Hello All,

Happy Friday!

Ok, let me first put this inquiry in context.

I'm a newbie. My used stick is on order, due in a couple of weeks, and it will be my first instrument, ever. I have no formal music training. My range of musical tastes and influences are diverse (see my intro post if you like).

I've waded through a lot of great info on this site regarding amps and people's various set ups, but most of you are operating way over my head and many times well beyond my budget. Yeah, Rob Martino's used amp looks sweet, but ... and never mind those PJ's for 10k.

So here's the question:

What are people's recommendations for an inexpensive (say < $300 delivered), single practice amp?

I'm talking about a beginner's amp just for solo practice, 10-15 watts (I'm not looking to annoy all the neighbors, yet, nor am I looking to jam with others or play out). I don't expect super high fidelity, but I do want something that gives clean and honest sound, doing justice to the low end of the base, as well as the mids and highs of the melody side. And yes, I do want the option to add some nice, crunchy distortion when I want.

I appreciate your ideas and feedback.

Grazie!

-m.

Buy a small keyboard amp with at least two inputs and if possible a little reverb. Great for at home practicing and being full range it's all you'll need. Roland is great but check what ever is available on line and you're local music store. For $300 (or less) you'll find a good amp for your current situation.

I started with a used SWR workingman 10....bought for $200.

It's not 2-channel, but very nice sound 10" woofer & Piezo tweeter....more than enough to bother the neighbors even running mono (without a 2-channel preamp).

Tried a Fender Champ'....didn't like it at all.

I started with a little pandora headphone amp, and summed the stereo outputs to mono. If you have an iphone or itouch, you could do the same idea with any of the guitar apps like iRig for example.

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-Micro-Cube-Bass-RX-Bass-Combo-Amp?sku=483095

I got one of these little roland cubes off a local craigs list
Not a lot of power but good enough for practice ( can run on batteries )
a few built in effects decent little amp and fits your budget

I have a Crate Acoustic amp. Model ca6110d. It has 2 inputs with preamps and digital effects. I think I paid 325$ for it new. It is a great practice amp with 60W of power and it also has an effects bus as well which I use a looper pedal. Did I mention that it weighs only 37 lbs.

Tim

I have one of these “mobile cube” Roland amps that I bought for taking with me on business trips for practicing my guitar in hotel rooms with. I've started using it with my Stick in the same situations and really like how it's working out. It has two inputs so my stick cord works conveniently with it. I run the bass side into the Keyboard input without effects and then the melody side into the "guitar" side which gives you a couple of reasonably useful drive choices (I'm a very new player so I'm just looking to differentiate the sounds between the two sides honestly... not on a quest for the best distortion sound... which is a whole other thing.) It has a reverb/ delay knob so you can get a little ambiance going. It's small and easy to travel with... you can even do it battery powered if you want. The bass sound on it is fine at low practice volumes. It has a spot to put your ipod into it too.

Just my $0.02... good luck !

http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc ... rentId=416

I have the little pandora. It is a great little practice gadget.

Cheers

John

Any amp from the Roland KC line! Guaranteed!

Thanks to everyone for the good feedback thus far. I started checking into keyboard amps and was wondering if anyone had experience with Behringer and their K450FX.