Looking for a new bass combo amp for less than £200 (aprox $300)

[heavyrockerbass]

I'm looking to upgrade my bass amp, as I currently have the Marshall MB30, and while this is a decent little practice amp and it has faired me well! I would like to upgrade it to something with a little more power and versatility. I'm on a fairly tight budget being a student!

One amp which caught my eye was the Behringer Ultrabass BXL1800A, does anybody know if this is a good investment?

I would preferably like to buy new and any amp with similar stats to the behringer; 100W-200W, (preferably with some sort of distortion effect but that isn't a must have!) would be perfect.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[dalkowski]

You're going to get a lot of slag about Behringer here, especially about their durability. Be prepared.

Frankly, you're not going to have many options on that budget. Don't be afraid of buying second-hand gear! I don't know what the UK market is like, but here in the US you can get a lot of Peavey amp for very little money. Peavey stuff weighs a ton, but you can't kill it, either. I play and recommend the Hartke A100. For distortion, get a pedal.

[jbalou02]

I've had a Behringer BX1200 for many years, it's served me quite well for itsy bitsy gigs and lots of practice. It's been beat to hell and hasn't skipped a beat. I've beat some Peavey's to hell as well, and yes they are durable too but in my experience the difference in sound quality is negligable. They are both low/mid range priced amp, good work horse equipment, not top notch sound. Behringer=Peavy IMO.

[gary mitchell]

Look at used on bay are craigslist. Are band when we first started had a Behringer power amp and microphones lasted about two gigs, the power amp quit. The microphones soon gave up.

[Hellbastard]

Do you want to upgrade to a better quality practice amp, or do you want an amp thta also works for band rehearsals and small gigs?

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by Hellbastard

Do you want to upgrade to a better quality practice amp, or do you want an amp thta also works for band rehearsals and small gigs?

Good question. We all have to answer this one at some particular moment.

Don't look for effects or special settings pots. Effects are better covered using pedals. If you dislike the effect, just sell and buy another type. A basic EQ is all you need (bass, low mids, high mids, treble).

You will need at least 300w to cover most mid-size venues.
So used may be better. Weight is important. F.e. a used Markbass 12" combo will get you all you need.