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In praise of practice amps

#121
JimmyM said:
I'll be the first to admit that getting a practice combo isn't the best use of your money when you're a bassist looking for gigs and you don't already have an amp that can hang. But as Grey said, not everyone is looking for that.
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Genz Benz has a simple, functional solution with the 3.0 (and 6.0 and 6.2 combos although they're a little big and powerful to really be considered a practice amp.)

STL308T_sm.jpg


I'm seriously regretting selling my 3.0-10T to the point of getting another one. It exemplifies the beauty of a good practice amp: great sounding, the piggyback bracket makes it very portable, it's loud enough to use on quieter gigs and the head is removable and loud enough into a 4ohm 15", 2x12" 4x10" etc to work in a medium volume situation. I knew when I sold it I'd be regretting that decision.

I have a great sounding practice setup now but it's cobbled together from bits and pieces and a pain to move and set up. Genz really hit on something with the 3.0 combos that no one else has nailed quite as hard.
 
#122
Yes, they rule!! Still practicing thru my little Peavey Minx that I bought back around 1987...or something like that. Stays put in my living room. It's got two inputs...one for my bass and the other for either my drum machine or looper. Love the tone it has!!

I love just sitting on the floor, kicking back against the couch and practicing thru it.
 
#123
Mike M. said:
Yes, they rule!! Still practicing thru my little Peavey Minx that I bought back around 1987...or something like that. Stays put in my living room. It's got two inputs...one for my bass and the other for either my drum machine or looper. Love the tone it has!!

I love just sitting on the floor, kicking back against the couch and practicing thru it.
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way to go man. just for the joy of bass. that for me is what its about. giggins fun too but different.
 
#124
I have two amps I can gig with but my practice amp is a 10 watt squire guitar amp that came in one of those "learn to play" guitar/amp combos. Has a headphone jack to boot.

Also rehearsing with low watt practice amps is a great way to rehearse with your band as well. Loud can be a great cover for lack of musical taste, or ability.
 
#128
Well this thread is directly responsible for a bout of spontaneous GAS today. Thinking about how much I used the GB Shuttle when I had it and how much I missed the little tyke got me wanting another one. Unfortunately the place that sells them is having serious issues getting stock from Fender (a whole 'nother ongoing topic of concern) and didn't have one in...or any other GB's for that matter. If they had I probably woulda bought it. But since I already own a killer little Tannoy V8 cab (single 8, 18lbs, 260w) the Gallien Krueger MB200 micro head I bought instead made a lot more sense. I don't know what the record for reliability is but I'm super impressed with the sound, price and ultra small size.

I'm going to give it a couple of weeks to see if I remain this impressed but if so I'll be able to thin my gear out and sell the Stewart PA-100B and SWR Amplite power amps and Tapco 6306 mixer and Barber Linden preamp the MB200 should be able to replace. A well chosen practice amp pays for itself in spades.
 
#130
jeffbonny said:
Well this thread is directly responsible for a bout of spontaneous GAS today. Thinking about how much I used the GB Shuttle when I had it and how much I missed the little tyke got me wanting another one. Unfortunately the place that sells them is having serious issues getting stock from Fender (a whole 'nother ongoing topic of concern) and didn't have one in...or any other GB's for that matter. If they had I probably woulda bought it.
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That'll do nothing to stop the rumor mill.
 
#134
Took me a few tries to get a practice rig I'm happy with.

Had to use stuff from my [DEL]slop pile[/DEL] carefully stored gear.
Had to loud enough to get over my gtr player,
and quiet enough to play it by myself at night.
Had to 'Get my Tone, Man'
Had to handle the low B on the sixer
Had to stay in place, and not use anything from the 2 gig rigs I keep in my near-street storage.
(Have a flight of steps to the house, and another to the studio)

407368366.jpg


Quasi-biamp system: 15" full-range compact cab I just rebuilt
and powered by a Yorkie Bassmaster 400.
I took an fx send from that and ran it to an Ampeg B3 biamp combo (head only) fx return
and ran the high side speaker to a Hartke 2x10 cab.

The result: warm well-rounded sound that plays nicely with my room recorder,
and didn't cost me a freakin' dime.
 
#137
Hell yes.. Though i wasnt aware of practice amp hate, people waste time hating all kinds of things on this forum sometimes instead of practicing (probably because they dont feel like setting up their one huge amp to run their arpeggios)

I have a small vox combo that sounds GREAT, as does its headphone out; i record with it even.


if you think that having a reasonable practice amp is a waste of money, then either :
A) YOU dont make enough money
B) YOU probably wear nice jeans and cheap underwear
 
#138
I'm just lazy
Don't feel like hauling ANYTHING down 2 flights of steps (and back up)
much less some big heavy 4x10.
I'd rather start upgrading my gig rigs (and FOH)
than buy a combo or 2 that will just pretty much sit down there year after year.
Took me 3 or 4 tries to assemble something relatively small down here I was happy with.


I am planning on buying/building a nice small(ish) cab and getting a Class D head for the small shows,
or auditions/rehearsals with the bands who don't feel the need
for more gear at rehearsal than I take to gigs.
Might even upgrade my underwear.........:D
 
#139
brokencode said:
Hadn't seen this posted yet. This little guy is almost 20 yrs old and still kickin'. I keep it in my cube at work now that I use my MB210 for a practice amp. It's only good for low volume. 20watts @ 4ohms into a 8" speaker. Wife bought it because it was "cute". :hmm:

PeaveyMicobass_zpsa09c1198.jpg
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I bought one of these used for someone who was learning to play and did not have an amp. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded!
 
#140
Picked up a Peavey TNT 115 last year. Installed some cheap eBay casters on it, modified the amp to use a 1/4" speaker output jack, and the cabinet to have a 1/4" speaker input jack. Now I can run the head into other cabs, other amps into the cab, it has a power amp input for running amp sims into it. Super flexible. And cost me about $60 total, including the casters and jacks I added to the box.

Love it.

Would I gig with it? Probably not as it weighs more than my "real" amp. :p But it's versatile in it's cheapness. Roll it across the house, plug e-drums and e-piano into it, etc. Great for quiet practices as you can really attenuate the volume low.
 

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