Should You Go Digital With Your Bass Amplification?

If one were to state the generations of bass amplification, this is what they are in a nutshell:

• Tube-type amplification: First generation
• Solid-state amplification: Second generation
• Digital amplification: Third generation

To be even more specific, tube-type was the dominant amplification method up until the 1970s, solid-state was and still is the dominant amplification type, and now we have the digital variant. Digital isn’t mainstream yet, but eventually will be.

What makes a digital amplification rig better?

Short answer:

More (a lot more, actually) for less.

Long answer:

When you think of a bass amplification head, the first thought that comes to mind is a big, bulky, heavy rectangular box with big steel handles on the front of it. And for a very long time, that’s how bass heads were.

With digital there are – and this is no joke – 200+ watt heads that are well under 5 pounds in weight. Because of the compact nature of digital (due to the fact boards can be machined so small), all the bulky weight of those older solid-state and tube-type heads are a thing of the past.

An example of how crazy-good digital amps as far as convenience is concerned is the Aguilar Tone Hammer 500. 500 watts of power in a head that literally weighs only 4 lbs/1.8 kg. To put that in perspective, the Tone Hammer 500 literally weighs less than half that of a gallon of water (a gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs/3.78 kg).

Seriously, think about it. Which would you rather lug around? An older solid-state technology head that can weigh 45+ lbs, or a new digital rig that weighs only 4 lbs? I think the answer there is pretty obvious.

Another advantage of digital is its direct signal. While true that older solid-state has offered the ability to plug into a mixing board for a good long while, the problem was that the signal was noisy. Not so with digital. You can plug in direct from amp-to-board, have a nice clean signal with no noise and play happy.

To note: If you’re working with a sound guy who’s very set in his ways, so to speak, you might have to convince him that your digital head won’t produce noise when plugging into the board direct. He of course won’t believe you, but you can go ahead, plug in and let him hear the difference.

Concerning the construction of modern digital rigs, much emphasis is put into lightweight materials both for the head and the cabinet. Bass gear traditionally has always been heavy in weight, but the newer digital setups literally shed a lot of pounds with their current designs. In plain English, this means what was a two-man job to move around heads and cabinets turned into a one-man (you) job in many instances. This isn’t to say that everything can be moved by one man, as larger cabinets still require two men to move because of how physically large the box is and the awkward shape it has, but for things like digital bass combo amps, chances are very good you could easily carry one around yourself and do it with ease.

Do digital amps get hot? Rarely, if ever. This isn’t like the old days where when you put a tube-type next to your drummer and he’d be pouring a sweat in less than 10 minutes from the heat blasting out of those tubes. With digital, more often than not the only heat generated when really blasting out some volume will be luke-warm at best. And of course there’s the convenience of instant-on just like the older solid-state rigs. No waiting for tubes to warm up because there are none.

Are there downsides to lightweight digital rigs?

Yes, but fortunately this list is very short as there are only two major drawbacks worth mentioning.

First, the lightweight nature of a digital bass head may prove to be somewhat annoying.

When plugging in to a head that’s less than 5 pounds in weight, it requires two hands. One on top of the head to hold it here, and the other to plug in the cable. If you try it one-handed, you may push the head right off the cabinet.

With very little weight there’s also the chance that the vibration of the cabinet may rattle the head enough to fall and crash to the floor. (Redneck fix: Use bungee cords. It might not be pretty but nobody is going to see it.)

Second, digital hasn’t enough tenure to determine its long-term reliability. There are those who have had digital rigs going on 5+ years now, but that’s not long enough to be considered a “long haul”. However thus far, digital rigs have proven themselves to be very gig-worthy and should continue to be so for a very long time. They can be banged around, transported from gig to gig, etc. and power up and perform just like they’re supposed to again and again.

Should you buy a digital head/cabinet or combo?

We say yes because the bass amplification market is fast headed in that direction. The use-anywhere (home, studio or stage), take-anywhere (without breaking your back), all-the-power-you-need-and-more nature of the digital rig makes going digital an easy decision to make.

What about the tone?

Better. Why? Because it’s cleaner. If you play solid-state now, the only thing you’ll be missing out on with a digital rig is the line noise. And it’s safe to say you won’t miss that at all.

It just works

At the end of it all, the technology works and works well. It is a genuine improvement over the older solid-state choices. You can play long, play loud and not have to depend on roadies to always be there just to move your rig.

If you’re not familiar with digital, it might be weird seeing something so small being able to blast out so many watts in a micro-sized package, but it does the job in fine style.