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Ampeg PF500/PF350 - part 3, I think

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#101
ryanfenderbass said:
So, I just got my new PF rig (pf500 + 2 pf115s) after a lot of research and advice from this thread. I love it, and it definitely has the J-bass complementing growl I've been seeking for years.

Now for the bad news. I was warming up with my drummer and setting levels, input gain around noon, flat eq, volume at about 2:00 (playing with both cabs) then I played my E string and my sound cut out with "pop!" I thought it was the cable, then I tried the a fresh cable, same thing! I rolled back the volume to a practice level and it was fine, but not nearly loud enough. At that point I determined the problem was my amp. I slowly brought the volume back up to where I needed it and left my amp on for a while. Eventually, after about 10-15 minutes, the "cutting out" issue went away and I was cookin for the rest of our 2 hour jam session. For the record, I wasn't clipping the input gain. I was also using my passive (GL) bass.

I guess the amp had to warm up?!?! Is this normal, or do you think I should send it back? I never had this issue on my SWR750 or my SVT3PRO (as much as a loathed those amps). I really need reliability of my amp--it's why I actually opted for solid state in the first place.

Any help on the matter would be much appreciated. Thanks, all!
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First off, reliability has zip to do whether an amp has tubes or not. Tube amps or hybrids have not been proven to be any more unreliable than any other kind of amp.

I'd probably try another PF500. Without being there, it doesn't sound like it should have gone into protection mode with those settings. It's possible, but unlikely unless your bass is super hot (which has nothing to do with whether it's passive or active).
 
#104
JimmyM said:
Only you can determine that, but I'll tell you, my PF115 can take a pretty good pounding.
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Very true and I believe the PF-115 is one capable cab. I just don't have many gigs under my belt to know for sure if I need more or not. My last alt-rock band rehearsal through a Stagg 12" combo did fine. The GK MB500/410HLF i used with the same band is LOUD, just not enough mids and highs for any definition, imo.

Just out of curiosity, Jimmy, how big is the biggest gig you'd want to bring your single PF-115?
 
#105
Dude, I've played arenas and huge outdoor gigs in front of thousands with a single 115 and a 25w B-15 head. If you have adequate PA, you can use anything unless you play in a band with insane stage volume freaks.
 
#109
Either, Nuno. The 210 might be a little better since it doesn't go quite as low as the 115, but it's close enough to where either would work out with upright extremely well. I've used my PF115 several times with upright, and it's great.
 
#110
Nuts! The local dealer/distributor here just can't be arsed to stock Portaflexes into their list. They basically are not selling them here. Which is quite surprising since the PF line is currently Ampeg's best selling line. Anybody has any idea how to get the dealer/distributor to stock them? I'm just frustrated that they have all kinds of non-US made SVTs and B line but not the PF (and Micro VR) :( They did say they're trying to contact Ampeg but no word since 48+ hrs ago.
 
#111
ryanfenderbass said:
Now for the bad news. I was warming up with my drummer and setting levels, input gain around noon, flat eq, volume at about 2:00 (playing with both cabs) then I played my E string and my sound cut out with "pop!" I thought it was the cable, then I tried the a fresh cable, same thing! I rolled back the volume to a practice level and it was fine, but not nearly loud enough. At that point I determined the problem was my amp. I slowly brought the volume back up to where I needed it and left my amp on for a while. Eventually, after about 10-15 minutes, the "cutting out" issue went away and I was cookin for the rest of our 2 hour jam session. For the record, I wasn't clipping the input gain. I was also using my passive (GL) bass.
Click to expand...

I had this exact same problem with my PF500/PF115x2 setup. I emailed Ampeg about it and the tech replied that it IS possible to overload the preamp WITHOUT the the Peak light coming on, causing the cutting out issue. I'm not quite sure that I buy that that's the problem, because I didn't have any crazy settings on the amp, the EQ on my bass (Stingray 5HH at the time) was flat, and I didn't have any pedals on.

Her suggestion was to set the Gain level with the Compressor at zero, and then dial in compression as needed. I've been doing that since and haven't had any problems, but I haven't had a need for as much volume as when I first had the problem (volume knob around 2:00, just like you said). I played a gig last Saturday with my Jazz V which has a MUCH hotter output than the Stingray. I was using both PF115's, set the gain before compression just like she said and didn't have any problems, but the volume knob was only at about 11:00.

Like I said, don't know if I buy it, but I haven't had the problem since. Time will tell I guess. :)

5sg.
 
#112
It’s funny you guys are talking about this because I heard the loud pop for the first time last night during rehearsal with my PF-350. The difference with this session is that I was using my active Spector Euro, which is a HOT bass loaded with an Aguilar pre-amp.
I first tried the -15db switch, but then I had to turn up the volume/gain to keep up and the pops happened again. THEN I flipped on the limiter switch, which didn’t not overly squash my sound but got rid of the pops while also emitting a bright yellow glow light when it was doing its work.
I put brand on news strings + new battery in the Spector so once I cleaned up the pops, the sound was amazing.
 
#114
i also had the cutting out problem when using my pf500 with the pf210 and another 4x10 (600w @ 8ohm ) cabnet .... i also use the sansamp progammable bass driver ....... with my own custom settings on the sansamp .... the first time i used this setup everything ran great ! ... plenty loud and sounded great ........ the next jam i tried the svt settings on the samsamp ( which seemed to push the amp harder) and thats when i started to have the cutting out problem ) i unplugged one of the cabnets and switched back to my custom settings on the sansamp and it ran good , but i havnt tried the 2 cab setup since .......for tonights jam , ill be taking the pf210 and trying the 2 cab setup again with the custom sansamp settings again , hoping that it wont cut out again ..... im thinking and hoping that it was just that svt setting which pushed the amp to hard and caused the cutout problem
 
#117
Wes Whitmore said:
Is this only happening at 4 ohms? Get it to do it again, and dont touch anything, but unplug 1 cab and see what happens...i know we are thinking preamp stage overload, but now i am wondering...
Wes
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it didnt happen when using one cab (8ohm ) ive been using just one cab for the last few weeks without any problem , but i havnt tried that svt setting on the sansamp since the cut out problem (my custon settings on samamps started out at unity gain)
 
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