STRICH SBA-10 Mini Bass Practice Amp

STRICH

STRICH SBA-10 Mini Bass Practice Amp

$35.99 Price may change

17 videos

Desk Amp with Clean/Distortion and Bluetooth with output

1:07 1 / 17

Customer photos & videos

From 22 customers
G

Gator1

Perfect Portable Amp to Chill Anywhere

Great value! I’m new to bass with an Ibanez Mikro and a Fender Rumble 15 amp. I wanted a micro amp just to be able to practice on the screened porch and glad to have taken a chance on this one. It is a dedicated bass amp and sounds better than the bass function on the Spark GO that I have for guitars - that one, even on the bass setting just doesn’t play clean (always some overdrive). This you can hear does indeed play clean. The video is at full volume on the bass pots and on the amp.

A

Alex

Know what you’re buying before complaining!

A lot of negative reviews seem to complain about the size and volume of the amp. This thing is $30, not $100+. You’re not ordering a 10w practice amp- this is a rechargeable, tiny amp for travel or goofing around. It isn’t going to rumble anything off the walls, but it will fill a small living room with decent sound. It functions exactly as it states on the box- as a Bluetooth speaker and electric bass guitar amp. The beautiful part that was a great surprise, is that you can do both at the same time. That means you can pull up a drum track on YouTube, separately level the volume for the drums, and play your bass along with a drum track. It also has a 3.5mm aux input that functions just like the Bluetooth connectivity.

The amp is surprisingly stout and weighty for its price and build. Two tiny 5W speakers put out a decent (if slightly muddy) sound. Remember, this is a cheap micro amp! It packs a decent punch though, and is well worth the money. The battery lasts a few hours of noodling around too, and charges up in a few hours.

If you want to practice without upsetting neighbors/roommates, and you’d like to be able to play along with some drums, this is the perfect cheap option for you. Plenty of range of tone here, and a punchy little distortion switch for playing the crunchy stuff. Retro styling, just an overall match for me. Highly recommended. I really don’t have a negative thing to say about it. I did buy the “dark brown” version, which does look slightly different than the advertisement, but I’m not upset 🤷🏼‍♂️

Customer

Good little amp for a small space

I got this little amp to have something simple for my desk and I really love the vintage style. My first impression is that it’s small and lightweight, which is great for saving space, though the plastic casing feels a little bit cheap. It looks decent enough when it's sitting there, but the build quality definitely seems to reflect the price.

The setup was very straightforward. You can connect to it with a cord or Bluetooth, and the Bluetooth connected without issue. It actually puts out a fair amount of sound for such a tiny unit and the audio is clear enough for casual listening. I haven't noticed any major distortion, but it definitely lacks the depth you'd get from a larger or more expensive amp.

If I'm being real, the controls are a bit finicky and feel like they might not last forever. It’s also important to note that the range isn't huge, so it works best if you keep your device nearby. It’s a fine basic speaker, but it’s clearly a budget-friendly option.

Overall this is a decent value since it's an affordable way to add audio to a small room. This is a simple solution for someone who wants a compact speaker for their desk.

J

Jeff Larson

Surprisingly good sound

I ordered this with pretty modest expectations, but have been very happy with it. It solves two major issues with electric guitar - power and portability. I have another re-chargeable amp, which is nice because you can easily set up anywhere. But it is almost as big as a standard amp, so you're still lugging around 2 things. This one is small enough to fit in my case, so I always have it. And the sound is decent. It is not going to fill a large room, but for impromptu playing, or for just practicing by yourself, it is a great option.

It is noted as being for a bass, but I use it with my standard six-string and its fine. Again, you're not gonna get the highest quality sound regardless, but it is very, very good considering the size and the price.

3

3M Cubed

Expectations determine

I own a few of these small practice amps… they all seem to be of similar design and general features with a few differences here & there. I will be rating this amp with tempered and realistic expectations. But long & short of it is, if you buy this for just kicking it on the couch for some relaxed low level practice with the understanding that it is a tiny amp with a tiny speaker that is going to be a hinderance on many levels that are more demanding, you’ll probably enjoy this little thing. If you’re thinking it might perform like a small traditional practice amp with an 8 or 10 inch driver, keep on scrolling because this just isn’t going to get it done.

The good: It is rechargeable via a USB-C and seems to have enough battery life to play longer than I feel like playing for. There is an aux in (1/8” - 3.5mm) and a headphone out (also 1/8 or 3.5mm). The controls are pretty basic and easy to figure out… a bluetooth/aux volume, tone, gain, and volume/on&off, as well as a button to add a bit of grit or keep the sound clean. The Bluetooth connects very quickly (and easily on my S23+) and the Bluetooth/aux volume can be controlled independently of the instrument volume allowing you to mix the two together to your liking. The little amp is also deceptively heavy. You see a small plastic box and you expect it to be really light. Not saying you have block of lead, but it does have enough weight that if you run a stout input cable, the amp stays upright… it won’t be falling over. And finally, as long as you are keeping the volume pretty low, it sounds decent for what it is. But that leads into…

The bad: Put simply, the sound. This is a small speaker in a small enclosure billed as a bass amp. It might have a tone controlled more tailored for bass perhaps, but at the end of the day, this little guy is gonna sound awful at higher volumes and simply doesn’t reproduce bass frequencies all that well. It does an admirable job for what it is…. And in my opinion as stated earlier, a sit on the couch and just tinker around at low volumes… maybe use it as a travel amp in a hotel room or RV.

I mentioned at the start having realistic expectations and tempering my review as such. With realistic expectations, this is a 5 star little amp. Expect this to compete with an 8, 10, or 12 or especially a 15 inch with significantly more wattage and this simply pales by comparison. Against other amps billed as a bass amp, this thing is 2 stars... 3 at best. But for me and my expectations based on what this is, it’s a neat little 5 star amp.

D

DIRONLV

Can be used for multiple purposes

I ordered this mini bass amp for my daughter. She's so excited to use it. Even though it's a base amp, it can be used for other things. She is planning to use it when she camps and watches movies on her big screen. She loves that it's so small, portable and works with Bluetooth. She tested it out and loves it, although she did say there is some distortion when turning the sound up to the maximum level.

M

micah

Another pleasant surprise from Strich

It's not as powerful as a practice amp, but it's great if you just need to hear well enough for reference purposes. As a bassist, I know firsthand how ambient noise in the room has a tendency to overwhelm an unplugged bass, which means wagging around a practice amp, but this is a terrific solution.

Ideal portable solution for anyone who habitually works on things "unplugged" with their guitarist mates (sitting on the couch, in the dorm room, at the coffee shop, etc) or teaching lessons and doesn't want to have to schlep around a bunch of tech just to be able to hear what they're playing. This could easily fit in a backpack, gig bag, or some hardshell cases depending on the configuration of the foam.

The sound quality is decent. I'm fairly certain it's not designed to compete with performance amps. I can imagine a few scenarios where it might actually work but that's based on subjective arguments. I do like that the harmonics are so present.

The Bluetooth feature is a nice touch. (In the video, I erroneously mention the Bluetooth being a momentary switch, but in reality I simply did not depress it far enough. Once depressed into "Bluetooth On" mode, the button stays blue and sits flush with the face of the amp, probably to avoid accidental disengagement.)

Overall, it's great for what it is: a pocket-sized amp to practice with. My personal experience with the Strich brand has only been positive with a lot of their other equipment, so I'm rapidly developing brand loyalty to these guys.

A

Austin.Boomerang

Great space saver for travel

This tiny amp is the size of about 2 guitar pedals but puts out surprisingly good mid/upper range sound. It’s sold as a bass amp but does not do well with lower frequencies and will become distorted easily if you play too much bass through it. I plugged in my guitar and had to turn down the lower frequency knob to avoid distortion. But if you accept this limitation, it’s otherwise a nice sounding speaker that has a handy standard 1/4 inch input, and doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. Should come in very handy for traveling.

Robert Fields

Well Built With Good Quality Sound And Bluetooth.

This is a with built and solid mini practice amp.

The sound quality is pretty good it handles the deeper bass sound without cracking or distortion unless you what it too using the clean and drive button.

It has Bluetooth so you can post along to music at the same time which is good for learning and practicing. And it connected right away to my Android smartphone with no lag time in between that I noticed.

It's has your master volume control a gain and tone control and a auxiliary/Bluetooth volume control which is separate from your master volume control which is kind of a cool so you can adjust your music that you're playing with separately.

And of course you have your clean sound and drive / distortion sound button so you can switch between the two. It has a 3.5 mm headphone output as well as a 3.5 mm auxiliary line in.

Your main input for your instrument is a 1l4 inch input And on the bottom you have two non slip pads to keep it from moving or sliding when you're playing.

Overall this is a well-built solid little mini practice and for guitar or bass guitar It's got good clean sound that doesn't crack or distort if you get a little louder and it has the Bluetooth so you can play along with music if you're practicing. I think it's a good value for what you're getting It's a solid product and I would definitely recommend it.

A

Abby Clodfelter

Tiny, perfect for me, and great battery life!

I love my amp! I just play for fun at home and I’m only just now learning so I may not be the most knowledgeable on what makes a good amp, but it’s been perfect for me.

It’s cute, it’s small (be sure to check the dimensions, it really is tiny) so I can take it with me anywhere and move around the house, and I’ve had it for about 2 months now and had no issues. It also has a great battery life, I play every day and I’ve only charged it a handful of times!

I didn’t know when I bought it if it would come with any accessories (cable or picks or anything) but it doesn’t, so just be aware that you’ll still need a cable if your buying your setup for the first time.

But overall it’s been a wonderful produce for a beginner who plays for fun like me!

E

Enn

Great product!

A compact retro amp ideal for everyday use

I bought this retro mini amp mainly for my child to practice, and I’m really happy with it. Even when it’s not being used for bass practice, the built-in Bluetooth works great for my everyday music listening (of course, I often sneak in some songs when my son isn’t using it).

It’s small and portable, so it doesn’t take up much space. Very easy to use and quick to get started.

Overall, great value for the money, good sound, and very convenient. Perfect for practice and home use

G

Guanliang Yao

Good quality

Good quality, value for my money!

C

Clay D.

Great battery powered travel amp for the price

Great little amp for the price, sounds better than some of the others that cost 4x as much. Not super loud but plenty for the size and sounds great. Decent battery life. USB-C to charge. Perfect for outdoor campfire jams with the boys 🤙

STRICH SBA-10 Mini Bass Practice Amp – customer photo 2 STRICH SBA-10 Mini Bass Practice Amp – customer photo 3
T

Thaylor Harmor

No buzz, perfect mini USB-powered Bass Amp

This was exactly what I was looking for, USB powered, bass amp, no buzz, for practice only.

I am using this with a Travel Bass that doesn't have much of any electronics in the bass that you would have normally. I used this with another portable amp and will be returning that one. This is perfect!r

G

GSimon

Great little Amp

This little amp is so portable but delivers a nice sound. You can use it with the cord for on the go practice as well. There are dual channels and volume control to better customize your sound. It’s also super cute.

Chris Benson

I'm in love with this little guy!

I tested this with an electric guitar and was very impressed by it both clean and overdriven. It obviously sounds like a small, portable, battery powered practice amp, but it's plenty loud for practicing or playing in enclosed small-group settings.

With a bass guitar input, as intended, the low frequencies this thing can produce should be a pleasant surprise - I know they were for me. In the attached video, I demonstrate the bass test - forgive my playing as I haven't played a bass line in probably 20 years.

As a Bluetooth speaker, it's nothing to write home about - frankly, I was pretty disappointed, and I have several better options. BUT... you can stream music from another source through the BT channel and play along on your instrument and vary the balance between the two separate signals!

This isn't going to sound like the Marshall version this resembles, but you'd be hard pressed to find all of these features offered this economically in this cute of a format.

STRICH SBA-10 Mini Bass Practice Amp – customer photo 2 STRICH SBA-10 Mini Bass Practice Amp – customer photo 3

David M

Small amp, big sound

Not a bad little amp. This is my first mini-practice amp and so far I am impressed with it. For its size, the volume is good, the sound adequate for practicing and you can get a good range of sound with the tone and drive controls. I like that you can use Bluetooth and it has a headphone and aux port on it. It has a long battery life and is rechargeable. The controls are simple and it has a throwback look to it. The instructions are not overly detailed, but do cover what you need to know to use it.

Tony Rollo

Perfect size for grab and play -

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Around six inches wide, four inches tall and a couple of inches deep. Designed to look like a classic vintage guitar amp style. This IS a full featured basic bass amp. Yes, it is. It also sounds good, if your expectations aren't an amp that goes to eleven.

I'm very surprised at how solid this little (mini) bass amp is. The construction and size reminds me of the hot spot type vocal monitors that were popular back in the day, but even smaller. I was expecting something more unrefined, but no. It's good quality. I flipped it over immediately to see if there was a mic mount or cold shoe - nope. One can wish for the moon. It sits right on my side desk shelf, ready to go, and looks great.

The knobs turn solidly and don't wiggle at all. The volume is perfect for practice. I am being treated to time saving convenience.

The sound? It's loud enough. It has an overdrive switch that's a bit too much if that is your desire. The gain stage is useful. Having BT is a HUGE plus. Everything functions like a big amp, just mini-me sized. I dragged out a grey bass pod and it's really talking now ! Some sort of compression is necessary since the amp is sensitive because it's small.

Perfect for the situation for my "grab and play" PJ bass that sits at my desk. Ideas, figure out some theory, run scales while I have to talk on the phone, etc.

Very good quality for the value it offers. If you can keep your expectations in check, it'll be the perfect little amp.

Szilvia A.

I'm in love with this cuteness

I so love this cute little bass amp!

I don't even know where to start.

First of all the style is super cute, has this 70's vintage look. The size is not just adorable but also very handy. You can travel with your bass and have your amp right there with you. you can play in your hotel room, in the park, in your office ....and of course at home. You can use your head phones with it and also connect it to your phone. It charges with a USB -C charger, which is super convenient. The amp's quality also surprised me, it doesn't fee cheap, it feels solid and very well made. It also has pads on the bottom to protect your furniture.

The sound is very good for something this tiny, of course you won't be able to go on a gig with it, but it's perfect for practicing alone in your free time.

Definitely many thumbs up!

Edgregious

Desktop karaoke/guitar amp.

This is a deceptively small amplifier, whose clever retro styling partially compensates for reservations about sound quality and durability.

The styling suggests a bookshelf radio—maybe even a tube radio—somewhat larger than the device you receive, and that you might reasonably expect to approximate the size of this device given the photos, though the short manufacturer's video gives a more realistic impression of the actual size. As a decorative desktop item it can double as a Bluetooth speaker, and in this role as an auxiliary speaker the three right-hand knobs have no effect on output. I'm guessing that you could play along with recorded music—or sing along, with the right mike—with the freedom to set volume and tone of the live input independently.*

It's cute but only loud enough to amuse yourself or one or two friends, and if you attach it to a guitar or a microphone you may want to add some hook-and-eye tape to hold it in place, as one fall may be its last. If you're serious about practice then something just a little bit beefier might be in order, and as an auxiliary speaker the retro looks will have to make up for something lost in fidelity; it has something of the sound of an AM radio, and not just the looks.

*In hindsight the meaning of "dual channel".

N

Nancy

The aux is good

THE SOUND WAS LIKE A LITTLE TRICKY BUT NOTHIN I COULDN’t figure out but when I got that sound right the thing was just perfect so I played a couple of guitar songs and the sounded so much better

T

The Friendly Ranger

Strichly speaking, it’s pretty good!

This review is for the STRICH SEA-10 Electric Guitar Mini Portable Rechargeable Amp. It’s a small rechargeable Li-ion battery powered guitar amp with two speakers and rated at 10 watts. The amp is made out of plastic. I first thought the speaker grill was metal but it may be plastic too though it doesn’t really matter. The amp is durable enough if you treat it well and don’t throw it around. In fact, the manual specifically says not to throw it! And, even though it’s plastic on the outside, getting it wet enough that water can get to the electrical components inside is not recommended.

The amp has Clean and Drive settings that can be selected via a pushbutton switch on the front panel. The switch LED alternates between green (Clean) and red (Drive). The Gain control affects the Drive channel only and controls the amount of distortion. At its maximum setting it's in classic rock territory. If you need more than that, you’ll need to run a high gain pedal in front of it. The Tone knob can be used to control the treble. I run it pretty low. It sounds pretty good for a small amp but it still sounds like a small amp. You’re not going to do gigs with drums and other instruments using this amp, especially not on a busy, noisy street. It should be fine for practicing at home alone or with someone else using a similarly powered amp.

Other features include Bluetooth capability that allows you to play music from your cell phone through it. You can also connect other audio sources using a 1/8” Aux-In jack on the back. You can use the amp as strictly a Bluetooth/external speaker or jam along with it on guitar. I’ve tried all options and they work as expected. A headphone jack is also included and the internal speakers are defeated when headphones are connected. The sound through the headphones sounds pretty much like what comes out of the internal speakers.

The battery is charged via a USB-C port using a standard 5V cell phone charger which is not included. A USB-A to USB-C cord is included if needed. Charging takes about 4 hours and at full charge should provide between 4 and 6 hours of use depending on how you use it. Enabling Bluetooth will likely use more power. One thing different about this amp compared to others like it that I have tried is that it still functions while you are charging it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. I assume that if it was a bad thing they would have prevented it but my preference is to turn it off and not use it while charging. I recommend completely reading the small manual as there are recommendations for maintaining battery life. For example, if you’re going to put it away and not play it for a while, make sure it’s fully charged before storing it.

I did not open up the amp to see the inside. Per the manual, there are no internal parts that are user serviceable and modifying it will likely void the warranty. I don’t know if the battery is replaceable. I’ve seen similar amps with a Li-ion battery pack connected to the circuit board with a certain type of connector and those types of battery packs are available. It may be possible to replace it later but even so these amps are priced such that it may not make sense to go to the trouble.

As a compact and portable low volume amp that runs off rechargeable batteries, can double as a Bluetooth speaker, and has a headphone jack, it’s pretty good.

STRICH SBA-10 Mini Bass Practice Amp – customer photo 2

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