Gk bl600 or ampeg pf350

[Worshipbass12]

Ok guys I recently purchased an ampeg pf350
To upgrade from my bl600
Great tone from the pf350, first gig with it last night,
But I had to run it on the limiter all night to keep up with a drummer
One electric and an acoustic, so one of these heads has to go so I can get another cab currently using an ashdown 210,
Is the bl600 underrated? Seems like it gets way louder than the ampeg,
I run out of cab with the gk and run out of head with the ampeg,
How much difference in volume will adding a second cab make?

[B-string]

G-K amps are built with a high reserve (sustained burst power) over the power rated. You may have been using more low end with the PF350 that ate up the rated power from it?
If you like the sound of the PF350 better adding a second cab will make a BIG difference (if your current cab is 8 ohm, neither amp will push two 4 ohm cabs).

[Worshipbass12]

That could have been the case, I may have the opportunity to trade either head and the cab for an ampeg classic 210 and 115 you think that will make a big difference?

[B-string]

Mixing a 210 and 115 is a crap shoot as to if they will sound good together. Pick one cab either the 210 or 115 and double that. There is no baked in difference between a 210 and 115. Either one could be louder or sound deeper depending on how it was designed and the quality of the speakers used.

Doubling the speaker area is the BEST way to get a lot more of the sound you like.

[Worshipbass12]

I have no experience with the ampeg classic series but I will definitely try them with my head and pbass before hand or maybe just sell the gk and get another ashdown cab I really like the sound of the ashdown and it looking great is a plus IMHO

[Worshipbass12]

Could you clarify sustained burst power? I'm not familiar with that term, not much of a gear head

[VincentGrim]

Unless you greatly prefer the Ampeg tone over the GK tone, I'd stick with the BL600 and get a second cab. Coming from a ton of experience with the BL600 and the PF-500 (not the amp in question, but it gets my point across) I'm certain that the BL600 is louder. That being said, both of your amps with a full stack will get you heard. Go with whichever one you dig more.

[Worshipbass12]

I never could get a (perfect) tone with the gk but the vt pedal ran into it is awesome!!!!! So now I'm wondering if the extra 50 watts in the ampeg is actually there? And are you saying the bl600 is louder than your pf500?

[Bass_Pounder]

50 watts increase is not even noticeable (unless you only had 50w to start with, and even then it would only be an increase of +3db).

[CL400Peavey]

Watts are watts... Its not about the power thats there, its about the way you have your gains set up. The position of the knobs means nothing as far as potential used/available. Run the gain knob up on your 350 until the peak light is flashing a bit as you play, you wont hurt anything. Personally I let the gain on my PF-500 go up around 2-3 o'clock, no worries. Then bring your master up as you need volume. For me that means about 2-3 o'clock again.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by Worshipbass12

Could you clarify sustained burst power? I'm not familiar with that term, not much of a gear head

Amps rated for a level of power output and distortion level. Sustained burst is the ability for the amp to exceed that rating for at least a full note peak.

If the limiter is defeatable with the PF you might find a little more punch from it?

[Worshipbass12]

Originally Posted by B-string

Amps rated for a level of power output and distortion level. Sustained burst is the ability for the amp to exceed that rating for at least a full note peak.

If the limiter is defeatable with the PF you might find a little more punch from it?

It is defeat able but I've read a lot of horror stories of the portaflex heads going into fault and shutting down so kinda nervous about turning it off could have tried it I guess I did have the gk there as a backup

[Jim C]

That B-string guy is a smart fellow; great advice.
The PF series amps sound very good and have a loyal, faithful following
At one point on of the PF threads there was 1 post per page with an amp failure
GK had similar bad experiences with the early version of the MB series
I bought TH500 instead of the PF purely on my opinion of reliability
GK was extremely pro-active and came out with revisions to make things right
The amp you are referring to is reliable IMO/IME

[Worshipbass12]

Originally Posted by Jim C

That B-string guy is a smart fellow; great advice.
The PF series amps sound very good and have a loyal, faithful following
At one point on of the PF threads there was 1 post per page with an amp failure
GK had similar bad experiences with the early version of the MB series
I bought TH500 instead of the PF purely on my opinion of reliability
GK was extremely pro-active and came out with revisions to make things right
The amp you are referring to is reliable IMO/IME

Which one? The gk or the pf?

[JimmyM]

My PF350's rocked for a year and a half with zero problems. B-string 2 is correct about the PF350 not having the reserve like the BL600, but that's par for the course for a lot of micros...most, actually. Turning off the limiter and cranking the gain a little does help.

[Worshipbass12]

So it's ok as long as the peak light isn't on?

[JimmyM]

Actually, I like it a little better with the peak light at least flashing. And I like it when you crank it into the red and make it distort a little as well.

[B-string]

To paraphrase Jimmy if I could, use your ears not your eyes with the gain knob?

[Worshipbass12]

Thanks guys I appreciate everyone's advice, and glad I found this place most people are really nice and helpfull

[CL400Peavey]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Actually, I like it a little better with the peak light at least flashing. And I like it when you crank it into the red and make it distort a little as well.

Yep. I run that gain knob at like 3-4 o'clock when I need to get nasty.