Buying Guide for Electric Bass Amps

Buying Guide for Electric Bass Amps


Early Bass guitar players didn’t have a lot of choice when it came to amps. They simply plugged into what was available. (Which was pretty much the same stuff that was available for guitar players.) It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that the bass guitar had it’s own special needs when it came to amplification, and that amps designed for guitars were just not going to cut it.

Bass guitar amps require a different design approach than guitar amps. The lower frequencies that need to be reproduced require heavier duty speakers, (often in larger sizes) and lot’s of power.

Deciding what configuration will work for you depends on where you plan on playing. If you’re teaching or you’re a student yourself, a small combo will do the job. Remember, even with a small rehearsal combo, a little more power and a good 10 or 12” inch speaker will deliver the warmer, fuller sound that you expect from a bass. Playing with a live band is a different story.

To play in a band situation with a drummer will require a minimum of 100-watts and a single 15” speaker. Pro bass amps can go as high as 1000-watts. The average power used for pro club act is around 300-watts. It’s important to note that it takes more power to get a speaker to push out bass frequencies than it does to blast the sounds of an electric guitar. For this reason, a 100-watt bass amp is not nearly as loud as a 100-watt guitar amp.

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There are basically three different types of bass amplifiers:

* Tube or Valve amplifiers – The original amps used since the dawn of electric guitars. Tube amps, by the nature of their technology, introduce a warmer, punchier sound that is pleasing to most bassists. More info on Tube amps

* Solid State Amplifiers – Solid-state amps use transistors for their preamp and power section. They require little or no maintenance, are lighter to transport and produce a very clean sound. More info on Solid State amps

* Hybrid Amps – These amps usually combine a solid-state power section with a tube preamp to provide the warmth and “musicality” of tubes with the durability and lightweight of solid-state. There are some manufacturers which combine both tubes and solid-state in the power amp itself. Hybrids have been very effective in bridging the gap between solid-state and tube amplifiers.

Configurations – Bass amps come in a variety of different sizes and two basic configurations:

o Combos – Short for “combination”, combos are amplifiers that combine the speaker and the amplifier in one box. These amps come in two different styles: open back and closed or sealed back. The closed back combo produces more low-end than an open back.

o Separate Amp Head and Speaker Cabinet – The amplifier and speaker cabinet are in two separate cabinets. This allows you to combine different enclosures with different amp heads. You can also add multiple speaker cabinets to an amp head for more volume and coverage. (To avoid damage, this should only be done following the amp manufacturers recommendations) Divided into two separate units, the amplifier is also more convenient to transport.