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Practice amp for a small room

#25
A good used Ampeg RB 110 would be my first choice as it gives you the most for that money. It’s punchy, clear and a very good deep bass for the size. Built like a tank as well and can be used professionally without any problems.

My second option would be a Fender Rumble 40, the real sweet spot in the Fender product range and really sounds good.

They both can be bought cheap in good condition second hand.
 
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#34
Not sure if you have an overdrive pedal on your board already, but one plus to the ampeg would be the included sgt circuit. I have owned the rb108 and thought it sounded great. You said you enjoy playing rock and the "ampeg" sound is perfect for the genre IMO. My son is currently using the rb110 for a practice amp. It includes both level and grit controls with the sgt circuitry for much more fine tuning the overdrive. It will go from a slight breakup to a pretty crunchy distortion. The sgt on the rb108 is either on or off, so you get what you get. Haven't played any of the others so can't say. Happy hunting. Hope you end up with something that exceeds your expectations. Cheers
 
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#35
When you're practicing bass at home, it's not about volume.
Any bass amp with more than 10 watts gets "too loud" with ease, because your living room is not a band rehearsal or live venue.
With a 15-30w combo amp with 8" speaker, you can make the cupboards rattle and you feel all powerful at home. Bring it to the band room and play - as soon as the drums join in, you're gone completely. What I'm getting at is, that for home practice, volume is not important, sound is.
If you have a tiny little amp that has a cheap and tiny speaker, it'll struggle with the bass frequencies. You'll try to compensate by all means possible and train yourself into bad technique.

That's why I'd ignore everything in the budget options that comes with an 8" speaker and opt for something with at least a single 10" speaker.

There are exceptions, like the Phil Jones stuff, which is among the best you can get for home playing with a small amp, but these are costly.

If budget is a concern, I'd much rather get a simple mixer - Behringer Xenyx series usuallly go second hand for 20 bucks - and couple that with a decent pair of headphones. Sennheiser HD650 are usually around 180 second hand, so probably above budget, but the Beyerdynamic 770 pro as closed back or the 990 pro as open back often sell for less than 100.
If you have a pedalboard, you can run that to the mixer, if not, you can plug in your bass directly.
 
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#37
el murdoque said:
When you're practicing bass at home, it's not about volume.
Any bass amp with more than 10 watts gets "too loud" with ease, because your living room is not a band rehearsal or live venue.
With a 15-30w combo amp with 8" speaker, you can make the cupboards rattle and you feel all powerful at home. Bring it to the band room and play - as soon as the drums join in, you're gone completely. What I'm getting at is, that for home practice, volume is not important, sound is.
If you have a tiny little amp that has a cheap and tiny speaker, it'll struggle with the bass frequencies. You'll try to compensate by all means possible and train yourself into bad technique.

That's why I'd ignore everything in the budget options that comes with an 8" speaker and opt for something with at least a single 10" speaker.

There are exceptions, like the Phil Jones stuff, which is among the best you can get for home playing with a small amp, but these are costly.

If budget is a concern, I'd much rather get a simple mixer - Behringer Xenyx series usuallly go second hand for 20 bucks - and couple that with a decent pair of headphones. Sennheiser HD650 are usually around 180 second hand, so probably above budget, but the Beyerdynamic 770 pro as closed back or the 990 pro as open back often sell for less than 100.
If you have a pedalboard, you can run that to the mixer, if not, you can plug in your bass directly.
Click to expand...
I disagree, because even if it's true in many cases, it's not about size. Small amps/speakers sounding crap is not because they are small, but because they are cheap.

There are also cheap exceptions. I have a simple Warwick Blue 15 that I prefer over my Phil Jones Briefcase. Not kidding. And that Warwick has an 8" speaker and is dirt cheap. The sound just suits me better.

I agree fully about the wattage though. Even 10 Watts RMS is quite a lot in a small room with no earplugs.

--------

So, buy with your ears.
 
#38
el murdoque said:
You'll try to compensate by all means possible and train yourself into bad technique.
Click to expand...

oh, yeah, I've seen people playing with very hard attack as they're used to they won't be loud enough otherwise.

even plugged in a proper rig they just cannot play softer and more articulate, they're just surprised with the fact, a bass can sound loud and does.
 
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#40
The best way to choose is to actually try the amps and choose the one the works best for you. Barring that you have to define the type of tone you want and the range of features you want. Then research the amps to try and determine which one will best meet your expectations.

Doing research is by no means a guaranteed path to success because reviews tend to be very subjective and most people don't have much of an understanding about the objective characteristic of the tone the like.

Here's my sad little story:
The Ampeg SVT and 810 is widely known as the best bass rig. People gush incessantly about how awesome it is. When I was first starting out, I wanted the best and the research I did pointed pretty much universally to the SVT and 810, so I had one special ordered without ever hearing one in person.

When the amp came in, the store said I could come play it. Within seconds it was apparent I had made a huge, expensive mistake. I thought it sounded so bad that I wondered if it was broken or perhaps a black market fake. I have played several SVTs into 810s since then, and that is just the way they sound. Awesome rig, but not my sound. Since it was special ordered, I paid it off and took it home and made do. There were a number of less expensive and lighter rigs I could have bought that would have served me way better.
 
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