new practice combo

[MightyMike1988]

hey there,

I'm a starting bassist and I'm searching around for a new practice amp, and i've tested a couple.

Hartke A35 - best sound IMO
Eden EN10 - Sound just about as good as the Hartke, only a bit more power.
Fender Rumble 30 & 75 - Tone was ok, loved the overdrive function, but i would prefer the hartke and eden above them.
Marshall MB30 - Nice, love the different tone settings
Gallien Krueger Backline 112 - lots of power, but didn't really dig the tone. Not too bad though.

I can judge the quality of sound a bit for myself, but I wonder how durable these small, lower budget amps are. I've searched for reviews, but every other review has it's own opinion, varying from fantastic to terrible. I'm not very technical myself, so I'm looking for an amp which doesn't need too much care. Which would you prefer? And which would you definitly avoid? They don't have to be in my testlist!

thanks in advance.

[MIJ-VI]

*bump*

[ptolemny]

If its just for practicing in your room, I wouldn't worry too much about tone, although I remember someone raving about the Micromark having the best tone of all their amps (it better, considering the price).

[62bass]

Since these are practice amps and low powered and designed for use at home, go with the one that has the tone you prefer. They are all probably about the same for reliability as long as they aren't being bashed around and abused.

I've been using pretty well GK for many years but that's for gigging and I have one little GK MB150S, a high end combo, that is my at home practice amp and very small gig amp. It has fantastic sound and eq possibilities and has a line out to go to the PA in a large room if I want. But too expensive for a starter if you don't need all that.

If you can find Traynor where you are, they make a great, low priced 50 watt practice amp that's durable, lightweight, sounds very good and has a fantastic "even if you break it" warranty. I have one of them too. Great little amp that cost me about $300 Canadian.