As it gets nicer I was consider getting a mini bass amp preferably with built in tuner to play outside. Is this a good idea? If so, any recommendations?
Battery powered or plug-in?
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i have two mini amps, cheap and expensive. the fly amp is fine for what it is, just don’t expect a ton from it. battery powered is nice. expensive is the new PJB nanobass x4, which you can go ahead and expect a ton from (except massive amounts of volume).
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Battery preferably
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I have the Joyo (amazon el cheapo).
No tuner.
It is fine, not great.
I would love to know what the ‘best’ one of these is sound wise as they are nearly impossible to try (a bunch o’) in a reasonable distance of stores.
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I have a JBL Partybox 100. It’s a portable battery powered bluetooth speaker that has a guitar and mic input in the back. For casual outdoor playing it works great. No tuner.
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You don’t mention a budget but the Yamaha THR is battery powered and wireless, bluetooth, tuner and effects built in, acts as a USB DAI, works for a multitude of instruments.
Not cheap but great on the go.
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My Phil Jones BG-75 Double Four can be battery-powered with a battery bank that can supply 20V as it uses an external laptop-style power supply. It brings the beans (volume) and the lows of a 5-string with ease. It’s a bit spendy by itself and you still need a battery bank to power it. I even have a carry bag for it I got off Amazon. It does not, however, have a built-in tuner, so you’d need maybe a clip on if ultimate portability was the goal.
I have no idea how the plethora of mini amps on Amazon sound, YouTube would be my go-to for that sort of thing.
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Spark Mini. I preordered mine but has not shipped yet. If it’s anything close to its bigger sister you are in for a treat. Very powerful and useful app. Yes it has builtin tuners too.
The Spark is definitely a good contender small but pretty powerful definitely gigable in a small venue. I used this in a rehearsal with the middle school band and it loud enough surprisingly.
It’s a bit warm for guitar but perfect for bass.
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That looks promising!
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My Phil Jones BG-75 Double Four can be battery-powered with a battery bank that can supply 20V as it uses an external laptop-style power supply.
@Koldunya this is no longer true for new devices (unfortunately), as those are powered by IEC C13 mains cable:
Even the smallest Nanobass X4 is powered that way.
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While that looks like a BG-75, even on their own website it still shows the DC barrel connector. I can’t even find that pic looking at various retailers. I did see the IEC connector on a Cub Pro or something recently, but it was on the back. That looks super weird on the side/top like that (the BG-75 also has feet on the opposite side of that handle).
that would be a terrible design choice to add a power connector in that spot o.O (well kinda. the rear is dominated by a bass radiator…)
EditI found it on Thomann. Well okay.
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Looking at Thomman - Phil Jones combos are cheap there and shipped than buying in states (at least to NY.
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I did a quick demo of my JBL party box 100. On the JBL website they are going for $300. Definitely a great bluetooth speaker and being able to play bass through it is a nice bonus.
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Nice free weights rack and bench. Jealous of the space to have one 
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Nice! This is very similar to my setup. The only difference is that I use some type of multi fx pedal to shape my tone on the monitor/speaker. Mainly amp and cab sims.
Not sure if you are using one, but you can use a Zoom B1 Four on battery. You go wirelessly into that and plug the pedal in the JBL. That way you can use more bass sims and effects. Just a thought 
Also great fitness room. I’m jelly too!
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I was plugged directly into the speaker just to demo. It would be cool to have a battery powered multi fx pedal.
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Thanks guys. It’s my favorite part of my house.
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I went and tried a Phil Jones Cub Pro today - holy holy cow these things are amazing.
Now I just have to sit here and wait to be overcome with GAS to buy one.
Although I would like to try the BG-75 first and see if that is all I need for small scale playing.
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Those cubs are amazing. I got a first generation cub and I am still really happy with that purchase. The one I got packs 100 watts and is my go to amp for practicing at friends or even playing in small veneus.
The new ones do sound better. I got the new C2 cabs and they sound a bit fuller. Not sure if they updated the double four. I would be curious too, but I think the new PJ nano could be similar in specs so maybe they won’t update the double four at all? @itsratso has one too.
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