Monday, March 2, 2009

Fantasy Bass Rig Shopping

Okay, here's the scenario. Buy one bass and one bass rig (amp, cab, cables, effects) in 30 minutes online--no price limit. Goal is not to spend as much as you can, but you need not consider price. No fair buying super expensive stuff to sell later and get more gear. You must play this stuff. No real money is being spent--just a game. Time starts now. Go.

Okay, I shopped for two rigs: one at Sweetwater, the other at Musician's Friend.

Sweetwater
  • Trace Eliot AH-600 head ($1,099)
  • 2 Trace Eliot 1518 1x15 cabs ($1,119)
  • Fender American Vintage '62 Re-Issue Jazz Bass ($1,959)*
  • TOTAL PRICE: $4,179.96
*why don't they just charge $1,962 for that '62 Re-Issue?

Musician's Friend
  • Ampeg SVT 400w head ($749)
  • Ampeg SVT 6x10 cab ($999)
  • Music Man Stingray 4-string ($1,365)
  • TOTAL PRICE: $3,114











Commentary:

The Fender/Trace Eliot rig is comfortable territory. You need the 2 15" cabs to compensate for the J-Bass. The Music Man / Ampeg rig is going to be bright and loud! The humbucker will be low, but the maple neck will be super bright. With either of these rigs, you'd better hope there's a P-Bass around. These are both GIANT rigs.

In the "Get Real" department, I was able to put together a great rig for under $1,500:
  • Fender Deluxe P-Bass Special (P/J setup with Jazz Bass neck): $649
  • Gallien-Kruger Backline 600 head: $299
  • Gallien-Kruger 2x10 cabinet: $199
  • Gallien-Kruger 1x15 cabinet: $299
  • TOTAL: $1,373.98

2 comments:

Community College Historian said...

Sweetwater is awesome--and I'm not just saying that because I grew up 15 miles from them...

I remember when they were run out of a medium sized house (friend of mine interned with them designing their website back in 1995 or so).

Their new facility is huge.

Some Guy said...

I bought a small digital recorder from Sweetwater and was blown away by the service. I've gotten two follow-up calls from sales to see how I like the item.

Great mail order music place, and I used to work at one!