(very) small practice combo?

[Cygnus x-1]

I'm looking for a reasonable combo to use to practice at a friends house inbetween rehearsals that is easy to chuck in the car and go.

My requirements are; up to £70 max, fairly small and light (max size 10 inch cube ish), loud enough for jamming with one electric guitar (telecaster clean sound), reliable with reasonable build, I have considered the Ashdown Tourbus 10 & 15, anybody got any opinions on these good or bad? Also have considered a guitar combo (Laney, Marshall etc.) as volume is not a major issue, any opinions with that approach? Suggestions of combos to buy and avoid much apreciated, Cheers, Nicky.

Edited November 26, 2010 by Cygnus x-1

[ShergoldSnickers]

I might have something suitable. Possibly. I've sent a PM. Based in East Yorkshire by the way.

[Lozz196]

When I was looking for a similar item, I ended up with the Marshall MB15. It seemed to have better handling of the lows than many others I tried, plus it has 2 channels, modern and classic, the classic being nice and warm and valvey, with gain control, so you can sound like Lemmy, if required. The modern channel has a compressor. Nice sized little piece of kit, and surprising on the volume - never above 2 in my living room, which for 15 watts - well I don`t think thats bad.

[Cygnus x-1]

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1038649' date='Nov 27 2010, 11:03 AM']When I was looking for a similar item, I ended up with the Marshall MB15. It seemed to have better handling of the lows than many others I tried, plus it has 2 channels, modern and classic, the classic being nice and warm and valvey, with gain control, so you can sound like Lemmy, if required. The modern channel has a compressor. Nice sized little piece of kit, and surprising on the volume - never above 2 in my living room, which for 15 watts - well I don`t think thats bad.[/quote]

thanks for that, is MB 15 a bass or lead combo? had considered guitar combo's for quiet house use but didn't know if bass (just 4 string not 5) would kn@cker it? thanks Nick.

[Cygnus x-1]

sorry just searched and found that Mb 15 is bass amp, it's just a mate has offered me a cheap MG 15 and wonder about concerns mentioned in above post.

[SteveO]

I heard somewhere that guitar through bass amp is ok, bass through guitar amp is bad. Maybe something to do with the sealed / open back designs and the speakers shaking themselves to pieces if handling too much low freq. Twas such a long time ago that I've forgot the details. Maybe it was an old wives tale. Maybe i'm going senile. Maybe someone who knows these things will set us straight.

Unless its a freebee or a real bargain I'd go with a bass version anyway - the preamp / eq section is likely to be tuned to higher freqs of a guitar, and may be all but useless.

[LiamPodmore]

Gear4Music 15B. I have the 25w version and its plenty loud, and really reliable. It hasnt messed up on me yet. I dunno about the size of the 15w version but mines not too big, very cheap too. I picked it up in a set with amp, lead, strap, tuner, gig bag and picks for about £80 when i got it.

Liam

[Grand Wazoo]

Fender Rumble 15 Watts

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[ThomBassmonkey]

I wouldn't worry too much at that size to be honest, so long as it's something that works and you can hear yourself. I have a Kustom 15w practice (cost something like £40 new) and it does the job.

Unless you're going to be using it for recording, it's never going to stand up to the amount of volume you'd need for rehearsals anyway. Just get whatever's cheapest.

[Cygnus x-1]

sorry to drag this post on but, does anybody have an Ashdown Tourbus 10 or 15, do you like it? also, anyone know the dimensions of the 15? found the 10 sizes on the net but not the 15. Fairly new out I think, can only find one review of the 10.

Gonna be about 10 days 'till I can get to a dealer. Any knowledge apreciated, Nick

[Thepurepower]

I've got the tourbus10, and have it around 1/4 when practicing alone usually. I'd happily recommend it, not too many fancy features to get bogged down with as while I'm sure there's something better out there I enjoy the simplicity of being able to plug in, tweaking very rarely. Amazingly portable, I've carried it miles by hand with a bass strapped to my back, (very jealous of these car owning people). Should keep up fine in most situations, you will eventually distort it when trying to be heard over a drummer, guitarist should be fine though.

All the best, hope this helps!
Cal

P.s if effects is your thing, consider roland cubes. Would stretch the budget a bit though

[Cygnus x-1]

[quote name='Thepurepower' post='1041831' date='Nov 29 2010, 11:44 PM']I've got the tourbus10, and have it around 1/4 when practicing alone usually. I'd happily recommend it, not too many fancy features to get bogged down with as while I'm sure there's something better out there I enjoy the simplicity of being able to plug in, tweaking very rarely. Amazingly portable, I've carried it miles by hand with a bass strapped to my back, (very jealous of these car owning people). Should keep up fine in most situations, you will eventually distort it when trying to be heard over a drummer, guitarist should be fine though.

All the best, hope this helps!
Cal[/quote]

thanks

[mcnach]

[quote name='Cygnus x-1' post='1038023' date='Nov 26 2010, 05:28 PM']I'm looking for a reasonable combo to use to practice at a friends house inbetween rehearsals that is easy to chuck in the car and go.

My requirements are; up to £70 max, fairly small and light (max size 10 inch cube ish), loud enough for jamming with one electric guitar (telecaster clean sound), reliable with reasonable build, I have considered the Ashdown Tourbus 10 & 15, anybody got any opinions on these good or bad? Also have considered a guitar combo (Laney, Marshall etc.) as volume is not a major issue, any opinions with that approach? Suggestions of combos to buy and avoid much apreciated, Cheers, Nicky.[/quote]


Behringer BXL450A
Compact 10" speaker combo, tilt-back design (nice), 45W, easy to carry, sturdy, and most of all: it sounds VERY good. Really. Yes, it's a Behringer (oh dear), but I've owned one for over 3 years and it's the one I play at home and sometimes take away with me if there are no drums involved. It's loud at home. Good enough to play alongside electric guitars at satisfying volume, with enough "thump". But it will not compete with a drummer unless he's really soft.

It has a nice AUX input where you can put your mp3 player, or a drum machine... or a guitar, via POD or similar digital modeller... that way you can put bass and guitar through a single amp. It sounds good.

Oh, and yes, it's cheap too. Which is a plus. Cost me around £100 new. The day it breaks I'll look for another one. It's one of the very few small combos I've tried that actually sounds good, and not boxy and anaemic.

It has two channels, one basic one, and another that you can get some distorted sound from... although it's not a nice distortions (to my ears), however it's still useful as you can get two difefrent sounds at the touch of a button. The second channel also has a "shape" control, which scoops/boosts the mids essentially, pretty effective. The 5-band EQ is basic, but it's useful.

Edited November 30, 2010 by mcnach

[umph]

could get one of those electro harmonix pedals that can power an amp and a small cab.