The best bass guitar amplifiers come equipped with various power levels and features to meet your individual needs. From small enough to fit in your gig bag (such as Orange Little Bass Thing) to something large enough to fill a club, your options are limitless.
Tone controls are standard on bass amplifiers, but many also feature USB recording output for simple home recordings and effects such as distortion and overdrive.
Tube Amps
Tube amps, commonly associated with classic rock tones, remain the go-to choice for guitarists looking for a warm tone. Though digital alternatives offer convenience and modeling features such as preset sounds or amp modeling software can offer increased flexibility, many guitarists believe that tube amps’ organic tone reproduction cannot be rivaled.
A vacuum tube amp operates by passing an electrical signal through its vacuum tube filament. As electricity passes through this filament and produces heat, electrons are released around its edge – known as the cathode. A positive charge plate attached to this cathode attracts these electrons towards it, amplifying the voltage of any signal passing through this vacuum tube and sending out to its speaker.
Under heavy stress, tubes produce natural distortion that adds warmth and character to your tone. Unlike pedal distortion, which tends to sound harsh or musical, tube amp distortion features harmonically even-ordered distortion which provides less harsh yet musical tones; additionally, this harmonic distortion provides greater dynamic response by responding quickly to subtle variations in picking dynamics.
Tube amplifiers typically cost more than their digital counterparts and require regular maintenance – including replacing worn out tubes and biasing the circuits – due to high voltage levels involved. They may even pose health hazards during operation.
Consider also that tube amps tend to be heavier due to needing more components than solid state counterparts, leading many players to look for used options as a cost-cutting measure.
A tube amp’s sound relies on its various components interacting, with each type of tube offering unique amplification properties. For example, 12AX7 tubes offer higher gain than other comparable types, making them popular choices among guitarists seeking plenty of gain. But other tube amp designs may give more options in terms of tones from clean to overdrive depending on their specific circuitry configurations.
Solid State Amps
If the tones of tube amps don’t suit you, solid state alternatives offer many options to meet your musical needs. Thanks to digital modeling technology, incredibly realistic amp tones that rival those found on classic amps can now be produced at more accessible price points – be it a simple combo amp with just a clean channel and speaker cab emulation or full-featured digital modelers with numerous effects available on them; there is something out there perfect for everyone’s style and budget!
Though tube amps remain popular among guitarists, modern solid state amps are becoming more and more sought-after as modern players seek more versatile tones from modern amps compared to their predecessors. Solid state amplifiers produce a wider variety of tones ideal for practice sessions, rehearsals, gigs and performances while being much simpler to operate compared to their tube counterparts.
Solid state amps also tend to be lighter and smaller than tube amps, making them easier to transport from home to rehearsal space to venues. Furthermore, many heads come equipped with built-in effects that let you expand your tone without needing external pedals.
Based on your desired genre of music, hybrid amplifiers could also be beneficial. Hybrid amps combine tube and solid state technologies for optimal results – think the Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus as an example; its 120 watt tube amplifier has been utilized by such bands as Metallica and Limp Bizkit; furthermore it includes an additional BOSS CE-1 bucket brigade chorus pedal that makes this amp even more flexible.
When selecting the ideal solid-state amp for you, your usage requirements are of primary concern. Once you understand what purpose your amp serves for, then you can narrow down options such as wattage, number and size of speakers, channels and other features to select the ideal solid-state amplifier for yourself.
DI Amps
If you want to play your guitar through a mixer or recording device but lack space for a full-sized bass amp, using a DI (direct input) is the solution. A DI works by converting your high output impedance unbalanced signal from your bass into a balanced microphone input signal; usually via an XLR connector and cable, usually via low impedance microphone level balanced input. Some models even perform level matching and impedance bridging functionality depending on model and settings.
Though DIs offer many advantages, you must remember that their use compromises your interaction with your amplifier. This is due to differing electrical characteristics between instruments and PA system mixers or recording interfaces; plugging them directly into mic preamps or line inputs often produces thin, weak and distorted sounds due to impedance mismatch between guitar or bass and mic preamps.
Even if your guitar has a low output impedance (which most do), plugging it directly into an audio interface or console line-input could still damage its delicate electronics if attempted. Therefore, having a DI that includes an internal preamp can prevent this from occurring.
Active DIs are the most frequently used type, featuring an onboard preamp with multiple settings to suit various applications. This could include a load switch to match the output of your piezo pickup if you play an acoustic bass as well as various controls like EQ. Furthermore, some models also come equipped with high-cut filters that reduce LF contamination from internal preamps as well as pads that limit input signals that would otherwise overload a DI system.
At Sweetwater, we recommend Radial’s passive DIs as being reliable models with both mono and stereo options as well as ground lift and attenuation switches to make setting up the right levels for any of your requirements easier and cheaper than any active version. Though they’re often cheap models, their sound quality won’t match that of an active unit. While passive models may be relatively affordable, their sound quality won’t match that of an active one. These models may also come equipped with multiple input/output jacks allowing easy level adjustment settings tailored specifically to you requirements – perfect!
Bass Combos
Bass combo amplifiers combine an amplifier head and speaker cabinet into one compact enclosure, making them an excellent solution for beginners or anyone who must move their equipment frequently – such as bassists playing gigs or busking for tips.
Bassists who are considering purchasing a combo should carefully evaluate its speakers in terms of both style of playing and genre of music they wish to produce. The ideal bass combos have speakers with wide frequency ranges that accurately reproduce low frequencies found in bass guitars and bass-heavy music, and some come equipped with EQ controls so the user can adjust bass tones according to different situations.
Not only can bass combos offer tone adjustments for specific circumstances, but some even come equipped with built-in effects such as overdrive. Overdrive adds various sounds to a bass tone from gentle warmth to heavy distortion; making it popular across various genres and can be particularly suited for rock or blues music players.
Some combos feature built-in microphones to enable bassists to play along with singers or other musicians without using an external mic. For even greater versatility, some amps feature two 1/4″ inputs for piezoelectric pickups and stereo output that can be combined with line-level mixers to mix bass guitar signal with voice/instrument signal – perfect for recording yourself playing bass or live performances where the player cannot be seen by audiences.
Some small practice bass combos are battery powered and feature a headphone jack to connect headphones (which then automatically shut off the loudspeaker). This is ideal for bassists practicing in apartments with stringent noise-policy rules or buskers without access to mains power, or buskers without mains electricity available for them to plug into. Some also come equipped with 12v input that allows connecting them with car batteries through alligator clips for use outside and in quieter environments for practicing.