Bass head with pedals for silent practicing

[Jacob H]

Hi all,
I'm looking into getting one of these small bass heads for silent practicing (with head phones), but I would like to use my pedals in the input too.
Do you know, if I will be able to hear my pedals via the head phones as well?
Any good recommendation's for an amp?

 

[Jay Corwin]

I've used my Ampeg PF-350 like this. I was shocked at how good it sounded with a good set of cans on. It has an aux input that I run my laptop into to practice silently over tracks so my wife doesn't want to kill me.

 

[lomo]

Run your bass>>>pedals>>>amp input and literally every amp that has a headphone output (almost all of them) will do this. Amp recommendations will require a bit more info if you want anything more than a rando list of everyone else's fave amps. Do you ever want to use the amp with cabs in the future? Do you get all your tone/sound via pedals and not care about the amps preamp? Budget?

 

[gtirard]

Hi all,
I'm looking into getting one of these small bass heads for silent practicing (with head phones), but I would like to use my pedals in the input too.
Do you know, if I will be able to hear my pedals via the head phones as well?
Any good recommendation's for an amp?

If you don't need to hear yourself through a speaker, why do you need an amp? A lot of preamp pedals have a headphones output.
Check your pedalboard, maybe you already have one?

Else, the Joyo BA30 has a headphones out. Under $100, small and lightweight, can be used with its internal speaker or through heaphones.

 

[PrestoZoom]

I generally play through a USB interface when I want to practice silently since I can play along to music that I'm playing on my laptop. However, I have a Warwick Gnome head that I use for headphone practice when I'm not in my home office. It works fine.

Any amp or USB interface should work with pedals. You may want to consider one which has an aux input as well in case you want to play along with music but I think most amps/interfaces have both a headphone jack and an aux input now.

 

[Z-Bass]

Yes, any amp or pedal with an aux out and a headphone out will provide silent practice (with or without backing tracks), so look for those features. And if they have adjustable volume(s), even better. I have used my amp (GK MB500) for this very situation but lately have been using a Darkglass element that's at the end of my pedalboard. Has the adjustable headphone volume and bluetooth capabilities if I want to practice along with a track. Being in my pedalboard chain, I hear my effects as well. Has a DI as well but that's a separate feature not related to your question....but nice to have.

 

[gln1955]

A mini mixing board is cheap and makes it easy to run another source for a play along practice.

 

[agedhorse]

A mini mixing board is cheap and makes it easy to run another source for a play along practice.

So does a preamp pedal with an aux input and headphone output.

 

[bherman]

So does a preamp pedal with an aux input and headphone output.

I use my Mesa Subway Bass DI/Preamp II for just that purpose - and as a bonus, its a great preamp for live playing! Saves you from buying an amp for that purpose, unless you need one for other purposes. IMHO, it's the best preamp out there, at the best price-point.

 

[monsterthompson]

The pedals should certainly be audible through the headphones out. Just be aware that you won’t have the sound of the cabinet coming through your headphones. This will be most noticeable if you use heavy distortion or fuzz since bass cabinets generally filter out the fizzy highs. If you play with fuzz you’ll likely want a cab sim or filter for headphone playing.

 

[Docduval]

If you don't need to hear yourself through a speaker, why do you need an amp? A lot of preamp pedals have a headphones output.
Check your pedalboard, maybe you already have one?

Else, the Joyo BA30 has a headphones out. Under $100, small and lightweight, can be used with its internal speaker or through heaphones.

I got the JOYO ba30 last week. I can’t recommend it. The sound is very mediocre through headphones and distorts pretty easily when you turn the volume up. I have 80 ohm headphones and the volume is very low. Also no aux in, only Bluetooth in.

 

[jdjk7]

If you don't need to hear yourself through a speaker, why do you need an amp? A lot of preamp pedals have a headphones output.
Check your pedalboard, maybe you already have one?

Else, the Joyo BA30 has a headphones out. Under $100, small and lightweight, can be used with its internal speaker or through heaphones.

Headphone out is a more common feature on amps than pedals.

 

[groovaholic]

This is a minor complaint about my amps - but I wish their aux inputs would pass through in stereo.

I understand that mono-summing is probably necessary for the many situations where having the aux input come out of the DI and speakers might be desirable.
But I'm only using the Aux In to learn songs at home - and the music is much more enjoyable in stereo.

Also - those little 1/8" connectors seem more geared toward amateur usage anyhow, so IMO they should be dedicated to amateur purposes like learning songs at home..

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

This is one of our most consistently convenient and useful pieces of quiet practice gear taken in over the past 5 years.

THR30II WL Wireless 30-Watt Desktop Electric Guitar Amp

THR10II 10 Watt Desktop Guitar Amp

shop.usa.yamaha.com

 

[2saddleslab]

So does a preamp pedal with an aux input and headphone output.

That's what I use for silent practice.

 

[darwin-bass]

I used to use a Genz Benz head but now I use a mixer. I get stereo plus bass EQ on the tracks so I can turn the lows down to make easier for me to hear myself in context.

 

[agedhorse]

The pedals should certainly be audible through the headphones out. Just be aware that you won’t have the sound of the cabinet coming through your headphones. This will be most noticeable if you use heavy distortion or fuzz since bass cabinets generally filter out the fizzy highs. If you play with fuzz you’ll likely want a cab sim or filter for headphone playing.

Most preamps have enough eq to make distortion workable for practicing, some have enough cab sim on the headphone out to help with this too.

I got the JOYO ba30 last week. I can’t recommend it. The sound is very mediocre through headphones and distorts pretty easily when you turn the volume up. I have 80 ohm headphones and the volume is very low. Also no aux in, only Bluetooth in.

Then it’s not an appropriate solution, but there are plenty of others that will work just fine.

Headphone out is a more common feature on amps than pedals.

It depends on the amp and then pedal, there are plenty of examples of headphone outputs on both.

This is a minor complaint about my amps - but I wish their aux inputs would pass through in stereo.

I understand that mono-summing is probably necessary for the many situations where having the aux input come out of the DI and speakers might be desirable.
But I'm only using the Aux In to learn songs at home - and the music is much more enjoyable in stereo.

Also - those little 1/8" connectors seem more geared toward amateur usage anyhow, so IMO they should be dedicated to amateur purposes like learning songs at home..

I refuse to use 1/8” jacks for aux inputs or headphones on any product intended for live use. They are far too vulnerable IME.

 

[groovaholic]

I refuse to use 1/8” jacks for aux inputs or headphones on any product intended for live use. They are far too vulnerable IME.

Exactly my point!
When I see a 1/8" jack - especially one that doesn't have an external nut providing strain relief - I'm not thinking of professional use cases.

 

[jdjk7]

It depends on the amp and then pedal, there are plenty of examples of headphone outputs on both.

I didn't say they don't have headphone outs, but I can think of many more amps that do than pedals.

 

[logdrum]

I bought a shameless copy of the Humboldt Bass Station. Surprisingly functionally and same audio quality as the OG, Anyways I got that setup for my Charlie Hunter headphone practice rig where I a also need a guitar preamp. also a shameless copy of the Simplifier I ended up getting a 3 channel stereo/mono line mixer from Rolls and it has a very capable headphone amp capable of driving high impedance headphones which I think is the thing missing on many preamps or amps with a headphone amp and they also do not have level controls, Here's an old not very neat picture vut I have since cleaned it up. Remember I am playing guitar and bass at the same time. The Rolls will even work with just a bass ,

The Bass Station and its copy have a parallel our meaning just the bass before it hits the preamp and they put a switchable 2 position LPF on that as well, this is the best feature. The new Bass Station and the Bass Master are even better. They may not have a ton of bass cab IRs and only an SVT tone stack but to me the most satisfying headphone experience for bass. The headphone will drive sa high impedance can something like a Sennheiser 600 but may not be as loud as you want, certainly no worse than any other brand name preamp, **** The Bass Master has better EQ and 2 additional preamp types plus additional routing but that's another discussion altogether.

What it has
2 FX loops,
parallel mix with LPF,
Analog cab sim 3 voicings, 3 cab sizes, mic position and resonance
Analog PreAmp - Ampeg baxandall and selectable Mids + drive circuit
2 DI out for preamp cab sim and parallel
Aux in
Adjustable Headphone Amp
Parallel - CabSim and Preamp levels are all mixable

BASS STATION - DSM/HUMBOLDT

BASS STATION - DSM/HUMBOLDT

www.dsmhumboldt.com

The Rolls is just an addition for my use case and I also use it for synths. But the stereo pan controls and the ability to monitor my synth sequences as well as audio tracks is worth the 99 I paid for it.