What do I need for silent Bass practice ?

illinois2020 · #1 11-04-2008, 03:36 AM

Hi folks.

I have been playing Bass Guitar for years, but am not very experiences with technology and gear I am afraid.

I used to jam along to CDs using my Combo amp, and played the CD through a Hi-Fi system, but due to circumstance, I now need to play in silence.

I would like to plug the bass and a CD player straight into some kind of mixer and then the final mix through decent headphones etc. It would be nice if I could EQ both inputs too, and rack mounts would be nice, if possible.

Can anyone point me in the right track as to what I would need to buy - money not a massive issue, so would like something half decent, say entire set-up up to $700 or £400

Sorry for the amateur question and thanks very much for any help.

Joe.

fullrangebass · #2 11-04-2008, 03:41 AM

The Tascam BT series allows you to do just that at a fraction of the cost you just mentioned. The original one was able to play only audio CDs but the II version allows for mp3's as well

pearcey · #3 11-04-2008, 04:08 AM

My bass combo (Orange Crush) has a headphone out and 2 inputs. I feed music via my computer headphone socket via a lead into the active socket and the bass into the passive. I listen to all of it through the combo headphone out, if that makes sense.

I can play along to my band with my bass to practice and listen to it all on headphones. Would have thought that most hi fi's have headphone sockets, most combos have 2 inputs and a headphone too (maybe not all have a headphone, but it is a practice amp)

Can recommend the Orange overall. Good tone, decent practice amp.

irvinz · #4 11-04-2008, 04:10 AM

or a headphone amp with an aux input?
e.g. samson, ART etc. all cheaper than a 2-300

phatbass30 · #5 11-04-2008, 04:47 AM

Tascam MP-BT1

tomvelsor · #6 11-04-2008, 07:55 AM

i personally use the headphone out of the korg AX3000B if i need to practice in silence and still want to hear my sound..as for mixing in tracks to play with, i dont know.

lug · #7 11-04-2008, 08:05 AM

The Korg bass Pandoras (small effects unit/headphone amp) has an Aux input for CDs or MP3 player plus lots of drum patterns to play along with.

**5stringwonder** · #8 11-04-2008, 08:19 AM

Phil Jones Bass Buddy and a pair of Good Headphones..

jaseOZ · #9 11-04-2008, 08:20 AM

Hi,

due to complaints from the neighbours and visits form the local council and police I have had to move to headphones.

I found the Vox Amplug to be the simplest and least expensive way to practice.
I bought the AC-30 model which has a really cool valve sound to it when you turn the gain up around 4. Any higher and it starts to distort.

This actually turned out good because you can use it to record and I prefer the way guitar sounds throught this amplug than my Boss DS-2.
The DS-2 is going on eBay.

You can plug an iPod straight into in and play along through your headphones and it sounds awesome. It's about the size of a matchbox. I practice everywhere now, backyard, down at the beach. It's cool as.

I just noticed that Vox is releasing a BASS amplug, the bastards.

I will probably get one of those.

http://www.voxamps.com/amplug/

LaughingGroove · #10 11-04-2008, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fullrangebass

The Tascam BT series allows you to do just that at a fraction of the cost you just mentioned. The original one was able to play only audio CDs but the II version allows for mp3's as well

+1 I have the older cd version as I've had it awhile. I use it more than I thought I would when I bought it. Slowing down the CD does make it sound like crap though, even though tascam says it won't....it does, other than that its pretty good. Not sure about the MP3 version, anyone know? I'm guessing it sounds like crap slowed down as well.

**bassman_al** · #11 11-04-2008, 10:41 AM

I got one of those "Rock-It" gadgets. Works well. Cheap too, $45 at GC and serves the purpose. Plug in I-pod or even laptop sound if you are like me and like to play along with Youtube videos.

Essthreetee · #12 11-04-2008, 11:17 AM

I found the "EARWIG" headphone amp works great. It was like $40 shipped (or close to that)...it has an aux input for your CD player, a seperate volume control for the aux input and for the guitar.

It does the job great and cost is fairly cheap.

Do a search on ebay (or google) for Earwig by EA Technologies...I like mine for practicing only to myself.

DB5 · #13 11-04-2008, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fullrangebass

The Tascam BT series allows you to do just that at a fraction of the cost you just mentioned. The original one was able to play only audio CDs but the II version allows for mp3's as well

+1 and a good set of head phones. Money well spent IMO.

almix12 · #14 11-04-2008, 07:42 PM

any multi with a headphone jack and an aux in
the behringer v-amp has all that and a pretty active EQ too

JazzyJames · #15 11-04-2008, 10:30 PM

You could get a Korg Pandora PX4D which is for guitar and bass. You could try to get the PX4B but they vanished from production.

depalm · #16 11-05-2008, 08:59 AM

Macbook Pro, an Apogee Duet interface, and a pair of a good Sony headphones.

Swift713 · #17 11-05-2008, 09:17 AM

I'm currently using a Boss Micro BR while I'm traveling but at home I prefer the Bass Buddy. I've also used a cheap Behringer mixer which has connectivity up the wazzo. The most important thing for bass response is the headphones. I got some pretty decent Nady QH-660's from MF for about $35 or even less.

lowb1970 · #18 11-05-2008, 09:24 AM

+1 on the Korg Pandora. I owned the PX-3 and liked it so much I bought the PX-4. Dave Larue uses them also and is now using the newest one that allows for input to computer for recording. Great amp modeling along with drums and effects for a fraction of the cost. Seriously check them out. You can probably find a used PX-4 on Ebay for under $200. Best wishes~

xaxxat · #19 11-08-2008, 01:44 PM

This guy uses the Korg Pandora PX4D: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaXvMZWGF5U

He uses his headphones with it. He gets some amazing tones from it and says that it keeps his neighbors happy.

He's getting a PX5D next. It has a USB connection on it so one can interface with a computer to download patches and to also play music to play-along with. It will also remove the bass from songs so one can replace the bass player.

It's going to be an early xmas gift to myself.

lowbassgroove · #20 11-08-2008, 02:50 PM

I use the Boss Micro BR. Very nice. It has a few different tones for Bass (though most are for guitar). Also has drum tracks to play along with and it's a 4 track recorder. You can load up MP3 files of songs you want to learn and play along. You can even slow them down without changing the pitch. That's just about everything I need.