Palmer Pocket Amp Bass

I bought this for practicing electric bass guitar, and it's perfect for that.

The size and layout of the device are very good: you get a lot of functionality and connectivity in something you can comfortably hold in one hand. The description "pocket" is a bit misleading, I think - maybe other people have bigger pockets than me(?) - but if it was any smaller then the controls would be too close together, and fiddly to adjust.

It seems well made, and pretty road-worthy. But I'm not planning on gigging with it - it will stay at home.

The sound is really good. Of the three MODES, I prefer O.DRIVE, which can add a nice degree of musical saturation. Of the three CAB voicings, I prefer MODERN (which adds low frequency "weight") or VINTAGE (which adds mid range "throatiness"). The "Saturate" control is mis-labeled, in my opinion; I would have called it "Compression", which it does really well; it's actually one of the most musical "one-knob compressors" I've ever used on bass. There's lots of output volume available (if anything slightly too much; I have to adjust the Vol knob quite carefully not to deafen myself).

I've given it four stars instead of five for "sound" because it's not the quietest device I've ever used. The noise level is still pretty good...but there's definitely a slight layer of background hiss, more than other bass gear I own (e.g. a mark II SansAmp). For practicing this doesn't matter; I never notice it. But it's a pity, because if it wasn't for the noise I think it would be great for recording, too. I'll try it at some point; maybe in a mix the noise won't matter(?)

As an "all-in-one bass practice tool" it's missing a few things, perhaps:
* a tuner
* metronome
* a volume control for the aux input

...but I don't need them: I've got tuners already, you can get metronome apps for your phone, and pretty much anything you connect to it will have its own volume control anyway. Adding those things would have increased the price, and the size of the device.

One final thing: either I'm practising more than I used to - a good sign! - or it eats batteries like sweets. So do the planet a favour, and get a mains adapter or some rechargeable batteries :)

I bought it mainly because of the headphone output and the “sweepable” middle frequencies and I am not dissapointed!
The clean channel sounds amazing with both my active and passive basses. The controls are super responsive and give you a lot of possibilities, and the knobs feels sturdy. The FX insert is a great idea to save space and the other features like speaker emulation and headphones output sound really good.
I deducted points because the Overdrive and Fuzz channels are too mild in my opinion. In order to get a good crunchy sound out of them, you need to crank the Drive almost all the way up (I go all the way!) and use the Normal input (not the -12dB) even if your bass is active. It only really crunches when the input signal peaks. Otherwise, it would be the ultimate affordable portable amp. In those conditions, it's a really good fuzz pedal, too!
On the other hand, with the OD and Fuzz you can use the Blend at 100% wet signal and still won't lose a lot of bottom end, which is a nice plus - as is the auxiliary input, for practicing.
The manual could be much better. For example, I am still not quite sure I understand what exactly the Saturate knob does - mostly, I just go as high as right before my tone starts to sound funny, for the compression. All in all, it takes some work to master all the dials.
I still haven't, but I would easily use it for recording of on stage (the option to use the DI pre or post EQ is also a great feature!). The metal housing and the foot switch feel they can take some stomping.
The other day I used it to practice guitar with headphones (7-stringer with a heavy distortion pedal) and it sounded pretty good, too! =D

So it's rather cheap, has lots of controls and inputs and outputs. And it's tiny. I like that I can take it wherever I take my bass, just plug into it and play.
- Bypass is not really a bypass, it's amplifying the signal, too. It creates nice clean full tone. Sounds better than plugging the bass directly into the Hi-Z input of a mixer;
- EQ controls affect the overdriven sound. If you set Blend to 0, EQ will be flat;
- Gain+Blend+EQ controls make for lots of combinations of settings. I find it rather difficult to set a good tone. Sometimes the best tone I can get is the Bypass (Green LED);
- I can't really hear what Saturation does. According to the manual, it's a mild compression.
- Aux in and headphone out are great for practice in the night;
All in all, it's a great combination of features.

I guess if you pay more and buy a bigger box, you'll get better tone. But you won't be able to carry it in your pocket.

You probably stumbled on this product page out of curiosity, because you had never heard of Palmer before. Neither did I! You might also be wondering if you'd be better off paying more for an Aguilar or ToneX product. Maybe?

The thing I love about the Palmer is that it's a very straightforward plug-and-play product, delivered in a very attractive little package. It's a joy to use, and you don't have to pair it to your phone, fiddle in some bloated software suite, or watch a bunch of YouTube videos to get it sounding good. I don't know about you, but having less screen time is great, and it leaves more time to, you know, play music!

The Palmer sounds pretty good. Sure, you could get better sound out of an Aguilar Tone Hammer, but at twice the cost. Meanwhile, these cheap little Korg/Vox amplugs don't come anywhere close to what you get here. Palmer gives you a loud, full bodied bass sound, with some pleasing characteristics. I wouldn't use it for live performances, but it's more than enough for quiet practice at home or on the road.

The build quality is quite good. The knobs feel good. The effects are fine. Fuzz sounds fuzzy and distortion sounds distorted. It can be battery-powered, and one 9V battery will last you a while. The compressor and cab settings don't affect the sound as much as you'd expect, but they don't really matter that much. You can also plug in an audio device via the auxiliary port, to play along to Spotify or YouTube.

Should you buy this over a ToneX product? It depends on your budget and what you're looking for. As a practice headphone amp, the Palmer bass amp is very much feature-complete, and delivers good results. Also, unlike the ToneX One (which I do like very much), you don't have to spend hours configuring it before it's good to go!