Harley Benton SolidBass 600H

Bass players, you need this amp

Use: gigging rock band, small medium venues. Running through Kustom 4x10 and 2x10 and DI into PA.

General comments - I bought a B Stock which unfortunately had a couple of issues and was returned, but these sound absolutely amazing. So I bought another one. Harks back to the 90s and earlier. Rock solid lower end, mid and top bite. Take a bit out of the two mid controls, add a bit of bass and treble and it sounds almost identical to my vintage Trace Elliot head. Bags of grunt, and cuts through powerfully in a way that Class D amps just don't (my spare amps are Laney 500H and Ampeg Portaflex 500)

Pros - simple control interface, DI pre or post that doesn't overload the mixer. Vintage look and solid case. Lots of power. Has to be heard to be fully appreciated, outstanding power and tone.

Cons - after having the B Stock one I am naturally a little reticent to comment with any certainty on build quality. This new one seems to be OK. Here are the points I consider to be real or potential negatives. The power on and peak LED is not very bright. The tuner - adds nothing and is not chromatic, so even if it were accurate, which it isn't, it would not be much use. The peak input indicator - works sometimes, sometimes it doesn't. Set your levels when it's working. Speakon only connectors - not a bad thing of itself, but the option of a jack output wouldn't hurt. Effects loop - why? I never even use the ones on my guitar amps, particularly extraneous on a bass head. I suppose some people might want it though. It is a bit weighty, but not overly so. The one thing that I found really irritating is that there are no feet on the end opposite to the carrying handle. Clearly when you put it down after carrying it it will be resting on that side. I have screwed some rubber feet on to protect the case.

Overall this is and outstanding bass head at an incredibly low cost. Get one while they are still current.