Hi there, I’m looking for a home amp. I have a 100W lamp Blackstar for my guitars here but, its very too big, but its a GREAT amp.
For my new bass, I was looking the Fender Rumble 40 10 inch speaker, Blackstar U30 8 inch speaker, Orange 25, watever good home app with good overdrive etc.
a 100w tube amp is very powerful for a guitar. but for a bass, 100w is not so much, especially considering than bass amps are often solid state amps, which are way easier to use at a low volume depsite the max power.
by the way there is not a huge difference between 25 and 40w, speaking about air pressure.
LOL I have heard that statement so many times from beginners… “I don’t want/need 100 watt”. Next thing, they go to a jam and complain that their puny little 40 watt amp (which was adequate for home practice) gets buried in the mix.
Spend the money and get 100 watts. You can tune it down for home practice, and tune it up for gigs.
100W will probably not be sufficient to gig seriously, at least with a live drummer, for many (most) styles. Bear in mind that all else being equal*, a 100W amp is about 6db louder at max volume then a 25W amp - less than twice as loud, and about 1.5x a 40W amp.
Which also means it’s fine for home, just turn it down a bit, as Pam says.
And conversely a 25W amp is also fine for home - it’s more than half the max volume of a 100W amp
Now for jam sessions and rehearsals on the other hand - 100W would be perfect.
(* it’s a little more complicated than just the power; the 100W amp will also have a larger speaker than the 25W or 40W as well, and this will probably add 2-3db as well due to speaker efficiency. So the 25W amp will probably end up being ~half the perceived volume of the 100W, and the 40W ~2/3 the volume of the 100W. @DaveT has a great thread about this somewhere.)
I have a really light but super powerful amp (250W/500W) and just as others said here I keep the master volume just above almost off and it is still too loud sometimes but I love it! Can’t wait to take it outside one day…
If you are %100 sure that you are going to use it only for home than all those you said are good options…
I cannot stress enough to check for the headphones out (and optionally line out for home recording later) I think that is where a home systems shine out the most…
The Fender and Blackstar have a built-in overdrive switch. For Orange you want the 50W version because the 25W lacks the blend and gain option for overdrive. You could also look at slightly more expensive modelling amps if you want more tonal options. Good luck!
I do the same. Contrary to what very nearly everyone else does, I prefer not to use the starter gear I can upgrade strategy. I also prefer separate gear pieces instead of combo units. I have a quality 350 watt amp head with very few bells and whistles and a separate 4x10 cabinet. I run it with the master volume at 1. If I want bells and whistles I buy pedals or FX units.
That amp should last me for as long as it runs and be good for anything I plan to do. If I want a different cabinet in the future, all the other gear will still be good.
It takes a bigger spend on day 1 to do this. The advantage is not losing money selling used gear and upgrading. Some people love that part of being a musician. It’s not for me.
The risk is I’m refining what I like on more expensive gear and then may want to change my choices. I did a lot of research and investigation and listening before choosing to try and avoid this.
Anywhoo, I say go big unless money or space means going smaller.
Im not totally a begginer… I play guitars since 20 years, have 5 guitars, 3 Amps (10, 25 and 100W) but beginner with the Bass stuff. As I said, I dont play in a band or watever… I play at home only in my basement so I think to pay for a 100W
and always need to reduce the volume at 1 its a waste of money… So its why Im looking for a 25 or more probably 40 with the Fender Rumble 40, around 270 CAN here.
Hey Fahri, thx for your comments I just bought the Fender Rumble 40 from Reverb.com, less than 300 CAN shipped/taxes, I 'm sure it will me more than enough for what I need to do
Cheers!