Yorkville BM200 Bass Combo

This is an update to my previous review posted 05/03/2005. This time it is about the "extension" jack... I wonder how many players out there really use it for something. See below!

I found a nice used Doyle 2x10 cabinet for (measuring about 25in. wide, 12in. deep and 14in. high, 200W @ 8 Ohm) that can sit on top of the combo, just a bit wider, and man, this adds to the versatility of this little combo!!! The twin 10in. drivers add lots of punch to the mids and highs and seems like an required complement to the 15in. driver of the combo. Sounds like a totally different amp altogether. There is an extension cab available from Yorkville, for this model it is the BC210 which is also a 2x10. If you can find one, buy it! This will turn your little BM200 into a killer amp.

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Other have said it all about the controls, etc. Except, it's rated at 150W @ 4 Ohms, not 200, which is still loads of output for a box this size with a massive ported 15in. speaker. Fairly simple controls and features, 4 EQ controls, useful Effects Loop jacks, "Line Out" and headphone jacks, and of course external speaker jack to use an additional cab. Perfect for gigs in small and large places, but this box is damn heavy to carry and the handle on the top is not very useful... I installed casters to make it easier to move around.

I use it with a simple Ibanez SG-series bass with active pickups, which cause a little hiss unless I cut the Treble to minimum. This little box is a powerful beast. I rarely need to set the volume above 4. Make sure you have good insurance if you intend to crank up the volume, it may cause an earthquake, or at least, shatter windows. The Contour feature boosts the sound in the low and highs which adds to the otherwise limited sound versatility of this amp. The Limiter control supposedly prevents clipping but I never play loud enough to need this!

Built like a tank, this thing has over 5 years of use and still performs like new. It is made of 3/4in. plywood and the metal grill keeps the speaker safe. Odd-looking blue carpet covering needs cleaning once in a while. Seems reliable enough to use without a backup. The plastic covers of the strap handle broke off, that thing is so heavy! I am considering installing handles on the sides instead of replacing the top handle. Would be easier to carry around.

Did not have to deal with Yorkville but their reputation for service is excellent. Good dealership network too for service and parts.

This is my first bass amp, I also own a good old Peavey Bandit for my guitar. This amp is really an excellent value for the price, even if you pay for a new one. Made in Canada. Basic yet adequate features for a low price due to the value of CAD compared to USD. Will definitely hunt for another Yorkville if something happens to this one. The newer line of Yorkville XM bass amps look nicer that the BM series with a few more features. Again, excellent value for the buck.

1999 Yorkville 200RB (Canada)
200 watt solid state bass amplifer, ported 15" speaker, tweeter, 4-band EQ, limiter, contour, effects loop. This amp provides enough power to play along with guitars, drums, a singer and keyboards. I've played in some venues without having this thing miked as well. I originally wanted the 2x10 model but I found there was too much "chuffing" from the port of that model when using a 5-string. The Limiter and Contour controls are only buttons so there is not variability (unlike some newer Yorkville models). The entire combo is quite light, but sturdy. My biggest complaint is the power cord - there's no place to wrap the cord when moving the amp. Even my old 30 watt Peavey Minx has a place to wrap the power cord for easy transport. It's a basic amp, with very few frills.

I've used this amp with a Fender Precision (with and without a Raven Labs on board preamp), Godin L.R. Baggs Fretless (Acousticaster Bass), Spector NS2-C, and a Fender American Jazz Bass V. The low end is loud, but not very tight. You have to drop the "low-mid" eq setting to improve on the tightness of the low end and remove some "boominess". The contour button also helps with this. The high end is also very harsh. Even with a fretless with flatwound strings this thing can be pretty harsh. I end up backing off on the treble on both the amp and of all my active basses to control the harshness and string noise. You've got to do some tweaking to get the sound you want. The high end does help when playing with a band, letting the sound cut through the other instruments.

The limiter seems useless, and the contour doesn't really add a nice sound, just something to start with. As I mentioned, you really have to play with the EQ to get a good sound.

The amp can also be pretty noisy with any electronics. I use a Boss OC-2 Octave pedal and Ibanez Bass Chorus pedal and you really need to use the effects loop to cut out the noise. It also emphasized the noise generated by the Raven Labs PBR-1 on-board preamp in my Precision. The noise, along with the harsh treble can be annoying.

This thing is built like a tank. Another reviewer mentioned Yorkville's amazing warranty, and it looks like they were ready to stand behind their gear. Again, my only problem would be the potential for the power cord to get damaged because of how it just hangs out without any place to wrap it when moving the amp.

Overall, this amp does have good value. For the money, you wouldn't be able to get this combination of power and reliability from any other make. It may be skimpy on the features, but that's what makes this thing so reliable.

I love the tone set up on this amp, simple and straight forward, and the controls are all you really need, and the effects loop is nice and quiet. The limiter seems to work well also

I play my SR760 Ibanez 4 through this, and occasionally use an Aria Pro II. It sounds very clean, crisp and punchy. The limiter does a good job of clipping the distortion, and a wide variety of tones are available from this superb amp. I play Sabbath/Purple etc. and get all the tone I need from this, however I do use the BC-115X extension cab with it, it adds balls.

Not had it long, but have used it ALOT! It does get quite warm, but I do hammer it all the time. Seems very solid though. I would use it without a back up, no problem.

I emailed Yorkville to see if they could find me the matching extension cab, as they are very difficult to get hold of in the UK. They were superb and found me one in Scotland and arranged for the shipping! Can't ask for more than that!

Ive had a TNT-115 Peavey, and a second hand 4 x 10 Trace combo, and I really do prefer this. If you like the sound and depth of 15's then give this a go, I think you will love it, as I do. If you prefer 10's id stick with them, this might be a little toneless for you. The extension cab works well and is also quite light, as is the combo. Does let the sound of the bass shine, I can't put the Ibanez down!

This amp has very simple controls. low, mid, hi mid, and highs for the EQ section, a line out (not XLR out), extension cabinet capability, 200 watts rms, contour switch, limiter, and headphones. not a lot of stuff but it's very effective. i dont like the contour switch though, it just kills your mids, makes ur lows boomy and makes ur highs tinny. simple but effective controls. im very happy with the set up, i LIKE simple controls. it's a fully solid state amp. 1 15 inch eminence speaker and a Le Son tweeter (i think)

I use my 83 Peavey T-40 and my new P bass with this amp. Basically, this amp can do anything i want it to, as long as i have good basses to use with it. My T-40 sounds a lot like a really good jazz bass, and i can dial in tons of good sounds with it just by messing with the EQ. i can get mellow fingerstyle to some really brutal and just plain loud slap sounds. vintage, modern, it can do it all and very well at that. never sounds boxy or harsh or anything. sounds very "pro". The P bass sounds just like a P bass should, and i can get some cool vintage tones out of it also. The amp will also let me play very loudly, sometimes to the point where slapping and popping makes me blink. It really lets the sound of your bass shine through, it doesnt color the sound a lot unless you want it to. I played a SWR Workingman's 15 combo before and it wasnt any better than this, and it didnt go as loud either. the yorkville sounds better and the horn sounded a lot less sterile. This amp cant do earth shattering lows, if you like ur bass to just rumble all day you should get something else. this amp has plenty low end for me though, and i really enjoy the sounds i get out of it. I had no trouble being heard playing with a loud drummer and 2 loud guitar players using this amp. It sounds great, if i needed more power i'd buy a yorkville 1X15 cab and use it as the extension speaker and see how good it'd work. I usually think 10s are better than 15s, but not with this yorkville. it doesnt sound in the slightest bit boomy or muddy or sloppy unless those are the settings you dial in. I am VERY happy with the sound i get out of this thing. u just need good equipment in order for it to sound good.

This amp has never shown any signs of crapping out or turning off or anything, and i've played it plenty loud before. i dont think i could blow the speaker unless i boosted the bass and mids all the way up, turned on the contour switch, and turned the volume all the way up. using it in a practical setting, i dont see it blowing any time soon.

i have no idea.
never had to call them
but they DO have a good warranty, it's like a 5 year "even if you break it" warranty. so basically if you have it and smash it on purpose you could send it to them and get a new one free of charge!

This is a great amp. I dont have one complaint about it other than it's kind of hard to lug around, but im also not a very big guy. it fits into my mom's toyota camry's trunk though, so it's fairly portable for it's size.
everything else i already said shows how much i like this amp. ive been playing for almost 4 years and i consider myself to be pretty good. but i DO know what i like and i do know what sounds good, and this is perfect for me. I'd recommend it to anyone who plays bass, and the price is very reasonable, especially considering how much everything else out there costs. I liked this better than the SWR i played and those things go for 700 bucks! this is 350, and sounded better. call me crazy but i love it.

2001 Model - 1x15 200W solid state, closed back cab - 4-band EQ, countour filter, effects loop, single channel, speaker out, line out, headphone jack. Very simple. Heavy duty speaker grille and nice blue furry covering. Not that heavy, fits in the trunk and can be carried easily in one hand.

I use a Godin SD4 (active/passive w/ P/J pickup config) into a SansAmp Bass DI to the amp. I play fingerstyle - roots blues, blues/rock, rock and just kinda poke away at da funk...

The amp alone is kind of thin sounding, esp. in conjunction with the J's single coil sound. Push the contour button and the bottom end fattens up, scoops the mids and adds some treble - not bad results. Add the BassDI using the suggested "Bassman(TM)" parameters and you've got a pretty good sound. All-in-all a very quiet amp, even with the Bass DI.

Variety is minimal and is really dependant on guitar/preamp. I mostly use the Godin's P pickup on full, or P+J mixed with a middling tone. I have the amp's bass EQ boosted with the mid and trebs on flat. Contour and filter are activated at all times.

I've used this amp extensively in all modes - generally, the sound is solid and useable, but without "personality". Volume and clarity is lacking at the upper end. Without the DI, I would have the guitar on full, amp's mains on full and still not able to cut through and have the drummer and I hear the bass - and I play pretty hard. With the Bass DI, I can push the amp at about 4 or 5 on the volume. Speaker extension cab is necessary in high-volume conditions - read on....

This amp alone struggles with a loud band. The Bass DI improves the amp's volume, tone, clarity and compression big time. I have recently been plugging the amp speaker extension into a Trace Elliot 4x10 cab - a whole new world of volume that just pounds through the rest of the band - a loud drummer, and an even louder Mesa/Boogie and a Fender Twin/Fender Vibroverb in stereo. However, the sound is boomy and not all that clear - I have also been playing through a Ampeg SVP Pro preamp/Hartke 3500 head/Trace Elliot 4x10 (studio's rig)- this setup has far more control (EQ, tone shaping, compression, etc.) and results in a louder, clearer, more cohesive tone with less "boominess" than the BM200(at multiple times the cost, though). I'm going to experiment w/cutting out the 1x15 in the BM200 and use the speaker out to hit the Trace can alone to see if that's what's causing the boom...

So far, so good. This is a super solid amp and I have used it many times cranked right up to 11. I would gig without a backup. Solid state - unbreakable.

Haven't needed to invoke this yet.

Playing guitar ~ 20 yrs, bass off and on for 5 years. Own the Godin SD4 Bass, Fender Std. Strat, Yamaha FG300 acoustic six-string, Gibson Falcon guitar amp, Earth Sounds Research 1x15 cab, SansAmp BassDI, a handful of stomp boxes, Morley Wah. Been playing the Godin thru the BM200 in rehearsal for 6 months steady.

I would have been happier with the BM200T (2x10), I think, but if I hadn't been in a rush and had a couple of hundred more to spend at the time, I would have probably gone for something more groovy in a 300-400W combo (i.e. Fender, Ampeg, GK, Hartke). That said, the Yorkville is a solid amp with a solid useable tone that is suitable for a beginner/intermediate player playing in blues/rock band that is not overly loud. Also good (despite being overpowered) as practice amp.

I am of mixed emotions about this amp - I feel that it is a good on-stage powered monitor since I the DI's signal goes to the front-of-house mix. The BM200 also makes a good at-home solo practice amp, but does not really cut it as a full-out rehearsal amp (at the volumes my band rehearses at, anyways). As I stated, I would have probably bought something else with more power if I had the time and $$$. The BassDI is absolutely necessary, in my mind. Not having it in my signal chain is like playing without a thumb. I might try out a 2x10 Yorkville cab extension for sh!ts and giggles to see if it sounds any different than the Trace 4x10.

The amp was made either at the end of 2000 or the begining of 2001. The "Contour" control provides excellent "Slap" bass effects. Other features include: Balanced Line Out (post EQ/pre master), Effects Loop, Switchable Limiter to control clipping, Extension Speaker Jack (4 ohm minimum) and a front panel Headphone Jack. The 200 watts of power is more than enough for clubs and some outdoor work. I was amazed that a amp this light could give such a big amp sound. And for such a great price.

I use a Fender Squire Pro Series with this amp, along with a Line 6 POD. The sound is unreal and so smooth and crisp. My band plays a huge variety of music and this amp fits all the needs. The clipping control is great for high volume sttings with no noise. But the contour control can give you a whole different sound,

This amp has been so reliable that I have no fear of breakdown and I don't even think of using a back-up amp. It has not broken down as of yet, but if it would the warranty is great.

The warranty is a two year, "even if you break it" warranty. Hard to beat that. I haven't had to use the service yet, so i have no idea how helpful they can be.

I have been playing bass in bands for over 15 years and have never had anything this good. If I would update, I would look into Yorkville products. I love the way it works in conjuction with my POD. It's hard to explain, unless you have or have used a POD with an amp. It's a combination that is hard to beat. I haven't found anything as of yet that I hate about it. I compared other amps such as: Peavey, Mesa Boogie, Hartke, Genz Benz and Fender, but none of them had the sound I was looking for to work with my POD. It also sounds awesome without the POD.