Hi, I’m Toru Hoshino, a bass teacher.
This article is basically me saying, “I bought a new amp and I love it.”
This article is for:
· Anyone curious about the NANOBASS X4
· Anyone looking to buy a new amp
· Anyone who wants a solid amp for home practice
If that’s you, I hope this is useful — read on.
The amp I’m covering today is the NANOBASS X4, made by PHIL JONES BASS.
· It’s small
· It doubles as a Bluetooth speaker
· It’s got real power
are the things I really love about it.
It’s a perfect amp for home practice, so I wanted to write up a review.
Contents
It’s Small
16 cm wide x 20 cm tall x 19.7 cm deep
That’s the size we’re talking about.
16 cm wide is about the size of my phone, lol.
It’s so small that I was genuinely surprised when I unboxed it.
I’ve tried a number of these compact amps before, and the one thing that always bothered me was the low end breaking up because of the small cabinet size.
But with this one, you don’t need to worry about that at all.
It puts out a genuinely punchy low end. Check the video further down to hear it in action. ^^
It Doubles as a Bluetooth Speaker
The amp itself works as a Bluetooth speaker, so you can connect it wirelessly to your phone and play, say, a YouTube track through it.
The sound quality over Bluetooth is great, and the low end holds up just as well — very on-brand for PHIL JONES BASS.
On top of that, you can stream a backing track over Bluetooth while playing your bass through the same amp at the same time, so this one amp alone is enough to practice efficiently along with a reference track.
It’s Got Real Power
Despite being small, it doesn’t break up on the low end and delivers a genuinely powerful, high-quality bottom.
It holds a solid low end even with a 5-string’s low B or with an upright bass.
Tone is hard to describe in text, so here’s a quote from the manufacturer’s own description:
“It took time to find the right balance and sound — pushing right up against the physical limits of such a tiny enclosure while still delivering the authentic PJB bass tone our standards demand. Tuning the dedicated passive radiator and speaker, adjusting the sound and controls — we went through countless revisions over two years before we finally arrived at a sound we were satisfied with.”
That’s what they say.
And reading that is exactly what got me to buy it. (lol) Total sucker for good marketing copy. (^o^)
Anyway, I also reviewed this amp on video, so if you’re curious, take a look below. ^^
Also Covered on YouTube
If you want to get a sense of how loud/full this thing actually sounds, definitely check out the video.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.