Small bass amp for a tractor trailer

Hey everyone! So I currently have and use the Blackstar Fly3 with 2 speakers. I picked them up because they’re relatively inexpensive and very small. I spend 5 days a week in my tractor trailer so I need something very small that doesn’t suck too much power. 75 watts is about as high as I wanna go. But I didn’t want to spend $300 and find out what I bought is terrible. I don’t have a place to try any gear. So everything I get is by referrals or reviews. I saw Vox makes a few very small amps and Phil Jones makes a few. I really want to stay under $400 bit I don’t know what’s best or even good. Anyone have experience and opinions on any of these very small amps. Just as a reference, the smallest Fender Rumble and smaller are what I’m looking for. Thank you.
God bless

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If you are OK practicing with headphones (like I do) then you have other options which are small, inexpensive and might suit your needs. You can even run it on batteries.
Something like a ZoomB1 Four for example. There are others.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/B1FOUR--zoom-b1-four-bass-multi-effects-processor

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I thought about that. The problem is I wouldn’t be able to hear my lessons. A lot of my lessons will be taken on dvd because I don’t always have WiFi. But it would probably work when I do have WiFi. Do you have any suggestions under $150? And thanks for the reply.

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Can recommend Phil Jones gear. I’ve got a old cub bg-100 which actually sounds like a real amplifier compared to my blackstar fly3 (yes, I have that one too). But I don’t see them listed on Reverb and the brand new ones are over your budget.

These are very decent micro amps alternatives for your budget imo:

  • Phil Jones Bass Combo M-7
  • Phil Jones Double Four (would recommend the M-7).
  • Nux Mighty Bass 50BT (modelling amp)
  • Markbass Micromark 801
  • Roland Micro Cube Bass
  • Ibanez P3110
  • Positive Grid Spark (Josh did a review on this modelling amp)

Or you could also go with a small keyboard Amp and just hook a preamp/cabsim pedal before that. In any case I would look for used if you want to pay less.

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Pretty much all headphone amps have AUX in where you can plug in your laptop/tablet/etc. Take a look at the Vox Amplug 2 or the Vox VGH.

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Or the NUX. Bluetooth. No wires. And sounds better than the Vox IMO

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Yeah this ^ suggestion is spot on. You could use the NuX Mighty Plug MP-2 Guitar and Bass Amp Modeling Headphone Amp (I have never used this so can’t give you any info but it looks a neat package) or the Zoom B1.
Link from your laptop/ipad where your doing your lessons probably via a 3.5mm jack into the Zoom/Nux etc and plug your headphones in.
You’ve then got the ability to listen to your bass and follow along to the lessons and all pretty much silently.
https://www.thepedalguy.com/products/nux-mighty-plug-mp-2-guitar-and-bass-amp-modeling-headphone-amp?variant=34585802965160

I tried the VOX plug in Bass amp and it didn’t sound very good to me. But it is cheap.

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Ok cool thanks. I’ll check all that out. My dvd player is part of my TV. So I’ll have to see if I can get the headphones to plug into that and my bass. I see a few Phil Jones micro 7 for right around $300 used. I always check used first. Just wasn’t sure what sounded good at that small size. Thanks for all the suggestions. I appreciate it.
God bless

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That at least isn’t difficult. The VOX Amplug bass one sounds pretty bad.

I bought a Hartke HD15 Bass Combo Amp ($100) because I practice in a small area in my house. It’s only 15 watts, but the HD line goes up to 75w ($279). The HD15 is extremely small but extremely loud. When no body is home, I only turn it up to 3. I would be scared to turn up to 10 after watching Back to the Future. Check out the reviews on sweetwater.com, I highly recommend.

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That might work. My guess would be if it’s a 3.5mm headphone jack on the TV / DVD combo. You could plug a male 3.5mm connector into that and run a male 3.5mm connector into the aux input port on the Zoom (or equivalent) and plug your headphones into the Zoom.

I definitely second the spark40. The amp is already bass heavy so it’s perfect and it’s plenty loud. You can also do headphones. The had their QC problem on the first batch but n is it seems ok. Plenty of effect you can choose from as well as amp modeling.

Ya, that’s what I’m thinking. It should work.

Ok cool, thank you.