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Alphonse94 « Avoid it »
Published on 03/06/11 at 05:23See other reviews for the features. It seems to be well-manufactured.
No gain, no XLR, no DI... Lots of shortcomings, indeed.
USE
My review is somewhat subjective, I only used this amp once for a gig...which it spoiled for me. Ever heard of the principle behind good amps where you only need to plug in and play? This is the exact opposite. It sounds like crap and trying to turn knobs to find something decent can prove grueling....even impossible. I give it 3 points for the "Bass boost" and "Treble boost" switches, which, in my opinion, are the only useful controls. A user manual is useless for an amp with such a poor sound.
SOUND
I play funk/electronic music with a Fender Jaguar Bass, so active. I fear I'll make the amp explode, although it wouldn't be much of a loss. It can't handle an active bass with flat settings, only the switches engaged, the volume set to 5, and it distorted like I've never heard before, impossible to extricate yourself from it... It has a dull sound, without any brilliance nor warmth, nothing at all. The only thing it does is annihilate sound. So yes, it's okay to play a passive bass with a pick, but its lack of versatility is absurd. It might be okay for rock, and even then...but for any other use, you should ABSOLUTELY avoid it.
OVERALL OPINION
I only used it one night, I had already had bad experiences with Fender bass amps, but this one upped the bar: It collects defects! It's big, heavy and ugly, but you can't judge a book by its cover, you'll say. Well, in this case... I can. It sounds like crap, it doesn't cut through a mix, its limited controls are useless. I've played with lots of amps: Ampeg, Hartke, and even more modest ones, like Laney, Ibanez, TC Electronic, and my Jaguar has always sounded fine. But with this one it was a real Disaster, with capital D. I will never again dare buy or use another Fender amp.
No gain, no XLR, no DI... Lots of shortcomings, indeed.
USE
My review is somewhat subjective, I only used this amp once for a gig...which it spoiled for me. Ever heard of the principle behind good amps where you only need to plug in and play? This is the exact opposite. It sounds like crap and trying to turn knobs to find something decent can prove grueling....even impossible. I give it 3 points for the "Bass boost" and "Treble boost" switches, which, in my opinion, are the only useful controls. A user manual is useless for an amp with such a poor sound.
SOUND
I play funk/electronic music with a Fender Jaguar Bass, so active. I fear I'll make the amp explode, although it wouldn't be much of a loss. It can't handle an active bass with flat settings, only the switches engaged, the volume set to 5, and it distorted like I've never heard before, impossible to extricate yourself from it... It has a dull sound, without any brilliance nor warmth, nothing at all. The only thing it does is annihilate sound. So yes, it's okay to play a passive bass with a pick, but its lack of versatility is absurd. It might be okay for rock, and even then...but for any other use, you should ABSOLUTELY avoid it.
OVERALL OPINION
I only used it one night, I had already had bad experiences with Fender bass amps, but this one upped the bar: It collects defects! It's big, heavy and ugly, but you can't judge a book by its cover, you'll say. Well, in this case... I can. It sounds like crap, it doesn't cut through a mix, its limited controls are useless. I've played with lots of amps: Ampeg, Hartke, and even more modest ones, like Laney, Ibanez, TC Electronic, and my Jaguar has always sounded fine. But with this one it was a real Disaster, with capital D. I will never again dare buy or use another Fender amp.