5 Best Battery Powered Bass Amps for Ultimate Portability!

Author: Dedrich Schafer | Updated: | This post may contain affiliate links.

When it comes to portability, guitar and bass amps aren’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. 

They are often big, bulky, and heavy. Not something that you can just pick up, throw in a backpack, and off you go.

But that is where battery powered bass amps come in.

While once upon a time, battery amps and practice amps suffered from thin tones and weak speakers, modern technology has come a long way in recent years.

You can conjure the bass tones of your dreams armed with an amplifier the size of a teapot.

Will it blow the audience’s hair back at a packed club? No. But will it make a great sound for practice at home, and be small enough not to annoy your roommates and take traveling for easy practice? Absolutely.

These are designed to be lightweight, compact, and don’t need external power. They are designed for ultimate portability and as the perfect busking gear.

Here are five of the best mini bass amps that you can easily take with you anywhere you go.

5 Battery Powered Bass Amps for Busking & Mobility

1. Boss Dual Cube LX

The Boss Dual Cube LX is an absolutely incredible little amp. There is so much going on in such a small, compact package.

Right off the bat, I was blown away by just how many features are on this amp. Usually with these portable amps you will get some basic EQ, volume, gain, maybe an extra effect.

The Cube LX is simply stacked. Full 3-band EQ, multiple effects, multiple gain types, multiple rhythms (with variations), and even a looper. At the back you even get a stereo line out.

On top of all these features, the amp also still sounds great. Bass sounds great through this amp. The cleans are clear and crisp, and even the distortion sounds great.

For busking, the Cube LX has multiple connection options. You can either connect with USB or Aux, and it even has Bluetooth if you don’t want to mess around with extra cables.

You are going to need some extra batteries. The Cube LX uses 8 AA batteries. I am sure the extra batteries are to compensate for the added features, and I didn’t notice it running out of power faster than other amps.

The big downside here is the price. The Cube LX is quite a bit more expensive than other battery powered combo amps for bass.

But the price makes sense considering everything it does. I also feel like it is more than worth it. The looper alone justifies the price for me.


2. Blackstar Fly 3 Bass

Blackstar is an outstanding amp company. While many other manufacturers have focused on making their larger amps more practice-friendly, Blackstar has gone in the opposite direction to try and make their small practice amps more powerful.

The Blackstar Fly 3 shows that this endeavor has certainly worked. For a little 3-watt amp, the Fly 3 is loud. It also sounds fantastic.

But that isn’t too surprising. Blackstar amps are known for their incredible sound, but even for its small size, the Fly 3 stacks up quite well against its larger cousins.

Bass sounds great through this. There is more than enough low end here so that your bass doesn’t sound thin. 

In terms of features, the Fly 3 is fairly bare bones. You get volume, gain, EQ, and compression. Considering this is meant as a practice amp, I think you are getting all the controls you will likely need.

A really cool feature on this amp that I like is the SUB control. This adjusts the level of the octave below what you are playing. Basically, this control beefs up your bass sound, giving you more low end. 

This amp is just overall fantastic. It works as a great practice amp, but is equally great for busking, taking it with you on holiday, whatever.

Its compact size and light weight make it extremely portable. You can easily throw this amp in a backpack to take it anywhere.

And all of this for less than $100. What more could you want?


3. Positive Grid Spark Mini

The Spark Mini has enjoyed massive success among guitar players thanks in no small part to their strong social media marketing presence.

The miniscule amplifier offers only ten watts of power and two positively diminutive two-inch speakers. It’s safe to say that this petite battery amp isn’t designed to compete with a loud drummer, or even an operatic singer.

However, for playing at home, on the go, or just for fun, it’s hard to beat the Spark’s astonishingly diverse array of tones.

Bass and guitar players have a curious relationship with the tyranny of choice. On one hand, we all know players who can’t get enough effects and options. Many of us are those players!

However, few players get into music to fiddle with knobs and levers. Most of us want to plug in, step on a box or two, and get on with playing music.

That’s where the Spark Mini is really useful. The user interface has a bit of a learning curve, but once you’re across the navigation, the built-in effects and amp models are tremendous fun to play with.

A bit of tweaking here and there conjures any famous tone you can think of.

My favorite feature, however, is the intelligent backing band. If you’re tired of playing to a metronome, a CD, or a backing track, the Spark can listen to your playing and fill in an auto chord sequence for the background, allowing you to groove along to your own creation on the go.


4. JOYO 10 Watt Mini Bass

The JOYO Mini Bass is quite the interesting little amp. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of other battery powered amps, but what it does have is quite good.

The first thing that caught my eye with this amp is its design. It has a very sleek, ultra-modern look. The aesthetic of it is quite minimal, something that I am a bit of a fan of.

That minimalist design carries over to its controls. You are only getting volume, tone, and gain. You also get a headphone and aux input, along with a normal/drive switch.

The amp sounds pretty good for its size and price. The tone is great both clean and overdriven. You aren’t getting an overly vibrant bass tone here, but it isn’t dull and flat either. 

The tone control also doesn’t add too much variety. I ended up keeping it somewhere just over half way.

Volume is perhaps the biggest let down. This is a 10-watt amp, so it has a decent amount of volume. But there are 5- and even 3-watt amps out there that blow this amp out of the water. 

I do like that you can attach a regular guitar strap onto this amp. This lets you walk around with the amp while playing.

It is fairly lightweight, so the added weight isn’t a problem. What I did find was a problem was the amp’s size. It tends to get in the way or slips to the back, making it harder to here. I was constantly adjusting the amp while carrying it. You also need a spare strap since the amp doesn’t come with one.


5. Laney Mini Bass NX

Laney is no stranger when it comes to making exceptional amps. Their Mini Bass NX takes that high quality and puts it into a small, portable practice amp.

The Mini Bass NX is a very well made, cool looking little amp. It feels solid and has a sleek, almost unassuming look.

The sound is also quite decent, but does fall a bit short for me. I noticed a bit of boxiness when the tone and tilt is set flat. Turning up the tilt does clean up the sound a bit, and rounds out the tone quite nicely. I would recommend setting the tone and tilt high, then dialing them back to get a fuller bass sound.

What is really cool about this amp is the LSI connection. This allows you to connect the amp to a smartphone or tablet with the included LSI cable.

This effectively turns the amp into a modeling amp. You can then use the Tonebridge app to change the sound of the amp from a selection of thousands of bass tone.

Say you want to practice a specific Red Hot Chili Peppers or Metallica song, you just need to search for it on the app, and voila, the correct bass tone. I really appreciate features like this since they make practicing so much easier.

This is definitely a practice amp only. The amp has quite a bit of volume, but I think you might have a hard time with it busking on a busy street.


Choosing the Right Battery Powered Bass Amp

When considering to get an easy-to-carry bass amp, there are a few things you should consider.

As always with new gear, the sound is most important. When I’m evaluating new gear, whether it’s a guitar, bass, amp, or pedal, I always play through it and work out how much I like the sound on offer.

Most of us look at battery amps because they’re small and portable. Little enough to take on the road or not to take up too much real estate in the spare room where you keep your instruments.

These broad criteria can be broken down as follows:

  • Portability
  • Tone
  • Usability
  • Volume
  • Battery types

What Will You Use It for?

You have to think of why you’re looking at a battery powered bass amp.

Is it primarily for practice at home? Is it to take on the road and play in hotel rooms? Do you need it for quieter rehearsals, perhaps with headphones and a drummer on an electronic kit?

When you understand what you need the amp for, making the choice becomes much easier. This brings me to the most important criteria: portability.

Portability

Of course, this is probably going to be your top priority. The point of a battery powered amp is to be as portable as possible, considering how large and unwieldy bass amps can be.

Luckily, most of these battery powered units are portable enough. Most are small and lightweight enough that you can put them in a backpack or case along with everything else you need (cables, pedalboard, etc.)

Battery amps are specifically designed to be easy to carry. I’ve taken battery amps on road trips in my backpack. I’ve even brought one particularly small amp in my guitar case’s neck compartment to rehearsal as a backup!

While some compact bass amps are going to be a bit more portable than others, they are all more portable than a standard bass amp. They are the ideal amps to use for busking.

Tone

Tone chasing is an ongoing mission for all musicians, and while most of your tone comes from how you play, rather than what you play, it’s important to consider the unique tonal palette offered by your new gear purchase.

Many of the battery amps available these days offer a wide array of classic tones perfect for practicing along to your favorite songs.

Because playing along to the records I love is my favorite way to practice, this can be a great feature.

However, it’s worth noting that no two amps, no matter how advanced the modeling software, ever sound the same. There will be subtle tonal differences that may not suit players of all genres.

If you’re looking at exclusively playing a particular niche genre, like extreme metal, reggae, or Gypsy jazz, you’re more likely to need the particular sounds associated with that genre.

Of course, most important is getting a sound you like from your gear so that you enjoy playing. This is arguably more important for practice gear like a battery amp than for gear you play live!

Most of us struggle to hear our live sound over the din of a busy venue and an enthusiastic drummer. We all spend (or we should) more time practicing than gigging. It’s important that you like your practice tone so that your practice time is pleasant and enjoyable.

It seems intuitive, but there’s nothing as discouraging for playing and practicing as feeling unhappy with your bedroom sound.

Volume and Versatility

This will be up to what you want to use the amp for. If you are just going to use it for practice, then you won’t need something too loud with a whole bunch of features.

The Laney Mini Bass NX and JOYO Mini Bass are both fantastic practice amps that you can keep on your desk or backstage. They aren’t very loud, but are perfect for warming up or practicing.

I personally keep a few different amp sizes at home. I’ve a desktop amp for easy quiet practice, a couple of lunchbox amps for rehearsal and louder home practice when the neighbors are out, and of course a gigging rig ready for the stage.

These all have different purposes. Understanding these purposes is key to getting the most out of your gear.

If you are planning on using the amp for busking as well, then you will need something with more volume and features. The Boss Dual Cube LX would certainly be my choice for this purpose. It is super loud for its size and packed with great features. A very versatile amp.

Batteries

The type and amount of batteries the amp uses doesn’t matter too much in my opinion, but can affect how convenient you think it is.

Most amps will need 6 AA batteries, but some can need more or less. This will determine how many batteries you need to carry with you (you always need spares).

Some amps, however, use rechargeable battery packs. This are much more convenient, but can sometimes not be replaced or are difficult to replace.

These days you can also find amps that run on USB battery banks, the same ones used to charge smartphones. These are probably the most convenient since most of us already have battery banks lying around, but they are also fairly cheap and easy to replace.

I like battery powered amps that have the option for an external power source or batteries. That way, you aren’t constantly buying new batteries for amp, and you can easily take it on the road if need be.

While most battery amps prefer AA batteries, some like the pedal-ready 9-volt batteries that are more commonplace for guitar and bass players.

I’d recommend avoiding any amps that have non standard power requirements or batteries that are hard to find where you live.

Final Word

These mini bass amps are fantastic. They are highly portable and more than capable as practice amps and even busking amps for bass.

Whatever your needs are, there’s a battery powered bass amp out there for you.

If you are looking for something portable and convenient, a battery powered amp can be a great investment for your bass playing journey.

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About Dedrich Schafer

Dedrich is a guitar player, songwriter and sound engineer with extensive music production and studio experience. He mostly listens to classic rock and punk bands, but sometimes also likes listening to rap and acoustic songs.

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