Best "My Partner Now Works from Home" practice amp?

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MrShake
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Re: Best "My Partner Now Works from Home" practice amp?

Post by MrShake » Fri Sep 17, 2021 4:21 am

I'm sure there are lots of great options, but I've found my ZT Lunchbox is a great one, if maybe a little pricey for practice-only.

Real simple, real clean pedal platform, can get nice and quiet, has a headphone out with an independent volume and the ability to turn the internal speaker off. It's tiny, fits anywhere, and isn't as aesthetically offensive as some small amps can seem to be.

But the big benefit is that it's a great, super-versatile home practice amp that can step up to gig-level volume with an extension speaker (or without, depending on the situation and band).

All the volume you could need for home (but not like keeping a big tube amp on "1"), super-compact, decent looking, easy to stash or store, simple controls, and works as a great grab 'n' go amp or head for any other purpose, too. If mine konked, I'd replace it ASAP, *but* if I hadn't fallen for mine, and were looking for a "low-levels only" amp, I might look for cheaper options.

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JSett
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Re: Best "My Partner Now Works from Home" practice amp?

Post by JSett » Sun Sep 19, 2021 5:01 am

This came today. Initial impressions are good. Would need to spend a little more time with it but I can definitely get a couple of sounds I like out of it already. I loaded up the PC interface thing, messed for a minute or two and quickly got overwhelmed :D I don't think I'll be messing with that too soon... Plugging your amp into a computer is alien to me.

Anyway, it sounds good at low volume. And good and loud too. Achievement unlocked

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Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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tequila_in_teacups
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Re: Best "My Partner Now Works from Home" practice amp?

Post by tequila_in_teacups » Mon Sep 20, 2021 10:05 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Sun Sep 19, 2021 5:01 am
This came today. Initial impressions are good. Would need to spend a little more time with it but I can definitely get a couple of sounds I like out of it already. I loaded up the PC interface thing, messed for a minute or two and quickly got overwhelmed :D I don't think I'll be messing with that too soon... Plugging your amp into a computer is alien to me.

Anyway, it sounds good at low volume. And good and loud too. Achievement unlocked
Glad it's sounding good so far. Perhaps there's no real need to faff about with the software if it sounds good enough on the occasions you can't plug into a proper amp. For me, the THR is the only way I can play (I have a Princeton Reverb, but it's in another city and, even if I had it with me, I'd never be able to use it where I'm living at the moment anyway), so I guess I was a little more motivated to use the software to make it sound the best it can. Even changing cab sims makes a big difference. I like the Boutique 2x12 – it sounds the biggest and most amp-like to me.

There are also a couple of things you can access in the software that you can't on the amp, like the noise gate and compressor. I wouldn't bother with the presets library – they all sounded garbage to me.

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Re: Best "My Partner Now Works from Home" practice amp?

Post by JSett » Mon Sep 20, 2021 10:27 pm

tequila_in_teacups wrote:
Mon Sep 20, 2021 10:05 pm

Glad it's sounding good so far. Perhaps there's no real need to faff about with the software if it sounds good enough on the occasions you can't plug into a proper amp. For me, the THR is the only way I can play (I have a Princeton Reverb, but it's in another city and, even if I had it with me, I'd never be able to use it where I'm living at the moment anyway), so I guess I was a little more motivated to use the software to make it sound the best it can. Even changing cab sims makes a big difference. I like the Boutique 2x12 – it sounds the biggest and most amp-like to me.

There are also a couple of things you can access in the software that you can't on the amp, like the noise gate and compressor. I wouldn't bother with the presets library – they all sounded garbage to me.
Yeah, I'm pretty basic when it comes to my tastes in amps and effects...just a basic Fender on-the-edge clean & crunch is enough for me. I do wish there was a little bit more knob-based control over the effects rather than finding the infinitesimally small sweet spot in 1/4 or a turn (I'm looking at you, Mr delay setting) but it's workable.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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