Marshall Bass 12 combo. Any good as a bass practise amp?

JezWynd

I see these get a lot of love from 6 string players; there are quite a few YouTube videos demoing it as such. I can only find one demo of it with a bass and that one is a very poor recording. Anyone have experience of this as a bass amp? Its tiny footprint and headphone out would make it ideal as I might be moving into temp accom in the not so distant future and most of my gear will have to be stored.

ICBM

Usable, but you'll get a much better bass sound from many even smaller - although admittedly more expensive - modern bass amps. On the other hand if it's that old-school vintage bass sound you actually want - I'm guessing it might be from the type of basses you like - then it might be fine.

The weak point is the speaker - upgrading that would make a huge difference and still end up fairly cheap, as well as still sounding OK for guitar if you want to.

JezWynd

ICBM said:

Usable, but you'll get a much better bass sound from many even smaller - although admittedly more expensive - modern bass amps. On the other hand if it's that old-school vintage bass sound you actually want - I'm guessing it might be from the type of basses you like - then it might be fine.

The weak point is the speaker - upgrading that would make a huge difference and still end up fairly cheap, as well as still sounding OK for guitar if you want to.

Thanks for info. I'm still using my little Laney Cub, which sounds remarkably good at 'at home' levels as long as I don't use any octave down effects. I have considered putting a more bass friendly speaker in that but it lacks a headphone socket which would be very useful. I've tried a couple of solid state bass combos in the past but they never sound as good as a valve amp, though the Fender Rumble 3 gets very close.

fretmeister

I had one.
was a bit crap, but mainly due to the EQ. Add an EQ pedal and it was fine. 

CarbonCopy

The Marshall Bass 12 was my first ever amp back in the early 90s.  I've not had it for a long time, but from memory, it was not that great a bass amp and I ended up using it for guitar more.  If it's very, very cheap then it may be ok, but the cabinet was not designed specifically for bass (it's the same as the guitar version) so it probably won't even sound as good as playing bass through your Laney cub.  It certainly won't handle octave down any better!

I have a MarkBass Micromark for home use which I really like and has a headphone output. Alternatively, if it was me, I would get a bass preamp with a headphone output.  It could shape the sound into the Laney Cub nicely and be used with headphones without an amp when required.  There's quite a few I've seen at different price points.

CarbonCopy

https://www.thomann.de/gb/eden_module_terra_nova.htm

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitar-pedals/bass-overdrive-pedals/palmer-pocket-bass-amp

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitar-pedals/bass-overdrive-pedals/tc-electronics-spectradrive-bass-preamp-line-driver

JezWynd

CarbonCopy said:

The Marshall Bass 12 was my first ever amp back in the early 90s.  I've not had it for a long time, but from memory, it was not that great a bass amp and I ended up using it for guitar more.  If it's very, very cheap then it may be ok, but the cabinet was not designed specifically for bass (it's the same as the guitar version) so it probably won't even sound as good as playing bass through your Laney cub.  It certainly won't handle octave down any better!

I have a MarkBass Micromark for home use which I really like and has a headphone output. Alternatively, if it was me, I would get a bass preamp with a headphone output.  It could shape the sound into the Laney Cub nicely and be used with headphones without an amp when required.  There's quite a few I've seen at different price points.

Thanks for info. I decided to pass on the Marshall and went with a Palmer 1w valve head with headphone out for my bass practice. Sounds great and works with a range of 12a*7 type valves for different breakup styles.