Behringer BX4210A 210 Combo

It was features that drew me to replace my Fender bass amp with this offering from Behringer. Many useful elements such as Bright, Shape, a floor pedal, and a purported 450 watts had me willing to live dangerously and order this over the 'Net without ever trying it. Bad idea.

This, IMHO, is what it is all about. If it sounds good but isn't very loud you can always mic it or use the line-out feature. If it's loud but sounds awful, what's the point? OK, OK, so you play in a thrash band and it's all about volume; well, so what, right? Wrong. In those quiet moments when you're toning it down, living with neighbours, or just have had enough of the ear-splitting stuff wouldn't it be nice to have a sound you can write home about? A sound to turn heads and let the guitar shine through? I think so and this product can't deliver the goods. It vibrates. It distorts. It's never clean. The driver--well, it has something rattling around in it! No matter what the volume it just, well, sucks. I am beyond disappointed.

So far, the only thing that has broke is one of the 1/4 inch input jacks. I stepped on the cord and snap--the external portion of the jack was still attached to the cord. Crikies (sp)!

Well, here's the redeeming quality, I think. Presenting my problem--the broken input jack--to a local Behringer dealer it appears help is on the way. I actually asked if I could order a printed circuit board to replace the one with the attached jacks, I was told that this part 'doesn't fail' and so Behringer offered to replace the amp. Yahoo!!! Now, if only it would arrive. It's been almost a month.

I don't think it takes an 'expert' to know if this amp is the real-deal. It's a bit like art: "Don't ask me why I like it I just know that I DON'T like it." Save your money buy something better and make up for it with low-cost Behringer products like microphones.

Manufactured 2006. Purchased from the Rock Shop in Auckland. Passive/Active input. 450W with two 10" Bugera speakers and a tweeter. Built in shape and deep functions as well as an 'Ultrabass' effect that spells danger for the speakers! (More on this in Reliability). I play heavy rock, dub, reggae and funk. This unit does justice to all styles but then again I'm not a tone connisseur. I'm of the school of thought that it's all in the playing and you get out what you put in so, for me, it is very versatile. Good depth of tone and crisp highs - good for slapping and popping. I run this unit at just below half volume with no gain and it provides a solid sound but I have my reservations about its strength for this job.

I play a non-export Jap Fender Aerodyne Jazz which has US P and J pickups and have the setup altered from factory so the pickups aren't as hot (further away from the strings). Despite this change, and using no gain (sorry to repeat the point) the amp still waivers into the 'tube power' section of the input dial and the limiter diode is often blinking away. The amp is fairly quiet although this really depends on the magnetic layout of where I'm playing (garages are not the best places to practice). The unit has never distorted when running no effects however, turn the 'Ultrabass' effect on and you're on a sure path to murdering the speakers. My rating reflects the sound quality, ignoring the problems the Ultrabass effect has caused which I will address below.

Reliability is a little iffy. The 'Ultrabass' effect built into this unit is a total cab killer (beware!). In the year and a half I've had the amp I've managed to one of the speakers three times due to this effect. The speakers just cannot handle it (and I was running at below half volume with NO gain). Absolutely stupid that this unit was ever designed with such an effect. If you avoid this effect, or only use it at low volume (or have an extra 4x10 cab) you'll have a good amp.

Had the first speaker replaced under warranty. Took 3 months although this is a reflection on the slack contract repair company and the Rock Shop's utter impotence. Second speaker blew just out of warranty and once again took three months for repair. To the credit of the Rock Shop, they waived the charge on this (so they should have) but now I face the battle of returning with yet another blown speaker. For me it's three strikes and it's out. I will go into battle with the Cock Shop, get it repaired and onsell it with a firm warning to the next owner about the Ultrabass effect.

I've been playing for eight years now and I have used my 70's fretless Jazz through this unit - sounds a little dull with the flatwounds. Can't really bring out any richness unfortunately. I wouldn't buy another of these and will warn anyone considering it to run for the hills purely due to the Ultrabass effect.

bought the amp new. complete rubbish. speakers x 3 sets in 6 months

passive ibanez bass. emg select pickups.

have to be the noisiest preamp in the universe. very lound but what good is it when you can't use the treble? para eq is a pain with all the sweeps between controls.

ABSOULUTELY USELESS.

most unreliable amp i have ever owned. behringer have 'upgrade' after 'upgrade' of their aluminium speakers to replace the ones that blow but they are the same, by virtue of the fact that they can't take the amp for more than a short while before going to speaker heaven.

no matter how often i told them of the fault they sent me the same speakers. apparently the paper coned models don't have the same problem but you can't get them in australia just yet and apparently the speakers aren't the same size in the cavity.

after the second time they should have said to get some other speakers and they'd reimburse me. in fact i suggested that after the third pair but they didn't want to know. they also tried to suggest that a refund wasn't their problem even though they are the manufacturer and it was a manufacturer's warranty.

the bass centre, south melbourne insinuated it was MY fault the amp went even though it was happening all over the place.
i took the amp back for a refund and got attitude from an employee when i arrived after a four hour drive (i did, however, get my money back)

BEHRINGER: beyond pathetic. after buying mine i checked preamp noise in a number of shops to find they were all pretty much the same.

how is sending the same speakers over and over again fixing the problem?
i had to wait nearly 2 months for one delivery. i told them the problem and offered solutions but there was no interest. no wonder they are losing business from individuals and music stores!

HARMONY CENTRAL: either an ETA for how long posts will take to be uploaded or a contact page so we can ask please! (that is if you want more people to review here). pls email me this information. i don't like wasting my time

my amp featured wheels on one corner (completely useless), a carpeted cab which was great (more durable than vinyl), recessed handles which were tough for carrying this heavy monster.

ultrabass was a useless gimmick. would have preferred a strong dialable compression to protect the woefully inadequate bugera aluminium speakers . the speakers are RUBBISH!!!!! i went through 3 sets in six months and the last time they blew in the middle of a gig which caused the gig basically to end as it was outdoors and there was no D.I. for the bass.

the EQ was annoying. i prefer graphic EQ sliders. they are way easier to see and adjust on stage because the graphic represents the freq spectrum visually. shape was good but the on button didn't remember its on state when switched off.

bright button was good but pointless as the preamp in this amplifier is so noisy it sounds like charles manson attacking a buick with a chainsaw. sounds like the electronics were out of a 62 desoto.
i bought a behringer compressor/sustainer to protect the dreadful speakers but the hiss that came out of that when it amplified the noise of the preamp sounded like operation desert storm. okay, so i'm exaggerating to make a point....but not by much (figured out that i'm not a happy customer yet?)

i use the same bass i've been using for 14 years. an ibanez blazer series from the early 70's.

about 10 years ago i threw out the factory pickups and installed a pair of EMG select pickups which i've used ever since. they're passive. i don't hold with active pickups for 2 reasons. 1: i don't like the overly
bright piano-ey sound you tend to get (even if you dull the treble). i like the old fashioned thumping sound for my simple style of playing.
2: i don't need another thing to forget to put batteries in and have a meltdown/star-fit on stage (lol)

the behringer had heaps of potential. i would rate it 11/10 for power.
it rates right up there with the peavey MKIV i had and sold *sheds a tear* years ago. the trouble is..what good is the power if you can't use it???? it's so noisy in the preamp that you can't turn it up unless you want your sound dull.

bright was good but only if you turned the treble down to 80% or so or else you get the crackling hiss.

in its favour i'll say the behringer didn't break up on raising the preamp or the master but i was too scared to push the issue as the speakers were such woeful quality.

absolutely HOPELESS!!!

i took my behringer back to the bass centre in melbourne (a four hour drive) and got a refund after six months. thank GOD! i was so sick and
tired of dealing with people over and over again about the same issue....the stupid speakers. and then getting told it was my fault!!!!

the bass centre and behringer were DREADFUL!!

they assumed all problems were MY fault even though the same problem kept occurring again and again and on a wide scale, not just ME!

i kept telling them the cones weren't strong enough to deal and that the issue was the cones themselves (there have been no problems to my knowledge with the paper coned models..which, ironically are cheaper)

behringer kept sending out the same speakers (only the ohms differed and on one occasion chris from behringer told me it was fine to wire two 4ohm speakers in parallel, taking them to 2 ohms total when the back of the amp says minimum load 4ohms....i ignored that and wired them in series up to 8ohms and they lasted the longest)

the bass centre and i had an email conversation where guy from the store stated that it must be my fault because the problem has occurred so many times (3) and i got attitude when returning the amp from an associate of his (go figure). prior to that they'd sent me more speakers which took (wait for it) 2 months!!!! to arrive. i had an important gig (which they knew about) for which i had to hustle up another rig. luckily i was able to half borrow / half build one for the show (200 watt abbey power amp, small DJ's mixer for pre, 2x15 twin thin bin @ 300 watts w/soundkings in para to 4ohms)

service from both points bites a rhino

so the service from both points sucked severely.

playing guitar since 1973.
pro (on and off) since 1987. so 20 years i guess.

i have a concorde 12 string steel. a cheapie nylon string. 2 yammie 4 track cassette recorders (which are great as mini-mixers). a bbe distortion (rack) an spx-90 for the reverbs (rack), a boss me-5 multifx unit (never use it, lent to me), yamaha e-303 keyboard (has everything but the kitchen sink in it for the cost of a mcmuffin), a gazillion puters including an atari-ste (for midi), a few kiddies' keyboards for circuit bending, a cheapo harmonica (no good tho), a cheapie steel six string, a boom mic stand, several rubbish mics (soon i'm gonna get me a good stereo condenser mic).

that's all i can remember from the top of my wrinkled grey thing.

OVERALL RATING:
the behringer amp has potential. i'd be a jerk to say otherwise. it has mountains of the sort of grunt you need as a bass player to push the low freqs out over the more aggressive tones of the guitar, singer and drummer (and keyboard stabs if that applies to you). it's a solid mofo that can take getting heaved about the place.

it has plenty of bum on it (bottom end) but what good is that if you
keep having to pick bits of speaker out of the back of the singer's head? aluminium star knives!! you can keep em.

helloooooo.....behringeeeeer....fix the preamp!! use A rated electronics not the cigarette lighter out of a 67 skoda for your circuit boards.

if it got stolen tomorrow i'd thank dr.who profoundly. no one else could steal it as nobody else has a tardiss to go back in time and pinch it. i took it back. it was a piece of....well i think you can guess what word i'd use.

comparisons? how about comparing it to peavey products!
i noticed one of the above reviewers said that there isn't anything comparable for the price. i disagree. there is if you look.
have a look at the harmony central reviews for the peavey MKIII, IV, VI, VIII. the peaveys blow behringer out of the water and what's more they've been doing so since jesus was in nappies. behringer could learn a lot from peavey.
music shops and the general public have given me horror stories about behringer and yet i have NEVER heard one about peavey and they have been around for decades.

anything else i'd like to share???? yes, i'm too fat and i have bad breath (and puppies are cute).

have a good one peeps.

DON'T BUY BEHRINGER!

New amp, bought in oearly 2007, so don't really know what year it was made.
This amp is very versatile, due to it's 5-band EQ, shape function, and Bright and Deep switches. I can dial up any tone I can imagine.
It has only one channel, but two inputs (active and passive).
The 'Ultrabass' subharmonics thingy is not really useful, except maybe for bass solos way up the neck.
Its 300W with internal speakers, and 450W with added external, is more than enough for my needs.

I use two basses with it, both having soapbar style pickups. One is fretless.
This amp suits any style that I'd play, because of its tonal versatility. I can dial up deep and rumbly, to punchy and 'spanky', and anything between the two.
I play mainly Blues, 70's-ish rock, and Contemporary Worship music.
The only noise I've heard from this amp is the cooling fan in the back, and it's not obtrusive, at all.

I have heard and read about reliability issues with Behringer products, but of all the people I know personally who own and use Behringer products, none have ever told me about any problems they've ever had with them. I've read reviews of this and other Behringer amps with the aluminum-cone speakers, about the speakers blowing when cranked up. I've also read and heard that these speakers need to be broken in gently before cranking the big juice to them. I've been doing that, and already notice more 'warmth' from mine, indicating that the drivers must be breaking in. So, take it easy on the drivers at first, and I don't think you'll have a problem when you do finally push them hard.

I haven't yet had to deal with them, but I did email a question to Behringer, and got a very prompt response to that.

Been playing 30 years, this is my main bass amp. If it were stolen or otherwise lost, I'd probably replace it.
I haven't really discovered anything that I truly hate about the amp, except maybe for the 'Ultrabass' thingy. And the piezo tweeter they use has a rather abrupt cutoff frequency, which can sound a little weird when playing right up around that frequency. One note's coming out the tweeter, and then the note two frets down from there doesn't, causing a sharp timbre change in too close an interval for my taste. The cutoff is really that abrupt. I keep my tweeter unplugged, anyway, because I feel that the 10" aluminum speakers are plenty bright.
What I love about this amp is its tonal flexibility.
I didn't really compare it to other amps in this price range, because at this price-point no one else makes anything comparable in terms of power & features. I did play thru a very nice Line 6 amp that day, though, but for the same price, it was only half the power.

2006 0r 2007 model, 2x10 with tweeter.
Very versatile; I can get spanky and bright, or muddy and thick with equal ease
One channel, but two inputs; passive or active
I don't really use the 'Ultrabass' subharmonics generator. It's kinda pointless, but as the other guy said, it is a little interesting wne playing in higher registers.
300W on internal speakers, 450W with external added. Rather loud!

I'm using mine with two basses having soapbar pickups, a Dean Edge, and a Kramer. The Kramer is fretless (defretted by me).
My music style is mostly blues, rock, and jazzy stuff.
The only noise I notice in this amp is its cooling fan. Nothing at all in it's output. Very quiet
I can get any sort of sound out if it that I might want, due to the 'shape' function. Deep and rumbly or puchy/spanky. Itt'a all in there.
I haven't really pushed it to distortion yet.

I've only had it for a few weeks, and am breaking in the Bugera aluminum-cone drivers gently, as I'm told needs done to avoid blowing them. I've already noticed them sounding a little warmer than when I brought it home. I hear stories about Behringer products having reliability issues, but of all the people I know personally who use Behringer products, none have ever mentioned any reliability problems to me. I don't feel I've had min long enough to really rate in this category.

Haven't had to call on them, but I did email a question about the amp, and got a prompt response.

I've been playing for 30 years, and this in now my main amp. I'd definitely replace it if somehow lost. I love its price/performance ratio, but I'm not fond of the piezo tweeter. Its frequency roloff is too steep for my taste. I don't think it's even necessary with two aluminum 10's in the box, anyway. They're bright enough for me by themselves, so I just unplugeed my tweeter.
I didn't really compare this amp with anything else, as they didn't have another in this power/configuration in the store, but I bought it on its price/performance/features.

New for 2005/2006

Great sound lots of features. Ultrabass is good for playing high on the neck, sounds sloppy and un-natural lower on the bass.

Lots of power - 300 watts - with 150 remaining for additional cab.

Versitile, using a Music Man Sub bass. Clean sound.

HERE IS THE ISSUE.

I bought this new 2 months ago. Used it once at a large venue sounded great (Lee's Palace in Toronto).

Played it last night (second time using it live) - The speaker blew in my second set and had to switch to running direct the rest of the night. It was a smaller venue and I was running at less than half volume

Dealing with Steve's music, they are great in Toronto. Should have it replaced, but I think I am going to upgrade. Appreciate giving Behringer a try - good price, good sound - but I need a reliable amp first and foremost.

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