Guitarist Guild: A Musical Community Beyond Strings

Looking for any advice or opinion whatsoever on a decent bass combo for practice at home and the occasional al fresco gig. I did buy a Harley Benton HBW80 from Thomann, but learned from that that it is really important to see the letters RMS after a power rating, and, given that it was as cheap as chips, you get what you pay for sometimes, and no more!

It actually sounds reasonable, but the specification plate on the back says output 20W RMS, which is not enough for my purposes. Maximum SPL is only 110db at 1 metre.

I have been looking at Behringers, the 180w and 300w, but some say they are unreliable, and I reckon the rating is not RMS. I've also considered the Warwick BC80 and the Hartke A100. Does anyone have any experience of any of these, or a recommendation for something else? Currently I am using an old Trace Elliot 200w head and a dying Celestion Sidewinder Cab.

Forgot to mention, I will be using it with my Mustang 3 stacked on top, so it has to have the control panel on the front of the cabinet. :tup:

Well, although I would still be interested to hear about combo recommendations, it transpires that what I thought was the sound of a blown driver coming from my old Sidewinder cab was actually the sound of the piano in the 'music' room vibrating is discordant symphony with certain notes. 

So, I currently have no need of a bass combo as my Trace A200 and 1x15 cab continue to do the business perfectly.

Upgraded several months ago to a Hartke A100. Jolly nice too, apart from the limiter which is hyperactive and so I never switch that on.

I agree with that choice. It's good enough for an occasional gig.