How can I amplify my bass without an amp?

[duo8675309]

My cord is messed up right now and its 3 am. I want to practice but i can barely hear myself b/c of the heater and the fact that I'm not plugged into an amp. How can I hear my bass better?

[Snarf]

Get a new cord? Get off the shrooms?

Oh, and it's 6 AM for me right now, not having slept all night. I HATE my sleep pattern (if you can call it that).

[ollybarclay]

play with some part of the body/headstock making contact with a non-stone wall or a piece of wooden furniture like a bed frame or chest of drawers...pine wood seems to give decent amplification. obviously it's not stadium loud but might serve your purpose.

however...you only have one lead?!

[superbassman2000]

i would say the wood thing too, otherwise listen to your question...
"Can i amplify my sound without an amplifier?" to which i would probably answer no...does your amplifier have a headphones out? i know that you said that your cord was messed up, but it is also not 3am anymore and you could fix it, or get a new one or something, and then you would be ready for your next 3am practice
or there are also headphone amps like the pocket rockit, or some multieffect pedals have headphone outs, all of which work very well at 3AM

[fretlessrock]

Play with your ear up to the upper horn of the bass. If you have a pointy bass, please be careful! You can also rest your ear on the stap and hear it that way, more confortably but not as loud.

[stedtale]

get yourself one of these:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...DF&cm_ite=auto


Or a medical stethoscope. Attach the listening part to the body bass and practice away.

[DGbass70]

put your chin up to the upper horn .....that works for me

[DGbass70]

or better yet buy yourself a JAMPLUG.....if they're still available

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by DGbass70

put your chin up to the upper horn .....that works for me

This is how I do most of my practicing at night.

Or just play hard with a pick. How I used to do it.

[Kronos]

+1

I've been doing this for years.

Until I got a pedal with a headphone output jack.

I still do it sometimes, when I'm watching TV.

[MaskedJackal]

For 25 bucks, a Dragonfly can be had- it's like a stethescope you stick to the back of your bass.

[Dragonlord]

Yep.
http://truenorthmusicproductions.com...nfly-Page.html
I'd like to try one out..
I really don't recommend playing totally unplugged. At least use your chin or something like a stethoscope if you can't stand an electricity driven device for some reason. But a real amp (or headphone amp) is the best thing you can do.

[Peter Squire]

Very, very old trick.

Take a normal pair of headphones, put them on the body of your bass and plug into your amp.

Headphones work as small microphones when reversed in this way.

[Brad Maestas]

The jaw-to-bass coupling works great for me when I am too lazy to hook up the Cafe Walter (which is hardly ever, anymore). Your neck can get sore after a while, though. I've also had luck coupling the body to different structures, too. Any resonant air space is ideal. Spots in the wall between studs and hollow doors have worked well in the past.

[Minger]

Use a pick?

[Thunderbird91]

buy an accustic bass!

[Tbirdbassist]

Grammar Nazi ON:


Acoustic


Grammar Nazi OFF

[Blackbird]

How can I amplify my bass without an amp?

Here you go...

[slapnuts]

GO TO SLEEP. You can't play up to speck if you don't sleep.

[duo8675309]

Originally Posted by Peter Squire

Very, very old trick.

Take a normal pair of headphones, put them on the body of your bass and plug into your amp.

Headphones work as small microphones when reversed in this way.

Holy crap it works. I can't get them too close to the speaker though or they go a-wall on me.

EDIT: Oh and to the people who are telling me to buy a new cord: I'm 15 and I can't drive yet, so I'm kind of restricted to what my aunt feels like doing. And she hasn't felt like buying me a new one lately.