Home practise gear

[shkacas]

Hello,
what gear would you recomend for home practising? I have Fender American P-bass Deluxe (with active EQ preamp) and AKG K-240 headphones, so I would like to have some thing that would allow me to connect my bass, Ipod (or some cd player) to my headphones.

[jweiss]

Do you have a computer? Is it feasible for you to practice in front of your computer? If so, plug your bass into the line in on your sound card and plug your headphones into the headphone jack.

[dunamis]

Originally Posted by shkacas

Hello,
what gear would you recomend for home practising? I have Fender American P-bass Deluxe (with active EQ preamp) and AKG K-240 headphones, so I would like to have some thing that would allow me to connect my bass, Ipod (or some cd player) to my headphones.

IMO, best options are:

PJB Bass Buddy
Cafe Walter

I have both, and both are excellent for doing what you want to do. Either can be operated on batteries or plugged in.

The Cafe Walter is super clean, very simple to use, headphone amp that's designed for bass. Just a level control for the bass and external source.

The Bass Buddy is also a bass specific headphone amp, but adds a compressor/limiter, 5-band graphic EQ, and (believe it or not!) a 10 watt speaker output.

Google for more details...

[nsmar4211]

I actually use a Crate BT15 practice amp. It's got CD input and headphone jacks and speaker jacks and all that good schtuff. I plug my laptop into the headphone jacks (10 dollar cable from radioshack), play the song I'm trying to learn through that. Playing it through the bass amp brings out the bass parts too, added bonus. Works for me .

[Meyekul]

I use a Peavey 1x15 combo at home and I usually sit directly in front of it so that I get the full effect and hear everything very well. I'm always forced to "turn down a bit" when jamming or gigging so I relish the opportunity to actually hear and FEEL my bass

[KeithPas]

I am using an SWR Workingmans 200 head at home and as a back up head. There is a headphone input and a speaker shutoff switch.

[peterbright]

Overkill but it works.

[bassbully]

Tascam bass trainer my #1 for learning songs playing solo any time anywhere....a must in my book.

[rdmjazz]

+1 on the Tascam
I have the MP3 version, it's a great practice amp.

[mantelclock]

My setup is laptop computer into mixer, bass into mixer, mp3 recorder into mixer, headphones out. When learning new tunes with the band, if they're original, I record the song at practice with the mp3 recorder and work out the details between practices playing along with the recording. If I'm transcribing a part from a recording, I use the laptop with 'Amazing Slow Downer' software or I just learn the part directly off the recording. For practicing grooves, I use band-in-a-box and mute the bass part. This works for me.

[jusaplaya]

I use a Digitech effects pedal....i think. I plug the bass into the input and headphones into the output and away you go. I think the model is the BP-50. It is battery operated so I can practice anywhere, anytime and everything fits into a gig bag. The pedal has a drum machine, multiple effects and tuner.

[mambo4]

+1 on the Cafe Walter headphone amp.

[jschwalls]

2 best tools for practicing....

1. your ears.
2. a metronome...

not being a smart a$$ but... it seems nowadays alot of younger players are neglecting their ears , not saying that you are... Alot of my younger students are always talking about tab books and online tab sites....
Hell, I'm guilty of using tab to quickly navigate a song or too.

Young players seem to be techincally progressing faster than in years past.. I think tab has alot to do with this, but on the flip side it also seems more young players have a harder time playing in bands and with other musicians in general.

When I was a kid we would gather around our record players and figure out songs together...


But, I could be totally wrong, wouldn't be the 1st time.