Agreed, bbbuuut context. I have a control plate for my frankenjazz build thats silver, but embossed with floral elements inlaid with black enamel. It looks suuuuhhhweeet.
EDIT:
This one.
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Hey @paolo.pfm ( also @Al1885 as you have that amp too )
A few days have passed since you posted about the small Boss Dual Cube LX. I assume you had a chance to play a bit during that time. Are you happy with it? Does it sound decent for home practice or is it very boxy?
I am using nearfield studio monitors and struggle with getting a decent bass sound from them. They sound full only when you have them at ear level and arm’s length away - but that is how they are supposed to work. When I stand with my bass, a lot of that sound is gone (especially since I don’t stand in front of them).
I am trying to find a solution that will allow me to practice having better sound at the bedroom level without headphones.
So there is this Boss Dual Cube Bass LX, but there is also Katana 110B with its 1W setting. Both of them cost roughly the same money. The convenience of a small Dual Cube LX very is tempting.
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Thanks for the questions, I was playing around earlier to check a few things before posting a longer comment 
So, overall it’s very convenient and a good practice amp. However, I’ll focus on the negative characteristics because the good ones are pretty clear already. It has a few weak points, in my opinion.
The speakers are 5" and probably nowhere near what a Phil Jones cab could do.
- active bass: careful with your eq boost
- effects: it didn’t like some of the zoom b1four settings (the ampeg svt sim, iirc)
- B string: it’s ok at low volumes and without effects. Otherwise, it starts to sound poor or just outright farting
- it begins to pop or fart quite easily with volumes higher than 12. Good thing is you don’t need it that loud for practicing, most of the time.
Also, I don’t care for most of its features, and it’s ridiculous that the looper doesn’t work without a pedal you have to buy separately. Bluetooth? Add 50 Euros.
However, at low volumes (something around gain 9, volume 10, master 12) it sounds pretty good, it feels good, and things start vibrating already 
Also, I find it works best on the floor. On tables or such, it tends to produce a buzz (but I guess it depends on your furniture)
I’m mainly using a 9v power bank to power it. In 30 seconds, it’s where you want it and ready to play. It’s incredibly convenient for practice and possibly for relatively quiet jams. It could keep up with a piano with no problems.
Drum patterns are ok, but I prefer those on the Zoom. Still, it works. It’s kind of nitpicking here…
I like to practice without headphones when possible. The Dual Cube LX is better for practice alone, or especially with a background track, than my 40w Harley Benton.
It’s a nice toy, even with its limitations.
Edit: I found out later that the wrong setup on my bass mainly caused the issues. Somehow I played around with the pick-up height and forgot to check properly or made a mistake on the neck pick-up, which was way too close to the string. Hence the farting, the B-string distortion etc
With another bass, the amp was quite more usable, so I started inspecting the bass (cable and power source were already excluded). Ofc the speakers are still 5", but the overall quality is much better than in my first description.
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After getting tired of my clip on tuner and free phone app tuners struggling to get a reading on the E string, I wanted a nicer tuner.
It seems hard to go wrong with any pedal tuner. They all get great reviews. I liked this one because seeing the LED go from red to green when in tune is satisfying.
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And a buffer! Nice tuner
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Boss dual cube bass lx is quite an awesome amp. It’s loud and full of extras plus the battery power option. It’s beyond what a portable amp should be able to do and punch way above it’s weight. What’s it’s not is best amp for the money.
It’s not as warm as the spark40. While the bass sounds great it’s not deep and warm it’s a bit more mid forward and can get nasally with the wrong turn of the dial. In the way it make sense especially, for street performer deep low is almost useless as you need more mid to cut through the mix in the live open space.
We did a cube street and cube bass battery powered performance here at school with 2 guitars and one bass and backing track through PA. It sounded great no one believed that all of that volume came from 2 little amps.
If you want the portability feature and not really concern about being deep and loud in the bedroom this might be the answer as you can record directly to your computer and for $60 more you can get the Bluetooth adapter and do the backing track from your phone.
I’m happy with my purchase as it usually tag along with me when I buy a used bass it’s better than the spark mini and the blackstars.
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Thank you for those comprehensive reviews. Similarly like @paolo.pfm I don’t care about all built-in effects. I don’t even need that optional battery power or Bluetooth.
What I want is a small amp with decent sound at low volume. I also want DI out.
I am also tempted by Markbass Micromark 801.
I like its simplicity, I like what I hear on the YT videos.
Eh, choices 
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If you don’t care about battery or effects, and assuming size isn’t an issue, wouldn’t a Rumble 40 be a good solution? Many in the forum suggest it even for very low volume applications, and it’s endorsed by Josh himself…
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have the Rumble 40 and its a perfect fit for the room
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I played with that thought, but it is substantially bigger.
Also, I’ve read that its DI out signal is affected by the master volume.
I’ve just pulled the trigger and ordered Micromark 801. A bit of a guided impulse purchase as I was on the fence 
We’ll see. As I said, I liked what I saw on YT:
or
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Glad to have helped 
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You actually did help me make that decision
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Yep, it was only half a joke 
If I were to start applying to companies for not reviewing their gear, would you write a letter of recommendation for me? 
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GAS is a cast iron bitch. Although I’m no longer looking at basses - seriously, I totally lost my appetite for new instruments - I’m now looking at ancillaries.
So, a deal on this little thingumajigger came up, and I hit the GAS buy now button:
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And as I await the looper/drum machine pedal, I got this off of my local FB marketplace:
It’s a cheapie noise gate. I have a very EF-noisy house, so I’m hoping this quietens things down a bit. Ah fingered that for 30 Canuckistanian kopecks it’s worth the risk.
I’m also putting together a DIY pedal board. Stay tuned.
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It was $30 used?? They’re like $35 new here in Freedom Country (screams in eagle). I have a CoolMusic Insane distortion. They seem like a good, cheap company
I bought a thing:
I don’t not need a stereo DI 
The DIs on my 18i20 are decent enough, but I saw a deal and I’ve wanted a Canvas for a minute. Mono and stereo are the same size, plus the stereo has a sum to mono on the thru outs.
I ABed it with my Focusrite and my brain says more better (because I bought it, of course!). But seriously, it honestly feels more dynamic when playing. I don’t plan to use it with my B6, it’s for the G6 and synths mainly, and you’re apparently supposed to use a passive DI for active things and an active DI for passive things
I have a Neve RNDI on my wishlist for passive instruments and they’re $50 off atm 
I was good, too. I almost bought a Lewitt Connect 6 again all “ooh it’ll arrive Sunday” and then mentally slapped myself. I do NOT NEED ONE RIGHT NOW.
Ahem. Carry on.
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Remember, this is The People’s Glorious Republic of Canadastan and our Canadistani Kopecks aren’t worth what they used ta. Anyhoo, theyre about $45 CAD new, so no harm done. This one seems pretty new, even came with all the original packaging etc.
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[quote=“howard, post:7015, topic:4836, full:true”]
@howard I was cleaning up this morning and found a digital luggage scale in a box. So for our continuing edification I measured both my Fenders.
MIM P Bass with Gruv Gear strap attached weighs 8.5lbs
MIM Jazz bass parts caster with Gruv Gear strap attached weighs 7.9lbs. (I chose the lightest body I could find from Stratosphere’s website, roasted maple neck and put on Hipshot ultra light tuners).
I don’t care how cheap the HB is, my back wouldn’t like another 3lbs tacked on.
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Had the T-40 out the other day, weighted in at exactly 12lbs. No strap.
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Yeah but everyone knows Engineers are pretty ripped. Bush League Stuff for you 
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