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Ampeg PF-500 & 210HE VS Fender Rumble 500 Combo

#21
badboyb said:
I actually compared these two directly last week.
I had gone into the store to try out the new Fender Rumble 500 combo.

After putting it through its paces, I plugged into the Ampeg setup.
Costs more, but still looks good, and until now has been one of my favourite sounding amps.

I'm gonna be straight up and honest....I preferred the Fender in every way.
Weight, tone, portability, looks etc.

Fender just really got it right this time around.
500 watts in a 16kg combo and it sounds great.

And I've never ever preferred a Fender to Ampeg before now.
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FWIW...I personally feel that proper judgement of gear requires that it be heard within the context of a mix with a live band. I learned long ago not to think that 'music store sound' is the same thing.

I'm not saying you wouldn't prefer the Rumble in that setting too, but, I have heard both in the context of a live mix with lots of different players and lots of different types of bases and personally feel very different.
 
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#22
The Rumble 500 is not the regular Fender tone stack, it's cut/boost. You can probably dial in a tone you like on either rig. The biggest difference seems to be that the PF has a compressor and the Fender does not.

If you DI most of the time, my experience says go with the PF head. For some reason FOH people love what they get from it.
 
#23
faulknersj said:
FWIW...I personally feel that proper judgement of gear requires that it be heard within the context of a mix with a live band. I learned long ago not to think that 'music store sound' is the same thing.

I'm not saying you wouldn't prefer the Rumble in that setting too, but, I have heard both in the context of a live mix with lots of different players and lots of different types of bases and personally feel very different.
Click to expand...

I understand, but being that I need an amp to stand up in a band context, I absolutely cranked both the amps at the store.
Both are as loud as each other.
Also, the tones are not that different from each other too.

I don't know how many Rumble 500 combo's you could've heard live, I mean they've just been released.
The new Rumbles are definately a different breed from the old ones.
I didn't care for the old ones at all.

Just to be clear, we are talking about this:
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#24
badboyb said:
I understand, but being that I need an amp to stand up in a band context, I absolutely cranked both the amps at the store.
Both are as loud as each other.
Also, the tones are not that different from each other too.

I don't know how many Rumble 500 combo's you could've heard live, I mean they've just been released.
The new Rumbles are definately a different breed from the old ones.
I didn't care for the old ones at all.

Just to be clear, we are talking about this:
Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

I haven't hear a new one! Gotcha! I'm talking about an old one for sure. I look forward to checking one out..probably some Genz Benz stuff incorporated into the new one.
 
#27
Wow lots of great replies here, from fans of both amps! I think I'm gonna have to try both of these out in a store before I make up my mind. I think I'd prefer the Ampeg right now if just purely for the fact I could use the amp with my bigger cab if I needed to. Also CL400Peavey mentioned I could try the PF115lf, which I think would be great but I would miss the fliptop capabilities of the other pf cab.
 
#28
JohnnySee said:
Wow lots of great replies here, from fans of both amps! I think I'm gonna have to try both of these out in a store before I make up my mind. I think I'd prefer the Ampeg right now if just purely for the fact I could use the amp with my bigger cab if I needed to. Also CL400Peavey mentioned I could try the PF115lf, which I think would be great but I would miss the fliptop capabilities of the other pf cab.
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IMHO flip tops are more trouble than they are worth.
 
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#36
I have the PF500 with the PF210 cab set up as a fliptop. The latches hold fine on the lid with no buzzing. I used it at a big outdoor gig through a big PA. The DI worked well once I used the pad on the DI level.

The part I don't like is carrying the rig out of my basement...kinda clumsy with just the top handle.
 
#37
Some folks have installed side handles on them. I just bearhugged mine when I had them, but I wasn't going up and down stairs.

And +1 for not liking the fliptop. Gives them their identity in a way, but it's always been my least favorite feature of a B-15. Never even bothered with it when I had PF cabs.
 
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#39
Well I pulled the trigger yesterday on a PF500 and, would you believe it, an SVT-210AV! Since a few people were saying they didn't rate the flip top aspect of the pf cabs, and the SVT cab is smaller, lighter and cheaper and I think I would prefer the tone I went with that.

It should arrive by Thursday, I'll let you know my thoughts when I've had some time with it!
 
#40
JohnnySee said:
Well I pulled the trigger yesterday on a PF500 and, would you believe it, an SVT-210AV! Since a few people were saying they didn't rate the flip top aspect of the pf cabs, and the SVT cab is smaller, lighter and cheaper and I think I would prefer the tone I went with that.

It should arrive by Thursday, I'll let you know my thoughts when I've had some time with it!
Click to expand...

If you like the classic ampeg tone, that will do it.

Some tips running your PF-500:

Set the compression around noon, with the master set low bring up the gain until you see that red light flashing on your hard hits. This will open up the amp tonally and power wise.
 

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