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New ThunderFunk 550 (B) announced!!

Vic

Vic

There's more music in the nuance than the notes.
Supporting Member
Oct 14, 2002
30,029
4,599
Central Illinois
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Disclosures
Staff, Bass Gear Magazine
#1
Announced today, info now up on their [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] too.

Looks like my timing was PERFECT...

Dave Thunder Funk wrote:
I'm shipping your amp tomorrow regardless. But I have a question. You're next in line so you get first choice. I have one TFB550 with "The Switch" left. It's $1124, plus $25 freight.

Today (Feb 1st) we're announcing the new TFB550-B. It's $1249 and comes with rack ears and US freight included. It also has "The Switch" as standard, a Mute Switch, and a balanced DI Instrument Out so you can run two buffered balanced lines to the board (300 feet). One is an Instrument DI and the other is a Post EQ and Limiter as the amp has now, so the FOH can pick or mix.

It also has a new preamp board with AC coupling on the input so you'll get no clicks or pops from using footswitches. "The Switch" is board mounted (safe from breakage) and has LEDs to indicate which setting it selected. The Mute Switch also has an LED indicator.

It also has SIX 6800uF power supply caps and they made a bigger difference than I thought. I expected the low end to sound better but it improved everything. Using my near field monitors and playing CD's through it, it sounds like a studio amp. It use to sound like a disco amp. Some of the commercial amps sound like telephones, to give you a comparison. I was going to make it optional but decided to go full boat. Ears and 48-state UPS ground freight are included to simplify orders.

Let me know which amp you want. The old one is a clollectors item????
Click to expand...

  • 550-watts RMS into 4 Ohms
  • Limiter (Compressor)
  • Aural Enhancer
  • 4-Band Parametric Equalizer
  • Timbre Control
  • Headphone Jack
  • Line In
  • Tuner out
  • Pre-EQ Balanced DI Output
  • Post-EQ Balanced Output w/Level Control
  • Ground Lift Switch for both XLR's Out
  • Pre-EQ Effects Loop
  • Post-EQ Effects Loop
  • Jacks by Switchcraft and ADC (of Minnesota)
  • 2-1/4" speaker outputs
  • 2-Speakon speaker outputs +1/-1
  • Aluminum Chassis
  • Weighs only 16 pounds!!!
  • Time Delayed Turn On
  • 100/120/220/240v operation
  • Quiet and reliable
  • Runs with or without the Fan!
  • Rack Mount Ears included
  • 2-year warranty Parts & Labor
 
#3
Eric Cioe said:
What is the Switch? I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the other infamous switch in these parts ...
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Holy crap, not even in the same galaxy. This is a tone shaping switch on an amplifier, not an alleged impedence switcher on a speaker cabinet. Ken Jung (TB: KJung) has comments on the switch on the page in the link in my initial post.
 
#4
yea,

the switch in the up position is the same luscious, warm, almost tubey TF sound we all know and love. the down position is the "hifi" setting, where the amp feels a touch stiffer, and you get a slightly more detailed and sharper higher highs added to the overall sound.

the regular up is great for fingerstyle and the down is sweet for slap. at home, on a lower volume setting, its actually pretty hard to tell which setting is which, but when you're on gig, and the band is pumping, the differences are much more apparent.

and funny, but i think my amp is the "B" version, and i didnt even know it. i'm gonna email Dave and see.

Vic,

did Dave mention how the serial number scheme would work? might shed some light on mine.
 
#5
jokerjkny said:
...on a lower volume setting, its actually pretty hard to tell which setting is which, but when you're on gig, and the band is pumping, the differences are much more apparent.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Dave sez that, too.

and funny, but i think my amp is the "B" version, and i didnt even know it. i'm gonna email Dave and see.
Click to expand...
Let me know what you find out, because, while it doesn't matter to me per se, I know he's "upgraded" 550's with at least some of the new features (Ken has had this done), and I'm curious.

Vic,
did Dave mention how the serial number scheme would work? might shed some light on mine.
Click to expand...
Nope. Didn't even think to ask about it. I'm brand new to TF's.

I've got this thought seriously on the brain at the moment...

Marilyn #8 with TFB550-B and either a pair of EA NL-210s or a single Accugroove Tri-112L, or some combo of them. :)
 
#7
jokerjkny said:
yea,

the switch in the up position is the same luscious, warm, almost tubey TF sound we all know and love. the down position is the "hifi" setting, where the amp feels a touch stiffer, and you get a slightly more detailed and sharper higher highs added to the overall sound.

the regular up is great for fingerstyle and the down is sweet for slap. at home, on a lower volume setting, its actually pretty hard to tell which setting is which, but when you're on gig, and the band is pumping, the differences are much more apparent.

and funny, but i think my amp is the "B" version, and i didnt even know it. i'm gonna email Dave and see.

Vic,

did Dave mention how the serial number scheme would work? might shed some light on mine.
Click to expand...


+1 on the switch... not much difference at low volumes, but very, very nice when you are cranking... that little extra open sound and sizzle is great for some situations (it tilts the amp's sound a little toward an 'EBS sort of thing'... not that extreme but in that tone family), and the slightly more meaty grind is great for others (it tilts the amp's voicing back a little more toward an 'Eden type' sound). It is subtle, but is different than using tone controls... it really is a nice feature.

The original switch always kind of looked like a 'hobby shop add on' to me (and the original one was a sort of 'add on' that Dave provided). It sounds like now he has it more integrated into the design of the amp.

If you guys remember, the only gripe I had about this fantastic amp was the fact that it didn't have a 'pre EQ' low impedence DI (the original models only have post EQ). So, it sounds like he 'fixed' that also, along with a few additional tweaks that sound like they will be very nice.

I actually had the capacitor (or whatever it is!) added to mine to eliminate the pops I was experiencing with my active/passive switch on my Pope preamp... it sounds like Dave also made that part of the new model (it was a rare issue according to Dave, and in my case, only happened with that one particular bass).

Plus, now the 550 is actually 550 watts into 4ohms vs. 500... kind of makes more sense, given the name of the amp!

Isn't it great when a manufacturer actually listens to and takes action based on feedback from all his users:bassist:

Vic and I will do an A/B this weekend with his new model and my original 550, and Vic will post next week. Even if it doesn't sound different, it will be the best small, powerful amp out there IMO... however, it sounds like the sound will actually be improved also... hard to imagine!
 
#8
Damn! Damn, damn, damn.

Now there are actually reasons to upgrade from my much loved tfb420...I never felt like there were before.

damn.

Way to go Dave!

I'm gonna have to get more work to justify this...
 
#9
I'm lovin' my newer 550 'standard' but wish I would have know about the upgrades... I would have waited or opted to get the extras since I plan on keeping this amp for a long time... I'm most interested in the extra watts and pre DI the mute is nice too. There was no mention of a Jensen Transformer, I wonder what type of DI protection is in place?

Also, wonder if Dave is going to do upgrades to existing 550 ???:hiding:
 
#12
This just keeps getting better...

I only live about 2-3 hours from Dave's shop, and since Ken is bringing his 550 over on Sunday (along with some other ultra-cool stuff), Dave is offering to drive the amp down personally so he can do some more A/B testing between the current model and the new B model. We'll have Aggie, Bergie (Ken), EA, and AG cabs available for testing, as well as "a few" cool basses... ash MTD, chambered MTD, Roscoe, Celinder (KJungs NEW ONE), Sadowsky (Ken), Zon, Cirrus', and even a slightly mod'd Fender Geddy J. I don't expect we'll be trying all combos, but we have plenty to choose from!

:hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper:

If this all comes together, I'll post pics and info/results here!
 
#13
Vic said:
This just keeps getting better...

I only live about 2-3 hours from Dave's shop, and since Ken is bringing his 550 over on Sunday (along with some other ultra-cool stuff), Dave is offering to drive the amp down personally so he can do some more A/B testing between the current model and the new B model. We'll have Aggie, Bergie (Ken), EA, and AG cabs available for testing, as well as "a few" cool basses... ash MTD, chambered MTD, Roscoe, Celinder (KJungs NEW ONE), Sadowsky (Ken), Zon, Cirrus', and even a slightly mod'd Fender Geddy J. I don't expect we'll be trying all combos, but we have plenty to choose from!

:hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper:

If this all comes together, I'll post pics and info/results here!
Click to expand...

Plus a WW Ultra and a Schroeder 1212... should be a lot of fun.

K
 
#15
Vic, you're going to dig it! The TF's are fantastic amps! HA, Keith Horne is on Dave's site. . . I got to be acquainted with Keith when I lived in Nashvegas - super nice guy, very humble, but a monster player! Plays 6 left-handed strung upside down (for right handers) a la Jimmy Haslip.
 
#16
gruuv said:
Vic, you're going to dig it! The TF's are fantastic amps! HA, Keith Horne is on Dave's site. . . I got to be acquainted with Keith when I lived in Nashvegas - super nice guy, very humble, but a monster player! Plays 6 left-handed strung upside down (for right handers) a la Jimmy Haslip.
Click to expand...

Keith Horne is a MONSTER. I became aware of him from some Tricia Yearwood performances I saw on TV.... amazing player. It's cool to see his own group is getting some airplay, etc. He's a great player! We need to get his 15 pound amp out of that 30 pound empty rack, though!:D
 
#17
gruuv said:
Vic, you're going to dig it! The TF's are fantastic amps! HA, Keith Horne is on Dave's site. . . I got to be acquainted with Keith when I lived in Nashvegas - super nice guy, very humble, but a monster player! Plays 6 left-handed strung upside down (for right handers) a la Jimmy Haslip.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've seen his video clip. Drool. :)

I'm getting SERIOUSLY excited about this TB micro-hang.

TB'ers jmb7183 and cb will also be there. I'm pretty sure the way this will all shake out is, a focus on the new Celinder, Marilyn #8, and ThunderFunk.
 
#18
klorence said:
jeez... you guys are having all the fun.

maybe i should drive out there - join the fray, buy an amp from dave, head to detroit to watch the steelers win...


:D
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It's actually goin down in Central IL, but if you were within striking range, you'd be welcome to come.
 

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