Fender Rumble 15 - Rumble Series 15 Watt Bass Amp (V3)

Powerful little amp. Lightweight. Clear and rich tone. Great for traveling or just to practice at home

After moving from a home to a condo, I wanted to get a small-ish amp for practice. Overall, this is a great little amp for $100 - as long you're ok with it's limitations. It's very compact and lightweight, is well assembled and finished and sounds quite good at moderate volumes and flat EQ. However, the 8" speaker didn't prove sufficient for my preferences. Although I dabble with in all styles of music, my primary focus is Reggae - especially dub and roots styles. This means rolling the highs and pushing the bass a fair bit to get that reggae sound. Unfortunately, even at moderate volumes, moderate eq settings, and using a passive bass, the speaker breaks-up quite badly. It doesn't appear to be capable of handling its own eq and modest 15W power. I ended-up exchanging this one for the 40W model, and I am pleased with the swap. The 40W is capable of producing the tones I'm looking for without any unwanted artefacts or speaker break-up. It's also surprisingly loud - things in my apartment rattle even with the gain/master almost all the way to the left. I look forward to seeing what this little guy can do when it's cranked-up a bit. If you can spare the scratch, I'd highly recommend looking at the 40W version of the Rumble instead. The 15W is only good for the most basic applications in that it lets you hear what you're playing, but that's pretty much it. Given the speaker issues and limitations at 15W, the 25W doesn't even make sense - it has the same speaker and as a result the extra power just seems like a waste.

Do you need a bass amplifier that can you can use to practice at home, jam with the band and record with? This little guy is your best friend. If your drummer is a hard hitter, I would recommend getting the next model up. Thanks, Fender!

Bought this in a financial pinch when I retook up the bass. I live in an apartment with neighbours below me. Its loud enough that I had to take the amp off the floor, it shakes the floor very well and holds a good tone even with a deep 5th string. Very very light weight. It was great to start, need a tad more oomph to gig with but with a mic infront of it its still clear.

married this to a Traben Choas Four and the sound is perfect. loud enough to shake the walls and quite enough to keep the kids asleep.