Home use, tiny, but good combo?

[Rayman]

I’ve dabbled a bit with small amps for home, but I’ve fallen short every time.

 

I Have the headphone thing covered, by way of my Phil Jones Bighead, but I’d like a tiny combo to play along to stuff out loud, at home. I’m hoping that it’s not going to have to be a Markbass micromark, as that’s a bit over budget, but I fear that I might be going down that road.

 

The last acquisition was a 10W Vox Pathfinder, which is abysmal. I also tried a Line 6 studio 110, which is also rubbish. I was pretty happy with the Peavey Microbass, but my daughter now has that, and it’s physically bigger than I want. I really want something very small. I even considered the Positive Grid Spark stuff. 
 

It only needs to keep up with the volume of a TV really, so I thought the Pathfinder would be ideal. Wrong. 
 

Any recommendations?

[Crusoe]

Fender Rumble 25?

[SamIAm]

Only a tad cheaper (Unless you can find a preloved one) but a LOT smaller … PJB X4 Nanobass?  (Disclaimer: I am very biased towards PJB gear)

Or a lot cheaper a Blackstar Fly3? (The config with the second speaker)  I’ve got one of these and it would for sure cover a TV and sound wise is surprisingly good for its small size.

Sam x

[bremen]

Bass (for me at least) is always a bit meh at TV volumes (or in headphones). I need to be able to feel it. Not necessarily trouser-flapping, but a bit of haptic feedback.

 

Maybe a gaming chair? Or one of those drumstools with an inbuilt vibrator. That's probably the wrong word. But you know. Then a modeling pre, and a $5 combo from Argos.

[JPJ]

The best bang for buck little combo for home use and the occasional gig is the TC Electronics BG range. They’re available in 2x8, 1x12, and 1x15 formats, but I’ve got the 2x8 which is perfect for home use, and covers bass duties (Inc EUB) on ‘acoustic’ gigs. Easy one hand lift, and a 250W power stage if you ever need to get that loud. Also the amp has one TonePrint slot allowing you to run your favourite TonePrint effect.

[JGSpector]

PJB Nano x4 gets my vote. Tiny, easy to use, superb sound as long as you don't expect it to sound like a full gig rig, surprisingly loud. It actually sounds and behaves like a bass amp.

[tauzero]

Must it be a combo? You could make a BC house jam cab and use it with a Hotone Thunder bass amp (or, indeed, any old bass amp as long as you're careful with the volume).

 

 

[Dan Dare]

If you have money to spend, the Phil Jones Double Four is nice.

[Skybone]

Bought my lad a second hand Marshall MB-15 a few years back. I was amazed at how good it sounded, and have threatened to nick it more than once. 

[Dazed]

23 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

If you have money to spend, the Phil Jones Double Four is nice.

 What he said. Perfect for home use. Roughly the size of a shoe box and transparent sounding. 

[SamIAm]

To add another option in the mix, I'm not sure if this is still available but if so ... I had one and loved it, not huge (But heavy) and is totally adaquate for home/practice or even small gig use ... and it sounds really great!

Sam x

[Reggaebass]

Not sure if this is something your looking for but I think it’s great 

 

[Gaucho 5]

13 minutes ago, SamIAm said:

To add another option in the mix, I'm not sure if this is still available but if so ... I had one and loved it, not huge (But heavy) and is totally adaquate for home/practice or even small gig use ... and it sounds really great!

Sam x

Hi Sam,

             Yours was one I almost bought! As you say a marvellous bit of kit.......but I didn't really need one after all lol!

[msb]

I much prefer components to a combo , and then use whatever sized speaker I need at the time. So I have little speakers for home use at low volume and the cabs I’ll need to fill a mid sized bar. And various heads from 5 to 900 watts. I’m a little nerdy about amps and cabs , it comes from being a seventy something geezer that’s been doing gigs since the mid 70’s. I’ve seen a lot of changes in gear over the years. 
And love the light , small , modern amp and cab design. 
 

I love the flexibility of separate heads and cabs.

[Norris]

Personally I'd either go for...

 

 

Or that Ampeg 108 that Reggaebass linked - I have one myself and so does my son. It's a bit larger than the Rumble though, but definitely sounds like a proper bass amp at low volume

 

My main amp is a Rumble 500, and if the 15 has a fraction of the sound it would be up to the job

Edited August 27, 2024 by Norris

[lemmywinks]

I'd hunt arount for a used MB Micromark, a PJB M7 or PJB X4. You sometimes see the PJB BG-75 for around £250ish too.

 

There's a Micromark for £200 on Facebook right now.

[msb]

I had a Rumble 15 when I first started to practice at the in-laws. I thought something small and cheap was all I’d need.

 

I was wrong , it was awful.

[Geek99]

4 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Not sure if this is something your looking for but I think it’s great 

 

I had one. Awesome choice. AND it has a purple power light 

[Dan Dare]

10 hours ago, msb said:

I much prefer components to a combo , and then use whatever sized speaker I need at the time. So I have little speakers for home use at low volume and the cabs I’ll need to fill a mid sized bar. And various heads from 5 to 900 watts. I’m a little nerdy about amps and cabs , it comes from being a seventy something geezer that’s been doing gigs since the mid 70’s. I’ve seen a lot of changes in gear over the years. 
And love the light , small , modern amp and cab design. 
 

I love the flexibility of separate heads and cabs.

 

Me too. I have a number of small cabs and can use one for home practice or multiples for gigs - the number depending on how loud I need to be.

[cetera]

Fender Rumble 25.

Fantastic sounding little amp!

[Gaucho 5]

13 hours ago, msb said:

I had a Rumble 15 when I first started to practice at the in-laws. I thought something small and cheap was all I’d need.

 

I was wrong , it was awful.

Me too had a Rumble long time back was sooo bad I never used it!

[Huge Hands]

At the other end of the scale, there is the Joyo MA-10B.  

 

I wasn't looking for a small practice amp, but after seeing this thread, did a search on some of the other stuff and saw they are currently on 20% off on Amazon so only £36.79 with free shipping.

 

I'm not expecting much, but decided to take a punt at that price.  Arriving Saturday, or could be tomorrow if I had Prime.  Mrs HH has Prime on her account,. but thought it would be safer to wait til Saturday and hope she's out when it arrives.....

[msb]

I have two practice spots , home , and the in-laws. We spend much of our time looking after my mother-in-law. My practice nook there , two lovely little rigs. Elf into a One10 , I just picked up the Elf last week. This could easily cover a small gig. And a Darkglass e500 with a PhilJones C2. The Darkglass is a modelling amp that can be made to sound like just about anything.  I do have a Darkglass 200 MicroTubes on the way. Two Gretsch basses made the pic , there’s two Gibson short scales just out of the frame. The e500 and C2 are what I normally keep there. I initially picked up a Rumble15 but realized it was not going to work out. For quite a while a GK MB200 into an Ampeg 210AV was the perfect rig. But I’m curious about other things and a bit nerdy so things were bound to shift. 
My little happy place.

 

and the back view …

 

 

and the little Aguilar home rig. This might change when the little Darkglass MicroTubes arrives. We’ll see …

Edited August 28, 2024 by msb
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[Rayman]

Thanks all for the great responses…… trouble is, now I don’t know exactly what actually want anymore! 
 

I’m not after anything giggable, I have all that covered. This is purely home only, noodling along to music on the TV or Spotify. So, no massive bottom end required, but equally I don’t want something that sounds like I’m playing through a transistor radio (one for the kids). Primary function is small but sounds decent, but also doesn’t break the bank.

[lemmywinks]

Nux also do a mini combo, 6.5" driver but overall size is not PJB/MB tiny. Built in bluetooth like the X4 though and lots of eq options, £200 from CPC:
https://cpc.farnell.com/nux/mighty-bass-50bt/mighty-bass-50bt-amplifier-with-digital-effects-60w/dp/ls06045