The Tiniest Amp Head?

[StereoPlayer]

That is pretty friggin cool

Why thank you! It’s my mini stereo rig.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

The Roost is essentially a 100W Marshall (volume-wise, not talking about tone) and I assume a 4x12 cab? So you're looking for the smallest bass amp that will keep up with that?

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Keeping up with a 100W 4x12 (plus drummer, other guitars, etc), Subway 2x15, 800w head. Something in that range. Don’t even waste money on a ELF.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

If you need loud and small the aguilar tonehammer 700 is only 4.9 lbs and only slightly bigger then the elf or other little 200 watt mini amps

 

[nukaidee]

The Carvin BX700 is pretty comparable to the aguilar imo.. and I think it's cheaper. Archive- BX700 Mono Block 700W Bass Amp Head

But the cab is going to kill the weight savings - take a look at barefaced audio, they do some pretty light cabs (2x12 ~40lbs)

 

[CenTexThumper]

G-K MB500. I'm sure it's not the tiniest but at under 5 lbs, it's too small for a laptop bag and has served me well over one or two Hartke HyDrive 1x12s in large and small venues for quite a while now.

 

[Hasty]

What about the Straight Ahead amp from Jay Ganz? It’s 500w @4 ohms and weighs a little over a pound I think.
Never played one and I don’t know if he’s still around (I’m not on Facebook and I think that’s where he sells his stuff) but a while back everybody seemed to love them.

 

[pingvuiini]

Quilter BB800 has a nice size to power ratio.

 

[Rambazamba]

The Roost is essentially a 100W Marshall (volume-wise, not talking about tone) and I assume a 4x12 cab? So you're looking for the smallest bass amp that will keep up with that?

Thanks to everyone for the many answers!

The Roost is more like a Hiwatt with a master volume and it's running with a 2x12" cab. The bass cab is a 6x10" with 4 ohms, so plenty of speaker surface. The Peavey delivers 240 watts on the cab, so it's not much more than the tiny amps, and it's about halfway cranked. Is "class D watts" to "solid state watts" as different as "solid state watts" to "tube watts"?

The whole bassrig is kind of additional to the Roost, but it doesn't really work without it. It serves to deliver a clean and steady bottom end to the whole rig. Maybe it's worth noting that I'm playing a Bass VI.
The guitarplayer uses a 50 watt Laney tube head with a 4x12".

I have to admit that the TE Elf is really interresting, even though a lot of you advise against it. I've read multiple reviews that state "as long as you don't play in a super badass heavy metal band it'll do". And I'm not even planning to use it as a main rig but only additional to a big fat 100 watts tube amp, you know. Who has actually played an Elf with a big cab in a band?

Why I even bother with this and don't simply use the Peavey? Well, I got two amps, two big cabs, a pedalboard, a synth and a rack for the synth. Frankly, if I didn't have the synth, I wouldn't bother, but somewhere I need to start saving space and weight...

 

[Rambazamba]

Alright, what do you all think about the Ashdown OriginAl HD-1?

 

[klejst]

No way will any 200w head do gig volumes with a loud rock band, unless it's a) huge, and b) a tube amp.

It was simply a suggestion as the OP explicitly states they were looking for light and small amp suggestions...also hence why I said ""not sure if it will meet all your needs and criteria to a "T""

 

[Feral Feline]

 

[Deleted member 165050]

It was simply a suggestion as the OP explicitly states they were looking for light and small amp suggestions...also hence why I said ""not sure if it will meet all your needs and criteria to a "T""

Opening sentence of the original post: "What's the tiniest amp head in the world that'll do gig volumes in a loud rock band?"

 

[abarson]

Thanks to everyone for the many answers!
Is "class D watts" to "solid state watts" as different as "solid state watts" to "tube watts"?

No. I get what you're alluding to, but watts are watts.
What you need to know about class D is that it is efficient, and enables lots of power in a small enclosure.

Alright, what do you all think about the Ashdown OriginAl HD-1?

It's still only 300 watts at 4 ohms. Maybe for your purpose it would suffice, but myself I'd opt for a head with at least 500 watts, like the OriginAL-500H if you want to stick with Ashdown. The 500 is a bit larger than the HD-1 but still quite small, maybe smaller than a hardcover thesaurus.

 

[Passinwind]

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The first rule of Brownout 1000 Club is...

And yes, I've actually played through it and the Mothman still hasn't gotten me yet.

 

[TonyP-]

Why thank you! It’s my mini stereo rig.
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I wish I could do that with the Legacy.
Its not that I'm going stereo but rather just to keep my backup head together in a smaller package.
On that note, even having a rack that was 11.5" lol that with a 11.5" power conditioner as well.
Half racks are 11" so I'm just missing out on that one.

Gator G-TOUR 6UHR ATA Wood Half-Rack Case

 

[klejst]

Opening sentence of the original post: "What's the tiniest amp head in the world that'll do gig volumes in a loud rock band?"

Ok man you win...congrats.

 

[MrLenny1]

Not the smallest but GK MB 500 is the size of a book
with real world power. Fits in my gig bag.

 

[NoiseNinja]

Trace Elliot ELF, Warwick Gnome and Ashdown Ant are all about as small as it gets, any smaller and there wouldn't even be room for the minimum needed features you would want from an amp, but all 3 weight like around 1lbs and can fit into a large pocket so don't know why you would want it any smaller, and all 3 are about 200W @4Ohm which in my opinion and from my personal experience should be sufficient loud enough paired with the right cab for band rehearsals and gigs at small, about bar sized or so, venues without PA support, or just about any gig with PA support, unless you pick the strings of your bass with a feather or your hearing is damaged, I have absolutely no idea what the people who claim they can't hear them self or be heard with any less than a 500W amp, some even claim more is needed, are doing or are on about, doesn't add up to my personal experience at all, not even in the context of a loud rock band with a hard hitting drummer.

Personally I have had no issues whatsoever with hearing myself or being heard playing in a loud rock band with a hard hitting drummer with a less than 200W amp at band rehearsals and small, around bar sized or so, venues without PA support, hell, even at large open air music festivals, though the latter with proper PA support and stage monitors.

 

[arbiterusa]

The TCE BQ500 fits the bill for small and powerful.
Amazon.com: TC Electronic Bass Amplifier Head (BQ500): Musical Instruments

Heard it was discontinued, which would be a tragedy as it really is capable of pulling a loud rock band. They’re great amps and I regret getting rid of mine and intend to get another if possible. Universal input voltage is the real winner on that amp. That being said, my GK MB500 is smaller than the BQ, much lighter and has more power. It’s also double the price.

The ELF is a cool amp but it’s not enough for a LOUD rock band.