Behringer BX108 Combo

15 Watt solid state, 8" speaker, headphone jack, CD in/out, 3-knob EQ. A basic practice amp, it doesn't go very loud but fine for guitar or bass practice.

For what it is, it's got about as good a sound as you could expect. It sounds decent and gets the point across. As I said earlier, it doesn't go very loud... with a Squier standard J-bass plugged in, both bass and amp volume knobs cranked to 10, it's about loud enough for everyone in a room to hear (solo) but not loud enough to annoy your neighbors.

Solid construction, I briefly entertained the idea of taking it apart and covering it in tweed like my Blues Jr., since they are the same basic shape and style, but open closer examination I discovered that it would be far too difficult to take apart the box, all the corners are glued tight. I get the feeling I could drive off with this on top of my car, and pick it up off the road with just a few rashes. I'm about 270 and I can stand on it NP.

never needed it, always works

I would buy it again, it's really convenient to transport at 15 lbs when you don't really want to lug a lot of equipment around.

Ive had this amp for a few years. two maybe?
You know its features. A perfect home practice amp.

Loud and punchy and clean. in my apartment living room it is downright unbearable at 7 on the volume knob and shakes everything that isnt very heavy or bolted down.

The sound is very good. Not for an 8 inch speaker, not for a home amp, just very good. at home playing along to a recording or running through scales its awesome. it makes you want to play, as opposed to some small bass amps that really are a struggle to listen to. this thing is full sounding and warm, twist the treble knob all the way up and its punky, turn it down some and its funky. the knobs work and the sound is a treat. honest. and its 69 bucks or at least it was when I bought it at GC. MY pickups cost more than that!

Im playing this through a MIM fender jazz with Dimarzio Model Js and chromes an SX Pbass with reverend PUP and rounds. both sound great and never once did this thing make me wish I was playing through a "real" amp...

never gave me any flak. but its not something i would gig with. jam with some acoustic guitars sure.... a couple les pauls and drums? no.

never had to call them

2006 model Behringer BX-108 "Thunderbird" bass combo. 15 watts, solid state, one 8" speaker. Single input, Gain knob, and 3-band EQ (bass, mid, treble). Rear of amp has headphone jack and tape inputs. With this amp Behringer seems to be going for the old-school "less is more" vibe. I purchased this amp during a trip to guitar center to look for and inexpensive bedroom practice amp, since it was starting to seem impractical to fire up my half stack every time I wanted to play.

I had owned a behringer bx300 combo several years ago that I wasnt very happy with(lousy tone, noisy amp) so I didnt really consider buying another Behringer product at first. But when I saw the $69 price tag on the BX-108, I figured it was worth testing out. I was pleasently suprised and couldnt pass up the price. This amp has none of the issues that the Behringer I previously owned had. I guess they improved their quality control since then, or maybe I just got a lousy one that time.

My current axe of choice is a Cort B4 artisan with Bartolini pickups and 3-band active EQ with active/passive switch. The amp has a warm, clean, good all-around tone with a strong midrange. Has a sort of vintage flavor, which I suppose is what Behringer was aiming for. Playing the Cort in passive mode with the neck pickup soloed gets a suprisingly good old-school Precision bass type sound. The only gripe I have is that there isnt a whole lot of tone options. The EQ works ok but understand that this is NOT an amp that will give you a plethora of different tones. But when you consider that its just a 15 watt practice amp its not a big deal, plus the fact that it's basic tone is well balanced and versatile. It does not have a dedicated active input or an active db pad switch, but on occasions when I play my bass in active mode ive never had any problems with the amp distoring or farting out. I dont own a 5 string so I cant comment on how it handles the lower registers of a B string. The amp is dead quiet, no hiss or hum which is a nice change from the older behringer combo I use to own.

As far as power, its perfect for low-volume practice or for playing along with a CD. However, there is no chance in hell that you would be able to use this amp to jam over drums or to gig with, unless it was for a very low volume, unplugged acoustic type gig. After all its only 15 watts though an 8" speaker.

The amp seems reliable and I have not had any problems(knock on wood). I havent owned it for very long, so only time will tell of its long-term durability.

Ive been playing for around 5-6 years now. I own or have owned in the past various gear from Peavey, Hartke, Fender, Yamaha, Tech 21, Crate, etc. If the amp was stolen id consider buying another because of the great value. I compared it to a couple of other small practice amps of similar price but the behringer had more output and better tone.

Purchased in early June 2006.
Amp is not very loud - just loud enough to hear but not loud enough to cause complaints from the people across the hall.
Volume wise, this was perfect for me EXCEPT for the noisy circuitry. Perhaps mine was a lemon? See below.

Using a Dean EVO XM bass with humbucking pickups and a high quality shielded tweed guitar cable made by Fender.
This things HUMS and WHISTLES like it is broken! As soon as I plug in, there is a varying degree of hum and depending upon which room I am in it also emits a strange high frequency tone. Perhaps there is a short in the circuitry? Perhaps there is not enough grounding electronics on the output? I don't know - except that it was too constant to make this a useable solution... I returned it. Bummer - because I really wanted to keep it otherwise...
NOTE: None of my other guitar amps exhibit this noise at all - the noise can also be heard in the line output.

Undependable seeing that it won't stop being noisy...

No Idea. I returned it to Guitar Center the next day.

How about making a bass amp that doesn't hum?

A small, lightweight practice amp with a decent, even tone. I bought it to play along with rehearsal tapes and CDs at moderate volumes and to learn songs playing with an acoustic guitarist or pianist, either backstage or in living rooms.

I am given LOTS of rehearsal tapes and spend considerable time working under pressure to prepare for freelance gigs. Without a comfortable working environment, this rehearsal time can be annoying and no fun at all.

What I have learned is that working under little headphones, as with the Ibanez Rock & Play, is fatiguing to the ears and clumsy with a tangle of headphone wires and instrument cable as your arms flail around from playing the bass to the transport of the player to the pen and paper to jot down a head and chord chart.

Playing the tapes over speakers while playing bass through a large gigging amp is also tiring - stage amps don't sound good at low levels, they have to be dragged in and set up, and they seem at once both too loud and hard to hear against the recorded material. They don't "blend".

The BX108 gives a focused, small sound that blends well with computer or small stereo speakers, has a nice bottom, and it is a small, lightweight box easily carried anywhere. It's got inputs to run your rehearsal tape through it as well, though I haven't used that feature. There's no separate level control for the stereo input, btw.

It is precisely loud enough to be heard and sound good with an acoustic guitar and unamplified singing in a room. It's not loud enough for gigging. (It has a line out which could feed a PA, but even as a stage monitor it would be taxed in the volume department.)

The input circuit has low gain. The signal from my Jazz bass can be turned up to 8 or 9 before a small click distortion occurs on the attack of the notes. I run the amp's bass control on 10, the mid just cracked and the highs rolled off to get the equivalent of a buttery Ampeg B-15 tone. Unlike cheaper practice amps, this one won't go into a full splatting distortion.

The amp has a closed back with a small vent hole in the center. Through the hole you can see an 8" stamped-frame speaker with a respectable sized magnet on it.

This is a special-purpose rig, good for the things I've described as well as moderate-volume bedroom practice with a tone that provides some inspiration and encouragement.

Don't buy it to play gigs or you will be disappointed.

First off...the rest of the reviews so far on this amp were excellent. AS all have stated, this is a simple amp with 3 band-EQ, tape in and out stereo phono plugs. It looks retro, and I didn't understand the other reviewer that seemed worried the casing wouldn't hold up..I think this thing looks like you could beat it up and it would keep playing.

I am using this amp for practice, and mostly for recording. I have bass preamps, bass amp modelling...and to be honest I think the BEST sound I can get is an honest-to-god miked amp. I am not a "real" bassist, I am a guitarist and wouldn't consider investing in a real bass amp. But I happened to be in the weird music store that really is not all that complete, and I saw this amp and thought "why not give it a try" it was so cheap (relatively...for Norway) and I LOVED it right away. I even love that it has only the simplest of features.

I give it a high rating here, because it DOESN'T have many features, though the line in (Tape in) and line out phono stereo jacks are a thoughtful addition. Other than that it is kept simple. I like that.

I have a Fender Squire bass, and an old Aria fretless bass. I know this may be "new aquisition syndrome" a little, but I LOVE the sound. I can easily get a whole range of things from trebly, to meaty..I feel like it is just dead simple to get the kind of bass sounds that eluded me with the bass amp models, and with the DI boxes w/preamp.

It is definitely not noisy. I play many styles, blues, rock, jazz, almost easier to say what I do not play.. not heavy metal, not C & W, not hip-hop or trance (though some is trancelike) (my music can be heard at http:home.online.no/~jacker if you want to know where I'm coming from) I seem to be able to dial in a whole range of bass sounds that I have been after. It isn't loud and I haven't gotten really much distortion until I have it all up to ten...but it can get plenty loud for practice, and recording...and I feel like it is surprisingly loud actually.

Won't be gigging with it, but this thing seems rugged and at the price I am really glad I won't need to be worried about it either. It seems solid enough to me.

Been playing bass for a few years, guitar for 30+. This is still a new aquisition for me, but I am sure this is going to get a lot of use. I love playing with it and it is so tiny and easy to carry around, I feel like it is going to be used a lot.

I had tried playing my bass through practice amps that were really guitar amps, you can't use them, this is a whole other beast. I haven't tried other BASS amps except in the store for a few minutes(practice or otherwise) so take it with a grain of salt, but you can hear hopefully at my site that I am not a novice, and I am pretty critical about bass, I KNOW how important it is to get it right.

This is a fantastic value for me!

The bx108 is a practice amp. It is small, ideal for using at home. The very-vintage design of the combo is familiar: maybe it's a copy of a Danelectro instrument... The 15w amp feeds a 8" driver. It's enough for home practicing.
Inputs: It has two inputs, one 6,5 Jack without active/passive switch and one stereo RCA which allows you to plug in an external device (drum machine, metronome etc).
Outputs: You can connect a headphone with a 6,5 stereo jack when plugged it's mute the speaker. It has a line out (RCA) too, so you can record your playing.
Controls: Very cool, vintage designed: Gain (you can simply call it "volume"...), Bass, Mid, Treble, and the power switch.

I use this amp with two basses: Yamaha fretless with EMG-P, Fame 5 string with custom Fibenare eq and EMG-HZs.
The power switch is often pops hardly, but it can't damage the speaker on this small volume/power i think. The control pots are working well, the eq frequencies are in good points (for a 3 band eq...), only the highs are missing. It has more tha enough volume for practicing, the box resonates only at max volume. The input is very sensitive. I have to turn down my Yamaha's active EMG's volume because at full volume it's hissing and gathers strange noises from the enviroment.

Because it is a practice amp for home useing, it doesn't have to suffer on the road in cigarette smoke and beer. The box is well made, so it wiil last for long years. The critical point can be the power switch.

I haven't dealt with them. The behringer.com has an online registration page where you can extend your warranty.

It's a cheap and good practice combo. Nothing more.

Bought in March 2003. Compared to a Peavey Microbass, this had useful input-output jacks that the Peavey lacked and was just over half the price. Didn't see the benefit of the Peavey's extra 5 watts power and felt that the sound from the Behinger was better. As I only plan to use this amp for practice and possibly some home recording in future, and wanted something compact enough to stash in a wardrobe, it does the job fine. Only concern might be the grey rubber covering, which I think may scuff easily if you plan to lug the amp around a lot.

My bass is a Westone Thunder 3. This bass has Precision and Jazz type pickups and active electronics - the amp produces the wide range of sounds from this bass with no problem. Same with playing styles, from finger, slap or plectrum. I have found a tone setting on the amp's controls that I'm happy with and leave it there - I use the controls on the guitar for any variation I need. Have tried it once or twice at near max volume, - no rattles, but usually find that a volume setting of 2 out of a possible 11 is fine for practice.

Only owned it a short time and use it maybe only a couple of hours each week - but build quality looks good, apart from the concern with the rubber coating, which may scuff easily in transit.

Under one year's warranty - never needed customer support.

Been playing bass since early 1980's (on and off) and have owned a number of amps in that time. Only other practice amp I owned was a Laney "Mighty Bass" which was lousy - It rattled like crazy and I soon got rid of it. This amp from Behringer is a revelation - great features, unbeatable value for money, good looks, strong build quality and NO RATTLES (at least, not yet anyway).

A BX-108 Thunderbird, this is the bass brother of the GX-108 Firebird amp with which it shares an outward appearance. This has pretty basic features with a retro-type look of the '50s Fender or Gibson amps, the controls on the top back, a leather handle on top, and the round recessed speaker grille. Has gain, treble, mid, and bass controls with an input jack, a on/off toggle, and a green LED for power indication. 15 SS watts, an 8 inch speaker, and it has RCA jacks for tape in & out plus a headphone jack. For me, it fits the bill for fooling around with my basses in the evening without rattling the windows, getting my wife angry, or having the neighbors call the police to have me "turn it down." For a mini practice amp, it sounds and looks good.

It's a clean sounding little amp that suits my needs (fiddling aroud with my accumulated basses) well since I just need something simple. Being a low wattage amp, though, it's sensitive to the sounds it makes using different basses. A Rick 4001 is rather trebly and quiet whereas a Peavey T-40 can sound deep and boomy or Rick trebly, also. I've got a few Peaveys (a Sarzo, 2 T-40s, and a Foundation), a Rick, and my old Fender Tele from the old days of the early '70s. All sound good through this amp, though I have to turn it up a bit with the Rick. The active electronics of the Sarzo really sound good through this baby without the kind of volume that would waken the neighbors' kids at night. It's the kind of amp to play along with the radio or your CDs or maybe in a studio but it doesn't have the power for live gigs, IMHO.

This is an unknown but Behringer is a German based company, so I would expect a superior design and execution. This is made in China, but I'm most impressed with the solidity and apparent quality that this amp exudes. Time will tell and I've only had it 3 weeks, so I'll forbear on rating this here.

I got it used, so the warranty is not a concern. Then again, for $50 it's not a big deal. There's a local business that does all the warranty work for all the manufacturers and he can fix about anything, though it might be a couple of weeks.

I've been playing bass since the late '60s though I stopped in '79 and didn't pick up a guitar or bass again until last year. I've got seven basses, eleven guitars (Charvel, Epi, Dano and Samick), and Peavey, Marshall, Fender, and Carvin amps of various ages, wattages, and sizes. My only other bass amp is a 400 watt Peavey through a single 18" FH which can be heard quite a distance away if I turn it up. Since I want to preserve domestic tranquility, I'll stick with this little 15 watter for the forseeable future. I bought it used at a pawn shop on a whim and it's been growing on me since. I like it because it sounds good and doesn't get my wife upset.

This amp features 15 watts of power and an 8" speaker. The cabinet is a bass reflex cabinet, ported in the back, and is covered in a rubbery, cushioned material. It has a Gain, Treble, and Bass knob and you're supposed to be able to hook it up to a computer for recording. It also has a headphone jack. The amp feels solidly constructed. Very basic in the features, but with an amp this size, what do you want?

I use a Schecter Model T 4 string bass with one P pickup and one J pickup. This amp is good for practicing alone or playing along with an acoustic guitar. You can play along with an electric guitar, but the guitar player really needs to play at a low volume. Absolutely, cannot be used in any sort of rock band context. It has a very clean, vintage sound kind of "Motown". The gain, treble, and bass knobs actually make a difference in the sound. However, this thing breaks up at high volumes. If you want it to be loud you'll need to back off the bass setting then it sounds lie you're playing in a tin can.

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I've been playing for about a year and also own an AMPEG BA-115 amp. If the Thunderbird were lost or stolen, I'd go for the Peavey Micro-bass amp instead. Only $40 more and it stays pretty clean at higher volumes. Overall, a much better amp. I love the look and vintage sound of the Thunderbird, however, it's really not loud enough for a lot of applications. Mainly, a practice and warm up amp. I went for the Thunderbird out of curiosity and because of the low price. If you plan on playing with a guitar player and drummer, DO NOT buy this amp.