Sound quality is great, with widely adjustable EQ. The five position quick selector is great if you want to shift EQ between songs without much fuss, I use it switching between jazz and rock sounds. With the 15" speaker, rock is more suited to the amp, but it does include a tweeter to get nice response in the upper registers.

Slightly underpowered for live shows, it works best in rehersal and very small venues. But then I wouldn't really expect anything else from a combo amp, most live shows I play with seperate amp and cabs. The XLR output is very impressive for an amp as low a price as this. I've never tried recording with it, but I'd certainly be tempted to try. CD inputs are a joke and shouldn't even be on the amp. Tweater is a good inclusion but also makes the amplifier hiss more pronounced.

Amp looks great from all angles. Tilt back cabinet is kinda cheesy, but keeps people from setting anything on top of it. Very heavy construction, a building could collapse on it and it would come out without a scratch.

Has great features for a low to mid price combo amp.

Having this set up on stage just makes you look good. Hiding all the controls and inputs on the upper rear leaves the front undisturbed for a nice clean look

Active Musician

Rock, Jazz, Blues

I took this thing out of the box and plugged it in right away. The first thing I noticed was a hiss - something that can be tamed by toning down the treble, but not something that can be completely gotten rid of. This was my only disappointment, it can get annoying when practicing. However, once you start playing, this thing is amazing. Best tone and thunderous lows I have ever heard out of my bass. In this aspect, the amp is amazing.

Not a lot of features, but the tone makes up for it. The most useful things are the active and passive inputs and style switch, where you can get different sounds for different styles. It said it came with a mute switch, mine doesn't have one??? Oh, well. I wouldn't use it anyway.

You can get any sound out of this amp, just plug in and play.

Seems extremely solid, fit-and-finish is flawless.

Pretty expensive for the level of wattage, but I guess you also pay for that famous "Ampeg tone."

Haven't had to deal with them. Don't think I ever will.

Looks awesome... just like the big 8x10's the pros use.

Bassist in a band, Hobbyist, Active Musician

Rock, Alternative, Funk

Very good sounding amp. Louder than you would expect from a 100 watt combo. Tweeter is very "hissy" even without anything plugged in to the amp. Very noticeable in a quiet room. Does not matter when the band is playing though. Great Ampeg solid state tone.

Pretty simple stuff. Gain, volume, 5 basic presets, 3 band EQ, aux line in, direct out, etc. The kickback design is awesome. It aims the sound to your ears, not the back of your legs.

Pretty simple

So far so good. Seems very sturdy. When not tilted back I use it as seat at practice.

I give it a 10 because I got a terrific deal from zZounds as I bought this item as a "Blem". Honestly, I can't figure out why they called it that. It looks great and sounds terrific. Even at regular price this amp is worth it for portability and sound alone.

Have not needed it yet but its got the Ampeg name and reputation so at least a 9.

I own it. Looks great, sounds great. Excellent for practice and smaller and medium gigs with the direct out. If I have enough room on stage I'll use my Ampeg 4x10HLF but for smaller venues (or places with load in up stairs) this amp is does the job with out the back break, especially with the kickback monitoring.

Active Musician

Rock, 80's and 90's - Bass,

Sounds great set flat. It also has tons of flexibility by using the style selector and then tweaking that with the 3 tone controls. The tilt is key. I use it even if I'm not that close to the amp. It really opens up the sound, plus you can hear the mids and highs better. It's got a nice warm accurate sound, though the tweeter can make you want to get a fret job if you don't watch it!

Style selector with 5 settings, all good for something. Great warm and even true hifi tone with out much effort and headphones with CD imput for keeping the wife happy. Oh yeah, it kicks serious butt for it's size. Has a DI for the big gig. Records well too.

Top notch, as usual from Ampeg. I put some chrome sliders on the side oppisite the handle to get it in and out of a truck, to save the vinyl from tears. Other than that, It's worked perfectly for the 3.5 years I've been using it. Looks great too!

Can't be beat. Sure you can get more power, size, bells and wistles for your $450, but you won't get a better amp. FYI - The smaller ones sound excellent too! I have heard that the HP version can distort it's own speaker, so this 100 watter might really be the best of the line.

Never used it. The manual is helpful for understanding the goings on with the style switch and is easily downloaded from the Internet.

I wanted one for a long time, and finally got oneand was NOT dissapointed one single little bit. If you're reading this, you must want one too! Love the white piping and black grill cloth and chrome corners, hey, for a bass amp it's nice looking and no knobs, lights etc. to distract the audience from your brilliant playing. :-) It's for pros and it's realitively inexpensive with out actually being "cheap".

ALL kinds. Punk, soul, country, R-n-R, Rockabilly, you name it.

This amp has a really big sound. It sounds better than other combos I've tried. I liked it better than the sister Ampeg BR100 Rocket Bass amp because it has a tweeter that helps deliver a more modern bass sound and it has an XLR direct out while the Rocket has a phone output. The tweeter also makes the BA-115 extremely flexible so that it can be used for things other than just bass. The Ampeg Rocket BR-100 sounds really good with a bass but it is pretty much locked into being just a bass amp and it doesn't sound as modern to me. The BA-115 sounds very clean, clear, modern and non-distorted. Lots of people complain about hiss with this amp. This is because it has a very good tweeter. All transistor amps hiss friends, you just hear it sooner with this amp because of the tweeter. Here's what I do to minimize the hiss. Turn up the treble until you hear the hiss start, about 2:30 on mine, and then turn it down until the hiss drops out which is about 2:15 for me. Hiss problem solved. That should be all the treble anyone needs, even for a keyboard or harp player, and is way more treble than most other combos including the Ampeg BR-100 Rocket bass amp.

This amp is feature laden. The XLR mic level direct out is useful for gigging and recording. It tilts back which is nice. The headphone out is clean and hot, but this amp is a little big for a home practice amp so I have a feeling this feature is wasted on most of these, but it does work well. Ampeg's 5 position style switch is handy for fast "personality" changes. This amp has it going on in the tone control department. For me the best feature is the totally linear rotary tone controls. I thought they were wacky at first but now I love the tone controls and they have spoiled me. If you turn all three tone controls all the way down you have silenced the amp. That is total tone control. Amazing idea! Also I like the dual inputs. I can plug in one active bass and one passive bass at the same time and just turn up the volume on the one I want to play at the moment without having to switch cords or any of that stuff. I wish Ampeg's rack mount pro amps had this dual input feature! All the phone jacks are METAL, not plastic like on almost all the other brands. The jacks look just like the ones on my pro line Ampeg rack mount amps. The RCA/Phono jacks allow you to plug in a music source for play-along practice. Before you do that keep in mind that these RCA/Phono jacks go DIRECTLY into the power amp and whatever you plug into them are going to play at 100 watts with flat EQ, so make sure whatever you plug into them has its own built in volume control which should be turned all the way down to start and then turned up to normal listening level. The amp's rotary volume and tone controls have absolutely no control whatsoever over these RCA/Phono inputs.

It takes some time to get used to the three rotary tone controls and to fiddle with the Style Switch to your tones, but other than the "get acquainted" period it is really easy to use. My favorite style settings for bass are 2 & 5. My favorite setting for practice is 3, which is flat. I just set it and forget it and then use the tone and volume controls on the instrument itself for any changes. There is a nice long power cord that is hard wired in so you can't lose it or leave it at home. There are several changes I would have made though if I was on the Ampeg design team. I wish it had handles on each side to augment the one on the top. The top handle alone just isn't enough for a 62 pound cube of these dimensions. Using the top handle in one hand while placing the other hand part way into one of the rear ports makes it more manageable. In this series the controls are at the rear of the amp and not the front. This isn't the handiest place for them, that is why I set it and forget it. The tilt back feature is nice sometimes, but I use mine upright most of the time. This amp WANTS to tilt back and it doesn't take much of a bump for it to rock back, so don't put any pedals, processors or drinks or anything like that on top or when it does tilt back, they'll slide off. The tilt back feature eliminates the option of using the amp as a stool. It also makes adding casters dicey which is why you never see any of these with casters. Unless they are the removable kind the tilt back feature won't work right with casters installed. When the amp is tilted back the controls are even LESS convenient to use. They could have put a tweeter level control on the back and I've actually seen these added by some owners of this model. I wish the RCA/Phono inputs had at least a volume control. These are small sacrifices for great sound at a rock bottom price though. This amp is relatively low priced when you consider the quality, a genuine bargain.

Ergonomical design disagreements apart, this is without a doubt the best sounding bass combo I've ever owned. Nope it isn't perfect, but close. I've never seen a perfect combo amp as there's always something I'd like to change or a feature I need that is missing on all combos. The Ba-115 speaker is rated 150 watts at 4 ohms, the amp only does 100 watts so this means you'll probably never blow the speaker and you'll for sure never need to haul around an extension cabinet. The jacks are all metal. The pots are nice and tight. The controls on mine haven't gotten the least bit scratchy with five years of steady use. It will take a few bumps no problem. I'd have no problem selling this five year old amp to my best friend as I know it has lots of life left. If you are gigging five nights a week or opening for the Stones then this probably is not the gig amp for you. But it will make you heard over a drummer at rehearsal and work great for small to medium gigs. For bigger gigs you can use the XLR out into the PA.

Spend less and you'll certainly get less. Spend more on another brand with equal wattage and even then you may still get less. If you want awesome clear, clean, rich bass sound, then you want an Ampeg. If you want a modern bass sound you want this Ampeg. If you want old school you want the Rocket BR100. Once you own an Ampeg, you'll probably never be happy with any other brand.

I've always gotten a fast answer to any email to Ampeg. They are without a doubt numero uno in customer support as far as I'm concerned. There are Ampeg service centers all over the USA and the world. I've never had anything Ampeg break since 1972 when my Ampeg BT25A needed work because of misuse after I turned it on without the speaker being connected. Even though it was my fault Ampeg fixed it!

Well it isn't an 8 x 10 with a Classic perched on top, but if I had my choice between this combo and a combo from any other maker I know I'd take the Ampeg every single time. To a bass player few musical items are more appealing than that big "A" on the front of an amp.

Active Bassist

Old School R&B, Rock, Carolina Beach & Soul

Well, I used to own it. I miss it greatly actually. For a solid state combo that packs a serious punch this is the amp you want! Legendary Ampeg tone and quality all in one portable unit. You need no enhancement for the sound. The tones you can get from this amp are almost limitless if you know what you're doing. I never did record with it, but I did play many live gigs with it, and it was a very dependable unit. It has enough bottom and punch to fill up a small to medium venue by itself. Out doors it holds it's own to a point, but there are many variables with outside gigs. I will definitely own another!

The style selector makes this unit a must have. It has the RCA in's that are very handy for CD or MP3 player attachment. Small, easy to manage for a 115 combo.

Ampeg what else do you need?

For the money vs. Quality there isn't a better deal.

Active Musician

Rock, Country, Pop

This little amp has the classic Ampeg tone. nothing else to explain. the style feature lets you dial in some variation but it always sounds like an Ampeg. Thats a good thing... The tweeter hisses some which is not that uncommon for a tweeter but I would think someone like Ampeg could have done a little better with suppressing the hiss. The tweeter in this amp hisses more than any other amp I have used. It's not much of a distraction when you are playing at med to high volume, you never notice it. It's only when when you are practicing at low volume that it annoys me. It will fill a small room (100-150 people) with solid bottom end and will hould it's own with a couple of guitars and a drummer if they aren't playing at high volumes. It's great as a monitor if you have PA support.

This amp does not have a lot of bells and whistles, and it doesn't really need them. It's simple and effective. The XLR out is very useful when going diect to a board. One feature it lacks is an Effects Loop. Many amps that cost less have them but this Ampeg does not. You don't really need an effects loop to use effect pedals but it is nice to have it for certain types of effects that work better on a loop. This is one area that I think they dropped the ball.

The first BA115 I brought home had a bad speaker from the factory and I returned it the next day. It was replaced and the second one was perfect. No problems. Ampeg makes nice stuff but I knock it down a little because of the tweeter hiss, they really need to fix that. Other than that this amp is solid and well built. It can be giged with and will hold up fine just be careful not to tear the grill cloth. My amp came with no defects.

I think these combos are priced right for what you get. Face it, it's all about tone and you get your moneys worth with this amp. It lacks and effects loop and it doesn't have some bells and whistles that other combos have but it sounds great.

Have not had to deal with them. No problems with this amp or other Ampeg products I have used.

If you like Ampegs than it's a must have as a practice / small gig amp.

hobbyist

Christian Rock, punk, Alternative

Sounds GREAT!!! I had a 10" 15 watt practice amp before this. It would get "farty" on the low tones even at low volume. The new Ampeg is smooth and beautiful no matter how loud I turn it up!

New Musician

Whatever I can pick up (Mostly Rock and R&B)

Anything by Ampeg is gonna have a great sound to it. 5 different selections on it makes it usable in most types of music

The 5-tone switch I mentioned earlier works nice. The direct out is nice. You can plug a mic chord directly into the amp and play it thru a sound system. Another nice thing that the inputs are made of metal and not plastic like most other amps. There is a headphone jack so that way you don't annoy syblings, parents, friends, and so on. You are also able to plug in your cd/MP3 player and play along w/ your favorite songs.

Set your settings, plug it in and start playing

This thing is built like a rock. Thats about all i gotta say. The only thing that could be better is if it had a metal plate covering on the front instead of the thick cloth....but o well

Easily worth the money. Woulda payed more, but i'm dutch so i'm cheep

Never needed it, so i'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Haha, its a block... but its big so that makes it cool for an amp

Active Musician, in a band

Rock, Alternative, Classic Rock,

The sound is awesome! I had good expectations since my main rig is an SVT4Pro but I didn't expect it to be this powerful and full with just 100 watts, but I may use this for smaller gigs. It has an excellent range of sound, and while it suits my taste well, I couldnt give it a 10 as I'm sure there are sounds that others may want that are not possible. I think the ports on the back add lots to the low end, all the way down to my low B.

The controls are basic but very familiar to recent ampeg users. No separate EQ, I can live with as I can get the tone I want with the basic controls

Plug and play. Any setting you select will sound good.

Ampeg quality is legendary and this amp is no exception.

Excellent value at full price, but I got an $80 rebate, so...

For this amp I have never used it, but when I had specific technical questions about my SVT, they were excellent. The guy I talked to sounded like it was just a small shop and he owned the place. He was extremely helpful, as we even just talked about amps and music in general.

hmmm, hard to rate a bass combo amp on sex appeal, but I guess if you're a bass player....

Semi pro

mostly all varieties of rock

Seems loud for a 100 watt amp. A bit distorted at times, but I need to mess with the controls.

A bit more than basic, what you need + a few extras. I'd like the built in tuner, but that's available on the next expensive Ampeg model.

Very easy to use.

Seems well made, I read reviews about the handle being weak but since I just received the amp I have no experience on that matter. Looks cool & has the tilt back feature!

Seemed evenly priced with other comparable brands (i.e Fender) Had a super rebate on this model.

Awesome, had some questions on the rebate being offered, I called and they called me right back. Great customer services points for AMPEG.

It's an AMPEG! Need I say more......

Collector, Amateur Player

Rock, Metal

I played with a Yorkville 200 watter before this and I like the Ampeg better

the selector switch is nice would like more effects to play with

turn it on and go

sturdy, you won't be disappointed, good handles and easy to move around

couldn't be happier, looking for a bass amp for small to medium gigs garages to banquet halls, it does great with 2 guitars and drummer who have large egos and singer

na so I give it a 5

Sound is amazing, gut punching lows and surprisingly smooth mids and highs. stand within 2 feet of it and the bass just thunders throughout your body. Amazing.

not many features...but the audio input is pretty cool, u kan play along with your music in it...

Everything is simple as hell, just a bit on the heavy side for someone used to hauling around a 30watt practice amp.

Great sound, built like a rock, doubt the thing will ever blow and she just looks so amazing...

great value, worth very penny.

I havent dealt with them so i guess that goes back to the quality part, but im sure with a product this good you won have to either, and im sure if you did they would gladly solve your problems, plus a 5 year transferrable limited warranty from ampeg is quite comforting.

Simply beautiful! very simple and professional, reminds me of Tom Araya's 8x10 Ampeg cabs...

Bassist

Death/black/thrash/heavy Metal

I owned one of these and used it in club gigs for several years - this thing will fill a HUGE room easily. No problems - ever - in years of night after night club dates. Easy to move, looks great, just plug up and you are ready to knock down the house.

the peg

turn it on, you are done

spill stuff on it, kick it around, it just goes and goes. the cabinet is tight, tight, and well put together

are you kidding? check the price!

never need any

30+ years

rock, jazz, club

sound is ampeg I could use more thump. Maybe thats what you get with 100 watts Just wanted to switch to something not too heavy to lug up steps

Great that it has line out, but no control. Just straight fixed signal. The same with the RCA input . You cant control the volume on the amp side at all It does what it does.

pretty limited

out of box quality is good but here I am with another China made product from an American company. The materials are NOT the same and the sound suffers a little.

I am a bit disappointed in the quality for the price Seems to be made with sub standard materials (wood quality)

None needed yet

It is cool as a kickback Ampeg but I dont know how it holds up I will get back to you later

Active Musician

Rock,country,blues,church

The is tone is very nice....but the Tweeter hiss is a nightmare. I have exchanged the amp twice thinking it must be some sort of malfunction. If you are doing home recording...it would be better to use a DI box instead of this amp. The XLR out is pretty noisy as well.....but all in all, it is a reasonable value for the money

the built in presets are interesting....and provide a good starting place for adjusting things. I would prefer more control over the EQ or even a way to by-pass that hissing tweeter.

...easy to use...a no brainer

build quality is good....noise from the tweeter is a pain and really distracts from the quality.

reasonable value for the money...

no experience with tech support

tilt back feature is nice when using it as a monitor

active musician

jazz, country, rock

Very midrangey, the tweeter has to be one of the cheapest features of this combo. The mid selector does add a small amount of character for shifting the midrange peak. The treble is very hard to control and extremely hissy.

Cheap DI out. I supplied my own DI and a huge difference between A & B-ing the DI sounds. Tilt back angle makes for an unsturdy rig. It fell all the backwards on it's back several times, and especialy while performing in the upright position.

Pretty easy layout and the familiar Ampeg eq's.

Can we say MADE IN CHINA? Not that that means cheap, but really? It's obvious in the construction. A sheep in wolves clothing.

You get what you pay for.

I am familiar with the A&R guys at Ampeg and they have always been great. Not an issue on this gig.

Active Musician and Musical Director

Rock, pop, top 40, Broadway,

This amp sounded ok in the begining but developed a buzz over time. now it is unusable. The tone selection doesn't change the sound much. Does have good out put!

Features are very simple and don't change much of the sound.

Since it has very few knobs the use is simple. It is heavy to carry and awkward because it only has one handle on top.

Don't transport this one too much because the finish it not very durable. If it stayis in one place it will hold up fine. Sound quality deteriorated on me over time.

This amp costs to much for the quality sound you get. Buy a Behringer instead.

Have no idea about Ampeq support.

Boring and some what plain. Functional though.

Active

JAZZ, ROCK

conastant hissing sound coming from a very sensitive tweeter and just flat out not enough power in this thing. Ive seen many reviews praising the heck out of this amp but i tried a few of my basses on this at practice, Esp b405 and a warwick active corvette 5 string.... I returned this amp and got a Peavey TNT Tour 115. Its much heavier but I need the power.

Has decent features, sounds good with at very low volume ONLY.

Very simple to figure out.

Sound quality is good but the tweeter is terrible and for the price, it should have more power.

There are many cheaper bass combo amps out there that sound better than this.

Never used

It looks nice, classic ampeg look.

Hobbyist, Active Musician

Rock, Funk, Metal

great sound.... but hey, its an ampeg. still the only thing to complain about is the "hiss" that you get. but its not hard to get rid of.

5 different playing styles feature is nice. but nothing crazy. oh.. and the XLR output is GREAT.

easiest amp ive ever played out of.

you dont get better than ampeg

best your gonna get for the price. this thing rumbles.

yeah... i doubt i'll have to bring this beast back. ever.

its a proffesional quality amp.

Active Musician

metal, hardcore, funk

I gave this amp a 9 because I havn't tried it with my band yet. I got it today and right away it blow's away the SWR LA 15 that I returned for this. The qualit of the sound is by far the nicest I've heard my bass sound and I'm happy with this purchase.

Simple easy to use.

The XLR for future gigs is great...

This is by far the nicest looking Combo I've seen so far

It was more than I wanted to spend but you get what you pay for.

not sure yet, but it has a 5 year warranty

Comparing it to the SWR with it's cheesy white speaker this amp looks like a professional amp and it is...I would be proud to be in a small venue with this amp.

sound is fine enough, i came from a Crate 100 watt combo ( got old ) to this, I practice in a relatively small basement so depending on where I stand, the sound drops out, but thats just the room accoustics so I cant blame the amp. Havent played out with it yet, it'll be interesting to see how it does then.

i think the 5 position selector is cheesey, and I rarely use it. i do however use the CD input for laptop playback , which I use to record our practices, and thats real helpfull

not a lot of crap to get in the way, other than the selector switch.

dont like the cloth grill cover, every amp in the band but mine has a metal grill.

over priced for only 100 watts, in my opinion. in hindsight, i should have saved up for a few more months and gotten a seperate amp and cabinet, I'd probably be a lot happier.

haven't had need of support.... yet

all black, i dissagree with the poeople that say " you look good on stage if you use it" thats crap !. but for a monitor it's good. i use mine as a seat often, love feeling the Bass in the Butt

blah blah blah, i play, i engineer, i record

rock, but listen to everything but opera