The importance of size

[steve-bbb]

So...  I’m thinking of getting a ickle amp for tiny gigs and practice and wondering what you wonderful basschatters would recommend

would be using it with one (or poss two) Hartke hydrive 112s so would be nice if it auto adjusts between 4 and 8 ohms

ihave my eyes on the trace Elliot elf so something similar ish

take it away!

TIA

[JapanAxe]

Very happy with my Nano Mark - 300W into 4 ohms, 150W into 8 ohms, small enough to fit in the pocket on my bass's gig bag.

Edited December 10, 2017 by JapanAxe

[chris_b]

In the absence of a budget. . . .

If you are going to gig this rig that should define what you're going to buy, not the home practice bit.

I'd go for a minimum 350 watts. You don't get a good sound out of a small amp being pushed too hard. A bigger amp running a half capacity will sound far better. Same for speaker cabs. You can go very small for playing at home but for gigs, even small rooms, you can end up with a noisy audience, noisy musicians, corners and soft furnishings which will suck the life and volume out of your sound. If that happens you might as well not be there and whatever you bought would have been a waste of money. For gigs you need more than a practice amp. A 112 is a minimum. The best small cabs out there are very small but sound much bigger and better and with one of those you could probably get away with a 110.

Edited December 10, 2017 by chris_b

[Lozz196]

If lookng for loud and small, the GK MB500 or MB Fusion 500 should be up there. I`d also throw in the TC Electronic BH250. I had one as a backup and was impressed at how loud it was for only 250 watts, plus having a built in tuner, well it`s reducing the need for other kit as well.

[Cuzzie]

@Osiris can give you the lowdown on a Genzler Mag 350.

great amps like their bigger brother

[Osiris]

13 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

@Osiris can give you the lowdown on a Genzler Mag 350.

great amps like their bigger brother

Yeah, I'm an unashamed Genzler Magellan fan boy 

The 350 model is a bit bigger than the TE Elf, but it's only 345 x 305 mm and 67 mm tall, so it's still very much a small amp. I have done a review of it (along with its big brother) here. In summary it's a great sounding amp with very sensibly voiced eq frequencies on the pre-amp, it delivers a surprisingly 'big' (dare I say hefty?) tone and does a great clean sound with the option of using the dual voiced Contour control to dial in either a scooped eq curve or a great sounding, mid-rich old school tone that works great in the mix. It also has 2 Speakon outs so you can run both of your cabs without having to daisy chain them. Oh, and it's ridiculously loud too. I've gigged it with the volume control below 9 o'clock alongside a shed-building drummer, guitarist and keys. I can't recommend it enough! 

[chris_b]

The Genzler MG350 and a BF One10 would make a great sound in a very small package.

[Delberthot]

I love the sound I get from my setup - possibly one of the best I have ever had. 

 

[FuNkShUi]

4 minutes ago, Delberthot said:

I love the sound I get from my setup - possibly one of the best I have ever had. 

 

ooooh you tease....what is it? Don't make me beg

[Dan Dare]

Why get a small low powered head for practices? Any modern, powerful class D head will be light (my Ag700 weights about 4 and a half pounds) and do you for full on gigs as well. Saves having to buy two.

Edited December 11, 2017 by Dan Dare

[JazzBass4624]

I do home study, practice and gigs with my LMIII with either 1- or 2 112cabs. Haven't felt the need to buy something larger, louder, heavier. Even if you study at home in a very small room with thin walls....there's a volume knob.

[CameronJ]

15 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Why get a small low powered head for practices? Any modern, powerful class D head will be light (my Ag700 weights about 4 and a half pounds) and do you for full on gigs as well. Saves having to buy two.

Exactly what I was going to say. As an example, the Tecamp Puma range of heads (300, 500 and 900) are all the same size and almost the same weight. I have the 900 and one excellent cab. I can (and do) happily use this setup in my bedroom or on a pretty large stage. The head is so compact it will fit in the front pocket of almost any gig bag.

[Delberthot]

21 hours ago, FuNkShUi said:

ooooh you tease....what is it? Don't make me beg

It's in my sig: 

 

It's a Barefaced One10 & GK MB500. Fits in a cajon bag and sits on a standard speaker stand so I can have it at ear level. I have the cab, the amp and my wireless receiver attached using ultra high strength tape.

[FuNkShUi]

1 hour ago, Delberthot said:

It's in my sig: 

 

It's a Barefaced One10 & GK MB500. Fits in a cajon bag and sits on a standard speaker stand so I can have it at ear level. I have the cab, the amp and my wireless receiver attached using ultra high strength tape.

Don't know if it's the new site, but your sig doesn't show? 

Sounds like a good set up though

[Delberthot]

You have to go into your settings to show other user's sigs. I'm sure I had to go in to show my own one in threads.

[fretmeister]

For small gigs and practice I use my main amp. 

It has a volume control.

[gjones]

On 12/12/2017 at 12:16, Delberthot said:

It's in my sig: 

 

It's a Barefaced One10 & GK MB500. Fits in a cajon bag and sits on a standard speaker stand so I can have it at ear level. I have the cab, the amp and my wireless receiver attached using ultra high strength tape.

I was thinking of buying a One 10. I already have the GKMB500 to go with it. At the moment I am using a BF Compact but I like the idea of being able to get on the bus with my gear. Does it produce enough volume to keep up with a drummer?

[project_c]

I do a regular small bar gig with a Genz Shuttle combo, the smallest one with the 1x8 speaker, works like a champ and the other musicians love the tone. I have no guitars to compete with but there's keys, drums and a horn section so it still gets relatively loud for a tiny bar.

[Grangur]

Like @chris_b I'm another fan of the One10. Alex tells me 1 alone will handle a moderate size gig. I use a Little Mark 3 with mine for a very clean sound.

[machinehead]

I use a single one10 for gigs in small pubs with drummer/guitar(s) and sometimes keys.  It handles it easily.  (Powered by a GK MB200 and now a recently bought Quilter Bass Block 800.)

I like it so much that I've ordered a second one10 for bigger venues. 

Frank.

[chris_b]

On the gig last night I used my BF Three10. That's the One10 with the new-to-me Two10 under it. Maybe I could have used the Two10 on its own but these days the bands I play with are too loud to let me get away with the One10 on its own. I just feel more comfortable playing a loud 5 string with a lot of low mids through as many speakers as I can. So the Three10 worked very well.

I got a lot of compliments on my sound and swapped phone numbers with a drummer and a sax player. . . . both band leaders.

[Lozz196]

Why Chris, you bass-ho!

[burno70]

But out of the amps being mentioned - how many are suitable for 'quiet' practice? Don't some of them jump to relatively loud at the faintest touch of the volume knob?

Edited December 15, 2017 by burno70

[CameronJ]

3 hours ago, burno70 said:

But out of the amps being mentioned - how many are suitable for 'quiet' practice? Don't some of them jump to relatively loud at the faintest touch of the volume knob?

That’s the beauty of having both a gain knob and a volume knob. Assuming you don’t want/need any overdrive from the amp itself, you can just turn both knobs down and you’re in business. Failing that there’s alway the volume knob on your bass but you really shouldn’t have any problem getting a suitably quiet level with your amp controls alone - even from a very powerful head and cab.

Edited December 15, 2017 by CameronJ

[chris_b]

When I play at home I'm practising songs, working on a technique or running through arrangements. The one thing I'm not doing is trying to get a "good" sound. So I just use my regular gigging amp, which these days is 700 watts.

There is a Gain, Master and dB cut button on the amp and a volume control on the bass itself.

I also isolate the cab from the floor. Just in case.