Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

  • 5 Watt Tube (Epi Valve Jr.)

    Votes: 2 10.5%

  • 15 Watt Tube (Pro Jr. , AC15)

    Votes: 7 36.8%

  • Modeling amp (Roland Cube, Vox Valvetronix)

    Votes: 8 42.1%

  • Solid State (Tech 21, Fender Frontman)

    Votes: 2 10.5%

  • Rob Option (Just use the acoustic)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .
loudriver23

loudriver23

New member
Here's my question, I currently have a 69 Bassman which I love more than any amp I've ever owned. However it's WAY too loud to get a usable tone around the house without my wife/neighbors getting all upset.
I would love to build a small vintage clone someday, but I truly don't have the funds right now. Besides one does NOT build an amp to try and save money. I will do that when I'm ready to do it right, until then I'll just buy something usable for now.

So, here's my issue, I've never been too inspired by the 5 watt guys I've plugged into. The Epi Valve Jr. is meh, and the Fender Champ 600 is even worse to my ears. I know both have several mods that seem to help quite a bit.
Also, for about the same price, I could get a decent smaller modeling amp just for my bedroom noodling and idea crafting.
The problem is, I've never found modeling amps all that inspiring either. They never took too well to my analog pedals and just feel, well not like a tube amp.

Or maybe I should just find a small 30 watt or so SS amp like a Tech21 or the Fender Frontman.

That brings me to the 15 watt smaller Fender and Vox amps.
The blues Jr seems nice, but there is something that attracts me to the simplicity of the Pro Jr. just that 10" speaker seems a little thin.
I've not played through the Vox AC15 yet, perhaps I should add that to the mix. The problem is, these amps are around $4-600 and that seems too much to pay for just a practice amp.

I've been racking my pea sized brain over this, but have yet to come up with a decent answer for myself.

Please, any recommendations would be appreciated.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

It is worth noting that at the volume levels that inspire you but piss off the neighbors and the wife, that Bassman is going to be pushing much more air than a smaller practice amp will be at practice volumes. The human ear responds differently at different volumes, and that could very well be part of why the smaller amps you've heard thus far have not inspired you. Even my cheap little 4W SS First Act practice amp sounds better when turned up louder. At quieter volumes, it sounds that much more flat and lifeless.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

That is possible. Perhaps I do equate more air movement with good tone subconsciously. That said, I still need something smaller to practice with. With the Bassman I have to set the volume between 0-1 to play without complaints, and it's just not working for me.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

tonefreak1527 said:
Get a champ RI of a Princeton reverb
Click to expand...
If you're referring to the one I'm thinking about they go for about $900. I not prepared to spend that kind of cash on a practice amp right now.
I think $400 will be my max for this amp.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

I really like the Roland Cube 30 for playing at home. It has some great sounding models, the reverb and delay are OK and it also has great features for late night practice - i.e. Aux In & Headphone Out!

The smaller Tech 21s sound great too by all accounts (I've only had a TM-60 and a TriAC) but I don't think they have the Aux In.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

If you dig the sound of your amp now, why not get an attenuator like a hotplate or a weber mass?

An AC15 is still a pretty 'loud' amp for domestic situations... so is the Pro Jr. Truthfully, at low 3am volumes my 50 watt Rivera is more usable then the Pro Jr.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

1)Check out D-Lab, I've got one of his "minuteman" heads: 3-watts, master/gain, and a tube/diode rectifcation switch...Sounds great at reasonable volumes

he's got a couple of small heads on his site right now....


2)I also modded a Valve Jr as well and now it sounds great but without a master it still gets pretty loud in the sweet spot....depending on how quiet you need to be, you could get a used one put $50 into it and have a decent sounding practice head

3)also ...IDK if anyones mentioned them yet but the guys on here who have Roland Micro Cubes rave about the tones available, the single speaker ones run for under $100 new on the Bay.....
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

An attenuator is an interesting idea, but I always thought it's practical use was to help bring down the sweet spot of an amp to a slightly lower db level not bedroom levels.
Maybe I'm just mistaken, but I've heard that if you use an attenuator and take a loud amp all the way down to bedroom levels it sounds like a wet blanket coated your whole tone.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

Just how loud are we talking about here?

If you dime the amp & try to bring it all the way down to domestic levels, then yeah... that sounds pretty crappy. Not really the best use for either the head or the power soak.

But if you'd like to be able to turn the amp up to maybe 4 or 5 and scale it back to a reasonable volume then an attenuator is perfect.

Think of it as a big, outboard master volume.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

J Moose said:
Just how loud are we talking about here?

If you dime the amp & try to bring it all the way down to domestic levels, then yeah... that sounds pretty crappy. Not really the best use for either the head or the power soak.

But if you'd like to be able to turn the amp up to maybe 4 or 5 and scale it back to a reasonable volume then an attenuator is perfect.

Think of it as a big, outboard master volume.
Click to expand...
I would love to be able to get my bassman up to 4-5. I may have to look into the power soak option. However I think I'm still going to need something smaller for the bedroom.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

silverface vibrochamp. ebay price between 300 and 500... Sounds a lil thin with the 8" speaker but wether you crank it or not, you do hear "fender".

If you can't run a bassman thru a 2x12 at 5, I don't see there being much of a difference if you try and juice a 15W el84 1x12 amp... those things are loud enough for neighbors to hear, absolutely. My neighbors probably hated my night train.

The Fender SCXD is 15W through a 10"... it has some nice fender-y amp models in it... the power section is the "ultra-linear" type so it sounds the same at any volume. It's the best new fender "practice amp". My tastes changed and I sold it but it was a great amp for the money.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

FuseG4 said:
The Fender SCXD is 15W through a 10"... it has some nice fender-y amp models in it... the power section is the "ultra-linear" type so it sounds the same at any volume. It's the best new fender "practice amp". My tastes changed and I sold it but it was a great amp for the money.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'll check this one out for sure.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

I'd spend the money on sound proofing and get a power soak. All of these options are going to annoy the wife and neighbors. Even a cranked 5 watt amp is loud. Vox has a 4 watt amp that can be set to 1/4 watt, but its loud cranked, too. Marshall has a 5 watt tube amp now that sounds great. I tried an old Super Champ and a Champ II that were designed by Rivera in the 1980's. They're cool and cheap,too.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

400 bucks will get you something like a blackstar HT-5 tube combo or a vox valvtronix 50-watt modeler with a tube preamp. The Blackstar will get good distorted tones at low levels and is pretty versatile and fairly feature packed for what it is.

300 bucks will get you a peavey vypyr 75 watter with a built in powersoak and USB.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

How much clean headroom do you need? Killer Ant is a great amp for TV to loud TV volume power tube distortion. Clean to conversation level and just breaking from conversation to TV volumes.

Epi or Blackstar 5HT, or a Tweed Champ, Vibro Champ will have more head room.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

Yeah, the more I think about things, the more a small modeling amp sounds like the right piece of hardware at this time. I played some 5 Watt guys yesterday and yeah they are either not what I'm looking for sound wise, or just too loud.
I hate making compromises, but I suppose getting tone at bedroom levels is all about compromise.
Maybe I'll just get a pocket POD and some headphones and color it done.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

Get a cheap little Mircro Cube. Cool little modeler amp that can still fill a small room with sound.

Mine rarely gets used around the house, but whenever I travel on business I take it with because it is good for hotel rooms and stuff like that. Also, it can get louder than one would think.
 
Re: Do I need a practice amp, or just something smaller?

For low volume playing I wholeheartedly do NOT recommend a Vox AC15. That thing gets pretty loud. It might work well if you use a lot of pedals for overdrive tones, but don't expect to have it sing at whisper volumes.

The Roland Micro Cube is perfect for getting good tone at talking volumes. I use mine all the time alongside my Vox and Bogner. The "Classic Stack", "Brit Combo" and "JC Clean" are all great and you won't have to worry about bothering anyone with it.
 
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