Ampeg BA series... which one?/any good?

[snowballfight]

Heya guys. Big fan of the forum, used it in many situations but... only my first post!

Simple question really. What do people think of the low end Ampeg Bass Series models? I'm looking for a practice amp that gives a not **** DI signal if I decide to kick it back as a monitor on stage. So these kinda stand out as what I want. I've done the monitor thing plenty of times when I can't lug my full rig to the gig. Works well... not the best but, it works. Any other suggestions for that kinda thing? Don't want it better than 100W, I've got my rig for that.

Also, some more complex questions about some rig mixing...

My Ashdown runs at 307W@4ohms. It runs into the SVT210 which is 200W@8ohms. Does anyone know whether I can use the cabinet of the BA115 as just that, a cabinet? Cut out the amp. So as I can run the Ashdown into it. It's only 150W@4ohms so I was wondering more like running both the SVT210AV and the BA115 together for a 210 and 115 rig. How do I work out the ohms and wattages of that rig? I don't wanna blow **** up!

Thanks guys, hope I made sense.

B

 

[username1]

I picked up a ba112 a while back for small jobs and i love the tone, sounds more like a tube amp than most hybrids even though it is all solid state. I read alot of reviews before buying and most prefered the sound of the ba112 to the bigger ones.

 

[billiam5billion]

I have the BA115 with the tube preamp, and I love the tone. The controls are super friendly too. Word of warning, though-it's a heavy beast. I've gigged with it at average sized clubs, and it held up just fine.

 

[RickenBoogie]

The Ampeg BA series combo's are 4 ohms, so you would not want to use it with the 2x10 and Ashdown head. The impedance would be too low, and put your amp at risk. Of all the BA series, I like the BA112 the best, tonally, but it doesn't provide a DI. Your rig is small enough, I wouldn't think a combo would be all that much smaller. If you want your Ashdown to put out more power and volume, add a 2nd 8 ohm 210 to what you have, or even an 8 ohm 15 if you'd rather. The combo just doesn't pair well in this case.

 

[bassman1185]

The BA115 was my first "real" amp. It sounded pretty good, but had an overactive tweeter, at least for my taste. It does not have an easy way to be rigged as an extension speaker, nor is there an extension cabinet output.

 

[nutdog]

I used one in our church for a while. It was another guys but he left it there. Used it in the youth room and later in the sanctuary as my monitor.

I liked the sound, but it didn't keep up if the drummer and guitar were loud. This didn't happen often, because I don't really enjoy hyper loudness, but when playing with younger excitable boys it had trouble keeping up.

In the sanctuary it did alright but it hissed. Didn't matter where the knobs were. Very noticeable when things got quiet. I have seen others complain about this in this model.

It had a 5 position switch for different tones, but I only liked one of them, and found it to be kind of muddy in the big room. I could use the settings to clean it up but it lost bottom thump that I could feel at lower volume.

It didn't have a speaker out so you couldn't add an extension cab and I think the speaker was internally connected so you would have to modify to use as an extension speaker.

Overall I'd say it's a good piece for low volume rock but not very articulate or loud. It was OK but I think you could do better.

My first bass combo was a yamaha. I think it was 100 watts and a 15 (no tweeter--yea!!). It had an extension jack and you could disconnect the speaker and use it with another amp. Bought it around 1990. Still have it at the church, although I was just informed it is cutting in and out. I think it's the input jack, because it happened before. But it was very clean and loud enough to play small clubs without PA (I did it).

It was like this one:
Invalid Link Removed

I'd sell it but I don't think I could get enough to make it worth it.

I've heard Peavey TNT 115 combos that sounded pretty good but I don't know about connectivity. I just bought a jazz bass and the guy had it with a crate BFX115 combo. The price was good so I've got it, but I don't think you can use the speaker alone. I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality of this because my previous experience with crate was not good.

Personally, I'd save up for the ibanez 5110. I may do that eventually. Light, powerful and versatile.

 

[snowballfight]

@RickenBoogie - so do we just not mix 8/4ohm cabinets? The ashdown runs at 4 ohms minimum so it should theoretically be ok. If I just had a similar 210 cab rated the same and a fictional 200W@4ohm 15" cab, how would I check what power it would receive, and what the load is on the amp?

@bassman1185 & @nutdog - how bad is the tweeter hiss? I mean, is it like wire/mains hum or what? I've never had an amp that I've noticed this on... really.

B

 

[bassman1185]

It is a noticeable hiss, made worse when you boost the treble.

As for the impedance (ohms) issue, when you run two 8-ohm cabs in line, you have a 4-ohm load. Two 4-ohm cabs is a 2-ohm load. A four and an eight together is 2.76, which your amp won't handle.

 

[klokker]

I don't see why you would want a low end Ampeg BA when you already have similar amps....you can't combine them like you want to. Seems like a waste of money to me and those Ampegs aren't that great.

I also don't get using an extra amp as a monitor. Using your amp as a monitor usually happens when you have a PA and so you just use your gig rig.

Instead of a practice rig, I'd use what you have to practice on and save up for a better gig rig if you need to.

 

[Octalcode]

I've used a BA115HP (220 watt) for a few years now. As a stage monitor with DI for larger venues, and by itself for smaller clubs. Love the tone, and it never let me down. I use it as a backup now. However, there is no easy way to use it as an extension cab. I'm very happy with it. Just my .02 cents

 

[BillyIVbass]

I was looking for a small practice amp that could also see some light shows. This amp looks good on paper, but it sounded really thin. I went with the new Acoustic stuff.

 

[nutdog]

I found the hiss very noticeable. Not while playing but when sitting next to it even with the volume all the way down. I can't say for sure that it was tweeter hiss, but definitely hiss.

If you look at the reviews on this site you will see it mentioned often:

http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ampeg-BA115-Bass-Combo?sku=481777

I don't know what your budget is but I think there is better equipment available. For the near the same money (new) the new lightweight GK amps sound good, but I don't have experience with them. I played the 210 model in the store so I can't tell you much except it was a joy to lift. No ext. cab on the 115 model either.

 

[michaelgilleran]

Dont play upright bass with them. Thats all I have to say

 

[bassvi]

Depends on what you are using it for. I have had good results with my BA112 with upright using a MXR DI+ as a pre. It is a great sounding practice and low volume gig amp. Not a good choice if you are playing loud rock. It's only 50 watts. I did prefer the tone over the BA115. It now is my at home practice amp, since I replaced it with the lighter and more powerful MarkBassCMD121 combo for gigging.

 

[bassvi]

I meant MXR M80. Sorry.

 

[5port]

I've had the USA made BA110 for a couple years now. Great little practice rig. Nice tone. I've used it to back up a vocal group. As soon as you add a drummer at 30W its out of its element. Not made anymore but available used.

 

[snowballfight]

I need it for rehearsals cause my rig at the moment is all in bits and weights too much to be throwing around the London Underground lol

@klokker - the monitor thing is actually quite common. It's for the smaller clubs in London; they don't like the big rigs that screw with the house PA mix, much like mic'ing the guitar amps low if possible. They take a DI signal and use the power in the PA to boost it up. So effectively all you need is a monitor on stage to make sure you can hear yourself. Saves both you and them alot of effort. I've played alot of shows here, and it seems to be a fairly regular thing to do.

 

[baileyboy]

B3 (150W, 4 OHMS) is good for practice and small venues.

 

[Jason P Bass]

I briefly owned a BA210 with the effects. I didn't want the effects, but this model was mis-priced online and I got a really good deal.

The hiss is, in my opinion, intolerable. I disconnected the tweeter to compensate. The hiss was still very present, but I was using this to practice EUB at home, so I could live with it.

The speakers were EXTREMELY boomy. There was PLENTY of solid low end response, but every pitch came out with a monotone boom. No amount of messing with the EQ could get rid of this. Again, I was practicing EUB with it, so this bad feature worked in my favor - the boominess actually made the EUB sound a little more authentic.

But I plugged in an XLR to the DI one day, and the entire amp burnt out. No sound from the speakers, no sound through the DI, and through the headphones you could hear a really ugly low frequency oscillation. Nothing I tried helped.

I sent the amp back. Really too bad, as I tried very hard to like it.

 

[lug]

The Ampeg BA series combo's are 4 ohms, so you would not want to use it with the 2x10 and Ashdown head. The impedance would be too low, and put your amp at risk. Of all the BA series, I like the BA112 the best, tonally, but it doesn't provide a DI. Your rig is small enough, I wouldn't think a combo would be all that much smaller. If you want your Ashdown to put out more power and volume, add a 2nd 8 ohm 210 to what you have, or even an 8 ohm 15 if you'd rather. The combo just doesn't pair well in this case.

My way around no DI was the BA112 with it's line out to a little $35 mixer and that out to the Peavey DPC1000 tied to an Avatar C15. 1050 watts of power!