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Smallest amp you’ve been impressed by?

#102
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I picked up one of these last summer when Musician's Friend has some type of flash sale. I got it for $159. I never considered one before because of the price. But it has a lot of nice features. It has built in Bluetooth, comes with a rechargeable wireless transmitter ( the receiver is built into the amp), has 2 dedicated instrument inputs, an aux input. a digital output to go into pc for recording, very small, is 75 watts and can handle a B string, ( unless you have the volume and the bass eq cranked) and it has excellent sound quality for bass guitar. It can handle small gigs as long as the drummer isn't bashing away at the kit.
 
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#105
It's already been mentioned, but my Markbass Minimark 801 is one of the nicest small combos I've used. It's simple design is very versatile, with a clean but not sterile tone.

I can run it alone for bedroom practice and then hook it up to my Ampeg 115 cab for some boom. 60 watts into 4 ohms give you decent volume rehearsal or a small gig.

I'm kicking around the idea of adding the TE Elf 2 X 8 cabinet for a sweet mini-rig.
 
#107
alaskaleftybass said:
Ampeg BA108v2. $99 with free shipping to Alaska via Amazon Prime. I've gone through half a dozen practice amps in the last year, and this is the only one that stayed home. It's a little bigger than most of the others, but the tone is pure Ampeg buttery goodness.

I was a hardcore GK fan for years but as of late I'm going back to my roots with Ampeg. This little guy can actually do small coffee house gigs and low volume rehearsals. The tone is gorgeous and very recognizable as Ampeg. It really has added some enthusiasm to my home rehearsing, I love listening to the tone with my Ibanez SR500.

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+1 all day long!
 
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#109
-Stingray said:
Best money I ever spent. This little beast is a MONSTER, and at 40 pounds I can carry it easily with one hand. I eventually sold off my Mesa D800 and Genz speaker stack. I just didn't need them anymore.

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I've wanted one of those since I saw a guy play one on a bar 5 years ago....killer tones, plenty o' loud...$1700 Cdn makes me choke though
 
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#112
velalv said:
Just wondering why do you think it’s terrible for electric? Not trying to start any battle, but making sure I don’t miss something. So far it’s been good for my active basses, but not as great when I plugged in passive basses.
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I have a correction-mine is actually the bass cub not the double four. Like I said, it sounds great with ubass (like it was made for it) and decent with an upright. But chunks of important frequency seem to be missing with conventional electric basses.
 
#114
packhowitzer said:
I can hear my son's 25 watt GK MB108 being played in his upstairs bedroom that is on the back side of the the house while I am outside in the front yard with the gain on the amp (volume) at 9 oclock. He is 8 and just learning and doesn't play very hard. This little amp just thumps.
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Agreed most heartily. It was hard to choose the Ampeg over GK but the Ampeg tone won me over. I think the GK MB108 will get louder than the BA108v2. But I'm only using the Ampeg for personal practice at home and it's thick buttery tone just won my ears over. I also use an inexpensive Ibanez GIO SR100 P-style bass with the Ampeg and it gives me a sweet vintage tone reminiscent of my late 70's and early 80's years with Ampeg and P-basses.
 
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#117
BassGH said:
I have a correction-mine is actually the bass cub not the double four. Like I said, it sounds great with ubass (like it was made for it) and decent with an upright. But chunks of important frequency seem to be missing with conventional electric basses.
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Got it. That makes sense. My MM Bongo sounded way better through the double four than the bass cub. My sense is that the cub was tuned with less low end and more low mid, and double four has more low end and balance throughout.
 
#118
Inconnu said:
And how does the Traynor compare to the Markbass?
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Traynor: $589 new at L&M. Seen them for $300 used.
Markbass: $1291 at Guitar Center.

Yes, the MB sounds better, but I played thru an SB112 at a wedding and it sounded great in the mix. Personally, the Traynor is an amazing bang for the buck. Would not replace my GK rig, but for small gigs and rehearsal I'm thinking of picking one up.
 
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#119
Muttleybass said:
Traynor: $589 new at L&M. Seen them for $300 used.
Markbass: $1291 at Guitar Center.

Yes, the MB sounds better, but I played thru an SB112 at a wedding and it sounded great in the mix. Personally, the Traynor is an amazing bang for the buck. Would not replace my GK rig, but for small gigs and rehearsal I'm thinking of picking one up.
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I considered the MB combo but at that price point there are a lot of choices with a separate head and cab which gives you more options down the road.
 
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#120
Muttleybass said:
Traynor: $589 new at L&M. Seen them for $300 used.
Markbass: $1291 at Guitar Center.

Yes, the MB sounds better, but I played thru an SB112 at a wedding and it sounded great in the mix. Personally, the Traynor is an amazing bang for the buck. Would not replace my GK rig, but for small gigs and rehearsal I'm thinking of picking one up.
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I've used the SB115......great lightweight combo, loud and beautiful tones ....if I didn't have a rig I would get that one.......would cover most situations
 

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