Dedicated practice amp that I can't gig with, or a medium sized amp that I can maybe gig with?

TriadKing

TriadKing

Jan 6, 2023
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USA
#1
Hi there!

I have been pondering about purchasing an amp to be used mostly to jam with acoustic instruments and to practice in the garage. I don't use an amp for live. My current band situation allows me to go from StompXL directly to the speakers. I get great tone and the bass is actually really decent from the enormous subwoofer.

For practicing I usually DI to my Universal Audio and put on my headphones. Recently I had been gifted a Spark Mini, which is a cute little "speaker" that I can play bass from. Doesn't have the oomph, but it sounds nice and it runs on batteries.

I have been wanting to invest in something slightly bigger and better sounding, also something that won't really force me to use my phone to alter my sounds ever so slightly. I probably won't need to gig with this amp for the above-mentioned reasons, but I have been also considering purchasing something that might be useful for that purpose too. Here are some of my thoughts.

Phil Jones Double Four is a great sounding amp from every thread I have read here. It would not bother the neighbors, nor the cats, nor the wife, while giving me a great tone. But I would never even consider pulling that out at even the smallest gigs.

The new Boss Katana sounds really good, but 110 is too small, but 210 is too heavy and expensive. I can't wrap my head around why they don't have a 115 model with 300-500 watts. It has a 1W setting that I can practice with, the recording capabilities (DI out, XLR out etc) are awesome, but I don't know if I am willing to carry it around with that much weight on that thing.

Ampeg Rocket Bass series is really attractive to me. They are light, and they sound good. But I am not sure if I can pick that sweet spot of sounding great on low volume, but also having the ability to gig with on high volumes.

I haven't had much luck with Fender Rumble series, but if anyone has any experience with my use case scenario, please chime in.

Long story short, my question is this: Should I just get a dedicated practice amp like Double Four and call it a day? Or should I try to find an amp that I can possibly gig with too?

Thank you so much! :)
 
#2
I can vouch that it is quite easy to get that sweetspot at a reasonable volume with the Ampeg RB110. Start with the eqs at 12 o’ clock, adjust your volume to taste, and smile. The RB110 does start farting out with the volume control at about 3o’clock (that has an SPL of 95 dB measured on-axis at 3 feet away on the bass pickup on a Player Jazz). With the volume at 2:30 and the same testing conditions, the RB110 is “fart-free” and achieving 92 dB. I can use the treble pickup alone and max out the volume and have no speaker farting (that has an SPL of 102 dB under the same measurement parameters).

https://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Decibels.png

It can be difficult to decide as there are so many great options out there. I hope that helps.
 
Last edited:
#3
Akiyama said:
I can vouch that it is quite easy to get that sweetspot at a reasonable volume with the Ampeg RB110. Start with the eqs at 12 o’ clock, adjust your volume to taste, and smile. The RB110 does start farting out with the volume control at about 3o’clock (that has an SPL of 95 dB measured on-axis at 3 feet away on the bass pickup on a Player Jazz). With the volume at 2:30 and the same testing conditions, the RB110 is “fart-free” and achieving 92 dB. I can use the treble pickup alone and max out the volume and have no speaker farting (that has an SPL of 102 dB under the same measurement parameters).

https://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Decibels.png

It can be difficult to decide as there are so many great options out there. I hope that helps.
Click to expand...

I'll keep the RB110 in mind, but I might go with the 115. Thank you very much :) I will keep the possibility of farts in mind as I am browsing.
 
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#4
Also, if anyone who has a Phil Jones Double Four could please comment on the frequency response and the overall feel of the amp. The 3inch Spark Mini sounds decent with a bass, but there is just so much missing in the sound, but I am having a hard time describing it. Does the Double Four feel lacking in any sonic way?
 
#5
You sound like you can't decide if you want big or small. I have the Katana 110. Don't really use all the fancy effects, so I have this preset where everything is flat and I run my pedals through it. I went through 2 mini amps previously and decided that if I want to spend money might as well make it keep up with my guitarists and drummer, which the 110 has no problem to. Ampeg RB-112 sounds big, but the Katana 110 definitely is not "small", and louder than 60W (I do not know how they do this). In comparison, my GK MB-110 is struggling with 2x 15W tube guitar amps.

I considered the RB-112, Katana 110, and Minimark 802, before going with the 110 due to its tone at home practice volume. I usually set the master volume around 10-11 o'clock and has no problem hearing myself with the guitars, at least at the practice space. For live purpose I either hook it up to the DI out and use it as monitor, or just use whatever the venue has available (usually I leave the amp at home and bring my NUX NBP-5 instead). But if you want that Ampeg tone, the RB-112 delivers it very, very well.
 
#6
Traynor SB112 new $680 [used 4-500]

I had older Yorkville/Traynor XM50C 50 watt combo with 1x10 [great mid bass punch] worked great at rehearsals and would do fine for smaller gigs without FOH; work well for medium to fairly large Venue for stage sound with FOH
 
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#8
TriadKing said:
Also, if anyone who has a Phil Jones Double Four could please comment on the frequency response and the overall feel of the amp. The 3inch Spark Mini sounds decent with a bass, but there is just so much missing in the sound, but I am having a hard time describing it. Does the Double Four feel lacking in any sonic way?
Click to expand...

Some pretty representative examples:


 
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