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.

I've never heard about Palmer before. They made pretty impressive little bass machine!
Here are my observations after few tests:
- pretty solid build, but has some flaws in coating. That makes it look "cheaper", than it could be.
- impressive EQ with parametric mids. A lot of options to shape your tone.
- can be used as DI-box.
- can be used as practice amp with headphones.
- can be used as overdrive/fuzz effect.
- Blend control is useful to create mix of dry and overdirven signal. I find this the most cool feature of the device.
- thus, it gives a lot of routing possibilities.
- overall tone is pretty good, though not the best one maybe.
- can be powered with 9V battery, which is useful if you don't have standalone power source.

Conclusion: very good device for it's money! It gives you DI-box, overdrive/fuzz effect, practice amp and splitter in a single unit. Good choice, as for me.

I bought the Palmer Pocket Amp Bass because it looked promising and has a headphone output -- handy for practising at home. I have been delighted to find that the Palmer offers a much greater range of sounds than my Mk1 Sansamp Bass Driver DI.
The Palmer Pocket Amp Bass sound shaping is flexible, and tube emulation is excellent, including a whole spectrum of appealing overdrive distortion. I already own a couple of tube amps (an Ashdown and a Warwick with a tube preamp), so I'm familiar with the real thing.
I own about 15 bass guitars, fretted and fretless, 4 and 5 string, some passive but mainly active, including several graphite necked headless basses from the 1980s and 90s and some boutique luthier made basses. The Palmer is effective at letting their character show through, and adjusting it in interesting ways. Plus of course, practising without waking up the neighbours -- the main reason I bought it. Recommended.

The sound from this preamp is fantastic. The semi parametric EQ allows me to dial in the tone I'm seeking. It makes even a cheap bass sound boutique!
The only thing I don't like is its hard to setup. The instructions are minimum and it took a long time to find "my sound". But I found I had to tweak it even further when switching to the distorted sound, so I couldn't simply switch sounds on the fly. I would require a seperate distortion/fuzz for that.
If you want a set and forget preamp with DI out, and have patience to play around with the settings to find your own sound, then this is the pedal for you.

so its a little bit confusing for me .
first, my pedal is active when the light is red and inactive when green , feels a bit counterintuitive unless my pedal is faulty.
build quality is not great, i had shorting specially with the gain so sometimes i need to actually push it to make it work.
due to its small size, the knobs are very close to each other which is annoying but a compromise that i accept.
you cannot change between clean , fuzz and distortion on the fly due to the difference in levels that creates.
for the pros, i mainly use the clean sound and it gives a lot of tonal variation. i love the blend knob which makes everything more organic to my ears. it has 2 cab sims that do a decent job , i usually use the modern and it sounds very good. lastly , you get a fair amount of in and outs for practicing, recording or playing alone.

Other than the saturation knob that doesn't do ANYTHING (maybe ive got a defect), Its a nice box.
Esentially its a Di box, but also with an option to EQ your sound, a pretty nice but not very audible cabinet simulator and an OK overdrive.

Another cool thing is you can actually just plug your bass guitar into it and start playing.(with headphones) all you need is 9v .

on the negative, the Fuzz isn't very useful for recordings its too harsh. some buttons feel a little bit "weak" and are a pain to clean because they are very small.

I Ended up selling mine and moved to a simpler D.I box.