Are there any practice amps that really have some kick?

Stay far, far away from the Minx. It's a very thin sounding amp that will make you not want to play bass.

I recommend either a Peavey TNT ($450) or Ampeg B100R($600?).

 

For a practice amp the size of the Minx that sounds much bigger, try the Yorkville XM50C. Much better and a good price. I compared it to several when I needed a spare amp for teaching and it blew away everything in that price range including the Roland, Peavey and Kustom.

 

i bought a used BA-112, it meets is inteded pourposes (bedroom amp, coffe house amp and occasionaly stage amp with line out) and it could be close to what you are looking for. If you can spend more,it would probably be better to get more.

My Tace BLX 80 sounds louder, deeper and more like (dare I say it) a B15 that the BA-112 does. Before I get beat up, I said more like than, not identical too.

 

One philosophical question: if it has serious kick, is it really a practice amp? That aside, if you're looking in the SWR Workingman's 12 neighborhood, you should consider the Roland Cube 100, which has loads of features, sounds fantastic, and has enough punch for reasonable volume band rehearsals. In fact, it has almost as much punch as my G-K 700RB/Neo 112 rehearsal rig. (When I pair the Neo 112 with my 700RB-II, it vaults into another league, and works for some gigs.)

 

If it is indeed just a practice amp, I found my little Roland Cube 30 has a surprising kick for a small amp. I wanted something that I was able to play when I was practicing with my guitar player on his acoustic (through a small amp) and drums. The Roland Cube 30 is very compact, light and again, has a decent sound for a small amp. It has a few effects and a cool little amp modeler, but at $295, it wasn't the cheapest in the world. But it sure beats the pants off the $120 Ashdown After Eight I used to have.

 

I've always been impressed with the SWR WM series, other than a little hiss, they sound great and go darn loud for thier size. I have the 10" now for practice, if I wanted to use it for more I'd go for the 12".

Both sound great, and have DIs, so if you get a bigger gig with a PA, just take the WM, put it next to your head for a monitor, and let the PA worry about everybody else.

 

I would definitely recommend the Trace BLX-80. I have one and it's louder than a 300 watt SWR half stack I used to have. It doesn't have a lot highs though. I call mine my dub box.


Mike

 

I was going to suggest a Roland DB500. 12" speaker, great modeling, built in chorus and compression, and louder than it is rated. Emulates a 15" pretty nicely. But it is too late, oops!

 

I just used my Fender Bassman 25 (1x10) in a garage rehearsal with guitar, drums, and vox. I wasn't sure it would keep up, but as it turns out it sounded great and had plenty of kick.

 

yorkville xm100 $375 new.... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/480953/

 

If I were interested in a practice combo, I'd snag up the Pignose Tom is selling on the classifieds! New, check out the Alesis combo on music123.com

 

Ashdown EB 12-180.

or the Ashdown EB 15-180.

They'll both shake your room alot.