GEAR REVIEWS
TC ELECTRONIC BG250 Bass Combo with TonePrint – $399
FEATURES Type: Solid State Number of Channels: 1 Power: 250 Watts @ 4 ohms
PROS
Über light, great sound, smart phone app for new FX.
CONS
None.
Speakers: 15” TC Electronic Speaker, Piezo Tweeter Effects: Yes EQ: 3-band EQ Dem.: 24.4”x 18.2” x 15” Weight: 34.8 lbs
TC Electronic has made a big splash with their TonePrint pedals, and now they’re bringing that sonic flexibility to a bass combo amp. First off, despite its imposing size, it tips the scale at a mere 35 lbs. The 15” Neodymium magnet speaker is a major factor in its lack of weight. A 1” tweeter complements the high frequencies nicely. The controls are simple: Gain, a three-band EQ and tube drive control that brings in a distorted tone, calibrated for bass guitar, a TonePrint control (more on that later) and a master volume. There is a USB connection, 1/8” aux in, 1/8” headphone in, and a mute button. An XLR out finishes things off, and
there’s also a switch to allow it to be PRE or POST EQ. The final touch is a built in tuner! The TonePrint allows the player to download effects to the amp via the USB connection or the TonePrint smart phone app, which is a great feature. The fx themselves are great, and they’re optimized for bass. Sound-wise, this amp really delivers, regardless of the bass you’re using. The EQ is flexible and plays nicely with active or passive pickups. The tube drive control really adds a pleasant color, as the overdrive never outshines the original bass tone; at lower settings it adds subtle warmth, increasing it
really brings out a tight, aggressive overdrive that echoes the old tube-driven amps. Its 250 watts has plenty of volume to keep up with any situation. Players that want a classic rock amp without the maintenance of a tube amp will love this. Clarity isn’t an issue here either; it’s tight, punchy, and deep, all in the same breath. Slap and pop styles come through equally well, without muddiness. For the price (around $400), the BG250 can’t be beat in the solid-state field. It’s affordable enough for the basement bassist, and professional enough to hold up on the road. -Chris Devine
JAZZLOFT.COM Space-Saving CD Sleeves– $15 per 100
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PROS
Save TONS of space, lightweight, low per-unit cost.
CONS
Time-consuming for large collections, difficult to read spines.
JazzLoft.com is offering their newly redesigned Space-Saving CD sleeves this year, a slight tweak on their long-running product line. For a lot of musicians and collectors, the hassle of storing hundreds (sometimes thousands) of jewel cases of your favorite CDs and/or different mixes of recording projects can be a nightmare. Jewel cases are thick, they’re heavy when you’re dealing what that type of volume, and let’s face it: they almost always crack and break. A pain for fans and studio engineers alike. These sleeves present an ingenious alternative to all that clutter and broken plastic. Simply remove 54 APRIL 2013 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
your album artwork and back tray insert and pop the disc off its hub. Now toss that jewel case in the trash, because you’ll never need it again. Place the artwork into one of your new sleeves, slide the disc into the other side, and voilà! The Space-Saving sleeves, made of 4mm thick archival polyethylene, can easily reduce the shelf-space of your collection or recording projects by about 65-75%. Your CDs now lay almost perfectly flat when the sleeves are closed, and you can still (sort of) read the spines from the side. Converting a large collection can take some time (I speak from experience; my entire personal
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collection of 1,200 CDs is now housed in SpaceSaving sleeves), but if you don’t care about the original jewel case, and you need to reclaim the massive space your music and mixes are taking up, these might just be the solution you’ve been searching for. With a per-unit cost of about 15 cents, it’s a relatively inexpensive solution, as well. And from an aesthetic standpoint, they open and look much like a gatefold record, which a lot of users may actually find far more pleasing than the bulky, busted jewel cases of yore. -Benjamin Ricci