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best dorm amp

#3
If you want a modern and faithful sound with small footprint and super low noise headphone out I would recommend the warwick BC-20... Use mine daily for V quiet practice. Love the sound and balance of the ported 8" woofer and soft dome tweeter, you really hear what your pedals are doing and also allows the aux input source to be heard full frequency range, could double as a dorm room party speaker... Not an 810 type sound though... Street price new around $160.
 
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#5
Do yourself a BIG favor and audition some of the new D-Class Fender Rumble combos. The Rumble 40 1x10 would be an excellent choice, and is just $180. The Rumble 100 1x12 is just slightly larger, and enables you to jam with a drummer. Comes in right at the top of your budget of $300.

Tons of Rumble love; raves, and reviews over at the Fender Rumble Club. Read first hand reports from the stage here -> http://www.talkbass.com/threads/fender-rumble-club.970397/page-57
 
#6
Lots of people love the new Rumbles. I haven't had a chance to check one out yet but they look super dope.

I would try to find a Genz benz shuttle with the 12" cab before they are impossible to locate. They are great for small rigs and if you use a different cab, they can work for much larger needs (I sometimes hook my Shuttle 6.2 to a Barefaced 69er with great results).
 
#8
Lots of very good little practice amps being made these days! Fender, Ampeg and GK all have reasonably priced good little combos. Just a little over your budget ($349) is the Ibanez Promethean 3110. 300 watts and quite small. Add a second cab down the road and it is gig worthy (within reason). It gets a lot of love on here (do a search). Good luck!
 
#9
I too used a Fender Rumble 15 back when I lived in a apartment. I used it with headphones at night but during the day I would barely need to turn it up to a quarter volume to be able to practice on and it could get surprisingly pretty loud. Like most small combos it was limited on EQ functions however it served as a great small practice amp and it only cost me $30 used.
 
#10
Good headphones help. Having an amp that can mix in source material from an MP3 or similar device is good. I find that I can't use headphones all the time, it's too hard on my ears. Most often I need a speaker and to move some air to better hear what I'm playing. But you have to be considerate of others, bass will carry throughout walls. Also nice to have an interface to a computer to record what you are playing to help monitor your progress.

Amp wise, small Fender and Ampeg are both good. I also use a Line6 POD or a mixer into a computer.
 
#13
It may be slightly bigger and a little more expensive than you have in mind, but the Genz Benz Contour 1x15 is a heck of a deal at $359 on the bay. It has a headphone out and aux input. I'd have a hard time passing it up if I were in your position.

I opted for a full Eden rig back in my dorm days. :D But then I was playing large rooms or auditoriums every week, so it made sense at the time. Something like the Contour would be capable of smaller gigs, should you get a chance to play out.

Greve230Fall2006LighterCrop.jpg
 
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#14
I haven't tried the newer Fender Rumble amps but I have two of the older kickback Bassman amps, one is the 60 with 12" and the other is the 25 with 10" speaker, the 25 has RCA inputs plus Headphone out. I bought mine used for $50 a couple years ago. It hides nicely in my living room so I can do ear training to commercials.

There is one on ebay, but looking at the pictures it looks dirty and I think he is asking way too much at $150 or best offer.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Bassman-25-/271517025562?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f37ad051a
 
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#15
I just need
TNID said:
It may be slightly bigger and a little more expensive than you have in mind, but the Genz Benz Contour 1x15 is a heck of a deal at $359 on the bay. It has a headphone out and aux input. I'd have a hard time passing it up if I were in your position.

I opted for a full Eden rig back in my dorm days. :D But then I was playing large rooms or auditoriums every week, so it made sense at the time. Something like the Contour would be capable of smaller gigs, should you get a chance to play out.

Greve230Fall2006LighterCrop.jpg
Click to expand...
I just need one to practice with I'm keeping my rig where we practice I don't think my room mate would want my Ampeg taking up that much space!
 
#19
When it came time to get a small bass practice amp to hook my computer up to and play with I remembered Bass Player magazine having a shoot out a long time ago and Peavey being one of the better ones. I ended up getting a Max 126 used for $40 and it's great--I've been using it for 3 years now and love it.
 

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