TL;DR: Has anyone else also used one of these and have thoughts/advice about it?
I live in a small apartment and am all good with my headphones setup for playing by myself.
But I want to be able to jam from time to time with a friend who plays guitar. I’ve read a lot of threads about this but I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with the options and want to spend my money (and not too much of it ) wisely.
This Vox Pathfinder 10 on the surface looks like it could fit the bill - easy to carry, doesn’t need to be loud (to avoid disturbing neighbours).
Right now I wouldn’t really need an amp aside from jamming sessions. I get that the sound quality with such a small thing wouldn’t be as good as a bigger bass amp and that if I decided I wanted to play with more people/drums it likely wouldn’t be enough. But that’s not the main use case right now.
I’ve seen all the good comments about Rumble 40 and was otherwise thinking about it (though would need to keep volume super low - I wondered if it’d be overkill) but I also don’t have a car or a lift in my apartment block, I think it might be annoying to carry places regularly.
Though … maybe we could keep both amps in 1 apartment for when we need them. (I guess, importantly, I should also check which apartment we’d mainly use - maybe she can carry her gear to me )
I just wanted to sense check in case I’m missing something or if there are other good tips.
If you want something small and also produce good bass tone, the Spark 40 would be my choice. It’s small and offer pretty rich bass for smaller space and at low volume. The app is also awesome for practice. Another plus is the effects, you can dip your toes in playing around with the vast arrays of effects from Positive Grids.
If size and budget is not the issue and you want to future prove your playing then Boss Katana bass amp would be my top recommendation. I don’t own a Katana bass amp but I have the Artist Series Katana amp, it has a 1w mode that you can select. It offers full range tone at lower volume. The tone studio (app) is super awesome on top of the onboard effects.
My only gripe with this amp is it’s Bluetooth ready but not equipped. I get it, they want to keep the cost low and not everyone wants Bluetooth so if you want one you gotta shell out another $60 for their proprietary dongle that does both audio and midi Bluetooth.
The smaller amp suffers from their sizes and also introduce some weird phenomena (at least to me) of being pitchy. I have a 15w Rumble it’s kinda off but it’s cheap so don’t wanna complain about that, but the $300 Boss Deluxe dual cube has similar effect to me. I use it for the bedroom practice, it’s ok-ish but not as good as I expected for the money. It’s a great sounding Bluetooth speaker but not bass amp,
Thanks for your thoughts, I’ll take a look at that too I’d say budget is definitely a factor, but that’s also a lot to do needing to get to know what I really need first, to not end up with gear gathering dust.
Well PJB is definitely would produce a much better sound out of the box. That said it’s a different class of desktop amp. That’s is a 70w jamming with the trio band. It sounds very much like a bigger 150w amp just lower max volume. No doubt it’s the best amp you can have at that size for the price. My friend has one in his office for practice.
One thing to consider is the lack of interface, this is not that kind of amp. I think for the money at that price I’d also consider the Boss Katana 110. It’s not small even have less watts at 60 but it’s a practice package for sure.
I think this is the area where there are a lot of competitions and one can pick and choose and experiment with different brands. Going beyond $1000 price most people usually choose to one band they would fly the flag. I’m a Genzler flag flyer.
I’m interested to try out the spark 2 but all indications are pointing toward tuning for less bass frequency as the spark 40 is very much suited for bass playing. I love the features and battery option. I definitely don’t need one, which makes this a must have,
You know the newest trend on Reverb is when you “like” something a few moments later you’d get an offer from some companies. Usually 10% off. When I posted my comment earlier I went to look at reverb and liked of of the Katana and sure enough someone made me and offer.
How deep are your pockets? Genzler MG350 Combo. 175w @ 8 ohms, 350w @ 4 ohms with additional cabinet. Weight 25lbs total. I bought this for the old man in me. It’s an easy one hand carry and sound phenomenal for such a small rig. They’re not exactly inexpensive but it sounds so good. Great for stand up basses as well.
Unlikely for me as I no longer have a need for an 800w head. Over the past year I sold both a 750w head and a 500w head along with a couple of cabs to recycle the $$$ for the combo and a BA2-112-3 cab to pair with the BA2-110-2. I’ll order that soon.
The reviews on the Kinetix have been great and while it would be nice to have since it has a similar front end to an Ampeg SVT III I played for several years I just don’t need that much juice and Jeff has no plans to produce a 350w Kinetix or so he says.
The Vox is only 9 pounds, about the same weight as a bass. It would balance well in transportation.
Perfect solutions are rare and there’s always a chance gear ends up collecting dust. Ease of portability and great sound are always at odds with each other. Sometimes, a “good enough” solution, is what works best.
If you get the Vox, let us know how it works for you. There’s always other new people coming on the forum looking for similar solutions.
) wisely.
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I’d say budget is definitely a factor, but that’s also a lot to do needing to get to know what I really need first, to not end up with gear gathering dust.
I’m a Genzler flag flyer.
