Using a Combo as a Pre-Amp (Ampeg B-50R)

[ToadWarrior]

Okay so I love the tone of my Ampeg Rocketbass 50 combo, and I would love to be able to use it for larger gigs and keeping up with my loud bands guitar/drums.

The amp has a 1/4" line out, I am wondering if I can run this straight into a power amp and power external speakers?

Would I have to disconnect the speaker from the preamp section if I wanted to keep the combo silent?

Finally, is it possible to just remove the preamp section of the combo and just use that.

[bongomania]

1 Yes
2 Yes probably --note that the speaker is not connected to the preamp section, but to the power amp section.
3 Not realistically. However you could remove the whole combination of preamp and power amp (the "head") if you didn't feel like lugging the speaker box around.

[recreate.me]

I had one to these combos for a while but sold it when I found I could get the same sound with a VT bass pedal. If your just going to be using this as a pre amp, just spend 100$ and pick up the VT pedal and use that. It'll save you space, money, and provide a variety of tones in addition to the rocket bass tone.

[ToadWarrior]

^Yeah I've only heard good about the VT bass, I'll consider that too. But I am very pleased with my Rocketbass tone right now, and I've got a bunch of pedals to colour my tone if I need to. Though a preamp pedal like that would sure be convenient and portable.

Thanks for the replies guys, and finally, whats a good cheap power amp I could use for my bass? Would the Carvin DCM line do the job well?

[Dekker]

You'll have to define what you call cheap, and for what Watt/Ohm range, in order for us to provide you with a usable recommendation.