Head to head
Which combo beats the rest for small gigs?
As you’d hope from four of the world’s biggest names in amplification, our quartet of combos look the part, and beneath the handsome exteriors they’re built to last, with quality components and electronics. Where portability is concerned, Blackstar’s Artist 15 is lighter than the Vox AC15 or Fender’s Bassbreaker 15, despite its generously-sized cabinet. The Bassbreaker 15 is compact but heavier, due to bigger transformers, while Orange’s Rocker 15 is the easiest of all to carry. The Bassbreaker’s standby switch is renamed as ‘mute’ to comply with EU rules and in mute mode, the amp’s laser-like white power indicator flashes, which is either useful or disconcerting, depending on your point of view. We’d prefer something non-flashing that’s easier on the eye.
The Blackstar Artist 15 is powered by 6L6s, giving it a distinctly different vibe, with a sweet treble and tight bass. Its high-headroom, clean channel, low-gain drive channel and
The Vox has a punchy midrange and aggressive grind when turned up
switchable level effects loop partner perfectly with all kinds of pedals. The other three combos use the popular EL84 mini pentode, yet all have very different characters. The Vox has a punchy midrange and aggressive grind when turned up, while the Orange Rocker’s switchable power levels make it easy to achieve a big, cranked tone at low volume. Orange’s superb 10" loudspeaker plays a big part in this, trimming treble and bass extremes for a focused tone that sits perfectly in a mix. It’s versatile, too, with a big spacious clean tone from that one-control normal channel and classic Orange midrange power from the dirty channel. Fender’s Bassbreaker may not have the Orange and Blackstar’s channel switching, but it more than makes up for it with a boutique-inspired three position gain switch and ear-popping tone that rivals boutique designs costing four times the price. All four amps have plenty of power to handle gigs, with the AC15C1 and Bassbreaker offering the best clarity and volume.