Europa 5-String + Fender Rumble = RUMMMMBLE...

[5a quilt top]

I work part-time at a small local guitar store in Cave Creek, AZ on Saturdays (Cave Creek Guitar - go figure...).


Anyway, Bruce Zinky (amp tech to the stars) is a personal friend of the owner and he occasionally stops by and brings goodies from his stash. This past week he brought one of the first production Rumble bass amps that he designed when he worked for Fender in the 90's and I got to try it with "Royale", my 5-string Europa.


Oooof.


300 watts of glorious all-tube muscle weighing in at around 90# through a special-design 4X10 cab.


On "3", I was shaking the string display and causing mayhem in the acoustic guitar area with absolutely no flab or mud whatsoever on the low "B" string.


Some days it's just flat-out awesome to be a bassist - !!

[5a quilt top]

Here's the amp:

[jazzyvee]

What a superb bass!!!

[5a quilt top]

Thanks!


She's my #1 all-purpose "go to".


All maple with a bird's-eye maple finger board and a purple heart body yields a bright, ringing tone that really cuts when it has to and the Europa electronics can tame it as required with the flick of a switch or slight tweak of a knob. I can go from slap to thud in a heartbeat while still retaining clarity.


Ahhh - the magic of Alembic.

[smokin_dave]

Purpleheart body?Wow.Me likey.Outstanding bass and a superb amp.

[jazzyvee]

As an Europa devotee I can agree completely with your experience of these basses. They are so easy to use live and the quick tone change switches are centred at the right frequencies for immediate use without usually needing any other tweaking. I turn the bass boost on more than any other switch usually when the song has a long phase where we driop the volume of the band for an audience participation part of a song so I can play quietly and keep the weight in the bottom end. I rarely use the Q switch at all on my standard europa. I think I would if it were a 3 position switch so I could use it for a gentle lift. That's not a criticism but merely the fact that my other alembics have 3 position switches and I tend to use the middle one more.


I certainly believe in the value of a lot of maple on an alembic bass.

[rv_bass]

What a beautiful bass!  Sounds like a great amp and cab too!

[5a quilt top]

Yeah, the Rumble amp is the predecessor to the current Super Bassman - which is a fine amp in it's own way. The Super Bassman has modern conveniences like electronic power tube bias monitoring on the back panel and channel switching.


The Rumble is more old school - think an SVT with military spec guts and a little extra Zinky "secret sauce".


I've never had the opportunity to play through one until this past Saturday and IMO it's about as close to a religious experience as a rock / funk bassist will get. I still can't get over how solid and clear the low "B" string was.


But, all that tone and response comes with a price - the weight is ridiculous (easily 90#). That, coupled with the physical size of the head and the fact that even on "1" it's still pretty loud makes it impractical for me.

[rustyg61]

I have a Rumble 350 combo that sounds great with my Series II Europa 5 string! When I was shopping for a combo I tried them all & the Rumble won hands down. It has the best bottom end of all the small combos.

[mario_farufyno]

What a beautifull bass!