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Ampeg PF-210HE... Problem?

GolderBass

GolderBass

Dec 29, 2018
8
2
#1
Hi guys,

Recently I bought a new Ampeg PF-500, and a second hand Ampeg PF-210HE. The cab was previously owned by a guy who ran the all tube PF-50t into it. I tested the cab with his head, not the 500. All was good, really nice warm rich tube.

I've been playing at home with my 500 no issue, lovely clean sound. Of course, this was at very low volume. For reference, the volume knob never went above the second marker, about 8 o'clock.

Yesterday I had my first rehearsal where I was able to crank it up. Very excited I was too. I was playing my 3eq Stingray (4 string). I'm in a covers band and play all sorts from hound dog to Mr brightside; party why I wanted the PF-500... Portable, powerful and relatively versatile.

Volume wise I had the amp between 12 and 9 o'clock throughout the practice, varying the eq, gain and compressor.

The sound I got at this volume was massively disappointing. I didn't have much low end and the speaker seemed to be farting out when I got below b on the a and e strings.

I don't think this was the head, the gain clip light and the fault light did not come on. The head also didn't get warm (even after 5 hours of being on and run at high volumes). This leads me to think it's the cab...

Has anyone else had similar experiences? Any advice as to what I can do? I wasn't expecting this result given a) it's a 450w 8 ohm cab caing run at 300w, b) it's designed to match the head and c) low volume sound was great.

Steve
 
#3
DWBass said:
May have been the practice room acoustics. Try cranking it at home and see if it sounds the same. Try a different bass. Stingrays are an odd sort sometimes.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your help.

I've tried the amp again in my garage and at 12 o'clock it sounded better, but at 9 o'clock it sounded really farty/flappy.

Unfortunately my only other bass (p bass) is getting a set up so I don't have that at the moment.

Could the dive of the room be a factor? We practice in quite a small room and I compete with drums, X2 guitars, keys and vocals.
 
#5
You might be asking too much of a 210. That configuration is typically good for moderate levels without a lot of low end. If the speaker is farting out it means you are hitting it with too much low end for the volume you are trying to get to.

Keep in mind that power ratings of cabs don’t directly translate to low end capability.

There are more exotic/boutique 210 cabs that are engineered to overcome those limitations but they cost more than the usual 210.
 
#6
If, after trying a different bass, using the -15pad, cutting not boosting eq at the head and your bass that you can't get decent volume out of it then @ihixulu is correct. Getting a bigger 4ohm cab or adding another 8ohm cab would solve your problem by either increasing speaker surface area and/or getting the full 500w from the head.
 
#7
maybe cutting your low end a bit might help, but yeah, these cabs have limitations and any piece of equipment starts to get hairy when used outside of measured limitations. With that being said, it seems like you really just need more speakers.
 
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#8
Yep, you're simply expecting too much out of this cab. I had one in the past. Also keep in mind the 450 watt rating is simply the thermal rating of the drivers, it has nothing to do with output or or how much low end it can produce. I always ran mine paired with a 115HE and they sounded great together. I since moved on to other cabs that don't fart out.
 
#10
Thanks all for your help on this.

@DWBass I did in fact mean 3 o'clock!

I will take your points on board for our next practice and let you know how I get on.

My goal was to ultimately get either x2 210he cabs, or x1 210he and x1 115he cab. Prior to getting this cab I was considering an SVT 410HLF... do you think I should carry on with the PF range, or switch to the 410hlf?
 
#11
I can crank the Gain on my PF 500 pretty high. When I do this , I keep the volume around 10 O'Clock. Cranking the volume will get you distorted pretty quickly with this amp. If you have the gain knob cranked ,you're not going to be able to get the volume very high without getting serious distortion. FWIW , for shows I have my gain at about 2 to 3 O'clock and the volume around 10 O'clock. I have to run my P Bass at about 60 to 70 %. Any higher and I drown out everything else. I am however using a 2 12 and not a 2 10.
 

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