Practice amp, or preamp/DI unit?

TimmyO

Might sound an odd either/or but lemme explain (and feel free to suggest something different)

I have a bass incoming, to dabble and learn on. I could plug it in to ipad and use Ampkit, but wondering about having a practice amp too.

Then I wondered if I'd be better with a decent preamp/DI box, to headphone practice on initially then is have it should I get the chance to play out (Tonehammer, Sansamp, that sort of thing)

Or.... ?

Ta

fretmeister

In the house I use either a Roland Bass Cube 30 (and I gig that with the orchestra too, it's brilliant) or ipad with Amplitude. I got a Line 6 Sonic wotsit for my birthday. Very good.

I'm not actually aware of a preamp / DI box with a head phone socket. No doubt there is one somewhere though!

I have a Tech21 VT Bass-DI on my board, both as a pedal and emergency amp back up. I have no idea if headphones can be plugged into the output or not!

Tech21 kit doesn't hold it's value for some reason. The 3 channel BDDI is about £220 new and they seem to struggle to hit £100 used. No idea why, it's a superb tool.

The Roland also has an AUX in so you can plug your ipod into it, and it also has a headphone socket. Could be the best way to get a bit of everything. Used Cube 30s come up under £100 every now and again. 

UnclePsychosis

I do pretty much exactly what you're asking. I do have a little amp but my home circumstances mean that playing "out loud" is very rarely an option. 

I currently use a Zoom B3 which does all the amp modelling you need and has a good DI on it. It has headphone out but you can also plug it into a computer via USB (or via a mixer which is what I do). I have been practising like this for years, occasionally I change preamp because I want different features (the MultiFX swung it for me and the B3, my last preamp was a Hartke Bass Attack which I'd heartily recommend if you just want a basic preamp and no fancy features). 

For gigging I have gone preamp straight to desk for the majority of the last few years. So long as you have decent monitoring this works great IMO and it means that all you need to take to a gig is a bass and your pedals. I don't actually own a gig-worthy bass amp as a result! 

Edited to remove wrong info

fretmeister

Just looked at the Zoom B3

It DOES have a phones output according to this photo...

http://www.artmusic.gr/images/18143-zoom_b3_ BACK.jpg

No AUX in for playing along though. 

UnclePsychosis

LOL, so it does. 

You can play along if you connect it to a PC via USB, you can then set the PC to output to the Zoom. 

ThePrettyDamned

Congrats on getting a bass

My mate uses a Bass POD or a pandora or something like that.  I think the Zoom B3 is supposed to be nifty, too. 

ICBM

UnclePsychosis said:

You can play along if you connect it to a PC via USB, you can then set the PC to output to the Zoom. 

Didn't know that! I'll have to try it. There's too much latency going the other way.

albanov

Bass practice amps are a bit of a waste of time to my mind, you might as well just use your guitar amp for quiet practice - Zoom B3 or Tech21 VT etc are a more useful option going forward. 

You would need a small mixer or similar to play the VT through headphones though so the B3 may be the easiest and best value choice.  I'd personally go for the VT but I'm a luddite and try to avoid music gear with USB ports on as much as possible.

TimmyO

Cheers for the ideas.

I might muddle along with iPad for a bit and see how restrictive it is (or otherwise) before shelling out (asuming active output isn't too hot...)

fretmeister

TimmyO said:

Cheers for the ideas.

I might muddle along with iPad for a bit and see how restrictive it is (or otherwise) before shelling out (asuming active output isn't too hot...)

I'm pretty sure the bass has a volume control....

TimmyO

Ha, indeed

therose789

I have an Agular tone hammer pre amp and a sans amp bddi (3 button) they are both fantastic pedals, would strongly recommend them. 

They all have very usable settings 

Ramirez

As usual, I'll chip in with my +1 for the B3.
Also has a basic drum machine/metronome built in, and as mentioned can play back tracks from computer via USB.

As a preamp/fx unit, it can be as simple or as complex as you want, has headphone output, reasonably flexible DI and routing, and sounds very good.

TamDB

Roland Micro Cube bass, loud enough for practice at home, small enough to hide under a chair, and it`s got a headphone socket, quite a good little bit of kit IMHO.