WHEN MY FIRST BAND was busy not getting famous in the mid-'80s, we all had gigantic amps. It was the double-kick Marshall stacks era, when even your dog had a guitar tech. My bass cabinet was a Cerwin-Vega B-36MF, a big rig with 12- and 18-inch speakers, and I figured out what MF stood for when we had to carry it upstairs. It weighed slightly less than a Hyundai, but my bass sound ruled.
If I had found a compact bass amp like the new Euphonic Audio iAMP 350 Combo back then, I might have ditched the beast. Just under 18 inches tall and about a foot wide and deep, the unit teams Euphonic's iAMP 350 head with a modified version of the CXL-110 speaker cabinet to create the most powerful small bass combo I've ever used. Although pricey for most working cats, the iAMP 350 Combo has an unbelievably full sound for its size and would be a good investment for studio and club bassists looking for a pro sound in a compact package.
TONS OF TONE
The iAMP's controls are arranged into four sections. The Input section has active and passive ¼-inch inputs, a level control, an LED overload indicator, and a ⅛-inch external audio input with a level control. A 4-band EQ and four presets reside in the Tone Shaping section. The Outputs section contains the Main level control, the ¼-inch tuner and phone jacks, and a pre/post-EQ switchable XLR DI output with a level control. A Send-Level control and ¼-inch send and return jacks are located in the Effects section.
The heart of the iAMP's sound is its 4-band EQ, featuring Euphonic's trademark diagonal frequency sliders. Each tone area can be boosted or cut by 18 dB, and the midrange sections have octave width pads, which are switchable between one or one-half octave. Mimicking a parametric equalizer, the octave width pads can dramatically change the timbre and clarity of crucial midrange frequencies. Using the whole-octave pad gives a wide slope of enhanced EQ, and the narrower half-octave pad delivers a punchier and more focused tone. The frequency ranges for each EQ band are 40 to 180 Hz for lows, 180 Hz to 1 kHz for low mids, 800 Hz to 8 kHz for high mids, and 1 to 8 kHz for highs.
This may be the most sensitive and versatile tone package on a bass amp today. For example, if you set the Lo slider at about 120 Hz and roll up the Boost knob slowly, the resulting expansion of low end sounds smooth and tightly focused. The twin midrange controls are equally impressive: I generated nearly a dozen really outstanding usable sounds simply by varying their frequency and boost/cut characteristics. Also, the consistent and predictable tone controls make recalling sounds easy.
EVEN MORE TONE
But wait, there's more! Four useful tone presets function independently of the 4-band EQ. The Deep switch boosts the warm frequencies around 500 Hz by 6 dB, sort of like a home stereo amplifier's loudness switch, which increases low end at lower volumes. The iAMP manual cautions that using the preset “at loud volume settings could cause permanent loudspeaker and hearing damage.”
The Contour switch cuts the 500 Hz frequencies, making it well suited for finger-style sounds that need less honking mids. The Contour II switch cuts the ringing 750 Hz frequencies by 8 dB, cutting back on unwanted brittle squank when slapping. Finally, the Bright switch pushes the 7.5 kHz area up a whopping 8 dB, adding loads of brilliant highs. A global tone defeat helps you compare unequalized sound to shaped tone; it also helps when you're relying solely on presets.
I used the iAMP 350 Combo at a variety of club gigs and found that the switches made it easy to get a good sound quickly. My old Fender Precision bass liked the Contour II setting for blues work, which replaced a scratchy string sound with a round, full bass tone. At a Motown-style gig, I hit the Bright switch a couple of times for some great funk thwack, and the Combo's crispy highs endowed my bass with beautiful sonic detail.
CABS AND DRIVERS
The iAMP 350 Combo has a coaxial speaker design coupling a 350W Eminence 10-inch Kevlar-impregnated woofer with a 150W Pyramid titanium-diaphragm tweeter. Both drivers were custom-made to Euphonic Audio's specs and are not stock components. Mounted behind the woofer, the tweeter fires through a flared horn underneath the woofer's dust cap.
The rugged speaker cabinet is constructed of Baltic birch and covered with a thick, stain-resistant polyurethane material. There are two handles: the leather one on top is the obvious first choice for carrying the unit, whereas the spring-loaded handle on the bottom can be used to tilt the cabinet back. The cabinet is fitted with a tunnel-like structure and is stuffed with special acoustic materials. This “transmission line” design is in large part responsible for the iAMP 350 Combo's extended low-frequency response.
TOO DEEP?
Remember that admonition about the Deep switch? When I received my test iAMP 350 Combo, I hurriedly set it up in my studio and had a great sound in no time. That night I took the amp to a gig at Hotel Utah in San Francisco, where I played in a notoriously noisy room with a horrible sound system. On the last song of the night, I decided to crank the amp and engage the Deep switch. About a minute later, all low-end sound stopped. The next day, I discovered that I'd blown the speaker.
The folks at Euphonic Audio helped me troubleshoot and sent out a replacement combo cabinet immediately. The iAMP 350 Combo is heavy, and the shipping boxes had visible signs of trauma, so we speculated that the amp had been handled roughly in transit, possibly causing the woofer magnet to shift. Personally, I'm inclined to believe that I blew the speaker by simply playing too damn loud (though the amp was by no means maxed out).
At another club, the combo ran perfectly all night until I (again) hit the Deep switch and turned up the volume considerably for a Black Sabbath tune. Poof, the 4A, 250V fuse blew. I replaced the fuse (which wasn't as easy as I would have liked; the fuse holder is not the twist-off variety and requires a screwdriver or similar tool to open) and the amp operated beautifully once more. The blown fuse may have been due to inconsistent power in the venue, but both times that the amp had a failure the Deep switch had been recently engaged, so I had to wonder. That said, I had no further problems with blown speakers or fuses after that.
Euphonic also sent me a CXL-110 extension speaker cabinet ($595) with my review Combo. When I plugged it in, bass response understandably soared. Louder players will want to consider that single-cone extension cabinet or even one of Euphonic's popular 2×10 cabinets.
Another way to get more volume is to patch into the P.A., and the iAMP's XLR direct out facilitates that nicely. The output produces no significant noise and the DI level control makes it possible to adjust the send level from stage — a handy feature at a small club with no engineer.
THE REAL LOWDOWN
To get the most out of any small bass combo, a working bassist must accept one unalterable fact: there's no 8×10 cabinet blasting behind you, so you have to just get used to less low end or get the fat bottom from the house system. The small club rig that I currently use, a 2×10 bass cabinet teamed with a solid-state head and a preamp/DI, weighs about 80 pounds. I get the house soundperson to put my bass signal in the subwoofers out front, and all's fine.
The iAMP 350 Combo is a well-designed and complete bass system. It has all of the features that a gigging or recording bassist needs and then some. If you need a lot more volume and don't mind carrying an extra cab, I highly recommend the optional CXL-110 extension speaker. If you can afford an amp in this price range, the iAMP 350 Combo could be just the right tool for you.
IAMP 350 COMBO SPECS
Inputs (2) ¼" (active, passive); ⅛" external audio
Outputs XLR balanced direct, pre/post-EQ selectable; ¼" tuner; ¼" headphone
Amplifier Type solid-state
Power 350W RMS into 4Ω (1,200W peak)
Frequency Response 45 Hz-14 kHz
Sensitivity 103 dB @ 1 meter
Tone Controls 4-band EQ, 18 dB cut/boost per band
Effects Loop ¼" send; ¼" return with level control
Speaker coaxial 10" low-frequency driver with high-frequency titanium compression driver
Cabinet Impedance 8•
Cabinet Power Handling 350W
Dimensions 14.60" (W) × 17.75" (H) × 12.50" (D)
Weight 59 lb.
