Practice kit recommendations

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dindudedindude Frets: 8534
Wanting to play a bit more bass at the moment. Currently don’t have a bass amp or anything, just plug into my interface direct to Yamaha HS5 monitors. Fine, but a bit bland.

What do you proper bassists think would be most inspiring to plug into out of these two options:

Small bass practice amp such as a Fender Rumble 15 or similar.

or

A preamp Pedal such as the Eden WTDI into my interface / monitors.

I like the ease of use of the practice amp but think the Eden could be a more inspiring ride, with the compressor etc.

Thoughts? or alternatives?

Cheers


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Comments

  • I've been using my Yamaha thr10 for indoor use. Works really well for bass but may not be the cheapest option. Good for electric drum kits too as my son has discovered!
    The Swamp City Shakers
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7735
    edited January 2018
    Small amp. Nicer to practice to music you play on your monitors too.
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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9502
    edited January 2018
    Small amp. I used to play through a Vox Tonelab (Fender Bassman model) and Tannoy monitors but I now have a little Ampeg which sounds great. I’ve also used it for recording and it does a decent job. A little over £100 gets you a great little bass amp from Ampeg, Fender, or Orange. The trick is not to get tempted by something more than 15-20W and 8-10” speaker, I suspect some of the larger “small” amps would be too loud for home use and not really up to the job of gigging.
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  • Bigger monitors. 5” monitors don’t typically kick out much low end. I think 6” is generally the sweet spot for home use, with the added benefit everything will sound bigger, not just your bass guitar.

    This is free (donation ware) and sounds decent, maybe worth a go either way https://www.tseaudio.com/software/tseBOD

    If you want an amp see if you can track down a used Line 6 lowdown 110. They’re out of production but are pretty good sounding little amps. Way more than enough beef for a typical home room. Not powerful enough to gig with though and also not tiny, but a decent choice for home playing.
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  • Personally I use monitors and either software or hardware preamps, into impulse responses. My 4x10 and poweramp doesn’t get used at home at all, much easier to use the monitors.
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7735
    Added benefit of an amp is plug n play. Laziness dictates that ai'd ratber practice unplugged than take the time to switch on monitors, interface & start software/plugins. 
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    edited January 2018
    Added benefit of an amp is plug n play. Laziness dictates that ai'd ratber practice unplugged than take the time to switch on monitors, interface & start software/plugins. 
    If he’s already using the computer for web browsing and music listening then it’s not much work at all.

    I have a Logic project on my desktop called practice which is all set up and ready to go with the sounds I want, arguably more practical than a practice amp that just takes up extra space at home but isn’t powerful enough to be used with s band.

    I only use practice amps for writing with others at their houses these days. Otherwise I wouldn’t own one at all.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    Amp, for me - both work OK, but I just find the sound of a simple box with a speaker more natural and inspiring in a room than going through a recording system.

    I disagree slightly with thermionic - I wouldn't go as small as a 15W 1x8" combo if you can justify anything even slightly bigger - they just don't sound as good. 30W or so with a 10" speaker will be miles better, and you don't *have* to play it any louder - that's what volume controls are for :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • NomadNomad Frets: 549
    ICBM said:... you don't *have* to play it any louder - that's what volume controls are for :).

    Yup, they go down as well as up. :)

    Laney RB3 here. 65W 1x12 with horn. Gain and master with a compressor. 3-band EQ with parametric mid, FX loop, XLR DI out. Aux in, phones out.

    I have the gain at 5, compressor on, master at 3, and that seems to stay clean with an active 5-string bass while staying at a sensible volume at home (I probably keep the bass volume backed off a bit).

    Nomad
    Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...

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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    Thanks for the feeback all. Still confused, sounds like both options are valid. 
    I am a bit worried about a very small combo as ICBM said, and I could do without a big old box kicking around in my tiny man cave. 

    I use use my iPad for recording but my interface allows a pass through signal to the monitors so it’s no faff to have a preamp. I might try this route first and seee how I go.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    Phil Jones bass cub if the budget will stretch. It's a bit of both.
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  • PhilKingPhilKing Frets: 1473
    I bought the Acoustic B30, it was about $120 from Guitar Center.  It sounds great and could probably handle a small gig, depending on the drummer.  Monitors won't give you what you need.  I have JBL 4412's and still wouldn't use them direct (though my recording amp is a 1960's Ampeg B15N).
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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9502
    ICBM said:
    Amp, for me - both work OK, but I just find the sound of a simple box with a speaker more natural and inspiring in a room than going through a recording system.

    I disagree slightly with thermionic - I wouldn't go as small as a 15W 1x8" combo if you can justify anything even slightly bigger - they just don't sound as good. 30W or so with a 10" speaker will be miles better, and you don't *have* to play it any louder - that's what volume controls are for :).
    That’s what I like about it - the simplicity of just plugging my bass in with a cable. All eqs at noon. No messing about with controls, compressors, or various cab simulations. Makes me concentrate on the playing. 

    As for the second point, I didn’t audition any other amps, but the sound that comes out of that 8” speaker is very impressive. No doubt a bigger box producing 10W more through a bigger speaker would produce a better sound. As it is, the 15W Ampeg is plenty loud for playing in the house, barely gets above 3 on the volume control. Something more powerful would have to be turned down even more for what I want it to do. Also, a large part of my reasoning was that I wanted to keep it around £100.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    I haven't actually tried that 15W Ampeg - I have tried the 15W Fender, which is very impressive for its size but just lacks a little 'something' in depth and tone compared to a slightly bigger amp. It's certainly not a bad amp if space and money is limited.

    I'm cheating anyway, my home bass amp is the Ampeg Micro VR (200W) and 2x10" - which is still almost hilariously toy-like compared to a full-size SVT and really doesn't take up much floor space, but I admit is probably too large for a small 'music room'. (And the fan noise is very annoying too... I must see if I can do something about that.)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    I’ve gone with the Eden WTDI for now. Thinking about it some more, my Bass really only exists for when I’m recording so this will help for that. Like the idea of a bit of compression too.

    Not a lot of money if I don’t get on with it and want an amp down the line.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    dindude said:
    I’ve gone with the Eden WTDI for now. Thinking about it some more, my Bass really only exists for when I’m recording so this will help for that. Like the idea of a bit of compression too.

    Not a lot of money if I don’t get on with it and want an amp down the line.
    Let us know what you think to the Eden.. I have considered adding it to my Preamp collection. As an aside, the EH Battalion is good too as a cheap alternate Preamp DI should you want something a bit different tone wise
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  • blobbblobb Frets: 2914
    I'm using a wtdi into a pair of active AE22 monitors (8inch). Sounds ok to me. I can do without 'Enhance' but it's nice that it's there. Mid shift is nice, responds well to small adjustments. I find you can balance the eq with the comp / mid shift to get it to cut through. I put a markbass mini dist up front, which I love. 
    Feelin' Reelin' & Squeelin'
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    Yeah, had it a few days now and it hits the spot. Dead easy to use, smaller than it looks in pictures and sounds nice. Job done I think.
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