Noob practice amp question, changing mustang to rumble worth it?

[BabyBlueSound]

Hey folks, hope someone can help me. Got back into the bass biz after skipping 10+ years, and enjoying it a lot.

 

I currently have a Fender Mustang LT25 as a practice amp. I only play at home, 90% of the time with headphones on, and only about 10% of the time on the speakers, but always on very low volumes.

 

Question is, given my low volume / 90% headphone use, does it even worth considering to swap my Mustang to a Rumble? Don't really care about the different bass-centric fancy effects and sounds, playing clean with minimal EQ and some compressor and that's it.

 

I'd expect all I need is a set of good professional headphones but want to get some expert opinion on this.

 

Thanks in advance!

[bassman7755]

What is it that you perceive as the deficiency or limitation with your current setup ? 

[Trueno]

I have a Rumble 100 (used for rehearsals) which is too loud for a home practice amp. I’d say save your money and stick with the 25.

Getting a good quality pair of headphones is a much better idea to me. I have some AKGs which fantastic playing through a Zoom pedal (no amp in sight)

[BabyBlueSound]

4 hours ago, bassman7755 said:

What is it that you perceive as the deficiency or limitation with your current setup ? 

 

Well I don't know if my bass has a "weird guitar-ish sound" since I have never heard a Rumble for comparison, basically don't know if the two amps would sound the same via headphones, or if a bass would sound better on a bass combo instead of a guitar combo? Maybe someone tried both.

 

Obviously there would be a difference on loud volumes, but that's not a concern for me.

[Bunion]

Is say hit the stores try a few out and get whatever you like best. 
I’m all for practising with a sound you prefer even if it will change at gig level. 
I run an Ampeg SVT IIP through a PJB bighead headphone amp with PJB headphones, overkill? Yes

do I love the sound? Hell yes!

Makes me want to practice more when I hear that raspy growl 

Don’t forget your headphones and bass when you go shopping

[bassman7755]

2 hours ago, whave said:

 

Well I don't know if my bass has a "weird guitar-ish sound" since I have never heard a Rumble for comparison, basically don't know if the two amps would sound the same via headphones, or if a bass would sound better on a bass combo instead of a guitar combo? Maybe someone tried both.

 

A bass amp is generally a fairly straight forward beast and doesn't really do anything magic with the sound, with the EQ set flat your amp will sound pretty much the same as a bass amp setup similarly especially through headphones. The EQ / tone controls on your guitar amp wont work very well for bass though as they are aimed a different set of frequencies. I think its probably worth getting a rumble and selling your amp, as they both go for similar money you would probably not be out of pocket if you bought second hand, just don't expect a miraculous change in sound, mainly just a more useful set of tone controls.

[BabyBlueSound]

1 hour ago, Bunion said:

Is say hit the stores try a few out and get whatever you like best. 

Unfortunately not a lot of stores in my city   and still being a bit on the careful side with intercity travel.

 

3 minutes ago, bassman7755 said:

 

A bass amp is generally a fairly straight forward beast and doesn't really do anything magic with the sound, with the EQ set flat your amp will sound pretty much the same as a bass amp setup similarly especially through headphones. The EQ / tone controls on your guitar amp wont work very well for bass though as they are aimed a different set of frequencies. I think its probably worth getting a rumble and selling your amp, as they both go for similar money you would probably not be out of pocket if you bought second hand, just don't expect a miraculous change in sound, mainly just a more useful set of tone controls.

Thanks this is basically what I needed.  I expected there to be some more difference apart from the speaker design and the more bass-y box, but never really compared two combos based on headphones only

[Phil Starr]

On 24/09/2021 at 16:40, Trueno said:

 

Getting a good quality pair of headphones is a much better idea to me. I have some AKGs which fantastic playing through a Zoom pedal (no amp in sight)

Welcome to Basschat

 

This is my practice set up too, I use a Zoom B1ON which has been updated and is now the B1-Four Zoom B1 FOUR Bass Multi-Effects Pedal at Gear4music 

 

It has many amp emulations and bass effects, metronome and drum machine, an input for audio devices so you can play along and a decent headphone amp all for £65. A lot of people here use the same set up of Zoom+Headphones. I find the drum machine particularly useful for tightening up my playing and learning tricky pieces. You can play it slowly and speed it up gradually but mainly it sounds great and that makes me want to practice. Some things are just 'right' and this is one of them.

 

I'm not a big fan of practice amps, it's quite hard to make a tiny speaker sound really good for bass and 'proper' bass amps can always be turned down. There are things like the Phil Jones amps but they are really proper gear miniaturised and are really quite pricey. If you want to save space and money and also have a great sound go for the Zoom.

 

 

[BabyBlueSound]

Thanks Phil, some great info in there! I'll definitely keep this pedal option in mind.

 

I still do prefer the small amps, as every now and then when the rest of the family goes out I like to let it rip a bit   And I have it hooked up to my PC via Aux where I can sample my own drum loops.

[bassman7755]

On 29/09/2021 at 07:43, Phil Starr said:

Welcome to Basschat

 

This is my practice set up too, I use a Zoom B1ON which has been updated and is now the B1-Four Zoom B1 FOUR Bass Multi-Effects Pedal at Gear4music 

 

It has many amp emulations and bass effects, metronome and drum machine, an input for audio devices so you can play along and a decent headphone amp all for £65. A lot of people here use the same set up of Zoom+Headphones. I find the drum machine particularly useful for tightening up my playing and learning tricky pieces. You can play it slowly and speed it up gradually but mainly it sounds great and that makes me want to practice. Some things are just 'right' and this is one of them.

 

I'm not a big fan of practice amps, it's quite hard to make a tiny speaker sound really good for bass and 'proper' bass amps can always be turned down. There are things like the Phil Jones amps but they are really proper gear miniaturised and are really quite pricey. If you want to save space and money and also have a great sound go for the Zoom.

 

For practice I put my bass and guitar through my computer into either headphones or a pair of fairly hefty floor standers. Theres a really nifty prog called Cantible https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/ which is basically just a pure VST host without all the usually DAW guff so with one click I can get a VST effects and modelling chain loaded and running.

 

You do need a decent low latency audio interface to do this though, I use a zoom UAC-2.  VST effects wise for bass I normally just run the free sansamp clone https://masters-of-music.com/tse-bod-v3-0-released-free-sansamp-bass-plugin/.