Bass Guitar Amps

Bass Guitar Amps for Practice, Studios & Live Sound

Bass guitar amps have three components - heads (amps), speakers and cabinets - and, like all component systems, they are only as good as their weakest link.

We have reviewed five bass guitar amps that come preconfigured in combo packages on the basis of sound reproduction, power and price. These essential differences determine which bass guitar amp is best suited for you; we've made some recommendations on bass guitar amps based on what we consider optimal for practice sessions, studio recording and live stage performance.

The key to our recommendations is how well these bass guitar amps (combos) handle bottom tones. Contemporary music feeds off of the bass tones - especially the tones of the bass guitar - at least as much as it does off percussion. Most people don't realize the importance of the bass guitar (and hence of the bass guitar amps) until it is taken out of the mix. Choosing suitable bass guitar amps is the first step in obtaining that ultimate bass tone which ensures your band gets noticed.

In this article, we review the top sellers among bass guitar amps from four respected manufacturers - Ampeg, Eden and Hartke.

Please note that electric guitar amps are reviewed in a separate article.

Bass Guitar Amps Reviewed:

Hartke Bass Guitar Amps

The Hartke B150 15 Watt B Series bass guitar combos make great practice amps. They provide 15 Watts and a 6.5" Hartke bass driver that has a full and punchy sound! Equipped with a 3 band EQ and adjustable shape circuitry, these bass guitar amps are compact yet powerful. They also work well in a studio - throw a mic in front of this speaker and lay down the groove. The downside to these bass guitar amps is they are far too small for live performance. Bottom line: these bass guitar amps are a well priced, solid choice for practice sessions, both on the road and at home. This is an AudioLink Best Buy!

Learn more about the bottom tones of Hartke Guitar Amps.

Ampeg Bass Guitar Amps

Ampeg has been the industry standard in bass guitar amps for years. In the past, musicians have relied on Ampeg bass guitar amps for their signature tone and heavy duty design. But even their flagship bass guitar amp - the Ampeg BA115 Tilt Back - is outsized and overpriced for today's market. Weighing in at 62 pounds, the 100 Watts of power drive a 15 inch speaker which in my opinion makes these bass guitar amps too loud for the studio and too bulky for the stage.

Learn more about these extraordinarily versatile Ampeg Bass Guitar Amps.

Hartke Bass Guitar Amps

The weight (47 pounds) and size (approximately 22 inches) of these Hartke Kickback 15 Combo bass guitar amps make them a natural for touring. With its versatile "two-way" design, these guitar amps can be played upright or "kicked back," like a stage monitor (pictured here). These guitar amps offer a "big bottom" bass with a whopping 120 Watts of raw power that will rattle everything around you with a smooth low end. If you are a bass player who lives on the road, then the Hartke Kickback is your tried and true sidekick.

Learn more about these Hartke Bass Guitar Amps - the perfect sidekick for your touring band.

Eden Bass Guitar Amps

If awesome power is what you need, then the Eden Nemesis NC410 bass guitar amps are a must hear! The powerhouse combination of four Eden Nemesis 10” speakers and one T2004 Wide Range Titanium diaphragm tweeter produces the fattest sound of all the bass guitar amps we have reviewed. Power is what these bass guitar amps are all about, and power is what you get, with 320 Watts on wheels. These bass guitar amps are also the most versatile of the amps reviewed with multiple controls and level settings. To top it all off, these bass guitar amps won the Bass Player Magazine Editor's award in August 2005; they also win our award for best in class. This is an AudioLink Top-of-the-Line selection.

Learn more about these powerful road machines with extraordinary flexibility - Eden Bass Guitar Amps.