Beginner Needs Advice On Battery-Powered Amp & co...

[Alfinne]

Hi!

Straight to the point - can I use Crate TX50DB as a rehearsal amp for an electric bass? (i.e. exactly how bad of an idea is that?) ;p

Here's my story:

I'm a singer/songwriter and a piano player. I am planning on playing on the street, so I need a reasonably good/loud sounding battery-powered amp for my mic and keyboard (through a mixer if necessary); Next part of my story is that I've always been in love with the sound of the bass and I've now gotten around to take up the instrument and learn to play: so as a beginner I will need a simple practice amp; However, being on a tight budget, I can't afford to buy two amps (or the P.J.Briefcase) so I was looking to combine my needs in one piece of gear. I've read good reviews on the Pignose HOG30, but I can't seem to find it available in UK (I'm based in London), plus I found the Crate TX50DB, which is 50W (supposed to be better?). Now, I know it's a guitar amp and I read somewhere that I shouldn't plug an el.bass in a guitar amp?? But do you think I could pull this off with this particular amp (the specs seem reasonable to me)? Since I am starting from scratch I'm long way from playing bass anywhere outside of my own home, so as long as the amp can handle the signal and I can clearly hear myself practice, it's all good. ;-)

One more little question: I've got my eye on IBANEZ GSR200 and YAMAHA RBX170 - which one do you think would be a better choice to learn on?

Before I take this step and go buy stuff... I thought I should ask some pros... So please guys, any kind of advice, comment or criticism is welcome and will be highly appreciated!

[ThomBassmonkey]

If you just want an amp that means you can hear yourself for guitar, bass and keyboards (one at a time of course) you'd be best off getting a bass amp. You can put pretty much anything through a bass amp without worrying about damaging it.

If you want something that sounds good with guitar and keyboard but works for bass it's a bit of a harder choice. You can put a bass through a guitar amp but not with very much volume and even then the low frequencies could damage the speaker.

If you're purely playing bass for your own pleasure, have you thought about a headphone amp or a vox amplug or similar? They can be had very cheap and would leave you money to buy a guitar amp without your budget taking a hit. Though they are completely useless for anything other than playing on your own.

Generally Ibanez and Yamaha basses are good instruments. I don't personally like Yammaha basses, but it's just preference (they feel cheap to me, not that their build quality's bad, just something about the finish I think. Pure preference though). The GSR and RBX ranges are both considered good starting basses and if you like them, I don't think you could go wrong.

[Alfinne]

Thank you for a nice and clear explanation!!!
Regards,
Zory





[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='765466' date='Mar 5 2010, 07:35 PM']If you just want an amp that means you can hear yourself for guitar, bass and keyboards (one at a time of course) you'd be best off getting a bass amp. You can put pretty much anything through a bass amp without worrying about damaging it.

If you want something that sounds good with guitar and keyboard but works for bass it's a bit of a harder choice. You can put a bass through a guitar amp but not with very much volume and even then the low frequencies could damage the speaker.

If you're purely playing bass for your own pleasure, have you thought about a headphone amp or a vox amplug or similar? They can be had very cheap and would leave you money to buy a guitar amp without your budget taking a hit. Though they are completely useless for anything other than playing on your own.

Generally Ibanez and Yamaha basses are good instruments. I don't personally like Yammaha basses, but it's just preference (they feel cheap to me, not that their build quality's bad, just something about the finish I think. Pure preference though). The GSR and RBX ranges are both considered good starting basses and if you like them, I don't think you could go wrong.[/quote]