Is 8in combo really too small for decent practice

[ElPoncho]

Hello all!

 

First time posting on the forum, so thank you very much in advance for your time (and apologies if it has been discussed to death before).

 

I am primarily a guitarist but have gone all in on bass recently... Just love it!

 

This is very much a home hobby for me, and most of my time is spent jamming over songs on my PC via audio interface + Neural DSP or Amplitube VST plugins, through headphones. I don't gig, and won't anytime soon.

 

While this is very likely to remain my setup for 90% of the time (playing at night through headphones), I sometimes wish I could chill on the couch and jam without the cans on...

 

So I'm looking at a small living-room amp. Part of me thinks "just get a Rumble 40 and be done with it" but really I'll never need the power, the DI etc. So my question is this: could I get away with something like a Rumble LT25 for this application, i.e. jamming over the stereo at sensible volume? I think the power would be more than enough, but I'm wary of the 8in speaker in these. While I'm happy having the VSTs + quality studio headphones as my "good" setup, I don't want something that will sound like complete a**e.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Lozz196]

For years I had practice amps with 8” speakers, Fender Rumble 15, Marshall MB15, Ampeg BA108, Ashdown After Eight, all perfectly good enough for home use, I’d happily have any of those amps again. And all of them would have been too loud to use at home if on full volume.

[Rosie C]

I have an Orange Crush 25B (25W, 8") and not only is it fine for practice, I use it for playing bass at church services and it's fine (C of E, nothing too energetic! 😉  ) 

 

[ElPoncho]

Thanks guys - sometimes you need a bit of a sanity check... I know the common complaint is "when you start playing with people it's useless", but that last post is interesting - it's all about context. Again the only use case remotely similar I could foresee is an impromptu jam at home with a friend on an acoustic guitar or low-volume electric, so I imagine 8in is enough for a decent mix.

 

I might try and swing by a store to try a couple, see what it's like in the room...

Edited November 9, 2024 by ElPoncho

[Ed_S]

My home jamming and quiet rehearsal amp is a Markbass Micromark 801 (50W 1x8) and I most recently used that to do living room rehearsal with considerately amplified acoustic guitar and keyboard, and two quite strident un-mic'd singers - it sounded great and had plenty of volume left to request. I used its 300W 1x12 big brother for the gig that followed just due to the size of the room, but years ago I used to do acoustic duo gigs that were coffee-house-ish in scale, and I reckon the 1x8 would even handle those just fine.

[StingRayBoy42]

1 hour ago, Ed_S said:

My home jamming and quiet rehearsal amp is a Markbass Micromark 801 (50W 1x8)

Me too! Great little amp and I'm sure it'll do acoustic/jazz rehearsals.

I use it with a Sansamp VTDI which really gives it some oomph and brings it to life.

I'm taking mine to a big band rehearsal tomorrow, hopefully it'll keep up with the 15-odd blowers... will report back!

[MartinB]

I used to use a Peavey Microbass combo (20W, 8") to rehearse with my surf band - bass, 2 x electric guitars, drums. Loads of volume to spare.
Context really is everything - it probably would have been absolutely useless for rehearsing with a drummer with no volume control and a guitarist with a Marshall stack and no understandng of frequency slotting.

[msb]

I had a Rumble for a while. Terrible thing I couldn’t flip fast enough. 

[simonlittle]

3 hours ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

Me too! Great little amp and I'm sure it'll do acoustic/jazz rehearsals.

I use it with a Sansamp VTDI which really gives it some oomph and brings it to life.

I'm taking mine to a big band rehearsal tomorrow, hopefully it'll keep up with the 15-odd blowers... will report back!

Me three! And I also use it for a little duo gig I do in Soho with my Yamaha EUB. Sits nicely on top on the upright piano and has plenty of volume to get over the chatter. Sounds lovely and full at lower volumes at home 

[StingRayBoy42]

19 hours ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

I'm taking mine to a big band rehearsal tomorrow, hopefully it'll keep up with the 15-odd blowers... will report back!

It did indeed keep up with the blowers, sounded great, had some volume to spare and got lots of admiring comments which is the main thing, right?

Disclaimer: I used the Sansamp VTDI in front of it, which really does elevate it - more punch and a noticeably better sound IMHO.
It's no slouch on its own TBF!

[tcoyneiv]

I just joined and I got, this summer, a Spark LIVE because of it's capabilities and power. 

At 150 watts with a 3 band EQ, a battery option and-to my surprize-a working bluetooth feature, I use it for almost everything.

I am practicing for a duet with the wife at a talent contest she has next July at a dance event in the Twin Cities, and I play Fever (Peggy Lee) from my phone to my Spark and have my bass plugged in and I am continually surprized by how good everything sounds.

It isn't too heavy and with the battery and a set of 5G wireless connections, I can do almost anything.

I have bigger and louder stuff too, just for flexibility, however for practice in my living room, it works very well.

Edited November 10, 2024 by tcoyneiv

[ezbass]

 

On 09/11/2024 at 17:31, ElPoncho said:

I am primarily a guitarist but have gone all in on bass recently... Just love it!

 

My Phil Jones rig is full of 5” speakers, so an 8” will be fine for your purposes, just pick something you like the look of really. The Ampeg at least has some aesthetic thought gone into it.

[ElPoncho]

11 minutes ago, ezbass said:

 

 

My Phil Jones rig is full of 5” speakers, so an 8” will be fine for your purposes, just pick something you like the look of really. The Ampeg at least has some aesthetic thought gone into it.

 

Not going to lie, that's definitely a consideration. 😂 I'm sure the bevy of very 90s-looking combos available for peanuts locally on Facebook are perfectly fine, but exposed speakers and garish control panels are not going to fly with the better half for a living room application...

[JapanAxe]

23 hours ago, Ed_S said:

My home jamming and quiet rehearsal amp is a Markbass Micromark 801 (50W 1x8) and I most recently used that to do living room rehearsal with considerately amplified acoustic guitar and keyboard, and two quite strident un-mic'd singers - it sounded great and had plenty of volume left to request. I used its 300W 1x12 big brother for the gig that followed just due to the size of the room, but years ago I used to do acoustic duo gigs that were coffee-house-ish in scale, and I reckon the 1x8 would even handle those just fine.

I’ve successfully used my 801 at a big band rehearsal!

[JPJ]

As we all know, watts are about as effective at measuring ‘loudness’ as amps are at measuring mass (weight, not heft😉). 
Modern small practice amps surpass the practice amps of old in just about every department. My go to home practice amp is my TC Electronics BG250 208, a 2x8” 250w combo the size of a large shoe box. It’s also my gigging amp with my three-piece acoustic trio. The 8’s seem to work really well with my EUB delivering a lovely warm tone at low volumes. 

[ElPoncho]

By way of an update - I nabbed a Rumble LT25 (the digital one, with an 8in speaker) at a fair price from the bay. It absolutely is fine for my purposes. Sure it wouldn't be much cop when playing with a drummer, nor will it reveal the subtlest tone nuances... But it's absolutely fine to noodle on the couch along with music from the stereo, at sensible volumes. And truth be told it's actually bloody impressive for a hundred-odd quid: it's light, looks pretty classy, the effects are surprisingly ok (including the octaver) once you move away from the presets, and it's nice to have a few amp models to choose from (again, the B15 is surprisingly good with flats, especially through headphones).

 

All in all, a happy camper! I might upgrade to a Rumble 40 one of these days but as someone who plays the vast majority of the time through headphones, I don't think I'd get much from it.

 

I didn't get to try other "beginner" combos (Rocket RB108 and the likes) but can definitely recommend that one for home practice.

[Lozz196]

Nice one, I`ve not had the digital version but the non-digital was a nice little amp, warm, rich vintagey tones and plenty powerful enough for home.

[Chienmortbb]

15 hours ago, ElPoncho said:

ll in all, a happy camper! I might upgrade to a Rumble 40 one of these days but as someone who plays the vast majority of the time through headphones, I don't think I'd get much from it.

Not sure that there is much to gain by going to the Rumble 40.