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Ampeg PF500/PF350 Pt II.5

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#81
Dang, you guys are making me want to try out the PF500 and the PF115HE cab. I was set on venturing into Markbass territory as I'm looking for more weight manageable gear, but this new PF series looks worth checking out. With the PF500 head and the PF115 cab, it's still a light weight rig compared to other gear. I already have a St. Louis era SVT15E cab that would work fine as an extension if needed.
 
#82
tombowlus said:
The other night, I tried the 7Pro driving the PF115. Man, that was nice! The slightly thicker & more full 7Pro really sounded great through that cab. I wonder if the PF115 lid could handle the 7Pro... :ninja: :D
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I've been contemplating this exact idea for a couple of months. I love my PF500, but once I start using rig more live, I think I'll be craving more headroom. I think The 7Pro will fit...
 
#83
tombowlus said:
+1 Your thoughts mirror mine pretty closely. I'm really digging the PF500/115 combination. I do agree that it gets a lot closer to honest B-15 land than I had expected, but hit Ultra Lo and Ultra Hi, and back off the Bass a little bit, and all of a sudden you have this modern sounding combo. Very cool. :cool:
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Nice to hear that opinion from you Tom! I *really* wanted one of those Heritage B-15's but just couldn't justify the price tag, so I got the "consolation prize"... PF500/PF115 (and used the rest of the cash for a down payment on a new car :p). It's my first 15" and I'm REALLY digging that setup. I also like being able to throw it in the back of my car and bring it to a gig and not be nervous about it.

I just ordered a second PF115, looking forward to having the full stack. :)

5sg.
 
#85
JimmyM said:
LOL...weight wise I don't see why not. Might require new holes, though.
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Wonder if there's a way I could rig my Valve Jr. in there? Take it out of the case, bolt it in.... lol

5sg.

IMAG0779.jpg
 
#86
76Dub said:
Tom I was thinking about picking up a PF350...should I go for the 115 cab that goes with it or would a Bergantino HT112 sound better with this head?

Thanks
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Well, the HT112 would certainly sound different (though still in a fairly mid-focused kinda way), so I suppose it depends on what you are after.
 
#88
JimmyM said:
Well earlier today I finally got to try the PF115HE, the only PF product I haven't tried. Used a PF350 to power it. Now this is without the benefit of ABing it with my double baffle cabs, but I'll tell you...it's about as close to that sound as I ever heard out of another cab. Very well built and solid, gets even closer than the B100R, IMHO. Very similar low end response, and with the tweeter defeated, it sounds like it's crossed over at 4k, which is what you want in a B-15-style cab. And the tweeter is way better than I ever expected. It's a compression driver instead of one of those crap piezos, so it's way smoother and not at all brittle. It has a 3 way switch to make it full-on, -6db, or off. I'm not a tweeter fan but this one is pretty tolerable. The PF350 does 250w at 8 ohms, and I cranked it way past the point of offensiveness and the cab held together very well without breaking up. Don't know if I gave it full wattage but I sure tried for at least a few seconds. I liked the PF210 very well, but the PF115 really nails it as far as I'm concerned. It might not be a dead nuts match, but it's got the B-15 sound.

So now I've finally got to try everything out in the PF line. Honestly, I've tried to find something not to like about this stuff just so you guys didn't think I was an unrepentant Ampeg butt-kisser, but there's nothing not to like that I've found. Even the limiter button on the PF350 and Micro VR (they have the same preamps), though I wouldn't use it, is pretty decent and fairly unobtrusive. And though I prefer the 115 to the 210, it's not by much...both of them have a very B-15'y sound, and I could see people preferring the 210's slightly tighter lows. I'm really impressed by how close they nailed the sound of a B-15 with this stuff. What's really amazing is how it's all made completely different from the old stuff, but somehow it all sounds like the real deal.
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Yeah, I thought it sounded great as well, and for the price, a ridiculously good deal. The ONLY thing that scared me a little was the fact that the PF350 that I was playing through DIED in the store after 5 minutes of playing - dead!

JimmyM said:
The PF500 is basically a 7 Pro with half the wattage and minus the pre tube. 7 Pro's definitely worth the extra $ but the PF500 ain't hurtin' for tone at all.
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tombowlus said:
+1 Your thoughts mirror mine pretty closely. I'm really digging the PF500/115 combination. I do agree that it gets a lot closer to honest B-15 land than I had expected, but hit Ultra Lo and Ultra Hi, and back off the Bass a little bit, and all of a sudden you have this modern sounding combo. Very cool. :cool:

The other night, I tried the 7Pro driving the PF115. Man, that was nice! The slightly thicker & more full 7Pro really sounded great through that cab. I wonder if the PF115 lid could handle the 7Pro... :ninja: :D
Click to expand...

JimmyM said:
LOL...weight wise I don't see why not. Might require new holes, though.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if an SVT would fit, personally! But hey, I'll try it with the 7Pro...should hold 15 pounds you'd think. Does anybody know if the rack ears come off that thing easily?

Cheers,
Cameron
 
#89
Bassflute said:
Yeah, I thought it sounded great as well, and for the price, a ridiculously good deal. The ONLY thing that scared me a little was the fact that the PF350 that I was playing through DIED in the store after 5 minutes of playing - dead!

I was wondering if an SVT would fit, personally! But hey, I'll try it with the 7Pro...should hold 15 pounds you'd think. Does anybody know if the rack ears come off that thing easily?

Cheers,
Cameron
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If they don't unscrew then half an hour with a hacksaw ought to sort you out!

Also, I'm currently on tour with my PF-500 and PF-210, so I'm planning on posting a review of my impressions of the gear on the road if people are interested?
 
#93
silentmike said:
If they don't unscrew then half an hour with a hacksaw ought to sort you out!

Also, I'm currently on tour with my PF-500 and PF-210, so I'm planning on posting a review of my impressions of the gear on the road if people are interested?
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in your impressions...I'm already impressed.

JimmyM said:
Cameron, I saw you asked about it on Ampeg's website, and Ryan said the 7 Pro will fit on the lid but it won't clear the tweeter.
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ButtUglyJeff said:
^^^ Bummer...
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https://www.facebook.com/AmpegUSA/posts/10150278424582272?notif_t=feed_comment

The 7Pro is a little too high for use as a flip top - hits the tweeter...but somebody should check by how much...that could be easily moved....and the Ampeg guy said the weight was no problem (15 lbs).

Now I'm really interested - 600 watt, 60 lb. Portaflex anyone? 1,000 watts with 2 cabs...the whole thing would weigh about 30 lbs LESS than my old 60 watt B15S ('The Backbreaker').

Tom, you're a frickin' genius!

Cheers,
Cameron
 
#95
Cameron, or anyone with the cab for that matter, is it possible to unscrew the baffle board and screw it back in upside down? Assuming the speaker(s) is(are) centered, that would put your tweeter on the bottom rather than the top and give the head proper clearance.
 
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