Newbie: Fender rumble amps for practice or an audio interface?

[Gilmourisgod]

The Rumble 15 is a great amp, line in, headphone out, sounds great. I can't think of a better basic practice amp. For a little more money, you could get a used Rumble 30, or a brand new Rumble 25. My son used a 30 in his high school and college Jazz Band, it was more than loud enough for small auditorium or church gigs, even over horns and a drummer. It has the same line in/headphone out setup so you can play along with MP3's or any other source.
Fender RUMBLE 25 1x8 25W Bass Combo Amp 885978287932 | eBay

 

[Wfrance3]

You’re going to get a million all different answers. Just fwiw, here’s mine. - if you are looking for a decent quality setup you are going to need to know what your tonal goals are. Essentially, what sounds good to you...
Personally I opted for the headphone route because I have a family of 8 (11 if you count dogs) and never is a great time to practice via amp.
I got a deal on some AKG K240 studio headphones. It was a Black Friday thing, under $100. They work great and cover the freq you would expect them to for bass. I use them with a zoom B10N pedal. It’s a surprisingly powerful Little multi-pedal. It’s a plastic thing that is really aimed at the beginner /bedroom player. Turns out to be pretty good little practice interface. Has a bunch of effects, whether you use them or not (I don’t). Most importantly, it has a headphone-out and a music-in jack so you can accompany whatever you’re working on. Plus a tuner. Plus a basic looper. These can be had for prolly around $50. I got mine used.
So, if you look for bargains and headphones are your direction of choice, that’s a pretty nice little setup. You could always get an amp later, and use the zoom with it.

 

[Eric Guan]

You guys are so supportive thanks so much for this! This is my first post on this site and you guys are great! I will look into these stuff and thanks again for your advices.

 

[bassliner50]

I strongly suggest the Rumble 40. (I have the Rumble 40 and 100). Rumble 40 has the preamp of the more advanced Rumbles. It can be adequately used for small controlled gigs as well as practice. Light as a feather. Sounds like a real amp (albeit small) But the best advice is to buy one used. I bought mine (mint) $100. The Rumble 15 amounts an anemic toy that has so many limitations as to be a liability. With Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, Letgo.com, Offerup.com etc. etc. you will find one. Buy used. That is my best advice.

 

[imabuddha]

As a beginner, I can also recommend a Zoom B1xon. It's a multi-effects pedal but it's also a decent tuner, a volume adjuster, a beat box with basic rythmns, a metronome and a looper. There's an aux-in and it runs on battery (and on main with a classic 9V DC adapter).

I second this recommendation. The B1x (without the pedal) is almost as good (only missing a few effects). In addition to AA batteries or 9v adapter it can also be powered with a usb cable (from a regular walwort or a computer, etc.) so it's very flexible that way. Sound is pretty good, and its biggest weakness, the slightly tedious UI, is easily fixed if you hook it up to a computer to edit patches with this free app: Tonelib ZOOM Quick Start – ToneLib

Regarding audio interface vs. amp for home practice, I also strongly prefer an amp. I only use headphones at night so as not to disturb the neighbors with my good vibrations. ;-)

I agree with others that advise getting something more powerful than 15 watts. I'd vote to keep using your interface until you've saved up enough to score a decent practice amp. I also advise looking around for a used one in good condition. People are often trading up to bigger amps so there should be quite a few around, and you should be able to save quite a bit. My rule of thumb is to try to pay ~50% of what it would cost brand new. With some patience you'll score a great deal!

Good luck & keep on thumping!

 

[pcake]

I strongly suggest the Rumble 40. (I have the Rumble 40 and 100). Rumble 40 has the preamp of the more advanced Rumbles. It can be adequately used for small controlled gigs as well as practice. Light as a feather. Sounds like a real amp (albeit small) But the best advice is to buy one used. I bought mine (mint) $100. The Rumble 15 amounts an anemic toy that has so many limitations as to be a liability. With Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, Letgo.com, Offerup.com etc. etc. you will find one. Buy used. That is my best advice.

the OP's budget is $80 - otherwise i'd have strongly recommended a used rumble 40. but the rumble 25 is pretty good and can be had used for within or below the OP's budget. i, too, felt the rumble 15 was anemic.

 

[Christophe C]

Second hand market is great but it depends where you live. In a rural area, you need some luck to find “the” bargain at a reasonable distance.