Yorkville 400BH

Single Channel
Active/Passive Inputs
10 Band EQ
Defeatable EQ
Defeatable Scoop
Defeatable Limiter
2xEffects Loop (1 Front, 1 Back)
2xLine Out (1 Front, 1 Back)
Older Black Model
400 Watts at 4 ohms

I explain why it only got an 8 in the Sounds section.

The transparency of the power section combined with the powerful eq section make this amp very versatile. This is both good and bad, it allows to to shape your tone quite easily, but if you set it up poorly, it will not perform as well as it can, so take your time here.

I play an SR485 bass in a metal band. Combined with a Madison 2x10, I can easily dial in a very aggresive tone. As others have said, the lack of a fan eliminates alot of the fuzz that you hear in the background of other amps, it can get quite hissy if your cab has a horn and you crank the 3 far right eq sliders.

The amp pumps out alot of power, I don't see how anyone can find this amp to sound weak, unless you eq the amp horribly, because certain settings seem quieter than others. As I was saying, I'm playing this amp through a Madison 2x10 cab, haven't had a volume issue at practise or at shows. Most of my shows have full PA support, so my amp only needs to act as a monitor. I'm not sure I would use this rig by itself until I get a bigger cab though.

My only beef is that I would like to dirty the amp up a little bit, that is why I gave the amp an 8 under features. This wouldn't be a big deal for alot of people, plus, I plan to run the preamp in parallel with some type of distorsion box (haven't decided what yet) and mix them with a line mixer.

I've only had this head for about 6 months, so I won't give full marks here, but I've never seen one of these amps break down. I don't have a date for mine, bu I will assume it's gotta be around a decade old. The exterior is a complete mess, but the amp runs like new.

The amp is old however, there is another one for cheap in a music store close by, so I might pick it up just in case. The backup won't be getting lugged to shows, because I'm confident in this heads durability.

Never dealt with Yorkville. Hear good things though.

I've been playing bass for almost 8 years now. It doesn't matter if this amp is stolen, because I am buying a backup anyways, plus, when a theif saw how beat up it was, he would put it back.

The thing I love about this amp, is the same thing I hate: How transparent it is.

All in all, I've used the BM400H many times in the past because my cousin owns one, I've always loved these amps, so when I saw this in store I grabbed it up without second thought. If you see one of these amps in store, I suggest you grab it too, because you will not get better bang for your buck anywhere.

I have bought the 400B head from a pawnshop, I tried it into a Fender Bassman 300w cab and it sounded weak... I mean, it drives 400 watts at 4 ohms, so it means you reach 300w or so in 8ohms... this is bad to my opinion. I wish it had a XLR output and a built in compressor. I am now looking for a cab powerful enough to allow me to use the full capacity of the amp. My drummer plays a 23 pieces kit and the guitar player uses some chunky 5150 head into a Marshall cab ! They are loud. We play a blend of many styles in one genre, mostly metal oriented and I fear not finding a good cab for my head. Any suggestions ?

I am using a Soundgear SR-885 with a vari-mid 3 band EQ with a really in-your-face sound, active pickups... Every 400B users told me they could make the ceiling crumble with their rig turned on... I am still doubtful about it.

It looks really sturdy, and I find it to be heavy to carry, I guess it's going to last a good while.

I had to service it once because there was too much hiss when I turned the knobs.

I am been playing for 16 years, used several amps such as Peavey TKO 115, a Trace-Elliot head into a Hartke cab, Acoustic cab with a some old Peavey head... Right now I am using a TK0-115 (really old with two unworking EQ frequencies) which I use for my high end and a TNT 115 for my low end, both are linked together and crossed over. I just wish I will get the sound I am craving for : equals mids-highs and shaking lows. Some guy told me to buy a Behringer 4X10 speaker cab to get satisfied with all the power of that " beast " as he says... I'll take it from there.

Although this head is a little low on features, you really can't complain because of its extremely low price. I would have liked to see some Speakon connectors, but they really weren't popular with bass rigs yet when I bought this head a few years ago. The graphic eq is engineering genius on yorkvilles part. You never see stuff like that on a moderate-wattage head. Awesome!

I use an Ibanez SR495 with active picups, so I use the -6db input. The amp does a great job of emulating that rolling tube growl, especially with the contour on. With 720 watts of headroom, there aren't many playing environments that will run this thing out of breath. My 410 cab can't even keep up with the higher frequency snaps when the volume and gain are at 4.

Solid and indesructable. No issued with old tubes or broken fans. The large heat sinks are more than enough to keep this badboy cool.

Not as good as I thought. Yorkvilles 2 and 10 warranty didn't even cover a broken jack. I brought it to long and mcquade just over a year after purchase, and they charged me 30 bucks! I thought these things were supposed to be covered for 2 years, but apparently not.

I have been playing bass for 6 years, guitar for 7. I own a yorkville 410 cab and a 115 cab. Both are quickly becoming inadequate. I will soon be selling the whole thing - I'm getting an Ampeg SVT 810e, and a yorkville 800h head. (all tube!) All in all, this thing has done very well, and has sold me on yorkville's reliability. A great buy (If you can still find one).

10 band EQ, foot switch EQ activation, two imput jacks, limiter and contour switches. Even has an effects loop! I have it going through a 210 Harke cabinet.

I have used quite a lot of equipment with this amp, mostly an Ibanez SR405 bass, but I also use it with my Danelectro DC Bass, Danelectro Hodad, Epiphone ES-335, and some B.C. Rich POS. It handels all instruments better than any other amp I've played (besides a VOX AC30 for the guitars) and it even suits Acoustic guitars well too! I also used it as a PA at one time, when my actual PA amp died. The whole time it was punching out great sounds with clear chrisp levels!

Mixed results, sometimes it's prefect, sometimes I got to reconfigure the EQ because of volume... deffinatly some problems with the circutry, other than that it is very durable.

Very versatile amp, can handel a lot of different sound ranges, very dependable, and great for holding your coffee.

Has a 10 band EQ. Very good clean quiet sound. No fans no nothing, just the heat reducter in the back that withdraw the heat. Doesn't have that ground out though for pluging in to sound systems, but you can solve that problem with a pro co ground switch unit. Lots of good stuff on it.

Sounds really rad, gives good punch, and the high's and mid's that you can put into it with the EQ are great, not as a Ampeg SVT, but what can expect for how much it is.

It is very dependable. I've been playing with it for 3 and half years now and had it my rack case and it hasn't heated up, broke down, or done anything wrong.

The customer support is pretty good, I had to deal with them for the 410b cab I had.

I think is a real good amp, probably the best other than a Ampeg. I would buy it over any SWR, Hartke, etc head, accept for Ampeg.

Solid State 400 watt (@4 ohm) bass amp, rack mount 2 space. Foot selectable 10 band EQ on-off and curve on-off. The curve mode cuts the midrange and boosts the highs and lows. No cooling fan (uses a large bank of heat diffusers).

The quietest amp I've played in it's price range. Very much a clean amp. Lots of power and foot selectability for a bass amp. The lack of a cooling fan eliminates fan noise, which was a problem with some other amps I looked at. The amp has no real character or tone coloring of it's own. It is like a bass-centric PA unit. I use mine with a tube guitar preamp and the tone comes through wonderfully. There are amps I'd rather use stand-alone (Like an SVT Classic), but for my use it is excellent. Clean power with EQ. Rating for my uses: 10.

No problems at all. I've had it for half a year now. Hasn't overheated yet.

Extensive 2 year warranty. I have not talked to Yorkville customer support.

Built like a tank. Cheap as hell. Would not hesitiate to purchase a replacement (Now called a BM400H). Definately a cost/performance bargain. Three complaints: 1. The rear effect loop (that I'd never use anyway) requires a special cable because one 1/4 inch stereo jack is the in and out. 2. There is no rear input jack (which I would use). 3. I don't use the limiter on this amp, but if I ever did, I would appreciate a status light.
This is not my favorite bass amp by itself, but for the price you get much more than you pay for. I like to hear tubes, and there are none in this amp. Makes an excellent companion to a preamp, which is what I use it for. $450 for 400 watts is hard to beat, and the unit may be cheap but is not cheaply made.