A rant on the term "Practice amp".

[CochinoBass]

My practice amp is either my Darkglass Element with headphones or my GK 400RBIV 115 combo. Personally, with as light as they are, I would not recommend anyone getting anything less than a Fender Rumble 500/200 or Ampeg RB-210/115. Those amps are so light they can easily live at home in the living room, yet can handle a small/medium gig. Maybe in a pinch a 112 combo if you never plan to use it for gigs, but I would never go smaller than that even for exclusively home use.

 

[Auspuff]

I have a feeling that the term "Practice amp" translates to amps that are too weak to carry a bass signal with any kind of authority.

"This cheap 8" woofer farts out when you try to play the open E string with anything more than library volume levels"

"that's okay, we'll label it as a practice amp"

I can see no real world scenario where this has any kind of advantage. Except that beginners buy a beginner set with one of these, only to screw up their technique (because they do not get an even response) and to buy the amp they should have bought in the first place later on.

In my book, a practice amp should focus on delivering a decent sound or mimic the sound of a much bigger amp, but at a lower volume.
The one thing a practice amp should deliver is a rich sound, the one thing it does not need to do is high volume levels.

What I fail to understand is the "But it's only for practicing at home" argument. I'm not a pro, which means that I have one band rehearsal most weeks and play live every other weekend during the gig season (May-Oct).
Most of my time playing the bass is at home. I want a setup that sounds decent for that. I don't want sub par.

Never owned a, "Practice Amp." Always played/practiced through my rig.

Don't think I am missing anything.

 

[agedhorse]

I’m lost. Do you mean that smaller amps with good tone are selling cheap used?

Yes, the older <200 watt amps and combos are selling cheap used. The drawbacks are mostly weight, sometimes size, and the lack of warranty.

 

[Hasty]

Talkbass is a pretty rarified view of the real world in these terms. We have a lot of older folks here who have disposable income and want whatever they see as "the best," and there's nothing wrong with that.

I wholeheartedly agree… much to my financial detriment.

However I feel like there is some balance here because the classified section is second to none in terms of buying some high end gear at great prices if you know what you want.

I don’t think I’d ever be able to recreate my gigging rigs if I was expected to pay full retail. I think it’s realistic to say that at least 75% of my gear was purchased here or it gave me good ideas of what to snatch up on the used market when it popped up as a local sale from mutual musician friends.

 

[Harper]

Good thing no one is forcing you to buy one

 

[Ric Vice]

Here is a picture of my first real bass amp, the Ampeg B-15N(C). By most modern standards of measure at 25 watts RMS (later upped to 30 watts) it became a "studio practice/recording amp" it just has a nice tone pallet. Just my take of course

 

[Hasty]

Here is a picture of my first real bass amp, the Ampeg B-15N(C). By most modern standards of measure at 25 watts RMS (later upped to 30 watts) it became a "studio practice/recording amp" it just has a nice tone pallet. Just my take of course

View attachment 4932801

That thing is exactly what inspired me to build my first small tube amp (which looks and sounds nothing like the B-15 coincidentally).

 

[KRJax]

Well, I have a "for practice only" amp at home. It's an Ampeg BA110v2 and it sounds great for home purposes. In fact, sonically, it may sound better than my gig rig for such a small controlled environment(my home office), and I don't have the hassle of having to set up my rig at home. I bought it NEW for $135 on SALE @ Musicians Friend, a cheap solution that affords me convenience and good tone. It allows me to practice in silence with headphone and aux in jacks and It records well too. Larger rigs were not designed for home use, especially the cabs. They can't "open up" in the home.
IMHO, there's plenty of justification for an at home practice amp and there are some good ones for not a lot of money.

I have the same amp that I use at home. It’s never given me any problems and I like the tone I get from it.

 

[Giff]

I have an Ampeg BA110 v.2 that I got for free because it didn’t work. The problem was simply a spade connector had fallen off the IEC input. It works great. It sounds really good too (for its size) and reproduces the B nicely! I happily use it to learn songs.

 

[MtManiac]

All of my amps sound great at low volumes as well as high volumes, but I primarily practice with headphones in so a preamp with headphones and an aux-in work great for me. Currently, my Darkglass M500 v2 is both my practice amp as well as my main amp. For rehearsals I don’t even bring a cab, just the head feeding into the mixer via the DI Out with cab sim on, and IEMs for everyone. I bring speakers to gigs, but we all still use IEMs and the same monitor mixes we use at rehearsals.

For me, the term “practice amp” is code for “budget-priced amp for keeping at home and never taking out.” There’s nothing wrong with that, and there’s obviously a big market for it. So a >50 watt amp isn’t a practice amp, it’s either an underpowered amp or it’s just an amp, depending on your needs.

I played for 21 years exclusively with a 40 watt combo, from high school, two years studying jazz at university, and a few years of gigs, jams, parties, etc. Was it underpowered? Absolutely. Was it “just” a practice amp? Obviously not. Fortunately, it was a Traynor so it didn’t fail until 2007, and since then I’ve been using much bigger amps, whether I need them or not.

 

[Tom Bomb]

One of these for me,
​

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… teamed with an MP forest green comp and a EBS microbass II, and I'm sweet, no matter what I want to plug in Handles any number of effects and pres — you name it (there's an fx loop too)) and there's a headphone out and a wee mixer.

Very compact but this rig still gets pretty bloody loud & hifi. I have an old Sidekick for rehearsing etc. — all bases covered.
​

 

[Pilgrim]

I have a feeling that the term "Practice amp" translates to amps that are too weak to carry a bass signal with any kind of authority.

"This cheap 8" woofer farts out when you try to play the open E string with anything more than library volume levels"

"that's okay, we'll label it as a practice amp"

I can see no real world scenario where this has any kind of advantage. Except that beginners buy a beginner set with one of these, only to screw up their technique (because they do not get an even response) and to buy the amp they should have bought in the first place later on.

In my book, a practice amp should focus on delivering a decent sound or mimic the sound of a much bigger amp, but at a lower volume.
The one thing a practice amp should deliver is a rich sound, the one thing it does not need to do is high volume levels.

What I fail to understand is the "But it's only for practicing at home" argument. I'm not a pro, which means that I have one band rehearsal most weeks and play live every other weekend during the gig season (May-Oct).
Most of my time playing the bass is at home. I want a setup that sounds decent for that. I don't want sub par.

I have a Roland Bass Cube, 20W. Sounds like a bass, just won't fill a big room. That's what a practice amp needs to be. The Roland even has a tuner, compression and reverb built in, and emulates 5 different famous amp systems, like the Ampeg Flip-Top and the Bassman. One package has it all - pick it up and head to practice.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Maybe I don't understand the problem. I use Aguilar equipment to play out and sound professional, but I also keep a little Vox Super Beatle bass amp/cabinet under my desk at home for practice. Why? It doesn't disturb everyone in the house, it's small and out of the way, and it sounds very good with my Jack Cassidy bass with T-I jazz flats and my Hofner Ignition/Icon whatever with Labella flats. It's good enough for solo practice.

 

[otp57]

I have a feeling that the term "Practice amp" translates to amps that are too weak to carry a bass signal with any kind of authority.

"This cheap 8" woofer farts out when you try to play the open E string with anything more than library volume levels"

"that's okay, we'll label it as a practice amp"

I can see no real world scenario where this has any kind of advantage. Except that beginners buy a beginner set with one of these, only to screw up their technique (because they do not get an even response) and to buy the amp they should have bought in the first place later on.

In my book, a practice amp should focus on delivering a decent sound or mimic the sound of a much bigger amp, but at a lower volume.
The one thing a practice amp should deliver is a rich sound, the one thing it does not need to do is high volume levels.

What I fail to understand is the "But it's only for practicing at home" argument. I'm not a pro, which means that I have one band rehearsal most weeks and play live every other weekend during the gig season (May-Oct).
Most of my time playing the bass is at home. I want a setup that sounds decent for that. I don't want sub par.

I have to agree with you,the SWR LA10 to me would be the smallest amp for a practice amp.
35 watts with a 10 inch speaker. The Rumble 40 or Orange 50 would make a very good practice amp and you can gig with them. I still use my SWR LA10.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Do you mean a practice amp like this Orange one?

 

[IamGroot]

When we surveyed our community about the usage and overall impact of the word “practice amp", over 90% of our members surveyed stated that the word should never be used in reference to an amp with limited wattage. As an advocacy organization, our charge is to take the lead in providing accurate and current information to the public when the “p” word is used erroneously, and often carelessly, as a description of an amp with small wattage. Whether the intention of the user of the word is used to bully and to demean, or just as a synonym for small, our collective experience shows us that language has the power to cause permanent damage to the self-esteem and identity of bass players.

I.A. Groot
ALW Defense League

 

[LBS-bass]

Do you mean a practice amp like this Orange one?View attachment 4932818

What does that guy know?

 

[Hasty]

What does that guy know?

Just another failed guitar player that decided to pick up the bass...

 

[StereoPlayer]

I don’t call them practice amps. They are just small amps. They come in different sizes.

 

[IamGroot]

Just another failed guitar player that decided to pick up the bass...

If he switched to a P bass, he probably could get a steady gig. Tips, even.