09:32:32 AM

Quote from: Dave W on July 17, 2014, 08:17:23 AM
Could this be the end of your tone search?

I don't want to commit too quickly. I've thought I had found it a couple times in the past and over time the honeymoon ended quickly as I became more discriminating and demanding of the amps. I would say both the Marshall and Orange are, as of now, outperforming my last 3 amps. I'm hopeful and encouraged thus far.

drbassman · July 17, 2014, 09:33:15 AM

Quote from: amptech on July 17, 2014, 09:05:26 AM
Finding the superbass ended my search, love it! I use a HD130 with a 115 along with it when I need more bottom, but usually
the SB with 412 is enough. It is simple and great sounding.

The Marshall really seems to like the Mesa Scout 15" cabs. They sound good together.

Pilgrim · July 17, 2014, 11:58:11 AM

It's great to find the amp that gives you what you hear in your head. Hope this is the one for you.

My Genz Shuttle 6.2 and 12" combo (with a pretty unnecessary 2x10 Shuttle cab under it) does that for me. After our last practice, my lead guitarist spent about two minutes going on about how good it sounded at our gig a couple of weeks ago. I could only agree - it does just what I want.

FrankieTbird · July 17, 2014, 03:17:16 PM

Here's how I like to use my old Marshalls for bass, maybe it will help you dial in your sound:

Plug into the lower-right input and jumper the two channels together (usually I go top-right to bottom-left). Start out with both volume knobs on 0. Bring up the Ch. 2 volume to the level/drive that you need, then if you need to dial in more treble, bring up the Ch. 1 knob accordingly. Normally, I'll have the EQ knobs all up on 10, with presence backed off to about 5 or 6. I find that the gain controls make more of a difference than the EQ section.

Good luck with it! BTW, what year is your new Super Bass?

rahock · July 18, 2014, 05:05:12 AM

Quote from: Pilgrim on July 17, 2014, 11:58:11 AM
It's great to find the amp that gives you what you hear in your head. Hope this is the one for you.

My Genz Shuttle 6.2 and 12" combo (with a pretty unnecessary 2x10 Shuttle cab under it) does that for me. After our last practice, my lead guitarist spent about two minutes going on about how good it sounded at our gig a couple of weeks ago. I could only agree - it does just what I want.

My love affair with my Shuttle continues. Never before have I been so happy with an amp

.
Rick

drbassman · July 18, 2014, 06:31:19 AM

Quote from: FrankieTbird on July 17, 2014, 03:17:16 PM

Here's how I like to use my old Marshalls for bass, maybe it will help you dial in your sound:

Plug into the lower-right input and jumper the two channels together (usually I go top-right to bottom-left). Start out with both volume knobs on 0. Bring up the Ch. 2 volume to the level/drive that you need, then if you need to dial in more treble, bring up the Ch. 1 knob accordingly. Normally, I'll have the EQ knobs all up on 10, with presence backed off to about 5 or 6. I find that the gain controls make more of a difference than the EQ section.

Good luck with it! BTW, what year is your new Super Bass?

Thanks Frankie. I'm still learning and I'll try out your suggestions. The previous owner had the amp rewired and added a master volume in the back of the amp. It give you the ability to mix everything with one input. A little confusing at first, but it seems to work. I might just have it returned to normal, we'll see how it goes the next couple weeks.

drbassman · July 18, 2014, 06:32:41 AM

Not sure of the year, I'll have to check it out and let you know.

drbassman · July 18, 2014, 06:43:35 AM

Quote from: FrankieTbird on July 17, 2014, 03:17:16 PM

Here's how I like to use my old Marshalls for bass, maybe it will help you dial in your sound:

Plug into the lower-right input and jumper the two channels together (usually I go top-right to bottom-left). Start out with both volume knobs on 0. Bring up the Ch. 2 volume to the level/drive that you need, then if you need to dial in more treble, bring up the Ch. 1 knob accordingly. Normally, I'll have the EQ knobs all up on 10, with presence backed off to about 5 or 6. I find that the gain controls make more of a difference than the EQ section.

Good luck with it! BTW, what year is your new Super Bass?

I checked and it's a 1974. A quick question about the speaker hookup. I plugged each of my two 8 ohm Mesa cabs into speaker jacks on the back and set the ohm switch to 4 ohms. Was that the correct thing to do?

Granny Gremlin · July 18, 2014, 08:26:26 AM

If the Mesas are 8ohms each then yes.

Psycho Bass Guy · July 18, 2014, 10:25:24 AM

Quote from: drbassman on July 18, 2014, 06:31:19 AM
Thanks Frankie. I'm still learning and I'll try out your suggestions. The previous owner had the amp rewired and added a master volume in the back of the amp. It give you the ability to mix everything with one input. A little confusing at first, but it seems to work. I might just have it returned to normal, we'll see how it goes the next couple weeks.

If you like big bottom, leave that alone. Marshalls aren't known for beef and any Superbass that sounds like a B-15 has been SERIOUSLY changed. You'll like it much less stock.