With a normal guitar amplifier, the volume and quality of sound are not closely linked. Guitar amplifiers can be played loudly or quietly of course. For certain effects such as overdrive, more power equals stronger distortion. Nevertheless, your guitar will come in perfectly clearly even in the lower volume range. This means that, if you don’t have a lot of money, you can buy a low-power cheap guitar amplifier and have it work well. You will be able to play with other musicians in practice, and be heard quite well.
With a bass amplifier, however, things are a little bit different. There are some very good cheap bass amps out there, but when you are using them you sometimes run into a problem. The bottom line is that you don’t want to buy a cheap bass amp without enough power. You see, people are just simply not very good at hearing very low sounds. Our audio acuity in the bottom half of our range is much lower, so your bass amplifier needs to be able to pump out quite a bit of wattage. Otherwise, the lower end of the sonic spectrum will be all but inaudible when you play it.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you have to spend a fortune on bass amplifiers. Basically, a bass amplifier is like anything else. The more money you spend on it, the better product you can get. Nevertheless, if you’re willing to buy second hand, you can do very well for yourself. You see, almost everyone wants to play guitar or bass at one point in their life. At least 90% of these people, however, later give it up. Perhaps they don’t have music in their souls, or perhaps they get involved in another instrument. For whatever the reason, used guitars and basses are some of the most easy to find musical instruments. There are so many out there, in fact, that if you know what to look for, you can get quite a discount.
Of course, if all you are doing is playing rock music, you shouldn’t waste money on a high fidelity bass amplifier. Instead, spend money on something low-tech and powerful. It can still get you that fuzzy, rock and roll sound that you crave, and it will cost a whole lot less money. Playing bass guitar is simple, and finding the right gear for it can be simple too.