Phil Jones Bass Buddy vs "True" Bass Heads

What's the point of a tiny head, when speaker cabinets are as big as they've ever been? I am genuinely perplexed by your suggestion.

 

It's all good, just joking. In seriousness, I've tried the ELF but never the Bass Buddy. I also am curious if anyone's ever done an A/B comparison.

 

Looks like the Bass Buddy has a few more features, but the ELF is 20x the wattage. I guess it depends what you need it for.

 

I never had the Trace, but I really like the PJB Bass Buddy.

But you buy the BB for practice, or VERY small gigs, or as a "DI" for FOH. IMHO. YMMV.

 

And I don't know about the Trace, but you can run the BB on batteries! Very nice for
small outside jams with a small cab.

 

I think that the Genzler Magellan 350 has the best features of both at the price of the Bass Buddy. The only downside is that it is a tiny bit larger...

 

not to pick nits, but the ELF has a preamp as well.
Otherwise, it's just a power amp.
I'm not sure what that distinction is doing on your spreadsheet.
Also, I've never had use for active/passive switches. Everything goes in the passive input, and gain gets adjusted as needed.
So it seems like it comes down to the EQ and compressor. Do you need a comprehensive EQ, as is on the BB, or does the ELF EQ work fine? And do you need a compressor?
Honestly, all things equal, and for $150 less, the ELF is the clear winner to me.

BTW, super jealous of your spreadsheet. Uber nerdy stuff like that makes me happy.

 

Need two more boxes.

Can play loud enough to need earplugs Y/N

$$

 

*

kg

W"

H"

D"

kW

EQ

DI

Com

Pre

pad

Aux

L/O

12V

M$

Can play it's way out of a paper bag

PJ

2.0

5.35

1.75

7.3

10w @8

5B

y

y

y

y

y

y

y

459

Elf

1.6 lbs.

6.75

1.35

4.1

0.2

3b

y

n

n

n

n

n

n

299

 

Aha. The formatting doesn't allow scrolling left to right to view the last columns on phones.

 

Dirty edit coming.

 

IMHO, a more apt comparison would be between the Elf and the PJ Bass Briefcase. There are two versions of the Bass Briefcase: 100W at 4 ohms and 150W at 4 ohms. It's a combo amp, but pretty sure the head is removable.

In comparing the ELF to the Bass Buddy...one appears to be a better headphone amp if you like to play along with a CD or Ipod (Bass Buddy); one appears to be much more powerful and realistic as a giggable head (ELF).

 

Considering how inexpensive the ELF is you might have a point...still, some will want the aux in and battery power for late night silent practice sessions by the camp fire.