Travelling amp looking for advice

barandascaio

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Dec 2, 2012
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I recently moved from South America to the States and am buying a new rig. I really liked the fender rumble models, and like how lightweight they are. I will be making the commute from US to Brazil constantly and would like to take my rig with me because I play in both countries.

I will be playing mostly using headphones because I live in a college dorm, so I was wondering if buying a preamp pedal would be a bad idea, since it would save me the trouble of bringing an amp with me on the plane or if it's a huge drop-off in quality.

Also, what are preamp pedals you guys recommend in the $200 price range.

Thanks.
 
You may want to consider one of the lightweight heads from GK (MB series) or Mesa (Subway) - these are just models I happen to own, I'm sure there are other fine options. While they're not $200 pre-amps, they will give you full functionality from being a powerful bass head to use with your cab(s) to quality DIs for recording to headphone amps for quiet practice. I know the Mesa also includes auto-ranging power supply circuitry and well designed protection against power issues.
 
Fender Rumble 200/150 and 500/210 combo weight around 16.5 kg.

But for lighter combo with 250/500 watts , the 12.6kg Hartke KB12 is your friend. .......... If you able travelling with combo.
 
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I will be making the commute from US to Brazil constantly and would like to take my rig with me because I play in both countries.
This may be on the high end of your budget but well worth looking into the Mesa Subway D800 and the Genzler Magellan 800. These both have auto ranging power supplies, so all you need to play in any country is the proper power cord. They weigh around 6 pounds and are the size of a large book.

For private practice plug your music player/laptop into the Aux in, then your headphones in, no need for a mixer or other gadgets. When time for band or gig you have the power for anything small or large so your choice of cabs. They also have a great built in di for running to the board pre or post eq. You can also use just the di for cabless gigs, no need for a preamp pedal.

More info click>THE ULTRA LIGHTWEIGHT, PROFESSIONAL LEVEL CLASS D SUBWAY® D-800™ FOR BASS | MESA/Boogie®
More info click>MAGELLAN 800 | MG-800

This is how I use my Magellan in the garage for quiet headphone practice. Laptop in, bass, headphones. :thumbsup:


Genzler_On_The_Shop.jpg



Enjoy some videos.



 
As you will be playing in both countries, I'm going to assume for this you ate playing with a band or another situation where you need a more powerful amp than a small practice rig.

Another thought would be to go with the small micro heads as suggested, and buy a cabinet to leave in both countries. If you are commuting constantly as you said, this would be a great choice without a lot of compromises. A small 200 watt micro amp would easily fit in a carry on bag and would be more than enough power to gig or practice.
 
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As you will be playing in both countries, I'm going to assume for this you ate playing with a band or another situation where you need a more powerful amp than a small practice rig.

Another thought would be to go with the small micro heads as suggested, and buy a cabinet to leave in both countries. If you are commuting constantly as you said, this would be a great choice without a lot of compromises. A small 200 watt micro amp would easily fit in a carry on bag and would be more than enough power to gig or practice.
Exactly what i thought, but was too lazy to type :D
 
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