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Looking for a 200-300watt combo amp for home & (small) gigs

trigg015

trigg015

Sep 26, 2021
33
33
#1
Hi guys,

I hope you can help me out.
My situation:

Current bass:
Sire U5 with La Bella Flatwounds (P pickup only)

Playing style:
Fingerstyle only - jazz / funk / soul / reggae / pop

Current amp:
Vox Pathinder Bass 10w 2x 5 inch

The Vox is a nice practice amp, but it lacks low end, which makes sense because of the price and size. I want a bass amp with just a bit more low end for home use and I might take it to gigs as well. No really big stages, so no need to go extremely loud, but it should be able to hold it's ground next to a fierce drummer.

I like a balanced sound with natural highs, no scooped mids, tight low end. I'm not interested in tons of effects, drive or modelling options. Just want to have good clarity and a clean but "alive" sound.

It's hard to try out the different amps I'm looking for in the region where I live, so my search is purely online atm.

I'm thinking of 200-300 watt solid state combo's. Maybe less watt is also sufficient. I'm not having neighbour-issues, but it should sound good at low volume.

This quest already brought me to the following options:

Eich BC-112 Combo Amp
Seems like an amp which gives all the juice I'm looking for (according to reviews) , but it's kinda expensive. And I haven't found that much useful demo's.

Then there are a few others which might be interesting and half the price of the Eich, like:

Laney DB200-210 Digbeth Series 200W
Blackstar Unity Pro Bass U250 250W
Peavey MAX 250
Trace Elliot ELF C110
Ampeg RB-115
Fender Rumble (100 or 200)
Harley Benton SolidBass 300C (the cheapest of them all)

Of course I listened to demo's but it's hard to determine which one has the most 'natural' sound, because of all the variables you have take into account when listening to demo's (I didn't like Markbass so that's not in the list)

So I'm hoping people out here have a suggestion which road to take. Thanks very much in advance
 
#4
"Fierce drummer"??? I'd go with a 115 or a 112 that allows addition of an ext. cab or (even better) a head and 112 cab that would provide max flexibility. A 110 cab in the context of a "fierce drummer" is completely discordant in my world. Perhaps your world is different? Keep in mind that a 112 combo that produces 250 internal watts will not make use of all 250 watts. Most off-the-shelf 12" drivers will compress and stop getting louder way before they get close to 200 watts. You haven't given a budget, but I vote buy once, cry once, and close as few doors as possible. Good luck.
 
#6
Similar to the other posts in this thread,

I agree there are a lot of good choices out there. I have the Fender Rumble 200 and its a decent little combo.

I have that as my practice Amp and have also done a few live shows with it.

Head phone jack for practicing if you need it and its good for small to medium type gigs. Easy to lift and carry.

3 pre set eq, and a 1 x 15 " speaker etc. The unit also can also link to an extra 8 ohm cab if you need extra speaker real estate in the future

I have heard from other people that the Rumble 100's are also good with a 1 x 12 speaker or for a bit extra the rumble 500 with 2 x 10 but I have no direct experience with those.
 
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#8
Thanks guys!

I just made a deal for a 2nd hand Ampeg BA-112 for a very nice price.

I know the amp probably won't hold up to the fierce drummer, but in that case I can always hook it up to the P.A.
So I will just try out this amp and if it's not sufficient for my needs I can probably resell it for the same price.

I like the suggestion of a separate head and cab as well.
 
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