TC Electronic BH250 Sound Quality

Using a Musicman Stingray, I made instant use of the BH250’s built-in tuner, which runs continuously, with or without the mute switch activated. Considering that this is a feature that you are pretty much guaranteed to utilise every time you plug your bass in, it remains a mystery why all bass amp manufacturers don’t include a built-in tuner as a standard feature. It’s also one less bit of kit to carry around with you.

Setting the amp’s three EQ controls to 12 o’clock, my bass and I were instantly greeted by TC’s recognisable warm, clear tone. Using the intelligently contoured tone controls, I was quickly able to tap into a wide range of  tones, often from just playing around with the mid-EQ. When I dropped the mid-EQ I enjoyed a fat and funky tone. In contrast, when I cranked-up the mid-EQ, it resulted in a decidedly harder, edgier rock tone. Pretty simple stuff, but very effective.

The concerns I had over the BH250 delivering enough volume to satisfy the requirements of a small to medium- sized venue were all but forgotten after turning the master volume control to maximum. I was actually shocked at the volume generated. With the Stingray’s bottom end rumbling like Barry White gargling iron filings, I was troubling my eardrums and diaphragm more than the amp. But even at seemingly excessive volume, the tone managed to remain surprisingly tight and punchy, with the only deterioration in sound quality being very much courtesy of the SoundTech speaker cabinets struggling to keep up.

Realistically, I couldn’t seriously imagine needing to turn the master volume control much past the one or two o’clock position to cover most of the gig scenarios I’m likely to encounter. However, if you simply have to have the added security and headroom provided by an amp with Death Star- type firepower then there are plenty of alternatives on the market, complete with a higher price tag.

I’d been looking forward to trying out the TonePrint technology for some time. Downloading the free app to my iPhone took a matter of seconds and, on the TonePrint section of the app, I decided to try one of the flanger effects. As a fan of Mark King I was eager to check out his signature TonePrint, which is endearingly called ‘Sweet Minger’!

Following the simple direction on my iPhone’s screen, I held the phone’s speaker an inch from the pickup, before a ‘3-2-1’ onscreen countdown began. The effect was then beamed through the guitar’s pickups into the amp. As it does this, the phone quietly makes a sound similar to that of a fax machine, before the TonePrint’s LED light flashes on the front of the amp to indicate that it has successfully received the effect, and it’s ready to use. Then it’s just a matter of setting the level of the effect. The whole process from start to finish took about 12 seconds.

Readers who are worried that this all sounds a bit complicated and gimmicky – trust me, it isn’t. I now had Mark King’s ‘Sweet Minger’ flanger effect running through the amp and was thoroughly enjoying having ‘his sound’ filling the rehearsal studio. I swiftly proceeded with an awful attempt to replicate Mark’s bass playing.

Lots more fun followed as I dialled in Duff McKagan’s chorus tone, Roscoe Becks’ octaver tone and Michael Shuman’s vibrato tone. A word of warning, though: one of TC Electronic’s own BassDrive tones called ‘The Beast’ is inexplicably set at a volume so loud it made my speakers feed back, sending me scurrying for cover in the far corner of the studio. Attempting to turn down everything while disorientated by the equivalent of a sonic landmine is, I fear, something all unsuspecting TonePrint-using bassists will eventually experience. In fairness to the other BassDrive tones on offer, though, they all work a treat and deliver some very satisfying sounds. My only disappointment was the lack of an envelope filter in the TonePrint effects range. I asked TC Electronic about this and, without committing to a date, was told that there’s every chance of one becoming available in the future.

If and when this does happen, all you’d have to do to obtain the new effect is perform a simple app update on your phone and a firmware update for the amp via your computer or laptop using the USB lead. While TC are at it, I’m hoping they can arrange for Bootsy Collins to create his own signature TonePrint, just so we can help to keep the funk alive as authentically as possible, you dig?

Until such updates occur, I’ll still be heading to rehearsals and gigs armed with my trusty envelope filter pedal, but this is still preferable to packing half-a-dozen different pedals, complete with the requisite hardware.