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A rant on the term "Practice amp".
- Thread starter el murdoque
- Start date
OK, I'll bite...what was the point of observing that some guitarists have used practice amps for purposes other than practice?
Today's practice amps are much better than practice amps of the 80's or 90's. Those little starter amps that come in Christmas beginner kits should be outlawed.
I just picked up an RB110 for home practice and recording. I tried turning the master volume to about 1 o'clock the other day just to test it, and heard a fair bit of clipping/OD without the OD turned on. This is with a passive P bass. Does that sound normal for this amp? It's not a problem for me, I just want to make sure I didn't get a lemon.
Things that define a practice amp to me:
- small enough to not be an obstacle at home
- just loud enough to hear your playing when practicing by yourself
- inexpensive, cause it doesn't pack the power to be heard over other instruments
- ideally it sounds good, just not not very loud
The name "practice amp" says it all: It's a small amp for practicing, not for rehearsing or gigging. I have a Peavey Microbass for this purpose, and it works great.
- small enough to not be an obstacle at home
- just loud enough to hear your playing when practicing by yourself
- inexpensive, cause it doesn't pack the power to be heard over other instruments
- ideally it sounds good, just not not very loud
The name "practice amp" says it all: It's a small amp for practicing, not for rehearsing or gigging. I have a Peavey Microbass for this purpose, and it works great.
They are there for people who can't afford (or simply don't want to) something better.
I practice at home through my guitar amp (a 15 w tube combo, open back 1x12); it sounds pretty good at low volume even though the low end is tiny and farts if I push it. But I know well how it sounds and how it responds, so I don't try to compensate for its deficiencies with my technique, I just play knowing low end just isn't going to be there.
And with my band I practice with a really cheap 60 w 1x12 combo that fits the bill for "practice amp". It has more volume than what I currently need (we rehearse at really low volume, I love our drummer) and tone is good enough for me. I've had it for many years and learned how to get a tone that makes it for me out of it.
I honestly don't think a better amp would make me play any better or enjoy practice any more than I do, so up to this point it never made sense to me to spend more money on amps. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have an old bassman with a 2x15 just for the sake of it, but I don't have neither the money to buy it nor the context to use it; so I stick with what I already have.
If you think that is "sub par" is ok, there are other options there for you, just not that cheap.
I practice at home through my guitar amp (a 15 w tube combo, open back 1x12); it sounds pretty good at low volume even though the low end is tiny and farts if I push it. But I know well how it sounds and how it responds, so I don't try to compensate for its deficiencies with my technique, I just play knowing low end just isn't going to be there.
And with my band I practice with a really cheap 60 w 1x12 combo that fits the bill for "practice amp". It has more volume than what I currently need (we rehearse at really low volume, I love our drummer) and tone is good enough for me. I've had it for many years and learned how to get a tone that makes it for me out of it.
I honestly don't think a better amp would make me play any better or enjoy practice any more than I do, so up to this point it never made sense to me to spend more money on amps. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have an old bassman with a 2x15 just for the sake of it, but I don't have neither the money to buy it nor the context to use it; so I stick with what I already have.
If you think that is "sub par" is ok, there are other options there for you, just not that cheap.
When I started playing bass, I bought a used 25 w fender BXR amp for about $100 that sounded very, very good at low volumes. You don't need a lot of power to play at home unless you just have to rattle the dishes.
I haven't actually used an amp to practice in over ten years. A mini mixing board and a set of headphones does just fine. I'll add a SansAmp in the chain if I'm wanting a better tone, but it's not needed to learn songs or work on technique.
I haven't actually used an amp to practice in over ten years. A mini mixing board and a set of headphones does just fine. I'll add a SansAmp in the chain if I'm wanting a better tone, but it's not needed to learn songs or work on technique.
I have a 20-watt, 8" speaker equipped Peavey MicroBass practice amp that I bought about 20 years ago. The thing sounds HUGE. I have turned it up to the 1 or 2 o'clock position before and the speaker never farts out and the amp still sounds great. I have never had a problem with it.
Now...contrast that with the Crate 20-watt, 8" practice amp I had back in the early 90s, that was complete junk. You couldn't turn it past about the 9:30 position on the dial without the speaker farting and sounding like garbage.
So, all that said, I think it depends greatly on the design and construction of the combo. The Crate was easily three times the size and weight of the Peavey, but the difference in volume, tone and clarity were miles apart. I'm sure there are still good small amp combos that can pull off the same thing the Peavey MicroBass did/does. I'm sure there are small amps that are on par with the Crate, and I am willing to bet that they are the majority, but there are definitely some great small amp combos out there.
Its really a shame that Peavey discontinued the MicroBass as it existed 20 years ago, because it was/is an incredible little practice amp.
Now...contrast that with the Crate 20-watt, 8" practice amp I had back in the early 90s, that was complete junk. You couldn't turn it past about the 9:30 position on the dial without the speaker farting and sounding like garbage.
So, all that said, I think it depends greatly on the design and construction of the combo. The Crate was easily three times the size and weight of the Peavey, but the difference in volume, tone and clarity were miles apart. I'm sure there are still good small amp combos that can pull off the same thing the Peavey MicroBass did/does. I'm sure there are small amps that are on par with the Crate, and I am willing to bet that they are the majority, but there are definitely some great small amp combos out there.
Its really a shame that Peavey discontinued the MicroBass as it existed 20 years ago, because it was/is an incredible little practice amp.
FullumMusic
Commercial User
- Oct 13, 2022
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- Audio/Music software developer, contracted with a company you've heard of and deving my own stuff.
Agreed $$$$. With no evidence to back myself up, i feel like "Practice Amp" was a nice euphemistic term manufacturers or magazine gear-reviewers came up with because selling "Our cheap-o no frills model that doesn't sound great" doesn't have the same ring to it. But telling a new player, "Hey, look, you can get this Practice Amp for a reasonable price and when you level up to playing with a band, you can buy something bigger and more powerful," not only sounds nicer, but also sells double the amps.It's all about money. Look at almost any brand and you'll see that as you go up in price you get more wattage, bigger/more speakers and usually more features. Everything is about having an amp at every single price point so that a buyer can go into a store looking for a <name popular brand here> amp and find something for their budget, even if it's a POS.
That's why the non-intuitive thing is to just buy something used that's not an amp for beginners. Even my very first amp (a terrible Univox) was bought used. The trick is finding an amp that's currently out of vogue so it's selling for peanuts.
What I miss is the good old days when a beginner's amp had a 12" or 15" speaker. In the early 1980s I found a 1970s 20 watt/1-15" all-tube Traynor BassMate that was loud enough to use on gigs. Nobody makes amps like that any more and used prices for tube beginner's amps have gone through the roof.
View attachment 4932475
Oh yeah, I got it for $65 from some guy who was using it as a PA monitorThose were the days!!! I sold it years later for $150 (with the original tubes!!!) but now I see people asking $400+ for them.
And on the other side of it, Experienced players who are looking for practice amps know exactly how to find a good sounding not-loud amp for low-volume practice situations.
I do kinda like the unofficial term "Bedroom Amp," because it says exactly what it is. A small amp that doesn't get very loud so you can play it in your bedroom/apartment without pissing off the neighbors or your parents too much. If it farts out when you turn it up too loud, well, it's not supposed to go too loud. Bedroom = quiet.
What you call a practice amp could also be called a backstage warmup amp. Like Geddy is doing.
Warming up and then going to the bathroom before hitting the stage is not a bad thing.
Warming up and then going to the bathroom before hitting the stage is not a bad thing.
A 15W Pro Junior is a totally gig-worthy amp and stage appropriate for guitarists. I've gigged with guys that use a rig like that and it can get incredibly loud in a musical way.
Well... a couple things.
1) They're great for people who live in apartments. No, the low end doesn't translate well, but in some cases that's GOOD-- a comfortable practice volume with all the low end in the signal is going to piss off your neighbors. If noise is a concern, you can get to a more comfortable volume if you simply thin out the low end. (You could use a headphone amp, but that doesn't work as well for some people. I find headphones convenient, but playing in them can be a bit disorienting and bad for my ears. It's not the immediate correct solution for everybody.)
2) 'practice amps' are frequently cheaper, which means they're more immediate and accessible to someone who either doesn't have the resources to get a nicer amp or someone who's not as confident in the investment (say, they just started playing bass.)
3) They're very mobile, which is always a benefit. I lugged mine around because I would practice bass at school and at a youth club. That wouldn't have been possible with any of the amps I've owned since then.
I do agree that it'd be more efficient, and you would sound better, if you simply got a "real amp" out of the gate. I started on a practice amp and yeah, it sucked, and once I started gigging I had no use for it. But the reality is that a 'real amp' is not the most practical solution for beginners, and practice amps have a purpose for many, even if that doesn't include you.
As long as they keep selling (which they do), manufacturers will keep making them. The point of practice amps in most cases is accessibility: your average layman is not going to do much research when buying one for themselves, their children, or whomever is looking to start playing bass. They just need to start out on something, and I think in most cases, the bass itself is probably going to matter more, rather than the amp. If they've got a bass that's not setup well, they're going to be more discouraged from that rather than a wimpy practice amp.
Physics allows a usable guitar amp at a price point that would produce a garbage bass amp.
It all depends on what you are using it for, for example I have this rig on a shelf in my home office and it works great for that purpose. This little Vox Pathfinder 10 is perfect for this and also works well for accompanying small acoustic sessions (it mics well). The only down side is that it is AC only, but in the office it's fine.
I've never had much luck with any of those "kit starter" amps. But as the previous post says the small amp market has really improved. I think the rise in busking in the 90's pushed that with the Roland Cube, and others targeting that market. I think I've had that little green Vox Mini 3w for 15 years or so, still works great (the main reason I bought the Pathfinder bass amp). With the TRIO+ it's great to lay down a rhythm and then see what bass tracks are auto generated, then work out your own. Great way to fill down time in those "hurry up and wait" intervals.
Cheers
I've never had much luck with any of those "kit starter" amps. But as the previous post says the small amp market has really improved. I think the rise in busking in the 90's pushed that with the Roland Cube, and others targeting that market. I think I've had that little green Vox Mini 3w for 15 years or so, still works great (the main reason I bought the Pathfinder bass amp). With the TRIO+ it's great to lay down a rhythm and then see what bass tracks are auto generated, then work out your own. Great way to fill down time in those "hurry up and wait" intervals.
Cheers
I agree with you, rant away!
A practice amp should be able to be used for giving in smaller venues. If your practice area is such that you can't play at near gig levels you should be using DI's with headphones. How can you work on your tone or over-all sound if you have to practice at super low volume?
John
Oh BTW, in the old days, they marketed smaller inexpensive amps as “student amps”. It’s what they used in the instruction rooms when I took private lessons at a music academy. New players would also have these sort of amps at home.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
For home I use an Ampeg head and a 2x10 cab
For band rehearsal I use an Ampeg head and a 2x10 cab
For Gigs I use an Ampeg head and a 2x10 cab
If I need to be louder then I go with the same Ampeg head and 2 2x10 cabs and PA support.
2 of my Ampeg heads are 350 watts and 1 is 200 watts, but when run through a single cab they are more like 175 and 150 watts.
If I need a full stack, then I run all 3 heads ... I run the first head into 2 2x10 cabs, and the second head into a 2x10 and a 1x18 cabs, and the third head into 2 1x15 cabs.
So I use my bass amplification equipment in a modular way and then I can adapt to all situations.
I also have a combo 60 watt 1x12 amp that never gets used.
For band rehearsal I use an Ampeg head and a 2x10 cab
For Gigs I use an Ampeg head and a 2x10 cab
If I need to be louder then I go with the same Ampeg head and 2 2x10 cabs and PA support.
2 of my Ampeg heads are 350 watts and 1 is 200 watts, but when run through a single cab they are more like 175 and 150 watts.
If I need a full stack, then I run all 3 heads ... I run the first head into 2 2x10 cabs, and the second head into a 2x10 and a 1x18 cabs, and the third head into 2 1x15 cabs.
So I use my bass amplification equipment in a modular way and then I can adapt to all situations.
I also have a combo 60 watt 1x12 amp that never gets used.
I bought 2nd hand amps for practise and then fixed up. The bxr60 is far too loud to use at home past 20% volume though... My vox Bass amplug plus headphones and blue tooth transmitter/receiver dongle give me tons of flexibility for practise as I can turn ANY amp into bluetooth speaker with it to play along with no cables
I am now looking at used MArkBass 121p for gigging. 400w and only 26lbs
before refurb
After refurb.
I am now looking at used MArkBass 121p for gigging. 400w and only 26lbs
before refurb
After refurb.
I won the Hartke version of the 8” wonder as a door prize at Victor’s Bass/Nature camp. At first I felt just like you - too crappy sounding to be useful for anything.
I have since found it to be the ideal amp for playing along with un-amplified acoustic instruments and singing. So easy to schlep, so unassuming in stature. Sure it doesn’t really sound very good, but it does work and it’s been surprisingly useful for me.
I have since found it to be the ideal amp for playing along with un-amplified acoustic instruments and singing. So easy to schlep, so unassuming in stature. Sure it doesn’t really sound very good, but it does work and it’s been surprisingly useful for me.
