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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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That is a good alternative - I went for the Street amp because it also sounds very nice with my acoustic guitar when I'm playing my solo gigs : I have some reverb for the guitar signal and my backing tracks go into the line input, in stereo. It sits on the floor beside my chair and I can hear myself and the tracks clearly and it's never too loud for the guests.
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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yeah I’m waiting for these new ZT’s to ship as well ,they could be a good solution for the small , light, loud amp thing ....without being too expensive 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
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greetings,
Stefaan
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If you look for reviews of the Lunchbox on here, you'll find that some like it and some hate it. I'm among the latter. If you try it, I strongly recommend getting a return privilege. Originally Posted by gitaarklas
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
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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stefaan, pm me, I have a brand new little jazz for 250 euro's if you want it. Originally Posted by gitaarklas
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
I'm in antwerp.
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