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Portable practice tool

J

jusaplaya

Dec 14, 2004
87
0
65
Houston, TX
#1
I am looking for a portable practice tool that I can use at work, in the park, etc. Can anyone recommend a good piece of equipment? I have looked at the PX4D and the the Tascam bass trainer. Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Peace
 
#2
I was using the Korg Pandora for a while, but the switch broke and I trashed it. I'm currently using a Zoom 4-track digital recorder. It has hundreds of very good sounding drum tracks to play along with, and the ability to record and listen back to your playing is a valuable tool. It doesn't have the effects capabilities or a tuner like the Korg, but for practicing technique, it's excellent.
 
#4
I've been using the Korg pandora for a few years now as a headphone/practice amp. As an effects processor it is a POS. It sounds alright through headphones, but you'll never be able to use it live for many reasons. It has a pretty cheap feel to it and I've already broken off the battery door, but it is still working. I never use the drum track that are programmed into the thing, but I guess some might find it useful. Most of the time I'm playing along to a CD through the AUX input jack on the Korg. The unit is very portable because of its size. It will run on AAA batteries for a pretty long time.
 
#6
zac2944 said:
I've been using the Korg pandora for a few years now as a headphone/practice amp. As an effects processor it is a POS. It sounds alright through headphones, but you'll never be able to use it live for many reasons. It has a pretty cheap feel to it and I've already broken off the battery door, but it is still working. I never use the drum track that are programmed into the thing, but I guess some might find it useful. Most of the time I'm playing along to a CD through the AUX input jack on the Korg. The unit is very portable because of its size. It will run on AAA batteries for a pretty long time.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much along the lines of what I found. As long as you consider it just a portable headphone amp, it's fine - until it breaks.
 
#7
bryanonbass said:
if you want barebones, get a cafe walter headphone amp.
they run on batteries or ac adapter and it is a great representation of your finger tone. No effects, amp models, drum machines or anything, just pure bass.
oh and its built like a tank.
Click to expand...

+1

I also love its ability to plug in music from another audio source such as an mp3 player or whatever else. Also, I've been using mine to record as the output puts out such a clean signal, it sounds amazing!
 
#8
I've had a Pandora PX3B since they came out. It's been dropped, kicked, sat on, and generally abused and has kept on working fine. I've been able to use it as a front end to an amp but you have to remember to flat out the amp's EQ or you are basically double EQing your signal. Took me a while to figure that out. If you want to switch funcitons live with it, you better be very familiar with it or you are gonna make a lot of sounds you don't want. :D As a practice amp especially with an MP3 player input into the Aux In, it's great.
 
#9
The Cafe Walter headphone amp is a great choice. The lack of tone filters, compression, effects, etc. can actually be a real asset when it comes to practicing. It kind of forces you to clean up your technique. The C. Walter also has the aux input so you can play along with an mp3 player or metronome, etc.

It's no longer made, but keep your eye out for a used Raven Labs PHA-1. Similiar to the 'Walter, but with 3 band eq. It also has an aux.stereo input and the unit keeps your tone & technique "honest".

Both run off batteries so you don't have to be near AC.
 
#10
scotch said:
The Cafe Walter headphone amp is a great choice.
Click to expand...

+1

Had the same experience with the Tascam as descibed above-- quit working pretty quickly.

I use my laptop line out as the input to the Cafe Walter, and run metronome software as well as software called The Amazing Slow Downer (allows key changes, as well as changes in playback speed without effecting pitch). I use the Aux out form the Cafe Walter into the laptop's mic in jack for use with instrument tuner software.

The whole thing is very transportable, can be entirely battery operated (or A/C), works and sounds great.
 
#14
I've had mine for two years now and no issues.

I will say though that it you run it off batteries it eats them pretty quickly.


audienceofone said:
I will comment on the tascam. a buddy of mine bought the guitar version. they sent him a bass and a guitar one. He has had to send both of the back. He sent the guitar one back twice as it it quit working. He gave up on them. Sad because it is a great idea.
Click to expand...
 
#15
I have owned my Tascam Bass Trainer for around 2 years now, and have experienced no problems.

That being said, I picked up a Phil Jones Bass Buddy recently, and by way of comparison, it sounds INCREDIBLE! You really might want to check one out, and I noticed a thread earlier today where someone has one for sale, you might want to do a quick search before it gets snapped up.
 
#17
FWIW:

I spent a couple winters in Key West and took a PX4B. Never had issue with it functionally and it had some great tones through headphones. Palm-size. Often I'd play along with a CD. Sort of a swiss army knife gadget. Never really used the drum tracks and all the other junk other than to just check them out. Seems you could even slow down recorded riffs to pitch with it.

Wasn't worth anything for using as a pre/playing through an amp.

- and I used rechargeable batteries.
 

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