I am looking for a cheap (less than $200, preferably around $100-$150) bass amp to go with my new Fender Standard Jazz Bass. I am new to bass (I am a guitar player) and have no idea what kind of amp to buy. I will be using it mainly for practice and some jamming with friends, but no real gigs. I mostly play Jazz, Rock, and Reggae or Ska, so I won't need any heavy distortion or anything. Does anybody have any suggestions?
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Suggest an Amp for a Beginner
- Thread starter wyvern84
- Start date
I would suggest not getting an amp with less than a 12 inch driver.
any of these would be good:
Acoustic B20 - $120
GK MB150S 1x12" combo 150 watts
Fender Bassman 150 - 150 watts 1X12
Peavey Basic 112
any of these would be good:
Acoustic B20 - $120
GK MB150S 1x12" combo 150 watts
Fender Bassman 150 - 150 watts 1X12
Peavey Basic 112
Peavey Black widow or something similar - a 115 (15 inch speaker) - worked for me for the first five or six years. Very cheap, heavy, combo. Durable - I was gigging with it. granted I should have been playing something better.... but it was *good enough* to get by in live playing.
there's a gallien krueger 200rcb on ebay right now for 100.00. one went for 128 a few weeks ago. they're great little heads that will do everything you've said and more. and if you can find the gk 200mb it's the same amp but in a combo version with a single 12.
I just bought an Acoustic B-20 for $140 and it does fine for practice right now instead of lugging my SVT Classic around.
I was impressed with it. And it was way better than any of the other combos they had in this price range. If you wanted to get a full stack, I'd go for their $699 setup, which is all the power you'll need to play for a while.
I was impressed with it. And it was way better than any of the other combos they had in this price range. If you wanted to get a full stack, I'd go for their $699 setup, which is all the power you'll need to play for a while.
I have just tested a number of practice amps. I tried several from Peavey, Acoustic, Marshall, Line 6, and probably some others I've forgotten. The two I liked the best by far were the Acoustic B20 and the Marshall MB30. The Marshall is 30W vs the Acoustic's 20W and has more features. The Acoustic is considerably cheaper and has a 12" speaker vs the Marshall's 10". I ended up getting the B20 at GC last Sunday for $116. In the store they are going for $149, but last I checked the website had them at $129. They will match their own website.
I've also read some pretty reviews of the SWR and Warwick small combos, but I haven't had the chance to actually play through them yet.
