Help with Bass->SomethingSmall->Headphones

[AdagioInJeans]

Hi,

I am a super noob in playing bass.

I recently acquired a used Oscar Schmidt 6-String bass! I currently plug it to either my PCs line-in or
my old Marshall MS-2 Mini-amp then plug a headphone on them.

I'm looking for something to replace my amp but I have absolutely no idea on what I should get. Absolutely zero.

I mostly listen to classical and a bit of jazz so those are the things that I want to be playing. II want is something that has a lot of controls over the tone of my bass. You know something that can give me a wide range of tones as I learn how to play my bass. and it must be small so I can carry it around easily, the bass is heavy enough.

It must be small and cheap. I did a bit of research and found several things that might be the thing I'm looking:
Behringer BDI21
Zoom B2
Behringer Bass V-amp
Hartke Bass attack

But the problem is, I am not knowledgeable with this stuff and I don't even know if those is what I'm looking for. Help please.

[jlepre]

Problem is SMALL & CHEAP doesn't always equal great tone or power. Maybe someone else can chime in on your selections. I don't usually go the CHEAP route.

[superbassman2000]

korg pandora mini?

or are you looking for an actual amp? in that case, a used markbass little mark 250 can be found for cheap

[Alex1984]

Micro-VR? Or are you looking for something even smaller?

[dincz]

The BDI21 has no headphone output. The Bass V-Amp does though, and is great for practising through headphones or as a preamp driving a power amp. Effects if you want them (some not so good) and lots of tone tweaking potential.

[spufman]

"While I learn how to play my bass," to me sounds like you should look for a pure bass tone as opposed to one where you can radically change the sound. You need clarity to hear where your technique needs work, how different inflections effect the tone, etc. A Café Walter or Raven Labs PHA-1 are about as straight-ahead and clean as headphone amps get and they have aux input blends. Love my PHA-1, though on off nights I cringe at my poo-poo sloppiness.

[AdagioInJeans]

Originally Posted by superbassman2000

korg pandora mini?

or are you looking for an actual amp? in that case, a used markbass little mark 250 can be found for cheap

I'm looking more in the lines of small, like hand held small, or same size as those stompboxes. The pandora mini says its a multi-effect processor. I don't think that's what I'm looking for.

But thanks to all your suggestions, I think what I want is something that would give me pure clean sounds, just like spufman suggested. So right now, what I want would be a small unit that would give me some basic control over the tones.

I don't think there are Raven Labs products here. That would have solved my problem. The Behringer BDI and hartke vxl too if only they had headphone outputs..

[spufman]

Raven Labs is long since abandoned by Steve Rabe. Occasionally one will pop up here in the classifieds. All the Raven designs were excellent. Cafe Walter headphone boxes are still available new. Though they lack any tone controls they are extremely well hand-made by a great guy who is always willing to share his electronic and other knowledge.

[ButtUglyJeff]

Do you have a budget?

[IntrepidCellist]

Used Bass Pod XT.

[AdagioInJeans]

Originally Posted by ButtUglyJeff

Do you have a budget?

Something around $150 would be ideal. I could stretch it a bit more if it's justified.

Originally Posted by IntrepidCellist

Used Bass Pod XT.

Way over my budget and I don't want effects right now, just some basic tone stuff.

Originally Posted by spufman

Raven Labs is long since abandoned by Steve Rabe. Occasionally one will pop up here in the classifieds. All the Raven designs were excellent. Cafe Walter headphone boxes are still available new. Though they lack any tone controls they are extremely well hand-made by a great guy who is always willing to share his electronic and other knowledge.

Oh, that's too bad.
However, I took your advice of looking for something that would give a pure bass tone. So now I'll probably go for a
BOSS TU-88 which is actually a tuner and a monitor. Does not have any control over the tone so this would give me the true sound of my bass. And it has a built-in metronome. And the tuner part, I almost forgot how important it is until I saw this.

Then if I want some other tone, I would later buy the Behringer BDI21 and put it between the bass and the boss.

[lowphatbass]

What kind of headphones are you using?

[AdagioInJeans]

Originally Posted by lowphatbass

What kind of headphones are you using?

Ah Philips shp1900. Extremely cheap, but does the job.

[IntrepidCellist]

What's your budget? I've seen used Bass PODs and Bass PODxts for under $100.