TC Electronic THRUST BQ250 250 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor

I own an Ampeg SVT Classic, so I admit I am spoiled when it comes to bass tone. And until I bought this amplifier, the SVT was my only bass amp, and I wanted something more portable and practical for practices, smaller gigs, etc. (for those who don’t know, SVT Classics are amazing all-tube amps, but they weigh 80 pounds. Not like, the entire rig; the amplifier unit itself weighs 80 pounds. They’re great if they live in a studio or practice space, and they’re essential for larger gigs because they can put out something like 800 watts. But they’re overkill in pretty much any other situation.).Anyway, I admit that I picked this particular unit because it met my incredibly discerning criteria (i.e. it was cheap and it would get here in time for the gig), but I was honestly blown away by the quality of the tone. I was hoping for “OK, I can live with that,“ but I honestly didn’t miss my SVT at all. I could not be more impressed, especially considering how inexpensive these are.I can’t really comment on durability yet, since I’ve only been able to use it once, but it’s wonderful having an amplifier that will fit in my cord bag that is probably 80% of the quality tone-wise of an all-tube amp (I haven’t gotten to compare them side-by-side yet, but based on my initial impressions, I would be shocked if my opinion changed), but for a fraction of the cost and an even smaller fraction of the weight. There’s a headphone input too, so it’s also great for that.Oh, the only other thing to note, and I guess the only thing I didn’t really like, is that these do require a SpeakOn speaker cable, and not a standard speaker cable. So make sure to order one of those as well if you don’t already have one. They also take a second to warm up, so don’t panic if you plug it in, flip it on, and you don’t get a green light/signal right away.Other than that, I say buy without hesitation. It’s a killer product, especially considering the price point.

Like many reviewers, I have a fun, huge, tremendously heavy vintage bass amp ... that is not practical for bringing to gigs. For gigs, I needed something simple and practical. I was about to pull the trigger on a BAM200, but chose this because it's only a little bit more money, it has more tone shaping features, and (very important for me) it has an audio input so I can use it with headphones to run through bass parts sans speaker, and get my rehearsing done.Speakon male cable required for speaker output. I have it connected to a salvaged Ampeg/EV 15" cabinet, I can get clean sounds, it's wonderful, I can rattle the windows of the house if I want, plenty of headroom. Setup for gigs will be easy, using the XLR output into the PA, and the cabinet as an onstage monitor.The compressor is rudimentary ("Thrust" knob/switch, with no particular parameter control), but very musical and usable.Here is my question: Why are there not any equivalent solid-state, lightweight, loud guitar amps? Is it simply a matter of supply and demand? If TC made this same exact amp for guitar, I'd want one. The only things I'd change would be some of the tone controls, and I'd want an effects loop. TC engineers, if you are reading this ... TAKE MY MONEY!

I blew my Fender bass head that I use at home for practice and this was an inexpensive replacement. It is still powerful enough to drive my 4 x 10 cabinet and has decent sound control to dial in my Schecter or Allen Woody. The aux in is great for practice with recorded tracks or MP3's. The only down side was the Speakon connectors. My Fender rig was still fitted with 1/4" connectors for the speaker, and the single guitar input limits when I practice with two basses, but that is an easy fix.

Holy cow, it has been a minute since I was in the market for a solid state amp. I am simply blown away by the power this little guy delivers.The elegance and simplicity of this modern circuitry is nothing short of a miracle, spoken as someone who grew up with 70's and 80's era stacks that could throw a breaker, or give you a sizeable jolt if you wire it up wrong.With this unit? Just plug in and play. And if 250 W ain't enough they have a 500 W model. Your choice. 250 W is plenty loud for my needs. And quiet! And cool! And no worrying if I might get a jolt off the microphone! Nothing, just pure, delicious bass.And it's the size of a Harry Potter novel. Insanity.. in a good way I mean!

I lead a rock n blues band, and play bass. We gig about 3 times a month. I currently use a Hartke LH 500. I am very pleased with the Hartke. I decided to buy something less expensive to act as a back up amp. Well, that day came yesterday. The Hartke would not fire up after multiple suggestions to get it working. It was dead, 2 hours before the gig. I pulled out the TC BQ 250. I was shockingly amazed as to high light in weight yet producing a big punch driving a 4x10 + 2x10 combo MarkBase stack. The tone is awesome and adjustable from classic rock to soulful ballads to Motown to edgy alternate. Do not hesitate to get this TC.

If you play for a few minutes there is an electric current from the amplifier going through the strings. If you unplug the jack from the bass the hum in the speaker intensifies. Unusable with a regular bass plug in cable.

The bq250 is a little larger and heavier than some of the other small form bass amps. But it is not toolarge or very heavy. It seems that these factors are inherent to the good quality of this head. I have a weak bass and I use it for home practice. I usually have to turn up the input gain to a higher level. When I turned up the gain fully clockwise, I was impressed that I heard very little if any noise and pumping up the output only resulted in a clean, clear sound that drove my 12 and 15 nicely. No noise gate was needed on this amp. This says a lot about the quality of this unit and you already saw the price !!!