Practice Rig options

[Funkateer]

Weighing up some options for my practice rig, I thought I'd open it out to the floor...

I've got a couple of makeshift practice rigs, which I think might work, and if any of you watch the Five Watt World vids on Youtube (they're very cool), you'll be familiar with the mantra "the most music from the least gear". I don't want to buy too much more gear, if I can help it (aside from a P-Bass with flats)

I have a practice space at home, which doubles as an office and we have neighbours that we'd like to keep onside so I'm not able to shake the foundations with my practicing. I'm currently not in a band but might start jamming a bit (probably in a rehearsal studio) with a couple of mates pretty soon. Tones-wise, I'm into that warm, vintage thing for funk/soul/groove music.

 

My current practice rig consists of 2 options, and neither are really ideal:

1. Focusrite Scarlet Solo (an audio recording interface) plugged into my laptop, direct monitored with headphones. I don't like the way this feels. It's all a bit annoying and claustrophobic.
2. My trusty handwired 5F1 4W Tweed Champ clone at low volume so as not to blow the 8" alnico speaker. Obvious limitations and anxiety about speaker health. The tone is pretty decent though, if lacking on bottom end heft.

 

So, the way I see it, I probably have to shell out for 1 more piece of gear and my options are as follows:

1. Buy a pair of studio monitors for the Focusrite and use a plugin like AxeFX to get some toneshaping going
2. Buy a bass cabinet for the Tweed Champ (I quite like this idea, and I think it's been done before)
3. Bite the bullet and buy a dedicated bass practice amp of some sort

 

My budget is going to be limited to around £250-300
 

Any thoughts or opinons? I'm interested to hear what everyone else is practicing through these days.

[Bigguy2017]

TC Electronic BG250-208 2 x 8" combo - inexpensive and sounds good at low volumes.

[fretmeister]

Most of the time at home I use my Helix rack which is plugged into my PC as the interface / soundcard and a pair of Yamaha HS7 monitors.

Before I got the helix I was using a Focusrite Scarlett (whatever the cheapest one was) with the HS7 pair, and a free plugin on the PC. It was perfectly fine and it was great playing along to youtube etc.

 

If I'm on the move then I have a Audient ID4ii interface that plugs into my ipad with the free version of Amplitube for the sounds.

 

And I've still got the Roland Bass Cube I bought probably 20 years ago now. That's in the bedroom so I can play when I'm banished upstairs to the 2nd telly when the wife & daughters are watching some talent show nonsense.

 

 

If you've already got the Focusrite then a good pair of monitors will be a great start. Loads of free plugins about to get going. There are youtube vids about free plugins.

 

AxeFX is not a plugin - it's a rack or floor unit that can be controlled by an app on screen that looks like a plugin. There is a PC version of the helix software called "Helix Native" but it's over £300 on it's own.

 

[lemmywinks]

I use a small TC head and a 1x10 cabinet for making noise at home, I prefer that over a small combo as I can just take the head to rehearsals and use the provided cabs which means less for me to carry. Most of the time just practice via headphones and a small USB Mixing desk.

 

There's someone in the classifieds selling Ashdown Mi cabs for £150 each with nice covers, a friend of mine pairs one of those with a Warwick Gnome and loves it.

[Japhet]

I use a Fender Rumble 100 which sounds good at any volume. Light as a feather too. Nice vintage tones or more grit if you need it from the onboard toys.

[Bigwan]

If you go studio monitors it still won't feel right because the "feel" issue (and oddly the claustrophobia issue too!) will be down to latency. You could try adding a little mixer so you can monitor yourself directly via headphones, rather than having to wait on the return loop from the laptop. I was using a tiny little behringer for this until quite recently.

 

Otherwise nearly ANY used bass practice amp will be an improvement on the guitar amp. I always recommend either the Roland Bass Cube 30 or the Line6 Studio 110.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Bigwan

[chris_b]

For practice I use one of my regular gigging amps, usually the Aguilar TH500, a Barefaced One10 and headphones for the laptop. I can get a good tone at low volume and it's easy to balance the two volumes.

 

I'm checking out putting everything through a Palmer bass amp.

[Funkateer]

Cheers all; some good food for thought there. I think i might just stump up some cash for a nice practice amp. A decent tone and feel inspires better playing methinks…

[StingRayBoy42]

I like my Markbass 101. Sounds good at neighbour friendly volume, DI out for home recording or onstage use, sounds good with Double Bass, speaker out if you need it, headphone out, aux in for jamming along... hard to fault for a home amp.

I paid £250 second hand, so within budget.

[casapete]

There’s a couple of Fender Rumble combos for sale on here at the moment, (including a 200 for £225 which is a great deal.) I have the 100 model which is great for practice and also small / medium sized gigs, loud and sounds fine. Incredibly lightweight and portable too, can’t recommend it enough.

[kwmlondon]

I just got a pair of these. They are amazing - really full range but with a small footprint. If you're fancying going down the monitoring route I can really recommend these little blighters

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/tannoy-reveal-402-compact-active-monitor-single/93488

[garyt]

I’ve got the Roland Bass Cube at home for practice and can’t fault it.  It’s also got enough power for low volume rehearsals.  Versatile, workhorse, and sounds great. 
My son has one of the Boss Kantana guitar amps and it is a cracking tool.  If I was ever going to buy another cheap’ish, versatile, practice amp, I’d definitely consider checking out the Boss Bass Kantana amp. 
If you could stretch the budget, Ive really liked when I’ve heard the TE Elf combo, or the smaller Mark Bass combos, but ignore that if your budget is fixed.  There’s always a ton of more expensive gear that no one needs. 
 

[Funkateer]

I'm all sorted now; got me an "as new" 90's Trace Elliot Series 6 combo, thanks to the very nice @Sparky Mark of this forum. This thing kills! Sounds great at bedroom volume and has HEFT for days! It'll keep up with my drummer friend, no problem. Very, very happy with this outcome

 

Cheers for all the input dudes.