Phil Jones Double Four Plus BG-80 BK

When I ordered the PJB Double Four Plus, I didn't know what to expect. The moment I unpacked it and plugged my bass into it for the first time, I was absolutely thrilled. At first glance, I was captivated by the beautiful, functional and minimalist design. I was also surprised by its actual size. It is really small, but at the same time very powerful. The controls have everything you need and is simple and intuitive. The sound is very balanced in all spectra, the combo has incredible bass frequencies for its size and even with high amplification, the sound is not distorted. What I like about the Double Four is that it faithfully interprets the real sound of the bass guitar. It does not color it in any way. A big advantage is the ability to operate on a power bank and I am extremely excited about the ability to connect a phone via Bluetooth. If you are looking for a really small bass combo with great power, high-quality sound, good functionality and do not want to make any compromises, I definitely recommend the PJB Double Four Plus.

I've had this for a few months and I've been rehearsing and busking as a bass player with this amp. The size and weight are fantastic, you can operate it with a USB-C power bank which is also great. The amount of bass frequencies you can get out of this little amp is REALLY good.

What I don't like is the character of the 3 band eq and the preamp. The EQ is very mid-heavy and the curve of the knobs feels weird compared to all the amps and preamps that I've used before. Not very musical.

The high band of the EQ is a shelving eq, but the high pass frequency is WAY too high for a bass guitar (the manual says it's 10KHz). My P style bass does not produce frequencies that high at all, so that band of the EQ is pointless. I did try the amp with a Stingray bass which has a 3 band active EQ and if I cranked the highs there, then I would get some control over the high band in the amp's EQ. At some point I even thought the EQ was broken, but I connected a music player and some white noise at the input and the EQ's high band was in fact working. I don't think this is a very useful EQ for a bass guitar.

The pre-amp will not distort AT ALL, no matter how hard you hit it with humbuckers or active pickups, so if you want even a little bit of distortion, you won't get it.

A pre-amp and eq similar to other more "familiar" bass amps like Fenders or Aguilars, where the EQ is quite interactive and the preamp allows you to get a bit (or more) of drive would make this amp a dream. As is, I'll probably add a pre-amp pedal which is inconvenient in some situations.

I'm quite happy with not having to carry 4 extra Kgs to get a decent bass response! :)