AMPEG SVT CLASSIC HEAD & 8x10 CLASSIC SPEAKER ENCLOSURE - I had never tried this combination before using it at practice on 6/29/99. I'm a little surprised that I never had the chance to use the SVT head/8x10 bottom in the past since it's such a CLASSIC setup, but I didn't. Since then I have been using it for all the live shows with my band ROAD TRIP. I think this combination is without a doubt one of THE BEST amplification systems available for rock & blues bass playing - it just KICKS ASS! Louder than anything I've ever tried short of the Mesa 400+ and I just LOVE the sound as well - full, rich tone. I beat the HELL out of my basses and amps, this amp is built to take it. I would highly, emphatically recommend this setup to anyone playing rock and/or blues...

AMPEG SVT350H AMP & 8x10 CLASSIC SPEAKER ENCLOSURE - I really like this combination, I keep it at our practice house for use there. It's a great setup for practice, although I don't find the 350H loud enough for use at gigs. The classic Ampeg 8x10 speaker cabinet is what got me started using 10" speakers and it will always be one of my favorite enclosures to play through. The 350H head is very nice as well - I get a great sound at the practice house, just not enough volume for me to use at live shows...

GALLIEN-KRUGER 2000RB HEAD - This is the head FLEA uses, or at least he used to - it's been replaced in the GK line with the 2001RB now. Flagship of the GK line. I use it for practicing at home, it's probably the best solid state head I've ever used.

MESA BOOGIE 400+ HEAD - What I consider the flagship of the Mesa amplification line. TWELVE power tubes and heavy as hell. But worth the hernia! this is the loudest, cleanest bass head I've ever used. I haven't hardly touched my Ampeg Classic SVT head since I got this Mesa, it's AWESOME!!!

AMPEG 200T AMP - Very similar to the SVT350H above, I used this amp at my home practice space. The 200T was replaced in the Ampeg line with the 350H head. Both are very similar, the 350H has a graphic EQ where the 200T does not. Great amps for home practice, not quite enough "oomph" for live shows, though... Don't sound as good as the Classic all-tube heads do, but still a very nice setup for my home practice space.

AMPEG SVT-3PRO HEAD - I bought this head for use in my home practice area, but never bonded well with it at first. I don't really like any of the PRO series amps Ampeg makes... The 2PRO, 3PRO or 4PRO... I greatly prefer the sound of the CLASSIC series heads, so I bought a 200T head (see above) with the intention of replacing this head. But it just kept coming in handy... I eventually sold it to help fund a Mesa M-Pulse 600 purchase.

CRATE B80 COMBO AMP w/1x15 SPEAKER - For home practice use it's OK. That's about it, and OK is being somewhat generous. I used it mostly for a keyboard amp.

EDEN 410XLT 4x10 CABINET - I used Eden speakers exclusively for almost two years between 1997 and 1999. They're very good, I especially like this 4x10 cabinet. One of the best cabinets of this type I've ever played through. I think the Ampeg 8x10 Classic is better than using two of these, though.

EDEN 410T 4x10 CABINET - I used two of the 410T cabinets before switching to the 410XLT/118XL combination. They worked great for me - I used them pretty much through the Summer of 1998. Very good cabinets. The 410XLT is rated with a higher power handling capability & costs more as well. Some people might actually prefer the 410T, though. I think the design on the two cabinets give them their own unique sound. Both are worth looking at if you want a 4x10 cabinet.

EDEN 118XL 1x18 CABINET - This particular cabinet was a bit of a departure for me as I usually like to use 8-10" speakers and this was my first foray into the world of the 18" speaker. It really added a lot of low end, but I'm not sure if I got the clarity that 8-10" speakers give. I definitely prefer 8-10" speakers to a combination of sizes...

EDEN WT-400 - Of all the Eden heads I've tried, this might be the best. It really gave me a nice sound, just not quite enough power. I tried an AB 31 band mono graphic eq with it too, the parametric eq on the amp just can't quite dial in the sound I want as close as I'd like. Using a graphic eq seemed to help. If the WT-1000/Navigator combination was just a louder version of this amp I'd love it, but my experience is that the WT-400 actually has more power than the WT-1000. It seemed to have more power than the WT-800, too. I know it doesn't seem to make much sense, but that's been my experience. Nice head!

HARTKE 1410 COMBO AMP w/2x10 SPEAKERS - This is a good home practice amp. It has enough power to use for small off-night gigs as well. It's one of the best small home practice amps I ever owned (not really saying much there, though - I've had some pretty crappy practice amps over the years). Traded it for an Ampeg 8x10 bottom...

KERN IP-777 PREAMP - I used this preamp from New Year's Eve 1998 until March 6th, 1999. At first I loved the amount of bass it gave me, but after having it for a while I could never really dial in a sound I was comfortable with. I tried adding a 31 band eq with little success. I think it might have something to do with the volume we play at. We play very loud and with all the bass it puts out I had trouble overheating the Crest power amp I used and with muddyness when I used a Mackie power amp (see below). It sounded great at lower volumes though, and I think they're nice preamps - just not the right one for me.

MACKIE 1400 WATT POWER AMP - I used this power amp with my Kern preamp every gig except the last weekend when I tried a Crest power amp instead. The Crest gave me a better sound, but overheated and shut off for a while during a song with a lot of low bass notes. I wasn't impressed with either of them power or sound wise. I tried bridged mono and running it stereo both and wasn't happy either way.

MESA BOOGIE M-PULSE 600 HEAD - I replaced my Ampeg III-PRO head with this one on 5/30/06. Used it for a few shows, it's s decent head. Kept it a few months, then sold on eBay. Just can't beat the "tube power"ound of the Ampeg SVT Classic and Mesa 400+ in my book :)

NEMESIS NA600 Amplifier & N-810P SPEAKER ENCLOSURE - This was a pretty good sounding unit for the three months I had it before the head blew up. It's 600 Watts into TWO ohms, by the way. The bottoms are 4 ohms, you'd need two of them to get 600 watts out of the head. Nice sounding system, though - and it got pretty loud, too. Looked VERY cool with the lighted head. Not something I found reliable, so I had to get rid of mine. I liked it while I had it and it's pretty light for a system of this size as well (bottom weighs 100 lbs., head weighs 35).

TRACE ELLIOT RAH400SMX HEAD - I looked for a bass head that would be LOUD and CLEAN for almost 2 years between 1997 and 1999, many of the heads I didn't choose I have comments about in the "additional comments" section listed below. I received this head and used it for the first time at our gig on 5/13/99. I think this is probably one of the most powerful bass heads I've ever used (I now think the Ampeg SVT Classic has more power & a better tone than this amp - see above). It certainly had more power than ANY of the bass amplification systems I tried before this one. The split high/low compression is also a nice feature (I only need a little low end compression - you can adjust the amount you want on either the high or low end of the spectrum). 12 band graphic EQ. Solid State/Tube mix control. The only negative is that if you're going to play at an EXTREME volume (as I do), you might find it tough to get an acceptable sound, this is one of the reasons I switched to the Ampeg SVT Classic Head on 7/1/99. Trace Elliot was recently bought out by Gibson and many of the stores here in Wisconsin seem to be shying away from them and deleting their line totally in some cases. So getting anything by Trace right now might be risky business (I got one of the amps made before the change), but I've always found them to be LOUD and reliable. Gibson could very well screw that up, though. They did recently come out with a new head and bottom combination that looks great on paper - the Trace AH1000-12 Head and The BFC 1000 watt cabinet with 1x15, 4x10 and two horns. I'll certainly take a look at that combination the first chance I get!

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