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up-to-date best TINY amp?

William K

William K

May 9, 2019
90
79
#1
there are a lot of threads on the subject and i've read them, but they are old.

i just want to plug a bass ukulele (kala ubass with rubber strings, really going for dbass sound) to be able to accompany a small group of acoustic instruments (fiddle, lute, gamba, folk singers, no percs) and am looking for the smallest/lightest/most discrete option that can pull that off. has anyone had success with any of the numerous new cheap micro bass amp options out there (joyo, laney, blackstar, pj nanobass, positive grid spark, etc)? as long as i can have a clean/non-distorting sound from the ubass just loud enough for this acoustic setting, i don't really care about other "concerns" (specific tone, effects, looks, etc).
is it all junk? like for everything, reviews are always either fantastic or awful...
i'll go the small combo route if everyone is unanimous about micro amps being trash, but with so many recent models i'm enclined to think some of them are decent. money is no concern but i'd rather pay less than more IF possible.

thanks!
 
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#4
BGroovy said:
I’ve used my PJ Double Four for this with great success and run mine battery powered (acoustic jams in the park). I personally wouldn’t go smaller. It sounds great and fits in the basket on my bike.
Click to expand...
This.

Wouldn't go smaller against an acoustic guitar. Possibly the Nano at home all alone, but not with an acoustic guitar.
 
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#9
FWIW, I agree that the PJB Double-Four is a good choice. I picked up the new BG-80 and haven't used it much, but it seems to do what it should. I use my NanoX4 practically every day when I'm in the office (BT streaming from laptop), so it gets a lot more use than my D4+.

I also tried the Fender Riff (and still often use it as a portable BT speaker), but between the Riff and D4, there is no comparison - the only advantage the Riff has is the built-in battery....

WRM

Thread 'NEW - Fender RIFF Bluetooth Speaker/Practice Amp'

I've been looking at portable stuff for a while, and this checks a lot of the boxes on my list.

Invalid Link Removed

Has anyone tried one - thoughts? Any news about it from NAMM?

Thanks,
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Someday I'll compare them using a pre-amp/boost pedal, as I could not get the clip light to come on either unit last time I tried them, so there may be a little "more" if I boost the input signal?
 
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#11
WRM said:
FWIW, I agree that the PJB Double-Four is a good choice. I picked up the new BG-80 and haven't used it much, but it seems to do what it should. I use my NanoX4 practically every day when I'm in the office (BT streaming from laptop), so it gets a lot more use than my D4+.

I also tried the Fender Riff (and still often use it as a portable BT speaker), but between the Riff and D4, there is no comparison - the only advantage the Riff has is the built-in battery....

WRM

Thread 'NEW - Fender RIFF Bluetooth Speaker/Practice Amp'

I've been looking at portable stuff for a while, and this checks a lot of the boxes on my list.

Invalid Link Removed

Has anyone tried one - thoughts? Any news about it from NAMM?

Thanks,
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Someday I'll compare them using a pre-amp/boost pedal, as I could not get the clip light to come on either unit last time I tried them, so there may be a little "more" if I boost the input signal?
Click to expand...
I agree, I also noticed that the input gain of the D4 seems to be quite low compared to my other (bigger) amps. With my other amps, I like to set the gain at the limit before clipping, but with the D4 it's impossible to clip the preamp, especially with my ABG. I have the feeling that it could be louder if the signal of my bass was hoter, or if the "input level" of the D4 could go up to 11 or 12, or if I had a boost pedal between the bass and amp (but I would never care using a pedal). It's my only regret about the D4. It probably works better with an active bass, or any bass with a very hot output.
 
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#13
William K said:
i am indeed impressed with this consensus about the pj double four. it's really pricey though, yeesh!!
Click to expand...
There is a reason though.
Affordable amps of comparable size really sound like toys, believe me.
I had a Rolland Cube 60 long long ago, it sounded ok but it's much bigger and heavier.
More recently I had a Markbass Micromark 801. It was decent, and it's slightly less expensive than the D4.
It could be a lower budget alternative, but the D4 sounds significantly better (louder, cleaner, more detailed and articulate).

Maybe some people are selling their D4 in order to upgrade to the D4+, so you could find an original D4 used for less money?
 
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#16
I have a PJB Nano X4. No doubt it’s at least as loud as, and has better low end than, the Peavey Basic 40 I got when I was 14. And weighs maybe 25% as much.

The Double 4 is killer but you might be able to get away with just the Nano.
 
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#17
Just to throw some other options out there: If I want portable and play anywhere, I use an Alto Uber battery powered speaker. I got mine used off of FB or CL for around $50. It is also a Bluetooth speaker, if needed. If I can be near an outlet I use a Peavey MicroBass amp, with a preference for the Made in USA version, also found for around $50 on the used market. Both are tiny in the realm of bass amps and easy to bring almost anywhere. I was in the market for a Roland MicroCube bass amp when I started running across these other options. While I'm sure the PJB Double-Four sounds leaps and bounds better than my suggestions, I just couldn't see dragging a $600 amp through the dirt and campfire smoke that it would be intended for. Also, if it were to be stolen or broken, $50 is a much easier pill to swallow. I was not at all a fan of the tiny single speaker plastic amps which I really wanted to like and found the two options above as an acceptable compromise.
 
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#20
I used to use the Roland Micro Bass Cube, but I didn't love the sound, and the built in limiter started annoying me, and then the rotary switch for selecting tones based on amp simulation broke and then I couldn't access the Octave effect, so I got rid of it.

Now my small amp choices are a GK MB150s bass combo or GK ML250 guitar combo. The ML250 really only works at low volume for me and the tone control centers aren't perfect, but it's fine for quiet playing. These are quite a bit larger and heavier than the mini amps you have listed, but I feel like they sound much better.

I kinda gave up on amps with on board batteries and have used a Duracell power bank for the occasional jam when I have no access to electricity. It turns out that this is rare for me.

Those Power bank batteries seem to last a long time.
 
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