I picked a Fender Rumble 200 awhile back after reading a lot of reviews. What got my attention is one review compared them to Eden bass amps. Since I’ve owned a Eden 2-10, I was interested since the Fender is so light and the Eden was nice but heavy.
I have a GK 12 inch that is light and loud (200 watts but it’s just a 12 inch). It’s ok as long as the drummer is not Bam Bam from the Flintstones but I needed something with a little more kick and presence. Also I’ve always been a fan of using 2 heads for bass.
To me it’s easier to dial in a sound when you have different heads with different speaker arrangements. Just do a pre line out from one to the other. In the old days when I had a Rick 4001 I would use the stereo out or just Y cord from the
amp input.
I ordered the Rumble 200, played a couple of gigs with it and the following are my thoughts on it.
Does it sound like an Eden…well…..let’s say it’s in the neighborhood but really unless you have a “tube” preamp, it’s not going to happen. But I will say, it has so much going for it and at 1/2 the price if not lower I wouldn’t kick it to the curb at all.
This amp is light, I mean very light for a loud bass amp with a 15 inch and a horn (that can be switched in and out) The Rumble has presets that really better than anything I could come up with as far as dialing in sounds. Especially when you get to a gig and have limited time before the count off on the first song.
It has a nice punch if you need it for like rock blues, you can dial in the 60’s Beatle stuff, you can kick in that horn and get the high ringing bell sounds also for the slappers.
It does a lot more than my Eden as far as line outs, extension cabs…there is a lot of possibilities. As far as road dogs go, you will have to baby the Fender. By that I mean get some type of soft case. Or do what I do, I get a stiff cardboard box and cut it up to slide over the amp perfectly. Cut out a place for the handle and you’re good to go.
Sure it looks strange but it’s better protection than a soft case (especially on the knobs) and not as heavy as a road case. Really unless you’re a road dog throwing things in a truck, the cardboard is fine when your gear is piled up in vans and back seats.
When I had my repair shop, broken knobs (pots) was 20% of my business.
I was warranty repairs for Fender and Eden at one time and both companies looked after their customers. I wasn’t a happy camper when Fender went to 5 years on warranty periods but to the customer that is something to think about. Also the warranty is transferable I heard.
Update: Amp still kicking good, the rumble is definitely more versatile than my 200 watt GK. For one thing I use GHS Precision Flatwounds. I can get a growl using a jazz bass knock off known as Rondo SX jazz bass with bass lines pickups. These are very cool bases that can still be found cheap on eBay. You want the vintage series also with the fender headstock, their newer ones don’t look this cool at all. I’ve had 60’s and 70’s Fender basses back in the day and it’s hard to tell the difference except for the stock hardware.
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I could never do that on the GK… the GK has a sound of it’s own but with the Rumble I can get close to the GK sound and go other places sonic wise that I couldn’t go on the GK. And after much tweaking the preset button on the Fender Rumble 200 is better than anything I can come up with my turning the dials. So in that aspect the Fender engineers did their homework.
I’ve had other bass players take notice also when I’m playing, they comment on liking the sound but when they pick it up and see how light it is, I could sell it right there and then if I wanted.
