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Living room amplifier?

Eilif

Eilif

Grooving under the MDW runway.
Oct 1, 2001
9,756
9,645
Chicago
#1
I am looking for an affordable amp for my living room. It has to be

-Small
-Affordable (under 200 preferably)
-Asthetically pleasing enough to fit in with living room decor that will meet with my wife's approval. (i.e. wood grain or styled like vintage radio, etc.)
-Sound good, but great tone is not the object, just sounding good enough to practice on.

I have seen some really neat acoustic and electric amps that are pretty nice looking, but nothing for bass, except for Jay Turser vintage style, and Vox T-25, both of which are no longer produced.
 
#2
Maybe something from Ashdown? I almost bought the Perfect 10. I really liked it while playing around in the music store.

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#3
I know this is out of your price range, but a very attractive little amp:

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#5
Thanks for the suggestions.

The ampeg would probably fit the bill, but it is a bit larger (and more expensive) that I am looking for.

As for the Ashdown and the Peavey, I'm sure the sound is good, but for the purposes of asthetics black carpet, metal grills and tolex are pretty much out of the question, the only exception being possibly a cream tolex if the rest of the amp was really nice looking.
 
#6
Well, there isn't much new that fits that bill. You best bet is probably finding something vintage used at a shop some where. I have a shop like that locally that sells a lot of vintage guitar and bass amps.
 
#9
You may be asking for too much in your price range if the looks are that important to you. Your best bet is to get something very small like a Peavey Microbass and then just cover it with a nice piece of fabric.
 
#12
Hi, Eilif

From Your profile I saw that You build basses.

A cab of Your (wifes ;) ) liking is IMO a lot easier to make, either from scratch or refitting an existing amp + speaker to a real vintage radio shell.

That way You can choose whatever small practice amp You want, new or used. You can also match Your bass and amp to Your liking, amp to the furniture, the possibilities are endless, really.


Just my 0.02€
Sam
 
#15
I'd buy something you like and then recover it as suggested earlier. Finding something that looks pretty to a woman in that price range is a tall order! My tiny little Aggie + MB rig looks awesome to me and takes up barely any room, but I'm sure that if you asked my wife what she thought that it would be a different answer. She either wouldn't care or say it's ugly. Trust me...she's all about looks...
 
#16
Thanks for the replies folks, a few questions

1) Is the Nifty 70 still avialable? Something like that would probably pass muster.

2)I have a gutted psuedo-vintage arch radio. Has anyone tried to put the guts of a mini-amp into a vintage radio? What were the results? I don't have the ability to build a cab, but retrofitting I could probably do.

3)Has anyone played one of these?Invalid Link Removed

4) The stereo is a good suggestion, but I've not had good luck plugging into a stereo, and I want enough volume to play along with an acoustic guitar.
 
#17
Eilif said:
Thanks for the suggestions.

The ampeg would probably fit the bill, but it is a bit larger (and more expensive) that I am looking for.

As for the Ashdown and the Peavey, I'm sure the sound is good, but for the purposes of asthetics black carpet, metal grills and tolex are pretty much out of the question, the only exception being possibly a cream tolex if the rest of the amp was really nice looking.
Click to expand...
I understand the amp will be in full view of all.. and therefore needs to kinda fit the decor of the room. A Peavey would be a good choice, and Tolex can be painted.. I know as I done it a number of times. Any good hardware store carries paint that will adhere nicely to Tolex. The grillcloth will also take paint nicely. Of course we are talking a considerable amount of prep, disassembly and masking, but I've done it quite successfully. Knobs can also be painted and sealed with clearcoat .. that part really maxes out your patience however.

Hope your plans will work out successfully for you.
 
#20

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