Product: Epiphone Regent Bass 50 115 Combo
Price Paid: US $244
Submitted
12/15/2002
at
01:52am
by
Anonymous
Features
:
No Opinion
2 inputs (low and high gain). 4 band EQ (bass, mid, treble, presence). 2 outputs (line out, headphones).
Line out and headphones both disable the internal speaker.
15" speaker.
50 watts.
Sound Quality
:
9
At jazz gig and rehearsal volumes, I thought this amp sounded great with a flatwound-strung P-bass. In fact, it was the best sounding amp I ever found for that setup. Better, in my opinion, than the Ampeg B-50R or B-100R.
It's not a hi-fi or clean-sounding amp. There is some overdrive even at low volumes (at least with the two examples of this amp I've used).
However, if you don't listen to this amp as an audiophile, but rather evaluate it in a band setting and especially a bar setting, it sounds great. The tone is very "vintage" -- although I should say that my understanding of vintage comes from recordings rather than real experience with 50-100 watt tube bass amps.
Anyway, for jazz, British Invasion rock, blues, bossa nova, etc., I found this to be a pretty good amp with a P-bass and flatwound strings. I only sold it because I traded in the P-bass for a jazz bass (which sounded better with my other amp, an Acoustic Image Contra).
Reliability
:
No Opinion
Didn't have it long enough to form an opinion (only about 3 months).
Customer Support
:
6
I called with a few questions about the features. The first time I called, the support was pretty lame. The guy was obviously talking out his ass, with no clue what this amp was. (Not that I blame him; this amp was not a successful product for Epiphone, so they discontinued it pretty quick.) The second time I called, the support was better, but he still couldn't provide me with a user's manual. Apparently manuals don't exist.
Overall Rating
:
7
A decent amp for rehearsal or bar-room use. The line out disables the internal speaker, plus it's noisy, so if you are playing anything larger than the corner tavern I would not recommend this amp (unless you're planning to mic it). The distortion is actually kind of sweet. Lo-fi, but nice sounding, if that makes any sense.
Objectively speaking, this amp is probably a total P.O.S., but really I enjoyed using it as a jazz amp for bass guitar. It was the best tone I'd ever gotten with that P-bass. YMMV. I sold it only because I upgraded my bass to something which sounded good with my other amp (an Acoustic Image Contra).
