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Advice needed!

C

Chadster87

Mar 14, 2012
11
1
Lancashire, England, UK
#1
weird situation this one, basically at the moment i'm on a really tight budget and i plan to order the behringer bx4500h from germany, i've ordered from them before and in the past i've had to change the inner fuse before it could be used. now this is some time ago and i don't have either amps anymore so i've no idea what fuse it was i swapped to. i'm in the UK and like i say its coming from Germany and need to find out, if anyone has ever ordered from Germany to the UK what happened? any solid answer would be a huge help, cos like a lot of people at the moment me and the gf are feeling the pinch and i've needed a new amp for some time :(
thanks guys
 
#2
i'm unsure that i can help, but why the fuse change? is it a 110/220v thing? i can't help with that. my concern is that you got a Beh.... :eek: is is too late to cancel and find something locally, used ;)

and second, why the rush? if you're stretched financially, maybe a NEW amp might not be the best choice. for the cost of a new amp, you could do better (than you mentioned) used for the same or less scratch.

my thoughts.
 
#3
hi, thanks for the reply. yeah the power ratings different from the UK to germany, we run off 230V. i plan gettin the behringer as its only £150 and for 450 watts thats a lot of power for little cash, i've looked around locally, ebay, newspapers, put wanted ads out and theres very little about, i bought a used amp 2 years ago and it's terrible it's really gotta go. i own an ATK (ibanez) and i can't use it with that amp. i'm slightly torn at the moment though, i've found the line 6 HD400 for £180, i'd need a different speaker cable too so call it £190, and thats domestically. thing is i can't find a good review of it and i don't know anything about it, an old friend owned a line 6 and it spent more time in the shop being repaired than played through so i'm dubious. i've played the behringer several times, i have the alu-coned behringer cab and thats never given me probs, i'm not doubting what you say but what have you against them? again thanks for the reply
Chadster87
 
#4
Chadster87 said:
weird situation this one, basically at the moment i'm on a really tight budget and i plan to order the behringer bx4500h from germany, i've ordered from them before and in the past i've had to change the inner fuse before it could be used. now this is some time ago and i don't have either amps anymore so i've no idea what fuse it was i swapped to. i'm in the UK and like i say its coming from Germany and need to find out, if anyone has ever ordered from Germany to the UK what happened? any solid answer would be a huge help, cos like a lot of people at the moment me and the gf are feeling the pinch and i've needed a new amp for some time :(
thanks guys
Click to expand...

Not a problem. Just the plug is different. If cable can be detached, and I am pretty sure it can, just get a cable in the UK for it.
Or you can use a plug adaptor. But I prefer a new cable myself.

No need to change fuses. We use the same current across Europe. Nominally 230V there, 240V in the UK, but with the tolerances involved it's actually the same in practical terms.

Get a UK plug cable, similar to a "kettle lead", and that's all you need.

European plugs don't have fuses, having one at The plug is a nice touch though. You can probably use a 5A, or certainly a 10 or 13A fuse there. Check the manual for specs, and pick one higher than the stated current. But like I said... European plugs do NOT have fuses, so it's only an extra layer of safety and not crucial.
Do NOT change anything inside the amp head itself.

I routinely use the same equipment in the UK and continental Europe, either UK bought and notUK bought.
 
#5
basscooker said:
i'm unsure that i can help, but why the fuse change? is it a 110/220v thing? i can't help with that. my concern is that you got a Beh.... :eek: is is too late to cancel and find something locally, used ;)

and second, why the rush? if you're stretched financially, maybe a NEW amp might not be the best choice. for the cost of a new amp, you could do better (than you mentioned) used for the same or less scratch.

my thoughts.
Click to expand...

That amp head is actually decent. I had the 300W version and I liked the sound... Not a problem with it ever.
 
#6
thanks for that, i had emailed thomann and struggled with a solid answer, i've just had 2 amps from germany before and had to change the inner fuse inside the head, i know about the kettle lead, they'll send out a 2-pin plug. would you pick the behringer over the line 6 hd400? thats another candidate although i've never played through one.
thanks again
 
#7
Where in England are you? Are you way out in the country or something or in/near a decent sized city? I can't imagine there aren't any decent bass amps around. Just about anything would be better than behringer. They just dont sound good and aren't reliable. If you could have something shipped from Germany, you could have something shipped from London.

Line 6 sucks too. Stay away from any "budget" gear, digital modeling crap, etc... Your money will go a lot farther if you buy used "pro" gear than new "budget" gear. And in absolute value, the cheap crap will end up costing more because you will have to replace it a lot faster, and it will have less resale value.

I know you said you've looked for amps, but I guarantee you haven't looked hard enough. Are you only looking for specific models/brands? Maybe it's different over there, but here you can get older Trace Elliot heads for as little as $80 sometimes, and typically more like $300 or so. So I imagine you could get something not quite as high end for even cheaper than that.

What is your current amp? I have a hard time believing it's worse than behringer. And why do you think your bass doesnt work with it?
 
#8
i'm about an hour from manchester, and there isn't anything decent around. maybe if i was a lot more patient than i am but like i said i've got the ibanez which i really wanna use, it works in anything modern just not my amp which is a McGregor, some ancient crock of crap 200W thing, built in the 70s which i bought being naive and very hungover on my first payday in my job 2 years ago! bad move i know. and it is worse than behringer, might have been good nearly 40 years ago. it doesnt work with the ibanez as i've got one of the original ATK's the one with the J pup at the neck, theres no seperate active/passive inputs my guess is it was built before actives existed so i plug in, turn up anything past say, 3/4 and it just screams at me, i don't even think it's feedback just some high pitch whine, i've tried the bass in other rigs and it doesnt do it, I have to use my squier precision through it and its noisy as hell, which is why i say its gotta go whilst i got the cash spare (which won't be for very long) man i wish i was rich, i'd have stingrays and GK's and just the thought makes me drool!
 
#9
You shouldn't be turning an amp up past 3/4 anyway for the most part.

I think you need to spend more time learning how gear works before buying any more. Your wallet will thank you.

Also, the only thing having an active bass does is that sometimes the output will be a little hotter. So don't crank up all the EQ on the bass (leave it as flat as possible) and then back the master volume off just a bit if necessary, and you should be able to use any amp you want.

What speaker cab do you have, or is your amp a combo?

And if you're that close to Manchester, you can DEFINITELY get something used. Look in whatever the British equivalent of craigslist is and follow it every day/week until you figure out what the market is like. And you can look on ebay for "completed" items to get an idea on prices. 150 pounds is not a lot to spend on a bass amp and unless you really know what you are doing (which it sounds like you dont) you're probably not going to get anything decent for that much until you do some research and really look around a bit.

Also, why dont you sell your Squire for some extra money to put towards a good amp?
 
#10
beh......meh. if it's going to sit and be babied in a smoke and pet free home forever, you might get away with it. that is if it by chance happens to be one assembled with components near their rated values. i read that the problem with budget brands' reliability often boils down to the internal components' tolerances. cheap components have really wide tolerances (some can be 15% higher or lower in reality than their stated rating). you just may luck out!
honestly i'll save my gambling money for lotto and poker, tho...
 
#11
jeez i only said i bought a crap amp cos i was a bit foolish (and wasted), i've learnt since then, yeah i'll be the first to admit i'm no whizzkid when it comes to amps, and i don't really wanna sell the squier, she makes a good backup bass, plus my band plays a lot of songs in flats so its quite useful to keep for now. i've done some surfing, what do you think of this? Link Removed
its got top reviews, i'm gonna call them back in the morning for a bit more info on the condition of it, but its £100 less than if new, but i've been looking for weeks and spent hours today thats the best i can find.

my cab is.... a behringer, i've had it several years and it's done me proud, its the alu-coned 115, 600W. thats why i was leaning towards the head version of it as the cabs not bad, aint great by any standards but it does the job, been gigged a lot. but yeah, i hope once i've more cash to replace that with a 410, but right now a change of head's beyond necessary.

Tell me what ya think of the Laney, cheers
 
#15
it's both. i've ordered it, if it doesnt live up to expectations i can send it back with a refund so it's all good. i'll see on monday what it's like. if it's as good as i hope it is (and reviewed as) then i owe it to the advice of jungleheat, may have been a tad patronising to me but it was sound advice! cheers for that

and there may well be a good amp or two in the cities but i don't drive and public transport costs a fortune in england nowadays (like i said i'm not that well-off financially, stuck in a part-time cleaning job) hopefully i can get giggin again soon and bring some cash home. like old times! :)

thanks again for the advice guys. knowledge is power, and power is a solid backline \m/
peace x
 

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