Practice bass amps?

Question:

I’m a beginner. I have a bass guitar and I need a good practice amp. The ones I have available in the city I live in are: Yamaha BA-10, Yamaha F-20B, Fender Bassman 25. Could you tell me about your experiences with them? Feel free to suggest other products. Thanks!

Response:

>I’m a beginner. I have a bass guitar and I need a good practice amp.

You need to define what a "practice" amp is to you.  To me, it’s something to hear myself well enough to practice while to others, it’s something for rehearsing with a band.  If you’re a beginner, odds are you don’t need anything to keep up with a drummer and loud guitars so look for something cheap that has a sound you’re happy with.  The Fender is a fine choice and certainly much better than the Yamaha.  I’ve made a great sounding practice amp out of a good satellite/subwoofer set that was made for a computer.  I feed it a signal from either a Bass Driver DI or Korg PX4B and it sounds amazing.  Effects are in stereo too.  You can also consider a headphone amp like the Korg or even a multi-effect pedal that has a headphone output.  Advantage is you get some effects to play with, a built-in tuner and a rhythm machine.  Maybe look into the Zoom BFX-708 or DigiTech BP-200.  I’d get something small and inexpensive now that you’ll always have a use for rather than something that’ll just get you by until you need to get a little louder.  If the Bassman 25 does the trick, go for it.

Response:

Buy one that will double as a powered monitor when you get out gigging……. www.union-revival.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I’m a beginner. I have a bass guitar and I need a good practice amp. The > ones I have available in the city I live in are: > Yamaha BA-10, > Yamaha F-20B, > Fender Bassman 25. > Could you tell me about your experiences with them? Feel free to suggest > other products. > Thanks!

Response:

I’ve been playing through the Fender at a bass class recently.  I really like it. SteveO

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I’m a beginner. I have a bass guitar and I need a good practice amp. The > ones I have available in the city I live in are: > Yamaha BA-10, > Yamaha F-20B, > Fender Bassman 25. > Could you tell me about your experiences with them? Feel free to suggest > other products. > Thanks!

Response:

> I’m a beginner. I have a bass guitar and I need a good practice amp. The > ones I have available in the city I live in are: > Yamaha BA-10, > Yamaha F-20B, > Fender Bassman 25. > Could you tell me about your experiences with them? Feel free to suggest > other products. > Thanks!

Hi, If you must choose one from the list, Fender. Tony

Response:

> Buy one that will double as a powered monitor when you get out > gigging……. > www.union-revival.com

As a beginner, I’d NOT go the "practice amp" route. I’ve got one and it’s basically a waste of money. Like larry says, even if you have to spend a tad more get a piece of "real" gear. That way when you get closer to gigging or find some friends that want to play around starting a band, you’ll already have a leg up. My advice is look around for a nice combo amp. If possible find a used deal. Mine is a nice Laney BC 75 I bought off another bass player in town. This guy changes gear like you and I change underwear. The thing was like new. $100 !!!! Now to me THIS is my "practice amp". Small enough to flip into the back seat of any car. Loud enough for acoustic or an small venue gigs. Loud enough even for band practice with loud rock (force the guitarist to turn down and make the drummer use 7A sticks! . So don’t start out thinking, "well, I’m just a beginner and so I’ll get this amp to practice on until I get good enough to start thinking about playing with others." Hey, you are a BASS PLAYER! Dude, you’ll be gigging in a few weeks (so the joke goes). But seriously, a nice combo amp in the 50-100 watt range includes a volume control that goes to "0". You can turn down and practice with it just fine. Think Combo amp. Benj — Replace the leading "b" with "f" to email me.

Response:

Thanks to everybody, things are becoming a lot clearer. Now, what does a combo amp have that a regular one doesn’t? What is a powered monitor? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Buy one that will double as a powered monitor when you get out > gigging……. > www.union-revival.com > As a beginner, I’d NOT go the "practice amp" route. I’ve > got one and it’s basically a waste of money. > Like larry says, even if you have to spend a tad more > get a piece of "real" gear. That way when you get closer > to gigging or find some friends that want to play around > starting a band, you’ll already have a leg up. > My advice is look around for a nice combo amp. If possible > find a used deal. Mine is a nice Laney BC 75 I bought off > another bass player in town. This guy changes gear like you > and I change underwear. The thing was like new. $100 !!!! > Now to me THIS is my "practice amp". Small enough to flip > into the back seat of any car. Loud enough for acoustic or > an small venue gigs. Loud enough even for band practice with > loud rock (force the guitarist to turn down and make the drummer > use 7A sticks! . > So don’t start out thinking, "well, I’m just a beginner and > so I’ll get this amp to practice on until I get good enough > to start thinking about playing with others." Hey, you are > a BASS PLAYER! Dude, you’ll be gigging in a few weeks (so > the joke goes). But seriously, a nice combo amp in the 50-100 > watt range includes a volume control that goes to "0". You > can turn down and practice with it just fine. > Think Combo amp. > Benj > — > Replace the leading "b" with "f" to email me.

Response:

> Thanks to everybody, things are becoming a lot clearer. Now, what does a > combo amp have that a regular one doesn’t? What is a powered monitor?

What is a "regular" amp?  All of the ones that you listed are combos.  A combo is nothing more than an amplifier and speaker cabinet combined into one.  The amp is often referred to as a "head" and the speakers are "cabinets." A powered monitor is a monitor wedge that is used in sound reinforcement that has an amp built into it.  This eliminates external amplifiers to power the monitors.

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I’m a beginner. I have a bass guitar and I need a good practice amp. >You need to define what a "practice" amp is to you.  To me, it’s something to >hear myself well enough to practice while to others, it’s something for >rehearsing with a band.  If you’re a beginner, odds are you don’t need anything >to keep up with a drummer and loud guitars so look for something cheap that has >a sound you’re happy with.  The Fender is a fine choice and certainly much >better than the Yamaha.  I’ve made a great sounding practice amp out of a good >satellite/subwoofer set that was made for a computer.  I feed it a signal from >either a Bass Driver DI or Korg PX4B and it sounds amazing.  Effects are in >stereo too.  You can also consider a headphone amp like the Korg or even a >multi-effect pedal that has a headphone output.  Advantage is you get some >effects to play with, a built-in tuner and a rhythm machine.  Maybe look into >the Zoom BFX-708 or DigiTech BP-200.  I’d get something small and inexpensive >now that you’ll always have a use for rather than something that’ll just get >you by until you need to get a little louder.  If the Bassman 25 does the >trick, go for it.

I wouldn’t use the BP-200 as a stand-alone unless you have an active bass. Yeah, you can hear it (sort of), but every time a car goes by on the road outside the house, you lose your sound. It’s WAY too low on volume. Now, if you have a preamp (either in the bass or external) before the BP-200, you’re in business.

Response:

You should look at the Ashdown "Perfect 10" These are very cool practice amps, with a speaker output  for an extension cabinet. Also has a headphone jack. 10" speaker and 35 watts. Should be able to get ahold of one for around $150.00. Do yourself a favor and check one out! Good luck! Mike

Response:

I use a Laney CP10 (65W powered wedge) – with a CM10 (unpowered) driven off it for rehearsals but drop off the CM10 for the lounge at home – then on stage they become my PA monitors by taking an output from the PA power amps – I’ve got Trace 4X10’s behind me so I dont need Bass monitoring on stage – any clearer?? Whatever you get – choose something that gaves you a stage ‘back-up’ capability when you get out and about – you can even play around with just getting a straight power amp and feeding your rehearsal amp front section (pre-amp output) for stage F*** i’m confusing myself now – too much informatiuon! Good luck with whatever!! Larry www.union-revival.com

> Thanks to everybody, things are becoming a lot clearer. Now, what does a > combo amp have that a regular one doesn’t? What is a powered monitor?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > Buy one that will double as a powered monitor when you get out > > gigging……. > > www.union-revival.com > As a beginner, I’d NOT go the "practice amp" route. I’ve > got one and it’s basically a waste of money. > Like larry says, even if you have to spend a tad more > get a piece of "real" gear. That way when you get closer > to gigging or find some friends that want to play around > starting a band, you’ll already have a leg up. > My advice is look around for a nice combo amp. If possible > find a used deal. Mine is a nice Laney BC 75 I bought off > another bass player in town. This guy changes gear like you > and I change underwear. The thing was like new. $100 !!!! > Now to me THIS is my "practice amp". Small enough to flip > into the back seat of any car. Loud enough for acoustic or > an small venue gigs. Loud enough even for band practice with > loud rock (force the guitarist to turn down and make the drummer > use 7A sticks! . > So don’t start out thinking, "well, I’m just a beginner and > so I’ll get this amp to practice on until I get good enough > to start thinking about playing with others." Hey, you are > a BASS PLAYER! Dude, you’ll be gigging in a few weeks (so > the joke goes). But seriously, a nice combo amp in the 50-100 > watt range includes a volume control that goes to "0". You > can turn down and practice with it just fine. > Think Combo amp. > Benj > — > Replace the leading "b" with "f" to email me.

Response:

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