Advantages: A handy combo for practice or small gigs.
Disadvantages: A little heavy to carry on your own, especially with a bass.

...About a year and a half ago I decided that the 20W Kustom Bass Combo that I had been playing through was not doing me justice. It was losing the tone of my sound, and was just not loud enough to support a Big Band, which I was playing in at the time. So, I decided to get myself a bigger combo. I chose the 712SMC over the competitors, some of which offered similar power for much less money, because I liked the sound of the amp. This sound is given by the SMC amplifier, also available as a head. The amp has a variable, flexible sound. The compressor is useful, but not as handy as the 7-band eq, with a preset shape. This amp is fine for small gigs and rehearsals, but obviously, it's not as powerful as a stack. It does have a direct inject, which is useful for studio work. But it is a pain to transport. I've bought a little trolley to get... Read review

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Advantages: Great amps
Disadvantages: None

...mounted on top of each other. Hence the name, the stack. Quality ------- I cant say enough about these amps. They are the Ashdown of the Guitar world. Immaculately finished and hand crafted. The sound quality is warm but punchy giving you that big stage ambience that all us musician crave. Features -------- The entire range features many different effects and features. From its standard Volume,Tone,Bass,Middle,Treble switches to its Reverb, Distortion and Chorus features on some of its amps. They are all Valve driven apart from a couple of solid state Combo Amps. Of course, Amps are only one corner of their market. They are the main core of the business but they also produce Pedals and even a range of Bass amps now. Verdict. Simply the best. try them for yourself. One critisism is the price. Hideously expensive but you do get... Read review

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Advantages: Huge Sound
Disadvantages: Loss of social life

...This pedal will convert your small combo into a full on marshall stack. No kidding! There are a range of distortions available from fairly light overdrive type distortions to full-on Metallica-esque distortion. The latter is truely awesome. By setting a scooped setting the sound is second to none. It features treble, bass and 2 midrange tone controls which gives complete control over the sound. For use in metal playing, sustained power chords or smooth solo sounds I cannot recommend this pedal enough. Brilliant. I wouldn't recommend it to people who are after a less full on distortion as there are better pedals for dealing specifically with slight distortion. But for more full on stuff, buy it!... Read review

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Advantages: Shelley, bzzzz, the sound of love pangs
Disadvantages: Exploded too quickly from our lives

...Do you remember exactly how short the Buzzcocks were? It was almost like a gang of Billy Bremner clones with better hair cuts and better clothes dancing around the stage when they came out. John Maher was pretty lanky but as a drummer you never got to see him anyway and that nutso bass player Garth was like Frankenstein on speed, but it spoils the mood if you let the facts get in the way, don't you find? The Buzzcocks were BIG as part of the early punk explosion in 1976/77 and were probably the first of the big bands from Manchester (apart from those grumpy old maestros The Fall) and they led the way for all that followed including the ancestors of Joy Division, Warsaw. Ah yes, halcyon days indeed and this album is as good an intro as any to the whacky world of a band that were always quite a sly little combo, very knowing, very... Read review

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Advantages: Wide Tonal Range, Quality Construction, Price
Disadvantages: No Reverb

...Features ------------ The Laney Hardcore MAX HCM15B contains a wide range of features which makes it an excellent combo practice amp or an amp for a small performance. The amp features a 15watt custom 8” driver which is more than adequate for its application and can get to amazing volumes with no distortion, onboard headphone controller and compressor. The amp also features a CD/Line input jack and Bass/ Swept Middle/Treble/Master knobs. The only feature I would have like to see featured in this amp is Reverb although this is available with many other models. Expandability ------------------- The Laney Hardcore MAX HCM15B Bass Practice Amplifier is very expandable as it enables the connection of an additional bass cab utilising the existing inputs although for the price of the additional cab you would probably be best to purchase... Read review

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Advantages: Very original and quite amusing at times
Disadvantages: Songs start with the word "well" far too often

...favourite track has to be track 6 - JCB (which is about a kid and his dad in a JCB holding up the Coventry bypass ). Why such a good song? Well with such catchy lyrics, memorable tune and that a song about a bypass how can you not love it?! Just in case you are worried that bass and guitar combo might get a bit repetitive after a while, never fear - most of the songs do actually have a full band playing, but the effect of the 2 gents live is amazing! The only gripe I might have is that several of their songs start "well..." which can get a bit annoying at times! So to summarise... Artist: Nizlopi Album: Half these songs are about you Genre: Funky easy listening Length: 43 mins 38 sec Rating: 8/10 Go to their website at www.nizlopi.com and check them out!... Read review

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Advantages: Good clean tone
Disadvantages: Overdrive is brittle, sound controls too sensitive

...Being on a tight budget and not being able to afford a meaty head/cab setup I chose to purchase a Fender Princeton 112 plus combo. I bought mine for £240 about 3 years ago but the price has dropped since then. At 65W it is fairly loud, enough to play