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Hi guys and gals,
since moving in a small flat with my girlfriend, I couldn't play as much as I wanted to... there is no space for the big Amps and Speakers and of course the neighbors wouldn't be happy either... Now I finally negotiated a gear corner with her, so I need to utilize the space as good as possible.

Basically I need a small Combo Amp or Head+Cab that I can use for both Guitar and Bass, must handle pedals well (duh ) and can be used with headphones. No need for any fancy on board effects or special features, since I run a shitton of pedals anyway.
Maybe a DI-output would be nice for some jams, but not a must. It doesn't have to have a lot of power either, since it will be used at (relatively low) room volume, but should still have enough volume and toanz to not sound weak and dry, like some stale, three day old pretzel.
The other option would be to use some kind of preamp/DI pedals and just a power amp with a cab, but I want to keep it as simple as possible.

Any recommendations?

My man. I have been in a similar pickle for a couple of years now and I keep meaning to pick up one of the Boss Katanas for lowish volume bass jams. Maybe check that out?

Maybe look for an old traynor ts15 or ts20. Light, small,got headphone out...
Also, ampeg svt micro, quilter..
A preamp pedal could be a good idea too, I know ampeg and darkglass have some but that's about it.

I was looking into the Ampeg SVT Micro stack with the 2x10" Cab, looks pretty promising to me (they claim the cab goes up to 5kHz? )
Also came across the Warwick WA300 Head - apart from looking horrible, it seems pretty nice (10Band EQ, Aux in, DI out, etc.) and maybe I can find a nice cab that combines the non-fartyness in the low range of a bass cab, with the higher frequency capabilities of a guitar cab (I hate tweeters, btw...). I have no Idea how those two heads take pedals and if they are good to use with guitar and bass, tho...

Maybe look into '80s SS Marshalls. I have a 75 Reverb at the jam cave and a 5210 30-watter at home. That one is definitely great for low volume playing. Simple, clean pedal platform with surprising amounts of low end, so it works for bass/synth too. I keep the preamp gain low, treble at 1, middle and bass at 3 and just turn up the volume. It does the faux JCM800 thing excellently too.

Haven't tried the Katana, but there's no reason I'd rather have that, except for fresh, non-scratchy pots and the novelty of a Boss amp.

Katanas are totally worthy.

JTurbide wrote:Maybe look for an old traynor ts15 or ts20. Light, small,got headphone out...
Also, ampeg svt micro, quilter..
A preamp pedal could be a good idea too, I know ampeg and darkglass have some but that's about it.

Location: Montreal

Leave it to the Canadians to rep Traynor.

They are great amps though.

Schlatte wrote:I was looking into the Ampeg SVT Micro stack with the 2x10" Cab, looks pretty promising to me (they claim the cab goes up to 5kHz? )

Ooooh I've had my eye on this micro stack. Haven't had a chance to try one though.

Not a very appealing option but for the past year I've been using a Fender Champ 40 for practice. It has a 12" speaker, sounds decent, and has a headphone jack. The speaker size, the size of the actual amp, and the headphone jack helps me play when my girlfriend or kid are sleeping. At like $180 USD new or way less used it's definitely in with a shout. Solid state break up is great with an OD pedal at very low volume levels.

The other shout would be an Orange Micro Terror. You get the Orange sound and crunch and can use it through whatever cab, and it has the headphone jack. Fits in your lunch box.

$0.02.

ummohyeah wrote:Not a very appealing option but for the past year I've been using a Fender Champ 40 for practice. It has a 12" speaker, sounds decent, and has a headphone jack. The speaker size, the size of the actual amp, and the headphone jack helps me play when my girlfriend or kid are sleeping. At like $180 USD new or way less used it's definitely in with a shout. Solid state break up is great with an OD pedal at very low volume levels.

The other shout would be an Orange Micro Terror. You get the Orange sound and crunch and can use it through whatever cab, and it has the headphone jack. Fits in your lunch box.

$0.02.

Thanks for the tip! How does the Fender handle Bass input?
I'm honestly not really a fan of the Orange sound, tried the micro terror (black version) once and wasn't really happy with it.

you could do worse than the Monoprice tube amps that sell for <$200 on the internet. the more expensive option has a standard Celestion speaker. one of my coworkers has one he likes a lot.

Schlatte wrote:

ummohyeah wrote:Not a very appealing option but for the past year I've been using a Fender Champ 40 for practice. It has a 12" speaker, sounds decent, and has a headphone jack. The speaker size, the size of the actual amp, and the headphone jack helps me play when my girlfriend or kid are sleeping. At like $180 USD new or way less used it's definitely in with a shout. Solid state break up is great with an OD pedal at very low volume levels.

The other shout would be an Orange Micro Terror. You get the Orange sound and crunch and can use it through whatever cab, and it has the headphone jack. Fits in your lunch box.

$0.02.

Thanks for the tip! How does the Fender handle Bass input?
I'm honestly not really a fan of the Orange sound, tried the micro terror (black version) once and wasn't really happy with it.

Sounds just fine with my baritone guitar and Jaguar with .12's tuned down, but haven't tried an actual bass. Might buzz a bit but there are some Fender Rumble versions that are comparable to this. Hope that helps.

ummohyeah wrote:

Schlatte wrote:

ummohyeah wrote:Not a very appealing option but for the past year I've been using a Fender Champ 40 for practice. It has a 12" speaker, sounds decent, and has a headphone jack. The speaker size, the size of the actual amp, and the headphone jack helps me play when my girlfriend or kid are sleeping. At like $180 USD new or way less used it's definitely in with a shout. Solid state break up is great with an OD pedal at very low volume levels.

The other shout would be an Orange Micro Terror. You get the Orange sound and crunch and can use it through whatever cab, and it has the headphone jack. Fits in your lunch box.

$0.02.

Thanks for the tip! How does the Fender handle Bass input?
I'm honestly not really a fan of the Orange sound, tried the micro terror (black version) once and wasn't really happy with it.

Sounds just fine with my baritone guitar and Jaguar with .12's tuned down, but haven't tried an actual bass. Might buzz a bit but there are some Fender Rumble versions that are comparable to this. Hope that helps.

Yeah, just looked into the Rumble 40 a bit, would for sure fit my needs...

I tried a bunch of different options when I was looking for the best way to silently/quietly play at home.

There's always some sort of compromise, no matter which app or digital amp. There's no way you'll get the nice tone you'll get from your 'live' rig when the speaker's pushing a ton more air. The impulse response route can get you close enough, but than you have to mess with a computer and an audio interface, which isn't at all as fun and easy as just switching on your amp.

So anyway, I just bought a cheap 1x12 cabinet for my main amp (Traynor YBA-1) and had a 1/4 power switch installed in the back. The mod just makes the amp growl a tiny little bit sooner when the switch is flicked on, it doesn't at all "attenuate" the amp's power to living room levels.
I just use an overdrive pedal for that, with the gain and volume turned down

You'd think it sounds like ass, but again...Anything sounds meh at extremely low volumes imo, especially cheap digital stuff. Depends on your style/taste obviously, and I'll admit that the latest generarion of modeling amps have come a long way since those first god awefull vox/line 6 combos that had a zillion on board amps and effects...

Schlatte wrote:

ummohyeah wrote:

Schlatte wrote:

ummohyeah wrote:Not a very appealing option but for the past year I've been using a Fender Champ 40 for practice. It has a 12" speaker, sounds decent, and has a headphone jack. The speaker size, the size of the actual amp, and the headphone jack helps me play when my girlfriend or kid are sleeping. At like $180 USD new or way less used it's definitely in with a shout. Solid state break up is great with an OD pedal at very low volume levels.

The other shout would be an Orange Micro Terror. You get the Orange sound and crunch and can use it through whatever cab, and it has the headphone jack. Fits in your lunch box.

$0.02.

Thanks for the tip! How does the Fender handle Bass input?
I'm honestly not really a fan of the Orange sound, tried the micro terror (black version) once and wasn't really happy with it.

Sounds just fine with my baritone guitar and Jaguar with .12's tuned down, but haven't tried an actual bass. Might buzz a bit but there are some Fender Rumble versions that are comparable to this. Hope that helps.

Yeah, just looked into the Rumble 40 a bit, would for sure fit my needs...

The Rumble 40 honestly sounds great for guitar. The overdrive channel is solid. The cleans are a little sterile but they take pedals well.

Alright, seems like I'm gonna go for the Rumble 40. (except if some other great idea comes along in this thread...)
I would've loved the SVT Micro Stack (honestly just because it looks cool and has that ampeg vibe to it ), but at more than double the price it would be way too unreasonable to get instead of the rumble... I'll check if there is something on the used market or maybe I'll buy new...