So you’ve decided that you need a bass amp for practice around the house, yet something that you can take to the practice room and that will comfortably keep up with your snare-happy drummer in the rehearsal space? I’ve got you covered with my list of best bass practice amps from Laney.
In this best bass amp for practice comparison guide, I’ll highlight why these Laney bass amplifiers are some of the best in the world, provide the absolute quality sound you’re looking for and the killer tone you need for all genres.
Technically a bass practice amp is a compact, predominantly low-wattage amplifier designed for home practice and small performances. However, they can also be high-wattage amps, if they include headphone outputs for you to practice at home.
Today, I’ll be showing you the best amp for bass guitar options that are ideal for bassists who want a good practice amp to practice quietly at home (bedroom practice) and improve their bass guitar skills without disturbing others, but can also thrive in the rehearsal room with enough power to make the transition to small gigs.
So why buy a bass amp that’s also good for practice? Well, Buying a bass amp designed for practice offers several key advantages over simply buying one for a gig (if you’re not sure where to start, read our bass amp buyers guide). Small, practice amps, or bass amps for small gigs, are more convenient and portable than say your big 2×12 combos or 4×12 stack and head options, allowing you to practice anywhere without hassle.
Their quieter power output makes them perfect for practising at home without your neighbours hating you, and they are also suitable for small gigs and performances when you need them. PLUS, if you’re recording at home, you can use direct recording as they’ll sit next to your desk a lot easier.
I basically used four main criteria when choosing these amps and to qualify these bass amps for practice scenarios, I considered 4 features that I KNOW, and the bass players that I play with look for when searching for a bass guitar amp for home use and small rehearsals:
When thinking how loud your bass amp should be for practice, a general rule is 15 watts for home practice, studio and rehearsal 30, to 65 to 100+ watts provides enough headroom and power for clean recording without pushing the amp too hard. When you’re playing live, you’ll often need 100+ watts, giving the bass presence in a mix and ensuring your sound cuts through drums and guitars onstage.
The best speaker size on a bass amp for practice is 8-12 inches for compact practice amps, 15 inches for larger performances.
The key benefit here?: Compact, versatile combo perfect for practice and smaller gigs.
The Laney Digbeth DB200-210 bass combo, we think, is EASILY one of the best bass guitar amp combos for practice and one of the best bass combo amps for small gigs. We designed it for bass players who need a powerful and dynamic single compact cabinet setup that they can use to practice bass at home, but also gig with when they need to.
The Digbeth DB200-210 bass combo offers vintage appeal and ultra-modern functionality in a compact format. You get 200 watts RMS through 2 x 10” HH Blue label woofers and a 1” LaVoce Compression Driver, so you get all the lovely low-end boom, but the higher treble frequencies shone through nicely too. Its mixable FET and TUBE pre-amp sections and the TILT ‘EQ Seesaw’ function give you so many tones, it’s like having 2-3 different amps in one, perfect for adapting to different practice environments where you need to keep up with a drummer, or keep it chill with an acoustic singer-songwriter.
Key Features:
Summary: Reliable and versatile practice amp with moderate power output that won’t overtake the practice space.
The Laney Richter RB2 bass amp is one of the best small bass amps for practice sessions, that actually sounds good, delivering 30 watts of power through a 10” Custom HH driver. Whereas some 30-watt bass amps sound quiet, the 10″ Custom HH speakers are going to deliver the sound spread you need while the high-frequency horn delivers the clarity of notes and riffs.
We’ve put a lot of effort into this amp so it can not only compete with other amps you may have heard at this output level, but blow them out of the water! This compact and portable amp offers sound qualities you need as you have both a normal and high gain channel, with additional gain stages as well a 3-band EQ and switchable compressor (because compressor pedals are important for bass) for precise tone shaping. It also features an aux connection for playing along with tracks and a headphone socket for silent practice. The 30 watts is more than enough for a rehearsal space and
Key Features:
Summary: Compact and simple practice amp with great sound quality.
The Laney LX15B bass amp is one of the smallest, most compact practice amps we have offering 15 watts of power through twin 5” drivers. It’s perfect for home use, providing a great sound with simple controls for easy adjustment. You have an onboard tone shaping feature, independent gain operation to drive the distortion when you need it and built-in compressor to ensure each note is heard the way you need it to be. The 3-band EQ, MP3/AUX connector, and headphone output make it ideal for quiet practice and jamming along with tracks – definitely one of the best bass combo amps for smaller setups.
Key Features:
Summary: Portable practice amp with Bluetooth connectivity for on-the-go practice.
The Laney Mini Bass-NX is a portable practice amp with Bluetooth connectivity, making it one of the smallest bass guitar amps ever, so you can practice anywhere you want. It’s a small amp you can put in your backpack, or have as a desktop amp for bass. It offers 3 watts of power and features tone-shaping controls you’d come to expect from larger bass amplifiers – HOWEVER, the key feature here is the Tilt function.
This is a powerful SEE SAW EQ control that when turned clockwise increases the overall mid to high frequencies and decreases the lows thereby giving your sound more presence, which can be useful for cutting through live band situations. Turn the control anti-clockwise and it reduces the overall mid to high frequencies and increases the lows making your overall sound rounder. It’s battery or mains-powered so you’ve got the flexibility there, and the AUX input allows you to play along with your favourite backing track and still enjoy great tone.
The Laney Mini Bass-NX offers portability and versatile features for on-the-go practice which is ideal for at home practice, jamming with an acoustic player or backstage practice! PLUS, you can connect it to the LSI: Laney Smart Interface socket. This totally unique feature allows you to connect your amp to your smart device; to access the world of DIGITAL GUITAR and access thousands of digital guitar tones via the free Tonebridge app on your phone and the LSI cable.
Key Features:
The Laney Digbeth DB-PRE has all the features of the amp series packed into a floor based preamp
Summary: Versatile preamp pedal perfect for enhancing your bass tone with vintage and modern sounds.
I know what you’re thinking! This isn’t an amp… right? But it is! The Laney Digbeth DB-PRE is a versatile preamp pedal which can act as a bass amp when you want to go ampless on bass. It’s the size of a guitar pedal, and you can go direct to a PA system forgoing the need for a traditional bass amp combo. We’ve discussed the reasons why the Laney DB-PRE is so good but it’s designed to enhance your bass tone with both vintage and modern sounds making it ideal for the bass player who needs multiple tonal options.
It features a range of controls including FET and TUBE pre-amp sections, selectable MID pre-shape EQ curves, and that awesome TILT ‘EQ Seesaw’ function for dynamic sound shaping. You also have an AUX in so you can jam along with backing tracks and the headphones out means you can connect it to your favourite headphones at home and practice in silence. Its compact design makes it easy to integrate into any bass rig setup, giving you all the Laney Digbeth bass amp tones you need but in a setup that’s ideal for both practice and performance. I personally use this and it’s an absolute lifesaver if you want to keep your bass rig slimmed down, or create a fly rig for bass!
Key Features:
Choosing the right bass amp is crucial for both practice and performance. But the general rule is, if you’re just practicing at home or in rehearsal, anywhere from 3-65 watts is fine, if you want to transition to gigs, go higher in wattage to anywhere to 200.
The Laney Digbeth series, along with the Richter and Mini Bass models, offer a range of options to suit any bassist’s needs, as highlighted here – we’ve thought of everything for you. Whether you need power and punch for live gigs or a compact and versatile amp for home practice, any Laney bass amp has you covered.
Shop the full range of Laney Bass amplifiers HERE.
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