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Ampeg PF-500, pf-115HE vs 410

Alright thanks guys! You really helped! But one more question. As far as tone is the portaflex as amazing as the SVT 3 Pro servies and etc? (I'm not planning on buying another amp for a while.

I have both heads, PF500 and 3-Pro. Both can sound very similar by tweaking either the compressor feature on the PF500, or by tweaking the Tube Gain control on the 3-Pro. IMO, the 3-Pro is by nature a bit tighter sounding, and the PF500 is looser or softer sounding. But by experimenting with your settings you can tighten up a PF500, or loosen upa 3-Pro. As for overall tone - both are pure Ampeg, and you can dial in just about any sound you like, but it does require twisting knobs and not setting everything at noon like many folks here on TB like to do.
 
Just curious as to what the pf210 would actually give me?

Would I get more tops or just more of the same?

More of the same. I'd get the second 15 but that's because I wasn't impressed with the 210's voicing two months ago when I first test drove the PF's in GC. Coulda been the cab, the Ric, or the room too. They didn't have a 15 so I e-bought them but two PF115's sounds huge. It's my gig rig now and my PF500 and one PF115HE will keep up in my jams that are now running a hot bluesy SRV kind of clean 60w 410 Marshall stack, Valve Jr OD'd into a loud B52 4x12, and a 100w Marshall DFX 112. There's also a keyboard running through my old Peavey Century Bass 200 into two '70's "hi-fi" stereo speakers for another 100w of sonic competition. We use lots of dynamics and span a pretty dramatic range so I can't complain when 55 lbs of bass amp handles that situation. Mind you, the Valve Jr is really the only one running in the red but there's still a lot of sound I need to punch through.
 
Both the PF115 and the 210 have the same HF horn - so your highest of highs is going to be the same. The differences between the two cabs is that even though they do sound very simialr, the 15" will give you a little more lows. When pairing cabs, the rule of thumb is to go with identical cabs to avoid phasing issues, but many have used the PF210 and the PF15 and haven't had any problems. I don't think you'll gain anything by going with a 210 - so I would juts add an identical PF115.
 
A Goodfellas fan, I see...nice!

Agreed with Stiles and Christw to a lesser extent...I like the PF210. I just like the PF115 better. Both of them sound pretty close...the PF115 just goes lower.
 
A Goodfellas fan, I see...nice!

Agreed with Stiles and Christw to a lesser extent...I like the PF210. I just like the PF115 better. Both of them sound pretty close...the PF115 just goes lower.

Yup... That's where the band name comes from.

Got the PF500 and 115 for Christmas and played a 350 person gig on boxing day. Then another gig yesterday at a bar in the city.

The amp sounded awesome and everyone was full of good feedback on the tone.

So another PF115 it is. 500 watts of American Muscle... cant wait.

BTW I'm in UK so we pay premium for Ampeg and Fender.

Any reviews on the Fender Jazz Deluxe with the noiseless pickups?

Oh and BTW I play in a 3piece with 1 guitar, 1 bass, 1 drums, 1 vocals. So I need to fill out the floor with bass.
 
That's my newest rig, except I use the PF350 instead of the 500:

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BTW, I hate to break it to you, but in Goodfellas, they were referring to the Lufthansa Heist, Lufthansa being a German airline company. However, Latanza Heist looks cool, so I'd leave it ;)
 
Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I set the PF500 for what I now know to be good settings for getting good tones when I was playing with it. So maybe I just set it wrong and it went from there. Regardless, I'm satisfied enough with the tones from my cabs and minor difference in aesthetic that comes with 15's as to not have any want to further explore the ten's. ;)
 
That's my newest rig, except I use the PF350 instead of the 500:

BTW, I hate to break it to you, but in Goodfellas, they were referring to the Lufthansa Heist, Lufthansa being a German airline company. However, Latanza Heist looks cool, so I'd leave it ;)

Yup, already knew that and I fly on Lufthansa all the time when I go to Berlin, Germany.

But Latanza looked better on paper and easier for people to spell and remember so it works!
 
That's my newest rig, except I use the PF350 instead of the 500:

Invalid Link Removed

BTW, I hate to break it to you, but in Goodfellas, they were referring to the Lufthansa Heist, Lufthansa being a German airline company. However, Latanza Heist looks cool, so I'd leave it ;)

Two of the Ampeg cabs are now on my shortlist to go with a Mesa Walkabout.

Jimmy, you are running those cabs with a 350W head and it's working for you, yes?

How does the upright sound through that? Are you using it for stage monitoring only or is it what the audience hears? What else is in the upright signal chain?

Those speakers are at the bottom of the Ampeg range pricewise. Apart from more speaker area and power handling, do I get any extra quality if I go up to say the SVT 410 cabs?

Any tricks to mic placement?

Any comments on how they go with a 5 string?
 
Two of the Ampeg cabs are now on my shortlist to go with a Mesa Walkabout.

Jimmy, you are running those cabs with a 350W head and it's working for you, yes?

How does the upright sound through that? Are you using it for stage monitoring only or is it what the audience hears? What else is in the upright signal chain?

Those speakers are at the bottom of the Ampeg range pricewise. Apart from more speaker area and power handling, do I get any extra quality if I go up to say the SVT 410 cabs?

Any tricks to mic placement?
Man, you sure ask a lot of questions! ;) That's cool, though.

Yes, 350w and it's way overkill for my needs, considering I often run a B-15 on these gigs and with these cabs, too.

The upright sounds wonderful, I use the VT Bass Deluxe as a splitter for the two basses, and to give it that Ampeg sealed cab low end rolloff since the PF115 goes lower than the 810e. It works just fine without it, though. Just a little easier to mix the upright with that rolloff. The VTD is all I have in the signal chain other than the wirelesses, and when I'm using the electric with a relatively clean sound (I never set the PF350 totally clean anymore...always a tiny bit of dirt to add some body to the higher notes), I just turn the VTD off. And I never DI and insist on being mic'ed only, so the audience hears my rig through the PA.

Mic placement: I like it pointed to the middle of the woofer for maximum treble response. And with that mic (Heil PR40), I have to back off the grill about 2-3 inches to keep it from sounding boomy, though with other mics I don't need to as much. Best thing to do is plug your mic into a recorder and try moving it around and trying different things, then listen to your recordings and try to remember the placement when it sounded the best.
 
I used my new PF500 and PF115HE for the first time last night, playing to about 200 people. I had it sitting on top of my SWR 4x8, but I'm quite sure it would have done just fine without the second cab. I use a P with TI flats, and I got probably the best live sound I've ever had. I had all controls set flat except the bass knob on about 2 o'clock, and the cab's tweeter turned off.
A very happy camper.
 
Yes but I would consider a pair of the SVT210 cabs before buying the two PF-115's. Stacked vertically they're a rockers sonic dream.

Two PF-115s are better, actually.

Would either of you care to elaborate? Including how SVT210 cabs compare to the PF210s?

And how stable is a pair of SVT 210s stacked vertically? I must admit that's an option I had not considered, and it may make sense.....
 

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