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Acoustic and Electric combo Amp?

D

daalper

Aug 12, 2009
10
0
#1
I have a Michael Kelly Acoustic Electric Bass that I love to play, but it is quiet enough that its hard to play with anybody.

I'd like to get an amp that I can play my acoustic bass through, but also use as a practice amp for my electric. Ideally, if I could find a 50W 1x12 combo that my acoustic sounded good through, I think that would do it.

What combo amps would work for me?
 
#3
An SWR Workingman 10 w/ a Sansamp PDDI. Was a great rig for doing acoustic gigs and practice. it does not get much use anymore since I don't need a practice amp anymore and haven't done an acoustic gig in a while. I am talking about the older model. It is 80 watts and goes to 100 w/ an extension cab. Weighs 30 lbs.
 
#5
All those suggestions are good. The truth is there are a lot of small combos that would work for you.

I have a GK MB 150S which is actually made for amplifying upright bass and works very well with electric. It puts out 150 watts and has a 12" speaker. Weighs 26 lbs. There's a matching extension cabinet that weighs 16 lbs. You'd get a great sound with one of them. They're a bit expensive though compared to Peavey and the others but the sound is worth it to me. You might be able to find one in good shape used but there aren't a huge number of them up for sale. The guys who own them tend to keep them.
 
#7
If you're sure that all you need is something for practicing and playing with one other person, like an acoustic guitar, then almost anything would work for you -- depending on how particular you are about tone and whether there's a specific kind of sound you want. But I'd encourage you to think ahead a little, in terms of how your needs might possibly change in the (near) future. I don't mean that you should get a huge rig because some day you might play stadiums, but rather think just one step ahead. What if, next week, you get an invite to go play at a drummer's house? If you're not interested in that, fine, but if you think that you'd want to do it, then you might regret having bought something that isn't quite up to that task. Obviously you have to work within your budget -- what is it, by the way? -- but try to give yourself a little "room to grow" if possible. It's a lot easier to turn a bigger amp down than a little amp up.

FWIW, I love the previously-mentioned B100R for most of my needs, playing in a garage or den with a drummer and one or two guitarists. Enough ooomph for that setting, and tone to die for.
 
#8
thanks for the help guys, im going to look at all the items mentioned.

for bigger stuff, i have an svt-4 pro amp with an ampeg 4-10, the one with the ported bottom. its just about as powerful as ive needed anything to be. the thing is, all together it weighs at least 150 pounds, and takes up alot of room. its too much amp sometimes.

i just need something smaller that i can stick in the trunk for low-key practice sessions with my j-bass, and my acoustic.
 
#9
Aha! You were withholding important information! That changes everything. I take back everything I said above.

You really, really, want a B100R. It's a little heavier than you probably were hoping for, but you can definitely throw it in the trunk or back seat. I suggest it for two reasons:

First, tone. If you like that Ampeg sound you get from your big rig, you won't find anything near it in any other small combo. The B100R is designed to emulate a B-15, not an SVT, but you will love it. You'll be amazed at how rich and tube-y the sound is for a solid-state amp. I play my Jack Casady sig -- a kind of hybrid between hollow and semi-hollow -- through mine, and I swear it sounds like the amp and bass were designed for each other.

Second, size/power. If you get a little 50-watt something, it'll work for some of these "low-key practices" -- say, with an acoustic guitarist -- but there will be a gap in your gear between that and your big rig. For a practice or jam with a drummer and one electric guitarist, for example, the big rig will be more than you need but the little one will be inadequate. (I had a B50R before I got the 100, and although the tone was great it didn't have enough balls for those sessions. And, it couldn't handle the B string on a fiver.) If you get the B100R, you can use it for everything up to the point that you need to go big, and all your bases will be covered.
 

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