quality bedroom/practice bass amp?

[Stuyvesant]

this is a question iv asked so many times and I still haven't gotten any -real- answers.

I want a quality practice amp, I tend to play quietly alone in my room alot and don't want to shake the room down: but 99% of practice amps are absolutely terrible.

Semi-recently iv managed to find a few semi-suitable amps....

* marshal MB-15 (apparnently average at best)

* Orange Crush Crush 20B (or 35B) (I have no experience with these but iv heard good things, cant find one to play either)

* Line 6 Lowdown 15w (no idea... retail seems to be pretty high on em & from experience line 6 make some decent gear)

anyone played any of these or have advice on where I might find one to play a few lines on in person?

[ROON]

I wouldn't say that 99% of prac amps are terrible, there are loads of good options out there. I can't help you with any of those three, but I'd highly recommend a Roland CUBE, they use them for demo amps at my local instrument store.

[Lukas86]

The Roland cube is definately a good option, it has built in effects and you can get a 100watt version. I guess it depends on how much you want to spend in terms of quality. I myself have a warwick blue cab, which is great for practice by myself, but no where near loud enough for band practice.
If I had a bit to spend, I'd go with something from Markbass, probably around the 250-300watts combos (and they are super light!). But you will probably be looking at around 700-1200 new.

[Aussie Mark]

For home practice I'd either buy a nice headphone amp or a second hand guitar tube amp - eg. Peavey "whatever the name is of their little tube combo", Laney LC15, Fender Champ etc. At bedroom volumes a small tube amp sounds great, and it doesn't matter if it's an 8", 10" or 12" speaker at that volume.

[barneydog]

How about a Fender B Dec. depending on budget. Awesome practice/teaching features. Come up on Ebay from time to time. Check out the HC reviews here: http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... EC+30/10/1

[Stuyvesant]

For home practice I'd either buy a nice headphone amp or a second hand guitar tube amp - eg. Peavey "whatever the name is of their little tube combo", Laney LC15, Fender Champ etc. At bedroom volumes a small tube amp sounds great, and it doesn't matter if it's an 8", 10" or 12" speaker at that volume.

thanks for the recommendations on the roland cube guys, I had been thinking about those in the past, seems nowhere stocks the bass version here for some reason :S

but a tube practice amp... thats something I could realy get into, as my girlfriend plays guitar also and she would use it; what about the smaller legacy / epiphone ones or are they junky?

[KuruKuru]

Some good suggestions here! Funnily enough I use a Vox Pathfinder 10 for practice which I also use with my guitar! It sounds suprisingly good with bass at low volumes (has a warm tone) and are quite cheap! I got mine for $100 on sale!
Otherwise the Roland Cube is a good choice, I've used them in music stores here locally which seems to be a popular choice for in store demo amps! If you can get one on sale or used I would recommend it!

[PilbaraBass]

I practice through headphones via my Zoom B2.1u...I use my laptop to play .mp3 via the USB port and then mix in the bass & effects...works great...and is silent...and I can record, too

[schec]

I got the roland cube 30.

It makes me want to practice all day long

[Kara]

This may be completely obvious, but I'd highly recommend avoiding the Samick BA15!
Even though i've had it for 8 years, and it was second hand when i got it, the tone it produces is really horrible and treble ridden! And if you play a 5er or 6er, if you hit the B string even slightly hard, the amp distorts, i guess the only way to describe it would be an amp fart! haha!

Even though i've never played through a Roland Cube, i've heard nothing but good things...even tempted to get rid of the Samick, and get one! Either that or the Fender B-dec which seems to offer more overall.

[matt_bass]

I have a 30 watt behringer which cost me less than $100 new... Now it is a Behringer, but with my pedals plugged straight in to the power amp in it's loud and great for prac, best cash I have ever spent really...

[jezzamac]

I have a Berhinger 12"powered speaker which I use for foldback live. I think its a B212 (it's in the shed at the moment). They advertise it as 400w but that's peak power. The fine print says its 250 RMS. I have used it for practices and around the house. It has a volume and a tone control each. Sounds nice and clean but a bit thin. My sansamp fixes that. Good dual purpose amp. You can put a vocalist or sax player etc through it for rehearsals as long as the band's not too loud. I think I paid about $250-$300 about 18 months ago.

[Stuyvesant]

urgh; iv started playing amplified more and more lately... and i'v found my amp to be alot worse than I remember haha, its distorting when the volume is set at 5; the speaker is likely shot.

going to have a look around for a cube or whatever I can find, $400 at my local shop is a bit expensive for the orange 35B imo;

[schec]

Good luck mate!

[blizzard]

I practice through headphones via my Zoom B2.1u...I use my laptop to play .mp3 via the USB port and then mix in the bass & effects...works great...and is silent...and I can record, too

I do that quite a bit too, works fantastically well. Probably better than my eden for practising.