Ampeg Portaflex system (a bit long - but need advice from owners)

[awakefie]

I currently have a Crate 440BX. It's a heavy old brick (42lbs) with great tone and lots of flexibility.

I can't lug it around much longer so I went to GC looking at Class D amps. They have a Portaflex 350 head and Portaflex 2x10 cab at a decent price with discounts etc...

I attempted to test it out. There were so many basses squeezed around it I didn't want to thread my way through them so i got the guy at the counter to help me. He was a nice guy but knew very little about the amp. It's 350 at 4 ohms and I asked him what it pushed at 8 ohms. He got out his smartphone and poked around. His reply was "It's not listed here, it probably doesn't do 8 ohms or if it does it will be less than half." That didn't make sense to me so I pressed a bit. Finally we discovered the 8 ohm rating on the back of the head (it was clearly marked but the head was difficult to get at).

I asked him if I could see the Portaflex cabs interior (a selling point of the system is you can mount the head and flip it).

He says sure and commences to wade through the basses on stands. I tell him to be careful. He gets to the amp and opens the top. He goes to set it to the side and you guessed it, dominoes.

The bass that got the brunt (the end domino) was a Yamaha and fell over forward with a hollow rattling sound coming from the neck.

I thanked him for his efforts and told him I would come back another time.

Long story short. I played through it a bit before the dominoes fell, I played it flat with a Squier Jazz VM (what I play) and it sounded decent.

I'm a little concerned about the cabinet weight and handles.

Does anyone have experience gigging with these Portaflex systems? 40+ lbs with 11 lbs of head attached and only a single vinyl handle on top concerns me. That puts the combo at about the weight of my old head by itself and I live on the 3rd floor (and am getting older each day).

I have 3 back to back gigs coming up it looks like a good solution for portability/weight vs power. I appreciate any opinions from those who have gigged with this setup and have had to carry this rig up and down flights of stairs.

PS - If you consider buying the Yamaha 4 string sitting out at GC in Englewood CO carefully examine it first!

[JimmyM]

I often gig a B-15N from 1964 with a Vintage Blue double baffle repro cab. The Vintage Blue cab is even a little heavier than the original cab, yet it moves pretty smoothly. I think together the combination is over 70 lbs. And there are no side handles on it, either. It's small enough to bear hug if you have to deadlift it, and the new Portaflex cabs are even smaller. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about not having side handles. They would look terrible on it, and it's really not hard to deadlift without them.

[beans-on-toast]

The latches on these amps are very sturdy. Ampeg wouldn't have designed the cabinet with just a single handle if they didn't have confidence that it could take the weight.

That being said, I roll my old B15 amp to move it and when I need to lift it, I bear hug it like Jimmy said or have someone help. So I don't rely on the handle other than to guide it but not to lift it.

The PF350 is a nice amp but for slightly more money ($100) you are getting a lot more amp in the PF500. It isn't just about the power output. The PF500 offers more flexibility in that it has pre-amp out, power-amp in, DI: eq pre/post, pad, and ground lift, tuner out, speakon connector, remote switch for FX on/off, amd more front panel tone settings.

What is interesting is that, according to the specs, the PF-500 is quieter. See the total harmonic distortion ratings. So even if you don't need the extra power, you are getting a better designed power supply.

PF-500:
300 watts rms @ 8 ohms, 3% THD
500 watts rms @ 4 ohms, 3% THD

PF-350:
250 watts rms @ 8 ohms, 5% THD
350 watts rms @ 4 ohms, 5% THD

The manual for both amps is available on their web site.

[JimmyM]

Just correcting some misinfo I gave earlier. Looking at the dimensions of the PF cabs, it appears that they're the same size as the old double baffle cabs. They seemed smaller in the store, but maybe that was just because they had a couple big cabs next to it. Anyway, still not a big deal to bear hug for most folks.

[ButtUglyJeff]

The nice thing is if you go PF350/PF115 (or PF210) and then you crave more volume, you can just add a second cab. I doubt volume could be an issue then. I doubt volume will be an issue with just a single cab setup. It really is a great setup for the price, and I wouldn't worry about carrying it either.

I have the PF500 and 2 PF115s, and I'm damn glad I did...

[stiles72]

I got to play around with a PF210 at a GC when they first came out, and concurr - they are very sturdy and the latches perform just as good or better than any of the old ones from the 60's. With the new ones, the single handle is more than sufficient to hold the weight of the cab and the head.

On my old B15, I do use the single handle for lifting over humps and things when I roll it along - but like Jimmy and Beans said - I do bear hug it for lifting into the back seat of my truck or for going up flights of stairs.

[awakefie]

My mind is more at ease. I have decided to pick one up (literally and figuratively). You guys are a great help.

[awakefie]

Originally Posted by awakefie

My mind is more at ease. I have decided to pick one up (literally and figuratively). You guys are a great help.

FYI - I have decided on the PF500. Thanks for the advice beans.

[JimmyM]

Great call. Finally got to try out the PF115 with a PF350 today. I had played the 210 and liked it quite well, but man, that PF115 really cops the B-15 sound for me. And they've got a compression driver for a tweeter, which is almost unheard of in cabs at that price point. Much better sounding than those piezo tweeters. Not that I'm a big fan of tweeters, but at least this is a really good one, and it's defeatable.

[beans-on-toast]

Originally Posted by awakefie

FYI - I have decided on the PF500. Thanks for the advice beans.

Enjoy your new rig!