Fuchs Audio has been in the boutique guitar amp business for over 20 years, and we’ve reviewed many of their incredible guitar amplifiers. So, when we heard Andy Fuchs was developing new amps for bassists, we were very excited to check out his new line of products.
Welcome the Fuchs Audio FBT-700 lightweight bass amplifier head. The FBT-700 is inspired by the behemoth SVT but with plenty of modern enhancements. Featuring a hybrid tube/FET design and weighing in at only six pounds—compact enough to fit in your gig bag, and delivering the kind of quality tone you’ve come to expect from Fuchs Audio, this is a gig-ready amp you’ll want to check out.
| Category | Value | Rating |
| Features | 20% |  |
| Usability | 25% |  |
| Sound | 25% | |
| Documentation & Support | 10% | |
| Price | 20% |  |
| OVERALL RATING = 3.5 Stars (out of 4) 3.6 stars or better: Outstanding, WIHO Award 3 stars or better: Worth considering 2 stars or better: Suited to specific needs 1 star or less: Not recommended |
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Features
The Fuchs Audio FBT-700 is housed in a compact, steel chassis measuring just 12” wide x 3” high and 9” deep and weighs in at just 6.0 lbs. The circuitry is a combination of tube and solid state: dual 12AX7 preamp tubes and an ICEpower Class-D power amp. The front panel contains most of the controls, only needing to reach the rear of the unit for power and speaker connections.
The FBT-700 is equipped with a bright blue LED indicates for power. The front knobs cover your typical gain and EQ settings, and similar to the SVT amps upon which the design was inspired by, the Mid Freq control is a five-position knob with fixed values.
There’s a DI on the front of the head, and it wisely includes controls for Ground Lift, DI Phase, and Pre/Post EQ placement. In an interesting move, the serial effects loop is placed on the front of the amp, clearly beneficial to the local gig warrior who needs a fast and easy way to plug an effect or two into a highly mobile setup without the benefit of everything being installed in a 19” rack. The placement was functional, too. Andy Fuchs told us that the placement also helped to keep audio wiring away from the power amp wiring—just one of the many details that Fuchs think about in their product designs.
The rear panel contains two quarter-inch speaker outputs and the power switch. Our only wish is that there were a SpeakON connector instead, but this certainly isn’t a deal breaker.
The power ratings are 560 watts at 8 ohms, 720 watts at 4 ohms, and 1000 watts at 2.65 ohms. You rarely see a 2-ohm spec, a good indicator of quality components. A lower-wattage version of the amp is also available if you don’t plan to play big stages with big speaker cabinets.
Also to be noted: Fuchs Audio offers a variety of bass cabinets including a 1x12, a 2x10, and a 4x10 configuration.
Usability & Sound
The following video will demonstrate the amp’s functionality and sound, but a note on Usability: the option to place the DI output pre or post-EQ is an important control to consider if you’re playing on stage with speaker cabinets but want to send a DI to the front-of-house instead of miking your speaker cabinet. With the DI included in the preamp circuit, you’ll get the beautiful Fuchs tone, but be aware that any changes to your volume or big EQ adjustments will impact the output level going to the FOH, which could be problematic if you’re not a set-and-forget kind of player. Fortunately, you can flip the switch to Post EQ, and your volume adjustments won’t matter, but you’ll be sending the FOH a pristine direct sound (like some of Fuchs Audio’s pristine DI boxes) without the wonderful SVT-like coloration.
Documentation and Product Support
A PDF manual for the FBT-700 can be downloaded from the Fuchs Audio website which covers the specs and basic operations of the amp.
Fuchs Audio amplifiers carry a three-year warranty.
Price
The street price for the FBT-700 is $1,199.99. This is a good price for a premium amp from a boutique builder, and its feature set and compact size make it a fabulous option for the gigging rock and pop bassist.
Contact Information
Fuchs Audio
https://fuchsaudiotechnology.com
