When the Fender Rumble 100 combo bass amp arrived my initial response was a giggle.

Firstly it was a combo and unfortunately I have long harboured one of those inexplicable pet hates against combo amps - and secondly it came in a box! The cardboard put me in mind more of when someone purchases a microwave or an electric fan than a tool used for rock'n roll!

The only reason I remained optimistic was the name on the front: Fender. For me the name Fender seems to come with a promise of quality, an assumption that has grown from a childhood of listening to an older brother begging for a Telecaster.

Also it was over five decades ago that Leo Fender created the world's first electric bass the 'Precision'. It was only natural he followed that up with the first electric bass amp the classic Fender Bassman.

With such credentials it seemed only fair to give this amp the benefit of the doubt and look at it as more as part of the evolution of the world of electric bass rather than the wimpy bedside table I saw it as.

The Fender Rumble 100 combo is what Fender themselves describe as the "Big Daddy" of the Rumble Combo series, again, I giggled, big daddy... It comes in a box!

There are four models in this series of solid-state amps. The junior of this is the Rumble 15, so named after the amount of watts it has. Other models follow in suit with the 25, 60 and the 100. All four amps have similar features and looks. They have a nice carpet covering (which my flatmate's cat 'Clingy Poof' would love to get her little claws on), big hardy plastic corners for added protection, a cool metal grille and a big handle on top to carry the Rumble-rs around.

The 100W version I trialed sells here for $799. A price this low tells you that this amp is for beginners (or for a bass player who can't be stuffed trying to fit their separate head and cabinet into their tiny car for practice twice a week. At 27kgs the weight if this combo amp is only one kilo more than the head of my Mesa rig!

The front panel took me by surprise; it was simple and self-explanatory - perfect for a beginner, but also containing features of a much more expensive amp. The features included on the 100 are a passive/active switch; 'mid scoop' button; four band EQ; effects loop; headphone jack; XLR line out with level control (something I wish my amp had), and a ground lift switch. Having your effects send and return all on the front panel means there is none of that hassle trying to get to the back of your amp during those tight situations.

My favourite feature on first look though had to be the CD in! I had never seen anything of the like! Having these RCA inputs means you can plug your CD player or drum machine straight into your amp opening up a whole new world of bedroom 'jamming'. Down from the control panel we meet the 150 watt 15" Fender special design speaker with 4 ohm impedance while up in the corner sits a high frequency piezo horn. So from first look the only down side I could see is that there is no gain on this amp which is something I have become accustomed to.

Okay, time to completely throw away any prejudices I have towards combo amps and give the Fender Rumble 100 a test. So there I was at sound check at the Centro Bar about to give this Rumble a try. I looked at it while listening to the monotonous sound of the kick drum being checked. Was this little combo going to be enough in a live situation? It was too late now anyway, there would be no time to go home and trade in for my Mesa Boogie. Having the XLR line out on the front will make things easier in tonight's set up as it would have been a struggle to get to the back of it from here. I set the EQ all straight up and pressed the mid scoop in (a personal favourite and essential) then turned the volume to less than half way and struck a note. At this moment the real highlight of the amp was exposed. This little beauty has an intense red light beaming from underneath the speaker that pulsates in time with your playing. How cool does this make you feel?!

A slight adjustment of the EQ had me satisfied that this amp was going to be more than enough for the 150 person capacity gig that evening. And it was. I had no trouble in hearing the low-end growl from the 15" driver and the tops from the horn cut right through the competition of Justyn Pilbrow's Mesa Boogie guitar amp. So even though there was no gain control the Rumble seemed to live up to its name and I felt pretty stupid for ever doubting it.

There are quite a few combo beginner amps out at present, ranging from $600 to $1000. I tried out a few to compare the Rumble against and the results were as I expected. There are very few cheaper that I liked the sound of and some more costly I didn't. Not all of those amps come with as many features as the Fender Rumble 100 but that is not necessarily a bad point it just depends on what you want from your amp.

This venture was quite a fun experience as I discovered that all the current combo amps came with a CD in as well as a box very similar to the Rumble 100.

Over all I was extremely impressed with how this amp performed for me in a live situation and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking at buying their first amp or a smaller practice amp.

If I had owned an amp like this when I was learning I could have avoided many embarrassing situations and a lot of repairs.

Lani Purkis plays bass for Elemeno P and Foamy Ed.