Disposable lightweight combo?

[VitalSigns]

I have a specific need for a little combo amp. The property next to ours is
being developed soon, and I don't want to be there during the day as well as
not practice! It looks like my old music college may be able to help me out,
but there's no parking, so I may have to leg it a ways. Remembering the
noise of the piano cells and my hatred of those headphone amps - I
wonder if there are any tiny amps that would serve? I guess I could
take my spare reverb Lexicon/Digitech pedal, but it'd be handy to
have a lightweight amp which has a reasonably OK sound, which would
only be used for this purpose/hotel rooms. Any ideas appreciated.

Jamie

[Gabe]

The small Roland cubes sound decent and are quite cheap on ebay. The Fender Mustang series amps are cool too.

[VitalSigns]

I'm not really looking for a practice amp, ie something to go in the car. If that was the case
I'd just take something I have. I'm looking for something very small, which could go in
a backpack. I see there's a 5W Roland cube - have you tried that?

[Eddie Lang]

How about this?

Yamaha THR5 Desktop Guitar Combo Amplifier at zZounds

[mangotango]

Roland MicroCube - 2 watts, modelled sounds, FX, can run off batteries. As portable as you like. I take it by train to duo practice.

[Rhoderick]

Hello.
I have a VoxDA5, it is mains or battery operated and can be set at 5W, 1.5W, 0.5W.

VOX | DA5 Mains/Battery Digital Guitar Amplifier

Music is the key that can open strange rooms in the house of memory.

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith

[ruger9]

+1 on both the microcube and da5. I have a da5, and prefer it for electric guitar, have no idea how either would sound for jazz tones tho?

[VitalSigns]

Thanks for that, chaps.

I didn't realise there was a market for tiny amps. The Yamaha sounds the most portable, but is more
expensive. I'll go check them out and see whether there's much difference in quality. Don't suppose
EV make a micro driver..

[Keira Witherkay]

think of a ZT acoustic lunchbox..... more than just a practise amp .... and fully features and slips in a gig bag yet loud enough to jam with or do small gigs.... and weighs only 5kg oh and it's cheap .......it's more bang for the buck than most anything else in that price range

[Tom Karol]

Here's some worth checking out:

Roland Micro-Cube or new Mini-Cube;
VOX Mini-3 or new Mini-5 (I believe the DA-5, 10, and 20 have been discontinued);
Yamaha THR series.

I've owned the Micro-Cube and the DA-5 in the past - preferred the VOX.

But I'm with Keira: My next (last?) 'practice' amp will be a ZT Lunchbox Acoustic (12 lbs).

[VitalSigns]

Lots to choose from then. Of course there's always the dilemma - you start with a criterion eg
portability and cheapness, but this gets changed as quality and choice enter the equation.
12lbs might be a bit of a pain if I have to park a long way from the college, and my Godin
LGX-SA, music, cables etc (lunch?) would mean I'd end up toting 30lbs a mile or two.

[ruger9]

I just watched some demos of the ZT Lunchbox acoustic, and that's the one I would get if I wanted small/light/sounds great... HOWEVER- at $350-$400, it's certainly not "disposable" (whatever you mean by that).

Also- if practicing outside (like under a shade tree in the park) is ever an option, or you would ever busk with it, the Roland and DA5 are battery powered.

[ruger9]

wait... "a mile or two"?!?!?! Forget the amp. Get some kind of headphone thingy. Ain't no way I'm carrying an amp a mile or two.

[mr. beaumont]

iPad, iRig, and some decent headphones.

"Disposable" amps?

[J. Murrieta]

i've not tried one but i've been told they sound fantastic:

VOX | amPlug | Headphone portable guitar amp

[ruger9]

i've not tried one but i've been told they sound fantastic:

VOX | amPlug | Headphone portable guitar amp

I was going to suggest that, but I didn't know they had an "acoustic" model...

[VitalSigns]

By disposable I mean something relatively inexpensive, certainly not over
£100, and something to do a job, not necessarily something I would use
professionally later. I had one of those headphone amp thingys and
gave it to my nephew. I bought a Yamaha acousic to substitute it for out
of the house practice, but I hated that too. Practice is about your instrument
and your sound. I'm sure I'll find something which gives me part of my sound.
The journey is problematical. Parking in London is difficult, but public transport
is expensive if you live out of town. A bass player friend of mine does gigs in
town with a GK combo + heavy five string on the bus and tube. That's not my
style. Out of the options, the Roland Micro Cube may fit the bill. All I want is
a reasonable clean/crunch sound and some reverb, and a second input for click or
Sibelius tracks.

[mangotango]

By disposable I mean something relatively inexpensive, certainly not over
£100, and something to do a job, not necessarily something I would use
professionally later. I had one of those headphone amp thingys and
gave it to my nephew. I bought a Yamaha acousic to substitute it for out
of the house practice, but I hated that too. Practice is about your instrument
and your sound. I'm sure I'll find something which gives me part of my sound.
The journey is problematical. Parking in London is difficult, but public transport
is expensive if you live out of town. A bass player friend of mine does gigs in
town with a GK combo + heavy five string on the bus and tube. That's not my
style. Out of the options, the Roland Micro Cube may fit the bill. All I want is
a reasonable clean/crunch sound and some reverb, and a second input for click or
Sibelius tracks.

VS

My day job requires that I commute from the London/Essex Suburbs to The City of London. As I mentioned above, sometimes I rehearse for a guitar/trumpet duo up here and I am able to get by on the Tube with my gig bag over my shoulder and carrying the MicroCube by its carrying strap in one hand. OK, I have to stand unless the carriage is deserted but that's more because of the guitar. As for the Roland, it's small and light (the way it looks, I get jokes from people who think it's a car battery). However, it's loud enough to cope with the duo set-up, I can run it on batteries if needed. It has a JC 120 model on there and reverb and works fine for jazzy sounds. It also has a sound for the coyly-named "Brit Combo" and "Rectifier" for as much gain as you need.

[VitalSigns]

Thanks for that MT.

I wish I'd've put "portable" instead of "disposable"!

I've read some good reviews of the Roland MC, and I see you can pick them
up second hand for 50 quid. The travel thing is really about cost and time.
It's a 50 mile round trip from the M25 to North London by car, which is half the
coach fare, not mentioning add on tube fare, and I'd still have a 1/2 mile walk,
and I'd be there in 1/2 hour, not the two hours by public transport. Some
days there are rehearsals and I could always go for a walk or to the library
while the work goes on next door, but I enjoy my daytime practice! Anybody
out there with a shed they could rent to me for 5 quid a day 10-4 Mon - Fri within
a few miles of Hemel?

Jamie