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Ampeg PF-50T Humbuster

The manual says the hum is at -60 db from 0.
I’m a layman on the matter. I’m just going to go ahead and call myself lucky. If it’s worse than this, I could see the issue.

But, for us layman, it’d be nice to know what constitutes the hum, which is the mod. I do hear a static....but I assume that’s normal and may be construed as silent.
 
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I’m a layman on the matter. I’m just going to go ahead and call myself lucky. If it’s worse than this, I could see the issue.

But, for us layman, it’d be nice to know what constitutes the hum, which is the mod. I do hear a static....but I assume that’s normal and may be construed as silent.
Every once in a great while I get a little static if I move the volume knob when I'm playing, but never when I'm not. So I just don't move it when I'm playing :D If I had some otherwise, I'd be concerned about a ka-flooey tube first of all.
 
Every once in a great while I get a little static if I move the volume knob when I'm playing, but never when I'm not. So I just don't move it when I'm playing :D If I had some otherwise, I'd be concerned about a ka-flooey tube first of all.
Tell me, what replacement tubes would you put in this thing....for future reference. I’ll screen shot it, when the times comes I’ll look them up.

I tried worrying about it tonight. I really did. Turns out, hum or not....I’m happy with it. Hopefully I got lucky, if I’m not....and I may never know....I’m content. I’ll stick with that.
 
Tell me, what replacement tubes would you put in this thing....for future reference. I’ll screen shot it, when the times comes I’ll look them up.

I tried worrying about it tonight. I really did. Turns out, hum or not....I’m happy with it. Hopefully I got lucky, if I’m not....and I may never know....I’m content. I’ll stick with that.
Well mine is content with the Rubys it came with except for the 12au7, which was microphonic. So I saw a decent deal on new "Mullards" on Ebay and bought one and it cleared most of it up. Don't know if you need to buy Mullards, but I'd replace the stocker 12au7 with one tested for low microphonics. Other than that, I haven't found much difference in tubes in it. It tends to tone down the differences more than a V4B or an SVT, and the differences I did hear I didn't like as much as the Rubys or JJ's. So I'd say get whatever for it. I have a nice small little stash of NOS 12ax7's now but I'll probably just throw the JJ's or something like that in it when these go south on me, which hopefully won't be for a while.
 
Yes, it's a grainy picture, but here's proof you can play with The Who at the Hollywood Bowl with a PF50-T … and killer P.A. support of course!
PF-50T.jpg
 
Yes, it's a grainy picture, but here's proof you can play with The Who at the Hollywood Bowl with a PF50-T … and killer P.A. support of course!
View attachment 3596421
LOL! Ya, Jon Button started doing that not too long ago when he did a symphonic tour with Roger Daltrey. The orchestra musicians were complaining about his volume with an SVT and 810e, so he got a 50T and two 210av's instead because he likes a certain level of crank you can't get at lower volumes out of an SVT. Guess he ended up liking it with the Who, too. Pete's really downsized, too.
 
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I bought a B-stock PF-50T, not complety new but at a discount.
I couldn't hear any hum/noise while playing. When I put my ear close to the speaker (4-5 inch) I could hear a hum.
Anyway, I decided to do the mod as suggested by Bertr. No more hum!
Now I want to try different cabs to see/hear what will the best combination.
I think it will be loud with my Genz Benz GB 410-XB2 (103dB 1W/1m)!
Suggestions for cabs that go very well with this amp are welcome.
 
Not to beat a dead horse but I will be finally buying an Ampeg 20T or 50T tube amp.
We play average to small venues with some outdoor shows and large weddings thrown in.
I have Both the PF 1x15 cab & 2x10 cab. Also for some shows the sound guy will DI off my PF500 amp.
Question? With the PF500 you only get the full 500 watts if you plug both cabs in. Is the true with the 20 & 50T?
75% of the time I only need the 1x15 cab for my PF500 which gives me around 250-300 watts to the cab.
I don't want overkill or hum for the smaller venues but also want enough power to run the 2 cabs for those 25% shows.
Is there a sweet spot for these 20 & 50T amps? I know with my Guitar 40 watt Fender Blues Deluxe tube amp you don't get the
the perfect tone until you have the gain and volume turned up to at least 5 or 6.
Appreciate any experience others have had addressing these factors.
Cheers, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
 
Not to beat a dead horse but I will be finally buying an Ampeg 20T or 50T tube amp.
We play average to small venues with some outdoor shows and large weddings thrown in.
I have Both the PF 1x15 cab & 2x10 cab. Also for some shows the sound guy will DI off my PF500 amp.
Question? With the PF500 you only get the full 500 watts if you plug both cabs in. Is the true with the 20 & 50T?
75% of the time I only need the 1x15 cab for my PF500 which gives me around 250-300 watts to the cab.
I don't want overkill or hum for the smaller venues but also want enough power to run the 2 cabs for those 25% shows.
Is there a sweet spot for these 20 & 50T amps? I know with my Guitar 40 watt Fender Blues Deluxe tube amp you don't get the
the perfect tone until you have the gain and volume turned up to at least 5 or 6.
Appreciate any experience others have had addressing these factors.
Cheers, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
Tube amps deliver same watts at 4 or 8 ohms . The sound guy will love the DI's on the 50T . Sweetspot is your ears ...hehe .
Don't be afraid to turn input gain past 2:00
 
I'm in SoCal, one of the biggest areas with lots of big box stores, think: Guitar Center, Sam Ash and a multitude of mom and pop music stores.
I decide to give myself a Christmas gift for the first time on Christmas eve. An Ampeg PF-50 T, Tube amp
Not one store had any in stock or even a floor model. Everyone was more than willing to order me one.
But Like a car, I would never buy one without test driving it first.
Every store has the exact same price of $999.99. No deal or discounts especially when they are flying off the shelves. Open Box or factory refurbished were $856.00. But I can hear the hum even though it was never turned on,
Craigslist only had a few but they were mostly '70's rigs on trolley wheel and you had to purchase as a set; Amp and a 2x10 or 1x15 speaker cab. Cheapest on I found was $1,400.
It cover tears all over it, dirty as the mind of a pervert and the last sentence of the ad stated, "You might want to take it to a good amp shop and get pretty much all the tubes, caps and other goodies, I am not familiar with, before you use it.
What is the dealio with trying to find a store where you can test drive a the new, hum eliminated PF-50-T? It was too close to Christmas?
Or are they that good they can't keep up with demand? I don't know....
 
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I'm in SoCal, one of the biggest areas with lots of big box stores, think: Guitar Center, Sam Ash and a multitude of mom and pop music stores.
I decide to give myself a Christmas gift for the first time on Christmas eve. An Ampeg PF-50 T, Tube amp
Not one store had any in stock or even a floor model. Everyone was more than willing to order me one.
But Like a car, I would never buy one without test driving it first.
Every store has the exact same price of $999.99. No deal or discounts especially when they are flying off the shelves. Open Box or factory refurbished were $856.00. But I can hear the hum even though it was never turned on,
Craigslist only had a few but they were mostly '70's rigs on trolley wheel and you had to purchase as a set; Amp and a 2x10 or 1x15 speaker cab. Cheapest on I found was $1,400.
It cover tears all over it, dirty as the mind of a pervert and the last sentence of the ad stated, "You might want to take it to a good amp shop and get pretty much all the tubes, caps and other goodies, I am not familiar with, before you use it.
What is the dealio with trying to find a store where you can test drive a the new, hum eliminated PF-50-T? It was too close to Christmas?
Or are they that good they can't keep up with demand? I don't know....
Factory Refurb is out of them now also . Probably a new production run is coming . Plus NAMM is next month . Companies are concentrating on that right now . And yes they do sound that good, and they fly off the selves .