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Advise on new PF500

bass7858

bass7858

Apr 11, 2009
112
0
central florida
#1
So I been carryin around a Peavey XXXX mega bass or something like that for a few years. It has weird parametric eq system that has a bass knob, treble knob, and then 3 different parametric sweepable mid bands. I hate it!!.
Give me some plane jane controls I don't need an acoustic engineers degree to operate!!

So I decide today to do something I have never done before. had a gig tonight and decided to go to the local GC and see what they had in micro amp. only things they had was markbass 250 and a tube 800, lastly .. a PF 500.
Did'nt think 250 watts was enough over the long haul, had read some not so happy comments on the LM tube 800. decided to give the PF 500 a run for its money. ( or rather mine)

As mentioned b4 had a gig tonight. Kind of Hoity Toity silent auction benefit type deal. 1st set was played kind of low. The cab i'm plugged into is a Schroeder 2X12, and I got the bass on the PF500 set between 2 and 3. (clock face)
The second set we open up a little but. Last song he set is skynards "I know a Little bout it"

Get to the guitar ride and i'm layin into it, and right when we get to the the part in the guitar solo where it changes to the 4 chord all of sudden...no bass!!!! Wha....
band finishes the short version of the song while i'm at the amp flippin the breaker. still nothing.
so we do a re-boot ( off then back on) good to go!!
Is this known issue with the porta flex? A freak happening?
i'm thinking about about going back to GC tomorrow and excercising my 30 satisfaction guarantee.

I did forget to mention although it was sold as brand new...it was the showroom demo. no box and no manual.
What say the brethren?
 
#4
Get an in-the-box one. Showroom demos are not treated so great by customers at times. Plus you usually get a newer one with whatever revisions they made rather than one that's been sitting in the showroom a year or more.
 
#7
The Markbass 800 is a pretty sweet little head. I'd pick one of those up or an Aguilar ToneHammer. The PF is a nice head, but I've had two die on me in the past (granted, they were showroom models), and many other TB'ers have reported having issues with them as well.

My Markbass LMIII lasted me close to three years without a single issue before I sold it, and my Aguilar TH is getting close to two years strong without any hiccups. Take that for whatever it's worth.
 
#12
JimmyM said:
Get an in-the-box one. Showroom demos are not treated so great by customers at times. Plus you usually get a newer one with whatever revisions they made rather than one that's been sitting in the showroom a year or more.
Click to expand...

+1

There are some definite issues with the early units and you local GC probably had that one one the shelf since 2011. Trade it out for a later unit that is new in the box, even if they have to get it mailed in.

Don't get hooked by the detractors that have seem to continually whine about how bad the PF500 is, even the industry standard SVT had some serious problems in the first gen. and there were a number of reliability improvements through mid-2012 so anything after should be good.

And I own one.
 
#13
I picked up a used PF-500 last year as a rehearsal rig with a Carvin 10.2 Neo. The rig sounds great and puts out an amazing bottom end and volume. No cutting out. I wish I could use the rig for some gigs, too, but the practice studio is tough to get in and out of.
 
#14
Here's the secret with the ampeg pf 500. You have to set the gain properly. I have a P bass with a hot dimarzio model p pu, I set the gain at 10 o'clock with the master at 12 or higher, I play freakin hard and I never have a problem with cut outs. If I set the gain above 12, I better play softer or I know it will cut out. Pretty simple......By the way, it's a great sounding amp.
 
#15
I also have a P bass with a Dimarzio model P. I played the PF500 for hours last night with the gain at 1:30, compressor at 11:00, master at 11:00. It was pretty loud through an 810e. Not a single cut out. I turned the master up to 1:00 for a minute to get some grind and show off to the bandmates, and it handled it like a champ, playing hard with a pick.

I hope it keeps working perfectly, because it sounds amazing.

My old Peavey Tour 350 used to cut out into protection mode during loud spikes... before I learned how to use a compressor.
 
#17
My 350 only clips if I dig in hard or had it on a cab that is too high wattage... once I played with the gain gettings its has been ok but i can make it clip any time i wish just by hitting hard...... wondering if it likes a type of cab better than another...weird thing is my gk mb200 seems to get up louder and won't clip at the same or louder volumes the peg will just bummed cause I feel like the peg can go much louder but the clip circuit is too eager..
 
#18
Is this known issue with the porta flex? A freak happening?
Click to expand...

Here is a question I sent to Ampeg Tech support regarding the PF500;
Has the cause of the high fail rate of the early PF-500 amp been discovered & corrected? There are multiple sources of information on-line that indicate the first of the PF-500 amps failed at a rate much higher than the industry average. I'm not sure if that is true or hyperbole.

Here is the answer I received;
The new Portaflex amps had a few growing pains in the beginning but those issues have all been ironed out.

As you can see, I ended my question stating that I didn't know if what I had read about the PF500 was true or hyperbole, because I really didn't know. I hoped Ampeg would tell the truth & I think they did. The Ampeg technical advisor didn't go with "hyperbole", he said it was "growing pains". I'm still planning to buy one (upcoming birthday) because I think Ampeg has revised the product up to reasonable reliability, or at least I hope they have. You may have gotten an early version that still had "growing pains" or one that had been abused as a demo, or both.
 
#19
My PF500 is going on a year and a half with no issues at all. I Have over 100 gigs on it. I simply keep the gain under the red light w/a little compression. I have the pf210 cab to match. Just great sound all around and plenty of power in my 9 piece band......just sayin!;)
 
#20
kpc said:
My PF500 is going on a year and a half with no issues at all. I Have over 100 gigs on it. I simply keep the gain under the red light w/a little compression. I have the pf210 cab to match. Just great sound all around and plenty of power in my 9 piece band......just sayin!;)
Click to expand...

The more common issues seemed to be with a 4ohm load if I am not mistaken. Glad you are problem free though!

I had that same setup for a while and I never had "cutout" issues either. I now have the 800 with the 410 though.
 

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