I own a solid state BA115 and wanted the same sound for the stage. This amp delivers. It has a clean, warm tone despite being tubless. I played five shows with this on an 8-10 enclosure with NO effects and the on-board EQ off and received many compliments on my tone. There's plenty of tonal range to play with. If you like the solid state practice amps, you'll love this one. No problems getting good sound to the PA through the XLR line-out.

The best features are simplicity and durability.

A very classic, straightforward amp.

The amp I received is cosmetically perfect, was packed well and tough. Good handles. The ONLY thing I don't like is that the angle of the control panel doesn't protect the knobs. That's just the classic design, I overcome this by packing it carefully in a travel case.

If you buy cheap, you'll buy twice. If you want Ampeg tone, durability and dependability, get this rig.

No issues yet, but their online info was top notch. I was confident buying this rig sight unseen based on the reasearch I was able to do at the computer.

It's Ampeg. It's right at home next to our two Marshall stacks. With this thing at the end of your cable it tells the crowd you're a serious bassist.

Rock star by night!

70's to present rock.

unbelievable tone and great bottom end

I really like th EQ on this Amp Head

Ampeg what else is there to say.

have never needed any.

Active Musician

Rock and Blues

Hands down the best sounding rock-n-roll amp I've ever owned. While I own the 350 watt version of this amp, its essentially the same as the beefed-up 450 watt version. This doesn't have the same "grind" that the all-tube version of the SVT has, but it has a great, definately "round" Ampeg sound. I don't even use the EQ - I just dial in the basic rock setting they have in the manual (low and high tone knob at 1:00 o'clock and midrange at 11'oclock) and my tone setting is done).

Its simple to use. The basic, meat-n-potatoes sound and EQ features are all I need. I wish it has a Mute button for instrument changes, but I accomplish this by using a tuner pedal. The Direct Out works great - I've played a few large-venue gigs and the sound company chose to use this amps DI rather than my Tech 21 SansAmp. It would be nice if Ampeg would offer a factory cover. I had to order one from a custom manufacturer - it works great and gives basic protection, but one with the Ampeg logo would be nicer.

Using this amp is a no-brainer. But I might give it a 9 if I used to EQ. I can get my ideal sound via bypassing the EQ and using the 3-tone control knobs.

I've never had a problem with this amp. While some reviews note quality control and/or reliability issues, I've never experienced any. For a while the cooling fan was loud, but a call to Ampeg assured my it was nothing to worry about. About a week later the sound went away and hasn't returned in over a year.

This wasn't the cheapest amp head out there. But for what I use it for, I made a good purchase, and I would buy another one just like it, it this one were damaged beyond repair or stolen. I think that says enough about the project.

I had to call them once ... they answered my questions. I wouldn't say it was eitehr good or bad experience.

To most of the audience, I think its just an amp the bass player is using. But to other musicians -- especially bass players, it says, "this cat is serious about his equipment, and he wants to play the best."

Active Musician

Classic Rock

This has the warm, round tone that one would expect from Ampeg. However, it's a solid state head so it doesn't sound dead-on with the svt cl, which gets it's tone from all the tubes it has. For a solid-state head, though, it sounds fantastic. Also, I followed the advice of other reviewers and sometimes run a preamp/di box throught the effects loop (I use a Behringer bdi 21 for < $40) and can get a more "tube-like" sound that is very reminiscent of the svt-cl, but without the headaches and expense of owning a tube-head.

I love the EQ on this amp. Not only do you have the typical three knob eq, but you can tweek it even further with a nine-band eq. It doesn't have a compressor, or overdrive, but I didn't need those any way. Also, and this may not really be a "feature" per se, but I like that the amp itself only takes up about half the space inside the cab. This space is perfect for secreting the little Behringer box through the effects loop at the rear of the amp. Also, it's convenient for storing the power cord, speaker cable, and instrument cables when not in use.

I found that I could get excellent tone from this amp fairly easily after a little tweaking hear and there, even before the enhancement already described. Also this cab is about half the weight of and svt-cl, making it much easier to haul around.

The cab itself is on par with the svt-cl in build quality, and it has worked perfectly as intended every time I've switched it on. I've only been using it for a couple of weeks, though as I said. Time will tell, but so far it seems very reliable.

I feel that Ampeg is a little pricier than it should be, especially for products made overseas (mine was made in Korea); that said, it still seems like they are putting out fairly high quality. I guess we'd all like things to be cheaper, eh?

I've used both e-mail and phone tech support, and have been very pleased them. They seem more than happy to address my questions, and took the time to give thoughtful, thorough answers.

This is unit looks every bit as cool sitting on my svt410hlf as the svt-cl, but for a whole lot cheaper, so wow!! And it sounds great too, so wow again!!

Bass Guitar, 5 years

Rock, Blues

Its not my favorite. The tone is very very very "round" which is not what Im looking for. I am able to get a decent "grind" sound by turning the mid knob all the way down and also have the mid frequencies on the EQ all the way down. Also, It isn't as loud as I thought it would be. Its only 70db at max output at 4 ohms. The bass only goes down to 40 hz. I was quite dissapointed.

I am really glad it has the EQ because it sounds bad in my opinion if the amp is only used with the knobs. I like the limiter also, because my amp is always near full output.

I took me less than 5 minutes to figure out my tone

Ampeg...

This is not worth it. If you own an Ampeg 8x10, get something with more power.

They were nice

I like how it looks on top of the speaker cabinet. Everything matches.