Gear needed for ampless

[Dad3353]

22 hours ago, FretsOnFire said:

Wasn't sure in which section to post this but

 

In the times in which I don't have my amp to hand just a bass and a pedal for rehearsals and gigging which one pedal would cover everything I'd need?

 

This might be a silly question but I've been looking at ampless and I'm confusing myself 😂

 

If you're amp-less, how are you planning to hear your own bass..? From the rehearsal/gig stage monitors (if existant and capable...)..? With ear-phones, fed from the pedal..? Wired, or wireless..? How will the other players and (if relevant...) the FOH for the audience, hear the bass..? Standard practice for FOH is a feed from a DI box, which the bass plugs into. Is that all that you require, even for rehearsal..? The question needs fleshing out a little, I think. 

[synthaside]

If your looking at doing this on a budget ,  Can i recommend  a  Valetone Gp-5 , Im using  this is a 70 quid  IR loader / amp sim tool ,  https://www.andertons.co.uk/valeton-gp5-multi-effects-processor-amp-and-ir-loader/

have a watch of this  it should jump to the bass settings section at about 15 mins in.

 

 

I use mine ( hell i use the finger bass preset ) in place or an amp straight into a the PA system  ,  my setup is this on the end of my pedalboard  straight into the rehearsal space PA .  I can adjust any of the settings straight from my phone  i dont bother with any of the effects which are a bit " meh " but as a tiny amp in a box its fantastic.

Edited 17 hours ago by synthaside

[mike257]

On 15/09/2025 at 01:19, FretsOnFire said:

Wasn't sure in which section to post this but

 

In the times in which I don't have my amp to hand just a bass and a pedal for rehearsals and gigging which one pedal would cover everything I'd need?

 

This might be a silly question but I've been looking at ampless and I'm confusing myself 😂

 

It depends what "everything you'd need" is! I've done ampless gigs with nothing more than my bass, a clip on tuner on my headstock and a basic DI box before now. If you're not much of an effects user, that might be all you need and about as simple/compact as it's possible to be. 

[Ed_S]

If it's all I'm taking, I favour something 'real' that doesn't have to boot up. For example I personally wouldn't entertain the HX stuff without a backup because my very-light-home-use-only HX Stomp no longer boots - it just sits there with the backlight on but nothing happening. Support told me I was out of warranty/luck and could pay somebody to look at it if I wanted, but tbh it was never useful enough to warrant throwing good money after bad, so it's a paperweight.

 

Fly Rig v2 is a good unit for travelling light (or at very least I like mine) but make sure you mark the positions of your settings, as the little knobs and buttons are easily scrambled in transit.

[dave_bass5]

This is why i went with my EBS Microbass3. less to go wrong and all knobs are quickly accessible. It’s just feel more natural than the menu driven devices, although it does a lot less. Rock solid though.