Ampeg BA-110 Combo

Now out of production, but a good small practice bass amp -- 10" speaker, 30W, solid state, input jacks for both passive and active basses, effective 3-band tone controls (treble/mid/bass), headphone jack, CD input. A bit bigger, heavier to lug around and more expensive than something like a Peavey Microbass, but better tone and more volume. Excellent for solo practice sessions at home. Sufficient volume for practice sessions and coffeehouse gigs with a jazz trio playing at moderate volume. Not enough volume for rock band practices or gigs, but that isn't what this was designed for.

I'm using this with a Fender Highway 1 P-Bass with a Bartolini pickup and a Gotoh bridge. I play bass in a jazz trio with an electric guitarist and a saxophone player. This amp works well in that context for practices and small gigs. It produces a surprising amount of deep bass for its size, and the controls provide a fair amount of tonal flexibility. It will play cleanly at most of the volume settings, though it begins to distort with the volume and tone controls turned all the way up. No built-in distortion or effects, but that's not what one buys an amp like this for.

I bought this used a year or so ago. It has stood up to being hauled to practices in the trunk of my car, and I've used it on a couple of gigs without a backup. It seems reasonably solid and well-built.

This amp is no longer in production, I bought it used via eBay, and I have not tried to obtain any customer support from Ampeg on this amp, so I can't comment from direct experience -- hence the "no opinion" rating. For a number of reasons, though, it's probably unrealistic to expect much in the way of customer support from Ampeg these days. For a candid assessment by a repair technician of the level of customer support currently (2009) offered by Loud, see: http://louisvillemusicnews.net/wpmu/techcolumn/2009/03/17/yes-but-can-you-get-it-fixed/. There's a background here. Although Ampeg used to have a good reputation for customer support, the firm was purchased in 2005 by Loud Technologies, a subsidiary of Sun Capital Partners, a private capital firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Basically, Sun uses borrowed money to take over other companies and then wring as much value out of them as possible through outsourcing, offshoring and downsizing. Ampeg and Loud are still in business, but Loud has shut down all U.S. production of Ampeg products, laid off much of its U.S. staff, and moved production overseas, and one of the firm's Asian suppliers went bankrupt in 2008. Loud's stock was delisted by the NASDAQ stock exchange on March 12, 2009 after Loud failed to file a 10-Q quarterly financial report for the fall of 2008 and restated its annual report for 2007 and its reports for the first two quarters of 2008. This means that a major U.S. stock market took formal official enforcement action to stop public trading in Loud's stock because Loud failed to comply with U.S. government legal requirements to issue timely and accurate public financial reports. Simply put, that's bad news.

I've been playing for more than 35 years, and own a variety of other equipment. This has turned out to be a good practice amp, with good tone and volume for its size. I bought it to replace a Peavey Microbass, and have not regretted the purchase. I would think carefully before buying another piece of current production or recent used Ampeg equipment at this point, though, given the way that Sun Capital Partners and Loud Technologies have run Ampeg into the ground as a company.

I play mainly rock and alternative rock. I use this amp mainly for practicing at home or low level "bedroom" jams. This little baby has the basic features. 30 watts, 10 inch speaker, CD inputs, headphone input, 3 band rotary EQ, and a Contour switch which I believe scoops the mids when activated for a funky tone. Has one port in the back, Black Tolex covering, handle on top and metal corner protectors. Also, has two inputs for your bass, one for Passive and one for Active. And I believe it has a Line Out jack too.

I use both a Schecter Model T w/ P and J pick-ups and an Epiphone Thunderbird with two massive humbuckers. Each sound amazing through this amp. This is mainly a practice amp for personal practice or low level practice, but for 30 watts it kicks! I've had people comment that they didn't believe it was only 30 watts. The features make this a perfect first amp. When my band practices we record to a CD. I take the CD home, plug in my CD walkman and headphones and play along. This way I don't disturb the wife or child. This amp makes some of the smoothest bass sounds you'll hear from something this size. And it stays tight if you crank the volume. The Contour button is great. It gives you some added punch when you need it. I usually just leave it on. Basically, you're getting pure, unadulterated bass tone for your $$$. Not many bells and whistles but the tone will floor you.

I don't push this baby too hard, but I've never experienced a problem with it and it's built like a tank. Don't ever anticipate any problems.

Prior to buying this amp I e-mailed Ampeg with some questions about it and they responded in a timely manner, which convinced me to purchase it.

I've been playing for a few years now and own a Schecter Model T bass and an Epiphone T-Bird as well as an Ampeg BA115 (which is 100 watts with a 15 inch speaker and also an amazing starter amp for someone playing in their first band. Would be the perfect upgrade from the BA110). This is the perfect first amp for someone starting out, period. Great tone which will encourage you to play, enough power where you can rock out at respectable volumes at home, CD and headphone Inputs for practicing, and enough flexibility for different tones. If you're playing with a drummer this isn't the amp you'd want. If it were lost or stolen and I could get the amazing deal I got on it, I'd definitely buy another one. Or if cash weren't an issue I'd get anothe one in a heartbeat.

This is a brand new model with a 10 inch speaker and 30 watts. Solid state I'm pretty sure. Black vinyl cabinet and white trim around the grille. Volume, Low, Mid, High, Gain knobs. Has a switch for five different style settings. I like the headphone plug because I can rock out in my room and my parents won't get pissed. And I can plug my Sony walkman in and play along with cds and that's cool, too.

I just got this and its my first real bass amp. For xmas my dad got me a Squire P Bass that I love and a Rougue bass amp. Well the Rougue just wasn't any good, so he got me this Ampeg for my birthday and I can't tell you how much better this is. Now I know what my bass really sounds like. And the controls work so well. I mean I can get a lot of different sounds from this amp, and the old one always sounded the same no matter what. And when I get together with my buddies to jam at a friend's garage, I can actually hear myself with this Ampeg. Now I know why everybody says Ampeg is the best for bass. This little amp rules! When I get ready to move up to a bigger amp, you know its gonna be Ampeg, dudes.

Well I only had this amp for a few weeks, but I can tell its so much better than the Rogue. Its like they cam from different planets or something and the Ampeg came from planet Basstone and the Rogue came from planet Cheaptone.

I haven't called Ampeg so I'll just give this a five.

I love this amp! It sounds really good and it looks cool too. My friends always want to play bass now and I have to just get pissed off to get my P back and take it out of their hands. It just sounds like a bass is meant to. I wish it was like 150 watts or something so I could really blast the walls with it, but then it would have to be a lot bigger and cost more too. My dad plays a Les Paul and I jam with him sometimes, but he just wants to do jazz and country. Its so boring. But I need the practice and he helps me learn. And he says he can really tell the difference with the Ampeg too.

This is Ampeg's little brother to the BA-115 and BA-112, which are both very good bass amps. A compact, lightweight combo with 30 watts and a 10 inch speaker in a rear ported, tilt-back cabinet. Controls are Volume, 3-band EQ, Contour button (acts as a boost), CD inputs, headphone jack, Line Out, dual inputs for active and passive. Charcoal gray tolex, top rear mounted control panel, the usual Ampeg look for this line of combos, just in a smaller package that's easy to move. I like it!

I use a Fender Jazz with roundwounds and a Precision with flatwounds and this little amp handles both and delivers their true voices faithfully. The Jazz growls convincingly and the P thumps like thunder. This is obviously not a gig amp, but it works extremely well for practice and its good tone encourages me to play. No distortion - stays clean all the way up. Which is what an Ampeg is supposed to do. I leave the EQ set flat and I just keep the Contour button on. If I want to change tone, I just use the tone knob on my bass. Very quiet, no hiss or noise at all.

I've only owned this amp since April, so this isn't a long term report (2 and 1/2 months) but I can tell you that it's very solidly constructed and rugged. I use it daily and I expect to last forever. Unlike many other practice amps in this price range, the BA-110 has all metal input jacks, not the fragile plastic junk that you normally see.

Any issues I've ever had with Ampeg gear - and they've been very few over the years - have been handled by the dealer. I can't say anything about St Louis Music, who now owns Ampeg, because I've never had any direst dealings with them.

I compared this to the Fender Frontman 25B, Bassman 25, Trace Elliot Boxer 30, and Peavey Microbass. This is the one I liked the best, because it had the best mix of tone and features for the money. The others are all decent amps, but this one stood out. I understand the units being sold right now have a 5 position "Style" switch. It might be a good thing, I don't know. To me, the EQ does that job. In any case, this is a damn good amp for practice or jamming with low power bandmates. I've owned an assortment of Ampeg gear over the years and I've always been pleased with it. I've had a V-4B head and cab, and I presently use a B-2 combo for gigging. It's the standard for bass amplification. This little guy does nothing to detract from that image.