I was looking into a behringer, but through the grapevine heard to stear clear from their low end stuff. This amp came recommended.
If this amp where lost/stolen, i was in the same budget, and still only practicing, not playing live. I don't think i would feel comfortable purchasing any other amp.
For its purpose this amp could not be better, unless it included a built in metranome, wireless cable system and a cd player to practice with. For live performances this i am afraid to say will not do the trick.
Favorite aspect is the insane low end it gets. I started playing bass for a reason and this amp reminds me exactly why i did. Have no worst aspect but if i had to chose the Grating to protect the speaker. Some stronger metal and perfect.
I gave this amp a 5. Its $300.00 and one hell of a powerhouse. People need to understand it is only a practice amp, a very powerfull practice amp but a practice amp and nothing more. If your going to play shows i would have to stear you clear of it, but... If your lookin for an at home amp or have no live performances in your future, you can't go wrong here.
Price: $299.99 (new)
Where Obtained: Musicians Friend
100W power into 8 ohms (internal)
15" custom-designed speaker and piezo tweeter
Extended-depth cab for enhanced bass response
Classic SWR preamp and Aural Enhancer circuitry
3-band active EQ
Post-EQ line out/tuner output
Stereo headphone outs with speaker defeat for silent practice
Mix input for practicing with CD or drum machine
Edgemount handles for easy portability
18"W x 18"H x 16"D
47 lbs.
Has the basic Low, mid, treb controls.
No channel switching.
More then powerful enough for me.
Is not stereo and is a solid state combo amp.
I gave this a 4 as it is not the greatiest, but at the price a 100 watt, 15" speaker tears it up!
I use a dean edge 4, no effects.
I play mostly metal. ALOT of tool. I play with pick, finger and slap.
This amp is awesome for any style you want, especially if you want some low end.
Well its not as loud as the other amps i have used, but it defiently has that low end rumble.
It is only noisy when i have the tv or radio, or some other interference on close by.
I have not got the volume knob past the halfway point. But at halfway the sound is still crystal clear.
I gave this a 5 in sound quality cause i am absolutly impressed by its tone. Not to say it will supply a large venue but it can hold its own in the "Notice Me" department. And as always, its price tag is excellent for the quality you recieve.
There is no programming on it. Very basic for operation.
It takes little fiddling. I turned knobs to what i thought would be a good mix and it sounded excellent from there. Little to no changes since.
Some other amps have a million knobs to turn, and adjust. Basic 3 band eq, and a volume knob make this baby as basic as i would like to get.... ever....
I gave this catagory a 5 as again, its very basic. And the catagory is 'Ease of Use' and i must admit, This is practically plug and play.
The construction appears solid. It feels like it would take a nice beating to break the external portions. Internal is another subject and may opinion may change if a rattle develops or some simple abuse disturbs an internal component.
The grating is a little to be desired. Pulling it from my car one day the grating was toward my stomach and i felt it give way and flex inward a little. This is not something i like to find out. However as far as protecting the speaker i believe it will do the trick, i just ain't chancing it. Carry it with the grating facing away from you during transportation.
Have had it 2 months. Still as good as the day i recieved it. No repairs at all as of yet.
Live playing question i am not a good spokesman for. I could not see this thing supplying anything larger then local bar or garage, however a PA is a marvelous tool for tiny amps. As for construction with anything, take care of it and it will take care of you.
I gave this a 4 as the grating is minor. The case is very solid. I use it to sit on when i practice (and so no one else will, when i have company) Very solid. No worries at all about the case. I don't see the internal circutry going anytime soon so instead of a 3 i decided to give it a 4 and hope i do not get dissapointed in the long haul.
I would probably buy this amp again if it got stolen but I would most likely buy something bigger, cab and head or the like. My favourite aspect is it's tone and it's worse aspect would probably hafta be that the speaker moves too much when it is cranked....
Where Obtained: Scayles Music, Edinburgh
It is a 100W amp, volume, bass, mid and treble knobs. It also has tuner in, mix in, phones and obviously input jacks. It is powerful enough as a practice amp.
I use my Vester Customshop with it and it plays like a dream I have also run my Epiphone Thunderbird IV Reverse through it, also played like a dream *thumbs up*. I play most classic rock stuff such as Led Zep, Black Sabbath, Free and Deep Purple and the amp works very well with my style. It is well suited to slap and I find myself playing old RHCP tracks to hear the sweetness of it's tone.
The amp is very easy to use as it is all pretty basic.
Durability:
The thing is a tank, metal guard over the front, full metal casing, some sort of carpet thing on it and hard plastic corners. If I didn't polay bass with it i'd screw some casters onto it and ride into war.
Favorite aspect, sound quality, clarity and price. Worst aspect, would be nice if would not distort when cranked up. If this amp were stolen and I needed another low price, good sounding pratice amp, sure, I would buy another one. It would be nice if they spent a little more to make this more cosmetially pleasing, but I would rather have tone than looks anyday.
If you are just starting out, or would like a lower-priced, portable pratice amp, this is an Excellent choice- strong 4, probably the best in the $200-300 price range. I don't beleive in giving '5' ratings unless there is something Really spetacular or innovative.
Model Year: 2003
Price: $220.00 (new)
Where Obtained: Skips Music
100W, 15in, Solid State.
Vol, bass, mid, treble. Improvisable effects loop possible. Tuner/Phones(with speaker defeat)/Mix-in Jacks. One input. Handles on the side make it easy to carry.
This really is a great pratice amp or beginning amp. The price for the quality is unbeatable, but it is still a $200-$300 amp. I compared this amp to the Ibanez 65 watter, and the Ampeg BA110. This amp might not look as fancy as the others, but I thought it out-performed them both.
I play this with a Lakland Skyline 5501. I tend to play reggae/funk/blues/improv suff and this amp works well. It can hold up to the low B pretty well, but does break up at higher volume settings. It gets loud enough for quality low-moderate volume. If you want to play on the loud side, you are going to need to spend more. This amp is pretty basic, it should work well with whatever basic sounds you are looking for, however, it has good sound quality but does not impart any special 'tone' qualities. Low noise.
Very little fiddling. There isn't much to adjust, it is very easy to get a satisifactory tone each time I turn it on.
It seems pretty sturdy and reliable. Carpet-like covering may need occasional attention.
I looked at lots of amps that were in my range (300-400 bucks) and this one provided the most wattage and sound for the amount of money. It's very simple and that was an issue for me, since i bought it when i was just starting to play.
Model Year: 2002
Price: $329.99 (new)
Where Obtained: Mars Music
It is very simple: master volume, bass, mid, and treble. It doesnt have any special effects or anything, but it is good for starting out if you just want a simple, but loud amp.
I play this bass with a Fender P-Bass and it is good sounding together. I play rock, some reggae, whatever. It is a pretty good overall amp. For reggae I just give it more bass, less treb, and for rock i give some mroe treb and mid. Its a lot simpler than an equalizer!
Its so simple that you can plug in and play right away. Its probably the easiest amp possible to use.
Its very reliable. I do not recommend it for real big gigs, but its small and light enough to fit in the back of my tiny Mitsubishi Eclipse, but still loud enough for most any show you do. I have only dropped it a couple times, and it is still thumping strong.
This amp could be better in tons of ways, that is, if you want to raise the price. You get a bit more volume and bass than you pay for. I use it all the time, its great for fun and practice and even small gigs. Not too durable, although i havn't thrown it off a cliff yet. Good bass. It has a carpet like cover so try to play in half-way clean places or put something under it because it can get dirty fast. Really great value (thats why i got it).
Price: $299.00 (new)
Where Obtained: Greysons Tune Town
It has four very basic knobs for volume and EQ. It also has one line in, one tuner out, and one cd in. It is powerful enough for what i do with it, practice and play with friends in a garage. Its kinda like paying for a trip back to the stone age with the electronics, it is as simple as they come. But you can get a bit loud, when i was playing with my friends some cops came over saying they got two calls from different people saying we were too loud, one said the pictures were shaken off the walls. I had the volume a little over half or so, but the higher volume, the sicker the sound. It has a rear port hole to let out all the air (and thats a lot) and it can kinda fill more of the room with sound.
I use an Ibanez SR-305DX with it that has a bass boost, add that with a 15" speaker and 100 watts at 8 ohms, you can achive an ok amount of bass in your face (if your face is right in front of the speaker). It has a flexible enough EQ for a good array of styles. The only other amp i have used is a Fender Bassman-25, the fender has some more features and the mids are a bit better, but the LA-15 squashes it in bass, the tweeter may help you hear some high treble, but only a little. You can barely hear a humm depending on your EQ and your pickups, mine arent so great so im not one to talk about if its the amp's fault or not.
There are only so many nobs you can turn! You may have a tricky time trying to record out of it or have an effects loop, but the manual helps you out on that part.
Durability:
Its kinda like using plastic for a tank, but for an amp. The problem is that the corners are a very un-heavy duty plastic, try to play with something soft under it, even a cheap towel would do the trick. And i really dont like how the would-be grill is a net, not good for something so big.
I looked at the ampeg B-115, nemesis, Carvin and Peavey 15"combos before deciding to purchase the SWR. I chose the SWR because of price, tone, reputation, and ease of operation and transportation. My favorite aspect of this amp is definately the great tone. I have not discovered anything negative about the amp as of yet, I am completely pleased and plan on keeping this amp a long time.
Model Year: 2002
Price: $350.00 (new)
Where Obtained: CV Lloyde Music Store
The SWR LA-15 series amp has volume, bass, treble, and mid controls. Although there are not a heaping amount of knobs to twist and turn, it works well in it's simplicity. There is one instrument input, tuner input, phones and a mix in, all 1/4 inch inputs. The amp is powered by solid state electronics and has plenty of power, I believe 120 watts is what the salesmen told me, there was no owners manual with it.
I mainly use a Fender Steve Harris signature bass with this amp on a regular gig/rehearsal schedule. I also own an upright, using the K&K rockabilly slap bass pickup system and run it through this amp. The K&K has a preamp and I can really tweak a great slap tone out of it. The amp compares quite well with others I have owned over the past seventeen years. The amp is easily portable, weighing in at only 55 lbs, and can easily be carried by one person with the recessed handles on either side. Rock music is the main music played through this amp, as I play in a radio hits cover band, (The Myk Weeks Band). I play many styles at home with it and it is very versatile with my interests. Overall the amp has a superb tone, punchy and thunderous simultaneously, largely due to the tweeter installed just above the 15" speaker. When I get the urge to slap and pop that tweeter responds nicely.
A good sound does not take that much fiddling with my particular basses that I play. I do not like to many switches, levers and knobs to play around with. Too much time is spent attempting to tweak a better sound than playing. The ease of use in exceptional and it is ideal for gigging and rehearsal in a rock band or any other type of music.
SWR makes a durable, well constructed cabinet in the LA series. It has ozite covering and the controls are recessed on the top of the amp, which will help to keep them from getting caught on something during transport.
This amp is a step above a small practice amp. If your a beginner bassist thats ready to start jammin with your buddies, this one will be heard over the drums. Best I found for the price.
Model Year: 2002
Price: $299.00 (new)
Where Obtained: zZounds music.com
Basic 3 band cut/boost controls, mix in, tuner out, headphone jack defeats speaker. Although there is no effects loop, it can be obtained through the tuner-out and mix-in jacks. 15" speaker and piezo tweeter.
This amp has that killer SWR tone, it has deep punchy lows with clean highs.
Very good sound range with the 3 band cut/boost, easy to adjust from warm to punchy.
The construction seems to be very good but I dont like the PLASTIC corner protectors and handles. But on the other hand this is partially how they kept the price under 300 bucks.
I would not buy this amp again. You get what you pay for but I could have done better just buying used.
Model Year: 2001
Price: $299.00 (new)
Where Obtained: American Musical
100 Watts (Yeah Right), basic bass, mid, trebble controls.
Sound Quality:
Not a very loud amp. Thankfully I only bought it for a practice amp. But I was hoping to be able to jam with other people. That won't happen, to be heard I would have to crank it up and distort.
Very easy to use, there is nothing to it.
If this amp were lost or stolen, I would not buy it again. Don't get me wrong, its exactly what I need right now. A perfect step up from my old 15 watt practice amp I started on. This amp is perfect for practice and playing along with friends in a 'not to loud' ensemble. Its portable, sturdy and didn't break the bank. I wouldn't buy this amp again because as I improve (hopefully) and continue playing in new environments, I anticipate needing an amp that suits my new needs. This is not the 'end all, be all' amp. It's a growth amp.
Price: $299.00 (new)
Where Obtained: Good N Loud - Madison, WI
This is a basic bass amp which has plenty of power for practicing solo or with a few friends.
100W Solid state, 1 x 15" speaker.
Tweakage Knobs: Volume, Tone, Bass, and Treble adjustments. Jacks: Input, mix-in, tuner, and phones.
No true "effects loop" but the manual succinctly details how to configure a workaround. This is good because the sound, like its construction is basic, so you will probably want to loop in an eq, compression and other doo dads to spice up the sound.
As mentioned earlier, the sound is basic and not very tunable on its own. The amp seems best suited for muted whumpa whumpa or dub dub. If you are looking for that tight singing sound, count on having to add some hardware into the ad-hoc effects loop.
In comparison shopping, the only other amp I tried out was a used Peavey TNT 115s. The Peavey was definitely tighter right off but it was super heavy and had more features than I was ready to deal with.
I was looking for a bass combo that had a basic sound, was easy to use, had good projection, and was within my budget. I think I found what I was looking for.
Note: The amp has a slight hum when turned on at any volume.
This is a recent aquisition so cannot give a definitive statement on its reliability. From appearance and my short experience with it, I would say it is pretty sturdy. Doesn't seem like much can go wrong with its simple design and sturdy construction. My one concern would be damaging the speaker cone and lightweight speaker cover fabric - no fancy metal grill protection.
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