| Ampeg BA-210 SP: 10 years later and still doing the job
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over the years I've stepped back from the Bass Rig arms race.
I had bigamps, combo's, tubes, SS, hybrids, digitals, vintage amps etc...
After losing thousands of dollars in gear in a fire I needed a quick, durable yet portabl solution.
At the time the answer was the BA-210 SP
I liked the idea of built-in FX, because my use of FX had become a bit more judicious (less is more?).
Combo amps - no-one really gives a ratsass. I had rigs that were franken amps that would destry most foundations and make whales cry.
I admit I saw the brand name and then gave it 20 minutes of spoo on the showroom floor. Naturally I couldn't appreciate all this amp had to offer.
It was heavy. It had casters and three handles. Portability - yeah sort of.
This amp has taken a fair share of abuse and has not shown even a hiccup or fart after 10 years. It even fell off a truck - face-plant and no damage to internals.
ocassionally it would act-up if there were ground issues where I was playing, but not a big deal if you had a ground-lift at your disposal.
One little feature I rarley paid 'serious' attention to was the STYLE knob.
It was advertised as a modeling feature, but in reality it is 5 hard-coded eq settings.
If you goto Ampeg's site and dig up older amps, you'll see the pdf owner's manual describing this feature.
What I had been doing for the last 5 years is find the most generic STYLE setting for my taste and then weaking my sound with an out-board parametric eq.
Last weekend, I had left the Para EQ at home - no biggie.
My main bass is my Stambaugh 8 String with active barts.
I decided to give that bass a rest since it was an outdoor gig and broke out the Passive J-bass.
The J and I do not have a tight history. It was an impulse buy and I would rarely play it. Just a back-up fiddle and sometimes a city bass for quick one-offs.
After plugging in I had to really fiddle with the on-board stuff to get a sound that was agree-able.
The STYLE knob hit me like a bolt of lightening and I immediately appreciated it's worth with a passive J bass.
Night and Day.
I see players agonize over tone and sound, including myself.
As a comparison - I swapped basses and ran the Stammy through the same EQ STYLE. Not good for actives, but great for an uncomp'd passive.
Why do I mention this epiphany? I almost dumped this amp for a higher end - some what portable tube amp.
glad I didn't. I now have a greater appreciation for my passive J bass. We're friends now.
So if you see one of these gems laying around - give it a spin.
Cons:
It's a heavy solid state amp. Yes - it will hurt your back if you are not careful.
no effects loop, but I'm sure I could doctor something as it is a pretty cut and dried system.
FX are decent, but not for the player that wants to lump together 2 or three fx at once.
It takes a bit of a spin to get the FX output to do what you want it to do (if you are so inclined).
Have at it. | 
