No matter if you play bass guitar, keyboard bass, or another instrument requiring amplification, a quality amplifier can make your sound stand out. A combo amp combines an amplifier “head” and speakers in one piece of equipment making it easy to carry to gigs or rehearsals.
Selecting a bass amp requires some important considerations. Read on to gain more knowledge of this essential piece of gear.
Boosting Your Speakers
Boost circuits are designed to give you a stronger tone by increasing gain and output of an amplifier, enabling you to play louder without fear of distortion or overdrive. Some bass amp combos even include various types of EQ settings for fine-tuning your own unique tonality.
Though it may be possible to connect a bass guitar to a regular guitar amp and have it work, its speakers may not be designed to handle the lower frequency ranges that make up bass sound – this could damage or create rattle noises within them and would also not sound very good; bass frequencies are what distinguish a bass from an ordinary guitar.
Beginner or casual bass players often prefer bass combo amps as they combine both amplifier and speaker into one unit, making it more compact and portable than separate head-and-cab setup. Professional bassists may prefer separate heads-and-cab setups because this gives them the freedom to use different speaker cabinets for different tones or easily swap out their amp head when desired.
Bass combo amps often include an onboard power attenuator that allows users to control the overall volume without risking speaker damage – something especially handy if playing at venues with sound engineers who monitor volume levels.
Blackstar’s Unity 30 bass combo boasts several extra features to enhance its playback: tube emulation, multiple voicing options and an onboard chorus effect, as well as USB connectivity and MIDI capabilities, making it an excellent option for serious musicians who take pride in their sound.
When searching for a bass combo amp, make sure to find one with sturdy handles that can support the weight of both your instrument and any additional accessories you might require. In addition, look for one with a solid-state amp designed specifically to deal with bass guitar frequencies as well as an easily broken-in speaker to produce full and vibrant tones.
Boosting Your Tone
Are You Looking to Expand Your Sound With an Amp? A Combo Amp Could be Just what you Need on Reverb
A bass amplifier is specifically designed to produce room-shaking bass tones. Many bass amps offer an EQ control to customize your tone; however, many players opt to use an external overdrive or distortion pedal in order to get their desired sound.
Although you can achieve excellent bass tones from a guitar amplifier by playing it at high volumes, its harsh frequencies could damage its delicate tube amplifier resulting in rattle- and-shrill noises which could quickly compromise performance.
Make sure your bass amp produces professional-sounding tones by selecting an amp from a manufacturer renowned for expertise in bass tones and applications. You’ll know whether an amp was created specifically for bass guitar when its name contains “Bass Guitar Amplifier,” its model number includes ‘B’ or has an image featuring one.
As an experienced bassist, it may be advantageous to choose a larger model with greater power and versatility such as the Ampeg SVT-PRO 425 combo amp. It comes equipped with four band EQ for shaping tone as well as effects loop and an overdrive channel for added gain.
On the other hand, new bass players or those who don’t play live often prefer smaller amps that are easy to transport and operate. One such amp is Blackstar Fly 3, an easily portable amp boasting a 3-watt amp head equipped with an 8-inch speaker and digital reverb/compressor capabilities.
Convenience
Bass amps typically include a speaker cabinet to produce powerful, punchy sounds while guitar amps don’t. As guitar amps tend to be smaller and lighter, beginners and students often opt for combo amps as these offer cost-effective, lightweight solutions for their playing.
Utilizing a guitar amp when playing bass can be problematic because its low frequencies cannot be amplified by most guitar amplifiers, due to not having the capability of amplifying anything below 1000Hz. As a result, using such an amplifier with your bass guitar will sound flat and monotonous; therefore it is crucial that you select an amp that matches that instrument perfectly as this will produce authentic sounds with accurate tonality.
Bass amps typically come equipped with various features designed to help shape your tone. Some of the more popular options include an equalizer, power amp and distortion pedal; more advanced models may even include preamp voicings or low frequency expanders.
Traynor Small Block SB112 bass combo amp offers various tone-shaping features. This includes an EQ with 3-band section to help find your ideal sound, an auxiliary input that connects any source device, as well as an inbuilt headphone output which makes for convenient private practice sessions.
Blackstar Unity 30 is an excellent beginner bass amp. This combo amp provides powerful amplification through two custom-voiced 10″ speakers. Additionally, this unit boasts an extensive variety of tonal options with its tube emulation mode providing authentic vintage tone; clean and overdrive settings enable you to tailor the overall tone of your bass guitar; digital effects processor adds custom touches while its integrated chromatic tuner ensures precise pitching – ideal for all beginners!
Portability
Bassists who need to travel with their instruments will find that combo amps provide more portability than larger stacks. These amplifiers combine both the actual bass guitar amp head and speaker into one compact package. Many also allow lower volumes than traditional electric guitar amps for gigging purposes where noise or disturbance laws may apply.
Combo bass amps typically use speakers with larger speaker cone diameters than those found on guitar amps to account for bass frequencies requiring greater surface area to shift air. Furthermore, bass combo amp speaker cones tend to be made from stiffer paper material than those found on guitar amplifiers, enabling musicians to shape the sound for specific genres of music and genre-specific genres of music if necessary. Some are even designed to deliver higher frequency sounds with brighter tones.
Cheap combo amps may only feature a few knobs and switches, while more costly models typically provide full selection of controls to allow the bass player to customize the sound. Some even feature effects built directly into their unit to further enhance tone quality and help musicians create distinctive musical characters with their music.
Combo amps typically feature a headphone jack for use with headphones, allowing bassists to practice quietly at home or other environments where regular bass amplifier noise would be intrusive. Some are equipped with line-out connections so they can connect directly to an external bass preamplifier pedal; these units may also be utilized by bassists who must amplify their sound for gigs by running it through an amplifier’s professional DI unit and then to its PA system for distribution to venue PA systems.
Although bassists may use an electric guitar amp when performing at large venues, this will usually only provide sufficient high register sound to be heard over the drum kit. Thus, most bassists opt for either using a separate bass amplifier when performing live or using a preamplifier pedal that features a line-out connection for connecting directly with PA systems.