As with most micro-amps, the BH250’s dimensions (8.7”x2.5”x9.1”) mean that it easily slips into a gig-bag pocket. And, at just 4lb (1.8kg), you needn’t feel guilty about asking anyone over the age of five years old to carry it up a flight of stairs for you.
Still, at that weight you could be forgiven for questioning what exactly the wizards at TC Electronic have put under the hood of their new bass amp head. The answer, I’m happy to report, is above and beyond what you could reasonably expect for such an unfathomably low financial outlay.
Standing on four sturdy rubber feet, this class-D amp is housed in a metal chassis with a stylish red brushed and anodised aluminum front plate, complete with built-in ‘ears’ for optional rack mounting. The front panel is home to the input socket, a gain switch for active and passive basses, a built-in tuner for four-, five- and six-string basses, a mute switch for all outputs, a master volume control, and what initially appears to be a simple set of bass, middle and treble tone controls.
I say ‘simple’, but TC Electronic’s intelligently contoured tone controls cut and boost at different frequencies (bass cut, 80Hz; bass boost, 100Hz; mid cut, 500Hz; mid boost, 800Hz; treble cut, 1800Hz; treble boost, 3150Hz), making it easier to access an effective tone to suit your own playing requirements.
TC Electronic’s pièce de résistance, however, is the integration of their superb TonePrint technology, which allows for a variety of preset effects to be beamed to the amp via a free app available on smartphones or, if you prefer, via a USB cable connected directly to a computer.
The white TonePrint knob on the front panel controls the effects’ input level, and the default setting is a warm, rich chorus. BassDrive, Flanger, Octaver, Vibrato and SpectraComp are all available to beam up as and when required. There are several variations for each of these effects, including numerous signature TonePrints, created by the likes of Duff McKagan, Mark King, Gail Ann Dorsey and Nathan East, among many other respected bassists.
The back of the amp is home to the on-off switch, the mains socket, the optional footswitch jack input, a USB socket, speaker output (Neutrik Speakon), a mini-jack headphone socket, and a balanced output XLR socket which can be set at either pre- or post-preamp. There is also a mini-jack Aux In/Rehearsal input and the amp comes with a mini-jack to mini-jack lead for connection to an iPhone or similar playback device.
The headphone socket also plays back any signal connected to the Aux In/Rehearsal input, allowing you to play along to any connected audio source at any time of day or night without fear of being arrested for antisocial behaviour.
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