BASS AMPLIFIER

Bass amplifiers are designed for bass guitars or more rarely, for upright bass. They differ from amplifiers for the regular electric guitar in several respects. They have extended bass response and tone controls optimised for bass instruments, which produce pitches of 40 Hz, in the case of a standard four-string electric bass, or even lower for five- or six-string electric basses.
Higher-end bass amplifiers sometimes include compressor or limiter features, which help to keep the amplifier from distorting at high volume levels, and an XLR DI output for patching the bass signal directly into a mixing board or PA systems. Larger, more powerful bass amplifiers (300 or more watts) are often provided with external metal heat sinks or fans to help keep the amplifier cool.
A 2 x 10" bass speaker cabinet stacked on top of a 15" cabinet, with separate bass amplifier "head" unitSpeaker cabinets designed for bass instrument amplification usually use larger loudspeakers (or more loudspeakers, in the case of the popular 4 X 10" cabinets, which contain four 10" speakers) than the cabinets used for other instruments, so that they can move the larger amounts of air needed to reproduce low frequencies. While the largest speakers commonly used for regular electric guitar are 12" speakers, electric bass speaker cabinets often use 15" speakers. Bass players who play styles of music that require an extended low-range response, such as death metal, sometimes use speaker cabinets with 18" speakers.
The speakers used for bass instrument amplification tend to be more heavy-duty than speakers used for regular electric guitar, and the speaker cabinets are typically more rigidly constructed and heavily braced, to prevent unwanted buzzes and rattles. Bass cabinets often include bass reflex ports or openings in the cabinet, which improve the bass response, especially at high volumes.


Fender Bassman 150 Review:

Features : 10 I've had the Fender Bassman 150 for roughly 6 months. It has become the workhorse in my stable. As I am a small guy with back problems I really appreciate the light weight, and it fits nicely in the back of my Ford Focus hatchback without having to put the seats down. The control panel is probably the most versatile & sonically accurate setup I've seen on an amp in this class. I've never been a fan of compression, but the comp on this unit is incredibly smooth & musical. DI is clean & has plenty of headroom to match any mixing board input. Pre- and Post-EQ is also a nice feature, as well as the Mute switch....
Sound Quality : 10 I've been very spoiled as far as basses & amp setups. Have been using Spector basses for nearly 30 years so I'm very particular as far as getting an amp to reproduce the bass's true sound. Have been using Gallien-Krueger & Eden gear along with an occasional SWR. I've gone through a LOT of small combo amps, mostly with lousy to so-so results. The Fender Bassman 150 is the first combo amp to fulfill all my sonic expectations. All the tone controls really work & you can hear & feel it--no humps or gaps when you turn a knob. The parametric high AND low mids is a real thoughtful touch. Great when your strings are dyin!
Reliability : 9 Since I live in Florida I play a lot of outdoor gigs in extreme climatic conditions. This amp has held up well. Played a gig a couple weeks ago in 95-degree heat for nearly 12 hours, then it rained. The Bassman 150 handled it all very well, better than I did!! Have always used my big Eden rig for an outdoor job but this little amp gets amazingly loud & projects well, & the tone doesn't deteriorate at high volume. Not to mention that the load-in & -out with this little guy's a piece of cake.
Overall Rating : 10 The wedge design is a great idea, as I use it quite frequently as a monitor when going through a full PA, so if the PA sounds like it's being mixed by Pinocchio, my stage sound is still pristine. Previous to the Bassman 150 I used a Hartke Kickback 12 which, although it's a decent combo amp (and about 150 bucks more), cannot touch the Bassman as far as tone. The Fender's a well-behaved little tone-monster & can give you that polished studio sound live with very little tweaking. I also compared the Bassman 150 to the new SWR Working Pro combo amps. Although the SWR's are much more "in-your-face" than the Fender, tonewise it holds it's own. In fact, the Fender's tweeter is MUCH smoother than those in the SWR. And considering the price tag on the SWR, I would consider the Fender Bassman 150 to be the best deal for the money..Well-thought-out piece of gear for us "working stiffs"..Kudos to Fender on this product!!

Marshall MB30 Review:

Features : 9 Marshall MB30 combo with 30W RMS powerstage and 1x 10" speaker. 2-Channels (1 Modern (Volume) 1 Classic with Gain+Volume control. No Mid control but voice control + 3 voice presets (Very practical) Channel switching can as well be done with optional footswitch. Switchable compressor incl. variable compression level control. Headphone socket and external source in socket on front panel DI Line Out with emulated jack on the rear panel.
Sound Quality : 8 Sound is quite good given its size and wattage. A bit boxy sounding from the cabinet as no damping inside which was designed that way to make it louder. Easy to damp it yourself and have even better sound but loose overall loudness. Anyway this is no stage amp and even no rehearsal amp but very good as a practice amp and maybe small venues together with acoustical instruments. I mainly prefer the Modern channel, clean and good. The Classic channel does distort a little too early (maybe it is the high output of my 2x9V Peavy Millenium) And of course that distortion is nothing like a real valve amp, but that was expected. Tone controls work ok and the mid control (voice) is highly effective. Compressor works very good. Haven??t seen a good one like this on amps alike in this price/wattage range.
Reliability : No Opinion Have not dealt with reliability issue as not having had this amp for too long.
Overall Rating : 9 I have been playing bass on and off for many years now and mainly played 4 strings (Squier Jazz Bass / Fender Jazz Bass / Westone Fretless) and currently on a 5-string Peavy Millenium. I also own a Kork Pandora PX4B (superb!) effect box and use high quality instrument cables at all times. I would replace this amp if it was stolen as it was quite cheap (170 Euros that was) and for that price (and I have looked and tried a lot) I cannot find anything better sounding.