Behringer or Laney??!!

[altarget]

hi all. im lookin for a bass amp suitable for small/medium sized venues, 150-200w i thought?? narrowed it down to the Laney RB4 and the Behringer BX1800 or BXL1800. does anyone have any opinions or suggestions that might help me out? thanks, alex.

 

[nqabassist26]

I've had quite a few behringer products, specifically amps. I can only say good things about them for the price. Dunno much about the Laney, my guitarist friend had one but that was a guitar amp...

 

[rodl2005]

I'm with nqa..... I've never owned a Behringer amp, but have only heard good things from ACTUAL OWNERS- heard all sorts of things from others, but when I saw a band where the bassist had a 300w head & 4x10 all behringer - it sounded good!!!!!!!!!
Rod.

 

[nqabassist26]

Yup, I actually have the 300 watt head from them but I run it through a 1x10 Ampeg porta bass cab. I'm sure it would sound really nice through a 4x10 or something.

 

[Stan_da_man]

Hi. I had a Behringer practice combo amp, which was excellent value for money. In 3 years nothing went wrong, and that's even when it fell down 2 steps! I now have a Laney R2. (Older version of the RB5). It's good at low levels, but anything past 6 on the volume and the speaker screams. If I'd were you get a Behringer BXL1800. You won't be dissapointed.

 

[daffy]

I have a BX4500 head and BB410 cab.

Love it. Very happy indeed.

I tried several of the Laneys while I was shopping for my amp and felt they were kind of gutless. They were OK, but just OK - nothing really stood out.

However, I have also played with guys 20 years ago who had Laney Pro gear and I thought it was great at the time. Maybe the old stuff is better - so check out some of the used Laney gear.

 

[slowhand mike]

i tried out an RB4 recently (in my own quest to get a good combo in that range) and quite liked it, pretty tight and resonable grunt, but still cant make my mind up between that and an ashdown 15-180 blue and a fender rumble, though that is a little less powerfull. only really heard bad things about Behringer amps even though i was considering one at one point.

 

[stewblack]

Got a Lany, just got a Behringer 4500 with the 115 alu cone. Unbelievably good sound, beats the Lany combo out of sight. Not a fair comparison as it's a more powerful amp but everything about the behringer is better.

 

[Koiman]

I've had the Behringer 4500 for over a year now and really like it. Very powerful and huge range of tones. I run it through everything from a single 10" cabinet for practice to multiple cabs 12's and 15's for large and outdoor venues.

 

[altarget]

i just seem to be readin alot of bad stuff about behringer, is it unfounded? edging towards the laney at the moment, anyone out there with personal experience of the rb4 or other bass amps? my fellow guitarist are usin 65w fenders/marshall's. is a 160 laney gonna sit with these?

 

[nqabassist26]

Well according to TB members they usually say 2 times more wattage then your guitarists if im correct??

 

[BassWombat]

Well according to TB members they usually say 2 times more wattage then your guitarists if im correct??

Really? I've always worked on the 4 times ratio if only to allow a little headroom.

On the Behringer front, as this thread has shown there are lots of USERS who love the gear. IMHO, I sometimes wonder if those the criticise it are just jumping on the bandwagon. To me, you have to have realistic expectations: it's a mass-market company moving huge quantities of goods and there will be the occassional item that fails but a huge silent majority that enjoy the performance/price (hmm, sounds like iPods). Bottom line is to listen to YOUR ears when you play through it in the store, not neccessarily blindly follow others opinions. I've bought some Behringer items I liked and some I didn't but would never pan the company completely.

I'd go with Behringer, altarget

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

i tried out an RB4 recently (in my own quest to get a good combo in that range) and quite liked it, pretty tight and resonable grunt, but still cant make my mind up between that and an ashdown 15-180 blue and a fender rumble, though that is a little less powerfull. only really heard bad things about Behringer amps even though i was considering one at one point.

Go for the Ashdown Electric Blue 15-180.

I had the Behringer BX1200 as my first amp/combo. I really liked the tone and volume, but then it died on me three weeks later with maybe 3 hrs playing time. Then I got the Ashdown Electric Blue 15-180. Much better and not much more expensive.

 

[agreatheight]

Well according to TB members they usually say 2 times more wattage then your guitarists if im correct??

The whole equation for wattage thing can be misleading. My guitarist palys a 15 watt Matchless class A tube amp and I play a 350 watt SWR amp. We both play at a volume that can be heard over / equal to a reasonably loud drummer, with good tone. So my amp is 23x more. Go figure.

 

[altarget]

thanks to everyone for the advice. any more views on the ashdown electric blue? or any other amp in the £200 range?

 

[nonohmic]

Dont go the Laney! I had a RBW300 combo and now ive upgraded i realise how bad it was.

 

[Jack]

Ive owned an R5 in the past and really lved it, except that it was far too quiet.

Either buy far too much Laney stuff, or look at Ashdown. I would say youd be underpowered with any of the combos mentioned here though.