Ampeg PF500 or PF800 for Upright Bass?

i would think that both of those would be great since you're going to the fdeck first. i like the ampeg sound, and although ive never tried either of those 2 amps, people describe them as "tube like". im having great success playing my upright through tube amps lately. my personal vote though in that style of amp would be the aguilar tone hammer. its fantastic for both instruments

 

I have laminate strunal - realist - fdeck 3 - pf 350 - traynor 112 neo w/tweeter. Works well.

 

Pat,
Actually, when I compared the PF 350 to the PF 500, to my ears, in store at GC, I felt the EQ on the PF 350 was a perfect match for DB, but It wouldn't do for that second band you're playing in. Just my take, but if you've got the extra cash, I'd spring for the PF 800
since it's virtually the same amp and has a little extra headroom. Not that I'm lazy, but if it's a 70% Electric, then for me it's a 100% Electric gig.You're other option would be to find a used Genz Benz Shuttle. They were very nice amps.

Ric

 

I highly recommend the Walkabout Scout for both EB and DB and actually prefer its tone to my Headway & QSC K10 combo - very smooth and natural with killer DI. The input impedance is 1 meg and onboard semi-parametric EQ is second to none. The only things it doesn't have are phase and dedicated HPF.

Volume's not an issue - at least with upright gigs. You will be limited by your ability to control feedback.
For electric - volume with the Walkabout will depend on how much speaker cone cardboard you are pushing and also the kind of tone you want to achieve at high volumes. It starts getting pretty rock-n-roll at high levels - some people like this, some people don't - hence why some say its underpowered and some don't. Its one of those rare amps that sounds good when it "hits the rails" - so don't be decieved by the low power rating.

Personally - I've had a 4 ohm 15" scout cab for a while and it's been more than adequate for any gigs I've thrown at it (EB & DB) - even in non-PA assisted venues. I've recently scored an 8 ohm 12" cab (rare in Australia) and initial impressions are that it will still do the job nicely. Jury's still out on whether it will replace my QSC for regular upright gigging duties. I like the form factor on the QSC - and am liking the idea of having it at ear level with a speaker stand.

What cabs are you using?

 

Yeah the old "will it be loud enough" question is a tricky one. It depends a lot on your tonal goals and your band. And also... I doubt a lot of people would have had a heap of experiance with those cabs.

If in doubt - go for something like an Aguilar TH500 or GK MB800 which will probably cover the EB gig easily.

 

Ah, Vin, we meet again!

Amplifying upright is an enigmatic subject....ultimately, most players - myself included - try to get the sound of the wood as much as possible. I find most amps lose that. I notice a few players are using powered wedges, which is my personal preference if I'm doing a smaller gig, otherwise I go all out and just use the magnetic pickup through whatever rig is there.

I personally hate to put too much in between the instrument and the amp....I used to have a tuner, buffer pre, para eq, compressor and filter before my amp, but I was always tweaking to each room. Now I just use a para and a powered wedge. Done.

 

get the tone hammer. its great for both. patitucci uses it for both also and his live sound these days is really great, granted for most places he also uses a mic, but i've seen him use just the amp in smaller places and sounds really great too.

 

I use a mesa walkabout scout to do this. In the past I've used a thunderfunk 550. Both worked well. Recently I've come to appreciate the Mesa more than I thought I would even with double bass. Never use it without an exernal preamp though. Ought to give that a shot sometime soon.

My tactic was to use two differing pedal preamps so that I had a two seperate DI's when needed before going to the a/b box.

My pedal setup....

elec. slab > Boss tuner > Tech 21 Paradriver >

Big bass > Fishman pro plat EQ > Boss tuner > Radial DI >

Both of these into a Boss LS a/b box...


Looks needlessly complex but after trying simpler setups this is what worked best for what I needed. It all lives on a pedal board that stays wired up, so it isn't anymore difficult to setup than a single pedal really. Just a slightly larger case to move in. Other adavntage is that using backlined rigs is less of a hassle. I set the dang thing flat and use the pedal board for all amp related what have you.

 

PS: The pic of that huge rig makes me want to pull my old macrotech out of retirement for a few gigs. I'm sure I'll pick it up and change my mind immediately. #boatanchor #yesIusedahashtag #dealwithit

 

Which ever amp you decide to use, you may not have to go through all of the trouble of A/B boxes + preamps. There are a few preamps on the market now that have two channels to do exactly what you need. Radial makes some nice stuff designed to double with separate channels for BG and UB. EA Also makes heads designed for doubling with multiple channels. Jump over to Gollihur music and you'll find a bunch of options to research.

As far as the amps go, like always it's matter of taste. There are plenty of high watt / cheap price combos these days that a lot of guys find suitable.

 

there are tone hammers in the classifieds all the time. i think there is one in there now

 

If you go with the boogie, the stock fan is a little loud. Only drawback I've encountered.

 

I use a Tonehammer 500 and a Radial Bassbone OD pre (I don't use the OD part but it does have some nice features for DB, or in my case EUB). There are cheaper alternatives to the Bassbone but I have been very happy with mine and it makes doubling much easier than the AB switch I used to use. I think the pre and the speakers are more important than the amp head itself and it looks like you've got the speakers covered. I did demo a GK MB500 which was also very nice and a few less dollars but I don't think you can go wrong with a Tonehammer, to me it has a nice warmer sound.