Recommend bass amp

[kellyfan161]

Can anyone recommend just a basic, home practice, kinda small bass amp?? I'm new to bass playing so I don't know what to get..I don't want a huge one as I have little space and just need to practice in my music room. Thanks so much!

[muscmp]

probably get more responses if you posted on the talkbass forum. really helpful bass people over there.

play music!

[kellyfan161]

Originally Posted by muscmp

probably get more responses if you posted on the talkbass forum. really helpful bass people over there.

play music!

I had no idea there was one! Haha. Thanks for the info!!

[jman60]

What I have is a SWR Workingman's 12 combo amp. I've had this for a number of years and
is perfect for home practice. You could most likely find one used for well under $200.

Sounds decent enough to play my Jazz Bass with and not too heavy to lug around if you need to.
I've used it for playing my acoustic with lately and doesn't sound bad either.

Hartke, Gallien Krueger, Peavey, Acoustic, Fender, Ampeg as well as others make
small bass combo amps new for around $200 and under. I would suggest at least a 10"
speaker. Used is always a good option to look into.

What I would do is go on some music store web sites and see what they have available,
find some reviews on what amps interests you and decide on how much
you want to spend of course.

[The Growler]

If you're ever going to gig with it, I'd strongly recommend the Markbass Player's School model. Great sound, light weight and a DI out to feed the house PA. I've had mine for a couple of years, hundreds of hours of playing out and no issues.

[jomaynor]

For a small, home use bass amp, Fender's updated Rumble is well regarded by bass players.

Conversely, the worst word-of-mouth regarding shoddy build quality for new small bass amps is about Hartke - a brand that used to be well regarded, back in the day.

And for around the same $ amount as a new bedroom bass amp, people in the know will tell you that a used SWR California Blonde acoustic guitar amp is a superior little bass amp too. Well built, and sounds great - it's not a toy.

[121]

I use to have a Workmans SWR 10 with the matching extension speaker.
Was a great little practice amp with or without the extension speaker.
With the extension speaker you could actually do small gigs.
It was a pre Fender version, which IMHO are better , but it might take awhile to find a good used one.
The Workmans SWR 12, as previously mentioned and probably more numerous than the SWR 10, is also an excellent practice/gig amp choice, pre-Fender being better.
IMO the only down side to the SWR is the fuzzy outer covering, it's a magnet for lint.

good luck

[RayCJ]

I'm totally new to bass playing myself but, I've had very good success recording simple bass tracks in the background of my acoustic tunes. FWIW: I have a Fender Rumble 40. The controls are very nice and responsive. It's a convenient size and serves 100% of my intended purposes. I've had no troubles getting the desired sound/tone out of it.

This amp seems to be fine for simple indoor/studio applications as long as you don't try to drive the daylights out of it.

Ray

[kkrell]

Small practice only, one of the small Hartke bass combo amps, size depending on the room you have & the amount you want to pay. Hartke HD15 runs about $90. Bump up to the 25-watt HD25 for $30-40 more. You get good bass punch, separate controls for Bass, Mid & Treble, headphone output for the quiet nights, and Aux input for blending/playing along with MP3s and other audio.

http://www.samsontech.com/hartke/pro...s-combos/hd15/

[Steve DeRosa]

I've been using this one as my go-to for the last 5 years:

http://www.carvinaudio.com/collectio.../products/mb12

About the same size/weight as many practice amps but enough volume/tone to handle a medium-size gig, headphone output for silent practice and DI/extension speaker outs for bigger gigs when/if you need it; a lot going on for a well-spent $400, and IMO you'll never need another amp...

[clintj]

Do you have any sort of powered monitor or similar? Acoustic amp, etc?

A Sansamp run to one of those makes a nice bass rig, and is a nice stage DI if you progress to the point of joining a band.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

I've been using this one as my go-to for the last 5 years:

http://www.carvinaudio.com/collectio.../products/mb12

About the same size/weight as many practice amps but enough volume/tone to handle a medium-size gig, headphone output for silent practice and DI/extension speaker outs for bigger gigs when/if you need it; a lot going on for a well-spent $400, and IMO you'll never need another amp...

The same speakers and cab can be found in the Carvin AG 300. I've played bass through mine a lot. Enough power for any acoustic group, and you have an amp for acoustic guitar, cello, violin, mandolin, uke , vocals, and even clean electric guitar. If you want a bass front end the Tech 21 bass driver or a bass Pod can run right into it.

Be aware though, bass frequencies travel right through walls, so you might just want to get a bass Pod and practice through phones.

[Jusca]

Ampeg BA108

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by 121

I use to have a Workmans SWR 10 with the matching extension speaker.
Was a great little practice amp with or without the extension speaker.
With the extension speaker you could actually do small gigs.
It was a pre Fender version, which IMHO are better , but it might take awhile to find a good used one.
The Workmans SWR 12, as previously mentioned and probably more numerous than the SWR 10, is also an excellent practice/gig amp choice, pre-Fender being better.
IMO the only down side to the SWR is the fuzzy outer covering, it's a magnet for lint.

good luck

I have had several SWR amps over the years, some during Steve's reign of the company. A friend of mine was looking for a small bass amp and we went shopping for it; he ended up with a Fender era Workingman's 10 amp. I opened it up to see how well it was made compared to the early amps, I was happy to see it was built just as well as my old Workingman's 12 (S/N 36), Bass 350, BB II, and a Super Redhead, along with others that I borrowed to check out - Grand Prix, IOD, SM900.

[Bob1131]

I bought an Acoustic B15 from Guitar Center for home practice and have no regrets! This little amp has plenty of punch and has some pretty cool features. For about $100 it is hard to beat!! Here are the specs...

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Acoustic...#productDetail