Hi Talkbass,
It has taken me a while to post this review as I have been busy. I wanted to give a review because there is much information on the specs and sound of this little tube amp, but little information around its versatility. I wanted this amp not just for a nice home practice amp, but also for something that I could send into a power amp for live gigging. I have to say that the PF-20T has followed through with these wants quite well.
The amp is nice and small and at about 15 lbs, it is easy to carry or put in a bag. Others have found some nifty carrying cases that seem to fit thes units quite nicely. I'm happy just carrying it on its own.
The controls are refreshingly simple. The bass, middle, treble are set at good frequencies and the sound can be manipulated substantially from deep, booming bass, to a treble attack. The gain on these amps is different from what I'm used to. With a traditional Fender gain, I find that breakup gets gnarly and unpleasant. With the gain on the Ampeg, the further you crank it, the bigger and thicker the sound gets. I found a sweet spot on this gain at about 2 o'clock that had my P bass getting this really nice, thick grit when digging in.
At the far right, the master has some surprising volume on tap, although it tends to max out fairly quickly when turning clockwise. Perhaps this is to allow for more dial-in power tube breakup. Don't underestimate this amp when running into a big 8X10. It loves powering my Traynor TC810 and can get quite loud.
When played through my Acme 12" Series 3 cab, the amp is wonderfully full and rich. Dialing in that grit gets something pretty close to what I hear on the old Jackson 5 records and most of the rest of the Motown bass sound. The bass just sits so well in the mix, I find myself forgetting about settings and dials and just playing. It is a wonderful feeling.
What is, in my opinion the most under-appreciated part of this amp is its potential as a preamp. The post-pre out at the back has a really hot signal that perfectly powers my Peavey CS-800S power amp. The Peavey has given me some trouble in the past as many pres I have tried with it don't send a hot enough signal to it. The PF-20T gives it a hot enough signal and then some. It pushes the Peavey into DDT protection with the master at about 3/4 and me playing my P bass normally.
When playing through the DI outs, the master and gain are both active so you can control your volume from the PF-20T instead of through the power amp or board.
Played at a recent jam, I had my Acme Flatwound and Fullrange 12" cabs powered with 800 watts from the Peavey power amp. The PF-20T sat perfectly on top of the vertical stack. Playing 90's alternative with two guitarists playing JCM 900 amps (100 watts of guitar face melt) and a hard hitting drummer I had no trouble keeping up. My 5 string P bass with TI flats sat just below the guitars and just over the kick drum. With the EQ flat, the 'nose' of the amp really came forward and songs like Rage Against the Macine - Killing in the Name of, and Lenny Kravitz - Rock and Roll is Dead glorified the thickness and grit of the bass. This is just an all out fun amp to play when going through a power amp and you can truly set the dials and forget it, and get on with playing.
This is the preamp and recording/practice amp that I have been looking for for some time. Although the price is a bit steep for a 20 watt amp, the features of the amp are quite desirable and, in my opinion, make up for the price tag.
It has taken me a while to post this review as I have been busy. I wanted to give a review because there is much information on the specs and sound of this little tube amp, but little information around its versatility. I wanted this amp not just for a nice home practice amp, but also for something that I could send into a power amp for live gigging. I have to say that the PF-20T has followed through with these wants quite well.
The amp is nice and small and at about 15 lbs, it is easy to carry or put in a bag. Others have found some nifty carrying cases that seem to fit thes units quite nicely. I'm happy just carrying it on its own.
The controls are refreshingly simple. The bass, middle, treble are set at good frequencies and the sound can be manipulated substantially from deep, booming bass, to a treble attack. The gain on these amps is different from what I'm used to. With a traditional Fender gain, I find that breakup gets gnarly and unpleasant. With the gain on the Ampeg, the further you crank it, the bigger and thicker the sound gets. I found a sweet spot on this gain at about 2 o'clock that had my P bass getting this really nice, thick grit when digging in.
At the far right, the master has some surprising volume on tap, although it tends to max out fairly quickly when turning clockwise. Perhaps this is to allow for more dial-in power tube breakup. Don't underestimate this amp when running into a big 8X10. It loves powering my Traynor TC810 and can get quite loud.
When played through my Acme 12" Series 3 cab, the amp is wonderfully full and rich. Dialing in that grit gets something pretty close to what I hear on the old Jackson 5 records and most of the rest of the Motown bass sound. The bass just sits so well in the mix, I find myself forgetting about settings and dials and just playing. It is a wonderful feeling.
What is, in my opinion the most under-appreciated part of this amp is its potential as a preamp. The post-pre out at the back has a really hot signal that perfectly powers my Peavey CS-800S power amp. The Peavey has given me some trouble in the past as many pres I have tried with it don't send a hot enough signal to it. The PF-20T gives it a hot enough signal and then some. It pushes the Peavey into DDT protection with the master at about 3/4 and me playing my P bass normally.
When playing through the DI outs, the master and gain are both active so you can control your volume from the PF-20T instead of through the power amp or board.
Played at a recent jam, I had my Acme Flatwound and Fullrange 12" cabs powered with 800 watts from the Peavey power amp. The PF-20T sat perfectly on top of the vertical stack. Playing 90's alternative with two guitarists playing JCM 900 amps (100 watts of guitar face melt) and a hard hitting drummer I had no trouble keeping up. My 5 string P bass with TI flats sat just below the guitars and just over the kick drum. With the EQ flat, the 'nose' of the amp really came forward and songs like Rage Against the Macine - Killing in the Name of, and Lenny Kravitz - Rock and Roll is Dead glorified the thickness and grit of the bass. This is just an all out fun amp to play when going through a power amp and you can truly set the dials and forget it, and get on with playing.
This is the preamp and recording/practice amp that I have been looking for for some time. Although the price is a bit steep for a 20 watt amp, the features of the amp are quite desirable and, in my opinion, make up for the price tag.
Sorry, had to say it.
