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“Wait, it does what?” Why JBL BandBox is different from the new wave of smart practice amps
It’s a hotly contested corner of the market, but JBL has found a genuinely new way to approach the modern practice amp.
With its BandBox lineup, the amp and speaker specialist has given guitarists innovative new tools to level up their practice game. Comprising Solo and Trio models, the BandBox range is a collection of smart practice amps and Bluetooth speakers designed for musicians.
At their core, both draw on JBL’s expertise in the guitar amp space that stretches back decades. JBL might not be an obvious name in guitar amps today, but through its loudspeaker heritage it has a genuine, little-known history in guitar amplification stretching back decades.
Chiefly, they offer a range of legendary amp and effects models to help you craft expansive and inspiring tones.
But both have another stand-out feature, designed in-house by JBL, that could reshape the way you practice: Stem AI. In effect, Stem AI lets you stream a song through the BandBox via Bluetooth; remove guitar, vocals or drums in real time; and then play it yourself.
A helpful feature in its own right, the implementation of JBL’s stem separation is also designed to seamlessly fit into your workflow. Stem separation is handled entirely onboard BandBox.
Music is streamed via Bluetooth from your phone, processed directly inside the amp, and separated into stems using BandBox’s onboard processing, controlled either from the unit itself or via the JBL One app
There’s no need to connect your BandBox to a phone with a cable, you don’t need to prepare a separate audio file. You don’t even have to subscribe to unlock Stem AI; it comes as standard.
In a practical sense, stem separation is beneficial for beginners and seasoned strummers alike. Need to transcribe a complex shred solo? With the BandBox, you can isolate the guitar part and dig into the notes. Want to learn your first riffs and master your favorite song? Strip out the stem and use the original song as a backing track to hone your chops.
Stem separation may be the headline feature, but the BandBox is a fully featured practice amp in its own right. As mentioned, it draws on JBL’s long history of speaker and sound expertise to deliver a fully fledged guitar tone experience.
Effects include noise gates, compressor, modulations, reverbs and delays, as well as wahs and overdrive. Eight guitar amps and 10 cabs are also baked in, with an eight-block signal chain to order as you like.
Alongside its built-in range of amp and effects models, it also offers a host of smart practice tools. These include a looper, onboard presets, a tuner, a metronome, practice tools, and USB-C audio interface functionality.
It also has a companion JBL One app for BandBox control and dialing in signal chains. Not only does the amp remove guitar, vocal or drum stems, it gives you the tools to create a convincing sound to replace them with – sounds you can also write and record your own music with.
JBL’s pedigree in the speaker space, and therefore its position as a solid contender in the amp market, shouldn’t be overlooked. Long before it entered this new era of smart practice amp design, its speakers were being used by the most influential guitarists of the 1950s and 1960s.
JBL launched the D-130 in 1947, in the following decade the speaker found its way into a host of Fender amps. In the later ‘50s, Leo Fender began offering JBL speakers for his amps as factory upgrades.
From there, JBL developed its F Series speakers, which found their way into popular Fender amps of the ‘60s and ‘70s, including the Showman and Dual Showman. Twin and Twin Reverb amps also had the option of JBL speakers. So too did the Super Reverb.
The ‘JBL sound’ was sought after, championed by Jerry Garcia, Dick Dale, Duane Allman and more. JBL stopped producing instrument speakers in 2000, but it continued to cement itself as one of the leaders in the live and studio space. Its guitar speakers are still sought-after gems on the vintage market.
The BandBox lineup features the Solo and Trio models, and though both share the fundamental feature and practice tool set, each has its own distinctive outlook.
The Solo is more compact, more affordable at £199, and is perfect for portability and personal practice with six hours of battery life.
Meanwhile, the Trio is the full-fat BandBox experience. It has a much larger sound, offers more physical hands-on controls, and an integrated color LCD display. There’s comprehensive I/Os, offers up to 10 hours of battery life, and delivers 135 watts of output for rehearsals and multi-instrument setups.
In an over-crowded market of practice amps, the BandBox is paving a new way to approach the practice amp. From the in-amp stem separation to the generous array of tones onboard, the BandBox could help you level up your practice game.
To see both of these units in action check out JBL’s deep dive videos with recording artist Lindsay Ell on the Solo HERE and the Trio HERE.
BandBox is available to purchase in the UK from all leading retailers including
[Note: Stem separation is for non-commercial use only. It is your responsibility to know and abide by copyright laws in your country, and your use may require permission from the copyright holder(s). Review terms associated with use of prerecorded or licensed music, and streaming services, before using BandBox]
