NAD - Fender Bassbreaker 15 combo

Chuffola

Just bought it this afternoon.  Had heard one of the shop staff playing the new Edge Strat through it on Friday and it sounded fantastic.

So...

It's now mine.

It's much more tame-able than other Fender amps - the master volume does whisper quiet, and then slightly louder and so on rather than off to OMG turn it down.

The 3 gain pre-amps all sound good - sparkly cleans to smooth high gain and the EL84s give it a more British-sounding overdrive than yer usual Fender. And the hall reverb is fine - nothing particularly special and I'd have preferred a spring unit in there, but perfectly acceptable. FX loop, XLR line out (which I probably never use). Looks very well put together.

Sounds great with single coils and humbuckers so far.  But this is the "during-wedding-party-not-even-at-the-honeymoon-shag" period, so I shall report back after a few days of playing.

57Deluxe

/\ yes, you are drunk on euphoria at the moment and even happy dancing to the birdie song...!

preston61

57Deluxe said:

/\ yes, you are drunk on euphoria at the moment and even happy dancing to the birdie song...!

Whilst shouting requests for Sex is on Fire, Mr Brightside and Livin on a Prayer

Chuffola

But wearing a nice suit

RandallFlagg

Be thinking of divorce and thinking should have copped off with one the bridesmaids soon after the bank holiday I reckon

markslade07

Be interested to know how you're getting on with this, for the price they look pretty good, and the controllable volume would be a bonus, especially as my current amp is a Hot Rod Deluxe!

gubble

Just test drove the 007 Combo

Very impressed.

Sounded wonderful.

Pay day tomorrow isn't it?

Chuffola

Rather than write a long winded review, happy to answer any questions.  Bear in mind that I only play at home and at jam nights with a few mates, so I won't be gigging this. I don't think it would make a good gigging amp without a mic. The clean channel is tasty, but wouldn't have enough volume. Also, the 3 channels aren't foot-switchable.

Generally though, I really like it. Its much more tameable than the HRD and really does do whisper quiet right up to very loud. The gain and master volume pots have a great sweep. 

The clean sounds more musical and Fendery to me than a Blues Junior, but not as full as the HRD - probably the smaller cabinet and EL84s. I find that I have to use the bright switch, even with a Strat, otherwise it is quite dark and mellow.

The medium gain setting does very nice break-up to crunch and gets me all my blues / classic rock tones. Its also much brighter than the Clean channel, so the bright switch is off when I use this. Sounds more "British" than Fender and is part of the reason I love it. 

The high gain is great for Van Halen type stuff but I'm not really a shredder so I'll not spend much time there. 

The EQ is very effective and the reverb, although a digital "hall" type, is excellent and very usable. 

It's got an effects loop, outputs for external cab and an XLR with cabinet simulation for recording. Very versatile.

I think of all the valve amps I've tried at home, it's the best in terms of doing what I need it to do, which is sound good at low to medium volume, have that valve warmth and be usable at a jam night. 

markslade07

Thanks for the report. It almost sounds like it would be perfect for me....except for the lack of clean headroom at gigging levels and the non foot switchable channels. Will have to investigate the larger ones a bit more I think.

Chuffola

No experience of the larger ones, but they do appear to be different sorts of animals. Worth checking out but might not be any better than your HRD, which is such a good amp anyway. It was just the inability to use it at home that made me get rid of mine some years ago - but its taken me until now to find a decent replacement that suits me !

I think it's probably unreasonable to expect any 15 watt amp to have clean headroom sufficient to gig without micing the amp, though. 

Arktik83

I know this is a bit of a thread revival but at least it's better than starting a new one.  How you getting on with your BB 15 @Chuffola?  Still doing it for you?  Tempted to pick one up myself to partner my blues cube but not sure as yet!

Chuffola

Better reviving than starting a new one!

Yes, still really enjoying it - for what I need which is home use and occasional jam nights with mates. 

Still think it's the best I've had for that.  It's not particularly "Fendery" - although the cleans are lovely - but its got a fantastic range of tones in the 3 gain settings and the reverb is superb. 

Definitely worth trying one out - but I wouldn't buy without trying because what's good for me could be completely useless for you!

thomasross20

Fantastic amp!!

TTBZ

Would you say it's better or worse than the HRD overall then? I never really got on with mine even as a clean amp it sounded bland and sterile to me and the overdrive was awful. Not sure why i bought it really haha, but I guess it sounded fine in the shop. Does the bassbreaker react well to guitar volume adjustments to clean up the sound?  

thomasross20

I'm the total opposite - I loved the cleans and the overdrive!

Lev

Arktik83 said:

I know this is a bit of a thread revival but at least it's better than starting a new one.  How you getting on with your BB 15 @Chuffola?  Still doing it for you?  Tempted to pick one up myself to partner my blues cube but not sure as yet!

Interesting, I was trying to decide between this and a blues cube. Why do you feel you need this in addition to the blues cube? I had hoped that a decent drive pedal with the blues cube would bring me to similar territory as the bassbreaker on the med/high gain setting.

Chuffola

TTBZ said:

Would you say it's better or worse than the HRD overall then? I never really got on with mine even as a clean amp it sounded bland and sterile to me and the overdrive was awful. Not sure why i bought it really haha, but I guess it sounded fine in the shop. Does the bassbreaker react well to guitar volume adjustments to clean up the sound?  

No, I wouldn't say better or worse - just different and, for me, more usable.  

The HRD has about the best cleans I've heard in an amp sub £1K. It's almost the definition of Fender Clean.The overdrive is excellent - it's very Fender too. Fender overdrive is a very different thing to Marshall / Vox / Mesa overdrive. You might not like it - many don't. The HRD volume is kinda on/off as well, which wasn't great for my needs. The Bassbreaker has a really gentle sweep.

They are very different amps. The HRD is a gigging quality amp with plenty of headroom - it's why they are in almost all backlines. I'd say the Bassbreaker is more Vox than Fender (although, it's really it's own thing), the overdrive is much "creamier" and "British" (if that makes sense?) and the cleans have a bit more grit.

The clean (low gain) channel is quieter and breaks up early with humbuckers. All 3 clean up with guitar volume rolled back. 

I suspect it would need to be mic'd at a gig.

Only way to know if it's for you is to check one out. There should be plenty about to try.

thomasross20

I wish it was dual channel. 

I actually preferred the distortion on this amp to Mesa & Marshall!! 

MattFGBI

It's got an emulated line out if you need the volume through a PA.  But getting a head and a decent cab should shift enough air.  The combo on its own should be fine for pub gigs, as long as you don't need the clean headroom. 

bingefeller

Nice, did you get this in Belfast?

Chuffola

Yep. I think I bought the first one Matchett's got in.  Heard one of the staff playing some stuff through it with an Edge Strat and a Strymon Dig delay.
Had a go without the delay the next day and bought it - but I was on the hunt for an amp. Rarely buy stuff new, so was clearly sold on it!