Head Cabinet Pairing--Ampeg--Help

[Baenen]

Hi, I'm the dad of an aspiring 16 year okd bass player (Max). He has a band that will be performing their first gig next week, and for that and as his Christmas present, I ordered a new 300 watt Ampeg B1RE head (from ebay--not returnable), and I bought him an Ampeg svt410hlf (500 watt) cabinet at Guitar Center (it's under the tree). I told his bandmates about it and they warned that head is underpowered and could damage the cabinet. I understand I bought a nicer cabinet than head, and can live with that. He can (will have to) live with the fact that the head may not live up to the capability of the cabinet--but will the underpowering DAMAGE the cabinet and/or head?? PLEASE HELP ASAP! Thanks.

Nervous dad...

[vistacruiser]

Hi,
I don't think you could have chosen a better cab. I have no expirience with that head, but at the Ampeg website you can download an owners manual. I checked it out and saw that the head has a limiter switch, which will prevent amp clipping at very high levels. Amp clipping is what you need to worry about damaging a cab. A more powerful head would not be pushed as hard and would be less likely to clip. But if he uses the limit switch he should be fine.
Also noticed that the amps 300 watt output is rated at a 4 ohm load and the svt410hlf is a 4 ohm cab. Sounds pretty good for a first amp IMO.