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Hello,
I'm looking for a little amp for rehearsal with a big band.
It should be small as I want to go to the rehearsal by bike.
I use a custom made hollow telecaster with humbuckers.
For concerts I have my deluxe reverb clone from FAD.
Some advice would be fine!
Thanks.
Stefaan
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11-05-2019 06:08 AM
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Hey Stefaan,
The requirement of transport by bike limits your options somewhat ;-)
I rehearse with the West Coast Big Band in Den Haag (Netherlands). They ask me for their soul-show, which is pretty loud! For that (and also for the gigs btw) I use a 22 watt Award Session Bluesbaby 22 transistor amp with their RetroTone circuit that emulates the behaviour of a tube amp. I made a lightweight pine cab with a neodynium speaker and I can and do transport that by bike!
Now my amp is a DIY custom product, so I'm not saying you should do the same (but you can order them from Award Session in Blues Jr-sized cab with a Celestion Neo), but I do find this amp very comparable in behaviour to a Fender Deluxe Reverb in terms of sound and volume, but in a smaller package and weighing in less than half. Disclainer: the bigger and heavier cabinet of the Deluxe Reverb delivers more 'oomph', especially in the bottom end.
You can check the BluesBaby 22 here: Award-Session website, BluesBaby 22, BluesBaby 45, Guitar Amp, Session. They also have a 45 watt version btw.
Now 22 watt may not seem like a lot, but it does the job pretty well! The trick is to put the amp close to you, tilted back and the 'beam' of the speaker directed at yourself. When sitting I tilt back the amp on the floor, when standing up I use a chair, otherwise it has to be too far away for the 'beam' to point at my ears and I find that when the amp is too far away, I miss volume and 'oomph'.
With that in mind, a lot of small amps become available for your purpose, like:
- DV Mark Jazz 12
- DV Mark Little Jazz
- Fender Champ 30 and 40
- Boss Katana
- Roland Blues Cube
- Quilter
That being said, I am used to playing tube-amps, and most of the transistor and modeling amps don't give me the desired behaviour: they sound good on their own, but when used in a band they seem weak and underpowered. The Award Session BluesBaby comes very close though and does work for me, because it emulates the interaction between the output trafo and a speaker that is specific for tube amps and results in perceived higher volume and power (the famous tube-watts versus transistor watts discussion). For this reason I think the BluesBaby's 22 watts sound much louder than those of a comparable 'ordinairy' tranistor practise combo of the same wattage.
My Award Session with it's pine cab weighs around 8 kgs and I can transport it on the front carrying rack of my bike ('omafiets' ;-) without any problems. The BluesBaby 22 when ordered from Award Session in their standard cab with a Neo speaker weighs 10.2 kgs.
The new Fender ToneMaster Deluxe Reverb is also interesting at 11.3 kgs but I thinks it's too big to transport by bike.
Sorry for the long elaboration, but this subject has become somewhat of a hobbyhorse of mine :-D
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I've used my Roland Street amp (first edition) for rehearsals and it works just fine as a monitor - just don't expect to be heard above the din of a roaring bigband . But if you're fine when you and the other guys in the rhythm section can hear you then it's a - relatively - cheap and eminently portable solution to your problem. The amp fits on the back rack of my bike, secured with 2 rubber straps. Get the bag for it, a big plus ....
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Zt Lunchbox is perfect for that as it easily fits a backpack. They have an upcoming model with reverb hopefully this month.
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Originally Posted by Alter
The Lunchbox is still smaller and lighter and probably has more punch too so as a bicycle-friendly amp for electric guitar it's a really cool solution !
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What is your price limit? There are a bunch of small,light-weight amps, but they can be expensive for quality.
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Originally Posted by Alter
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Thank you all for the interesting and elaborate suggestions.
I prefer light. So the lunchbox or little jazz are good choices for me.
Hope to find one of those second hand.
And let's hope the drummer isn't to loud .
greetings,
Stefaan
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Originally Posted by gitaarklas
I have used my Little Jazz with a 19 piece band. Nobody complained, but in more recent gigs with that band I brought a bigger amp. That said, I think the LJ might be enough amp.
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The smallest amp I've used for BB rehearsals in the JazzKat Acoustikat. It can be heard over a big band, and it's under 20lbs. Good luck with the bike part, though...
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Originally Posted by gitaarklas
I'm in antwerp.
Grant Green, What is This Thing
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