Ampeg PF500/PF350

[Hnz]

I started with the 350.

Next I switched to the 500...much more of a modern tone.

Overall I think these little amps are a great move for Ampeg, especially with Class D amps being as popular as they are right now. Only problem I have with these amps...they aren't rack mountable, and they're shaped just a little funky. The tone on these things is super versatile. In about 20 minutes of playing through the pair of these I was really able to dial in a lot of different tones with a relatively simple EQ setup.

Hi Xjeremiahx,

Thanks for the review! Are you in de possibilty to do two tiny little tests for me and all other excited and anxious-to-get-their-hands-on-the-PF's readers?

1. A/B the PF350 vs the Micro VR?
2. Crank up the gain of the PF500 and lower its volume to see of a more gritty sound is produced?

Thanks a million!

 

[saltymonkey]

If you were playing through a 8 ohm only cab, then you would have been pushing only 225 watts and not 500.

Not that it's much of a difference, but according to the manual the 500 pushes 300 watts at 8 ohms and the 350 is 250 at 8.

 

[NoGraveConcern]

well, i guess it's your prerogative not to like a fan you can hear, but i can't think of any heads that have a fan that you can't hear.

The GK MB200 is one, and coincidentally the head krovx was comparing to the PF500.

But the MB's silent fan may be more the result of that head running so cool that the fan never really comes on.

 

[tombowlus]

On today's shipment of gear we got the PF350 & PF500 heads in...so naturally I grabbed em both and plugged em in!

I must say that these are great little heads that get the job done in typical Ampeg fashion. Plugged em each into an Ampeg 410hlf. Played through each of them with 2 different P basses - both American Specials, one with a Maple board & roundwounds, and one with a Rosewood board & flatwounds(yeah I strung one up w/ flats @ my work).

I started with the 350. This guy did NOT have a speakon jack on it, just 1/4 inch. Just want to note that. Upon first look, it was awesome. Simple. Straight forward. No frills. Few knobs. I liked it. Plugged it in, left everything flat and I must say it was a great sound. Not the modern Markbass-esque sound, but more of a mix of a smooth thumpy vintage vibe & a mild mannered top end, but not muddy. Messed with the EQ a little bit, rolling off the treble & playing the P w/ flats for that beautiful smooth thump you get w/ flats on a P(I'm a believer now.). Switched it up and plugged in the other P and dialed a little more treble and midrange and got a great straight-forward rock tone. Pulled out a pick and it sounded just as great. Not a ton of volume w/ this guy, which is to be expected, but it sounded great even cranked up.

Next I switched to the 500, which is basically the same amp, but has the Ultra Hi & Low switches, compression & a mute switch AND a speakon jack. Followed the same EQ pattern as above and it was dead on with how the 350 sounded, just with a bit more headroom. Turned on the compression to see what it would do, and it really just squeezed the lows a bit, didn't really hear any other noticeable difference in tone - compared to some other compression/compressors I've heard & used I felt it just didn't do a whole lot...kind of removed that sub bass range of tone. Ultra Lo switch did just that, but I also felt it kind of scooped the mids a bit, really smoothed out the tone of the amp. Ultra Hi added just enough brightness to give this amp, compared to the 350, much more of a modern tone.

Overall I think these little amps are a great move for Ampeg, especially with Class D amps being as popular as they are right now. Only problem I have with these amps...they aren't rack mountable, and they're shaped just a little funky. The tone on these things is super versatile. In about 20 minutes of playing through the pair of these I was really able to dial in a lot of different tones with a relatively simple EQ setup.

Nice review! That definitely jives with what I was hearing out of the PF350 and PF500. We don't have either unit in for review yet (working on a few other Ampeg reviews first), but I'll be curious to put these guys on the bench and to compare them to the Micro-VR and 7Pro.

Tom.

 

[Rob Martinez]

I really appreciate this thread, with all the feedback, and even differing opinions. For now, my B50R and B100R are more than enough, as they are more than powerful enough for my band. But these new PF heads sound very interesting. Can't wait to hear reviews of the new cabs, esp with the amps!

 

[krovx]

noisy fan, you say? of all the things to complain about, i think noisy fan is probably the lamest. sorry, but who the hell can even hear the fan at a gig?

It is a pretty small issue but to be honest I had never noticed fan noise before. My MB 400+ had a loud fan, but it also had a switch to control it.

Hi Xjeremiahx,


2. Crank up the gain of the PF500 and lower its volume to see of a more gritty sound is produced?

Thanks a million!

I wasn't happy with the gain saturation. I was expecting more of an SVT-type of grit, but it didn't get gritty like that. It would saturate to a point, and then just kind of fart out. I understand that I may have been expecting more out of this head than I should have, but maybe I didn't miss my SVT as much as I thought.

I really wish I could try it through some Ampeg cabs, I think that would really help. They are cool regardless and I think the added features of the 500 make it preferable to the 350. If you want the Ampeg sound, the 500 delivers. I think I just have moved beyond Ampeg.

Forgive me JimmyM for I have sinned!

 

[fivestringgecko]

I really should drop out of this thread for a while... it's KILLING me that my PF115 isn't here yet!!! lol

Loud Fan

I agree, it's not exactly the most quiet fan I've heard, but it's not enough to bug me. As for recording, I'm not convinced it'd be an issue to mic a cab with this amp. I'll go back and double check, but I recorded my clips with my H4n sitting about 3ft from the cab in a pretty live room and didn't have a problem with fan noise. (link to clips below)

On today's shipment of gear we got the PF350 & PF500 heads in...so naturally I grabbed em both and plugged em in!

Thanks for the post Jermiah! I agree with what you said about the PF500. Good to hear your thoughts on the PF350 too, particularly about the lower volume. The PF500 will be too much for my current main gig (the sound guy keeps trying to get me to go ampless lol), so I'm tempted to pick up the 350 down the road. The true test with the PF500 will be whenever the cab finally comes in.

2. Crank up the gain of the PF500 and lower its volume to see of a more gritty sound is produced?

You can definitely get a little bit more grit out of the PF500. In case you missed them, I posted clips in post #375, one of which is at full gain (just for kicks). In the clip for setting #2, I was running the gain right at the edge of being overdriven, so some of the notes DO have a little grit on them. Run the gain just a little bit over that, and it would probably be the sound you're looking for?

5sg.

 

[krovx]

I really should drop out of this thread for a while... it's KILLING me that my PF115 isn't here yet!!! lol



I agree, it's not exactly the most quiet fan I've heard, but it's not enough to bug me. As for recording, I'm not convinced it'd be an issue to mic a cab with this amp. I'll go back and double check, but I recorded my clips with my H4n sitting about 3ft from the cab in a pretty live room and didn't have a problem with fan noise. (link to clips below)


5sg.

I agree 5sg, I didn't hear anything in your clips even through my monitors. Thanks again for those great clips BTW! Imagine my surprise when I fired it up. The GK is silent and I don't the fan has ever come on. I hope you get your cab ASAP, I think the cab will really bring the head to life.

I think part of my complaint with the fan is that I am used to playing gig volume, or when I am in my room I am use to going straight into my Mac through a guitarport or other audio device.

 

[bassacechase]

or run a long speaker cable and put the amp in another room. or not worry about it because everything else is going to cover up the sound of it anyway.

well, i guess it's your prerogative not to like a fan you can hear, but i can't think of any heads that have a fan that you can't hear.

Jimmy, have you played these amps yet? No disrespect intended, I don't have a 10th of your experience or mileage. I guess I have grown up in a society where people my age are weak in the body and strong in the mind. We want stuff exactly how we expect it to be. Perception becomes reality and reality is subjective. I say go out and play one and see what you think. You might not like it either. Having said that, I am not trying to argue, just giving a subjective review of what I thought about it. Some agree, some don't.

As far as the fan:
I could hear the fan on my 500 with the amp at half throttle. I haven't used another amp with a fan that loud. Could I hear it with full band, no. Could I hear when I was trying to jam along with the radio, yes. It was louder than the amp at practice volumes. Again, IMO, YMMV.

 

[IntrepidCellist]

I tried one at a GC yesterday, and I'll have to echo bassacechase's concerns... you know when you can hear a fan whirring away in a GC in Union Square in the evenings, it's loud. It's a simple fix to replace with a quieter one, but I think popping it open like that voids your warranty, which isn't something I'd like to do with any amp.

 

[JimmyM]

Jimmy, have you played these amps yet? No disrespect intended, I don't have a 10th of your experience or mileage. I guess I have grown up in a society where people my age are weak in the body and strong in the mind. We want stuff exactly how we expect it to be. Perception becomes reality and reality is subjective. I say go out and play one and see what you think. You might not like it either. Having said that, I am not trying to argue, just giving a subjective review of what I thought about it. Some agree, some don't.

As far as the fan:
I could hear the fan on my 500 with the amp at half throttle. I haven't used another amp with a fan that loud. Could I hear it with full band, no. Could I hear when I was trying to jam along with the radio, yes. It was louder than the amp at practice volumes. Again, IMO, YMMV.

hey, i totally respect everyone's right to an opinion. i just grew up in an era where there was no such thing as a quiet fan, and even the loudest fans today are a million times quieter than they used to be. so you'll have to forgive this old fart for dismissing its importance.

 

[bassacechase]

hey, i totally respect everyone's right to an opinion. i just grew up in an era where there was no such thing as a quiet fan, and even the loudest fans today are a million times quieter than they used to be. so you'll have to forgive this old fart for dismissing its importance.

I kinda figured that, no disrespect. Have you played one yet?

 

[JimmyM]

no sir i haven't. but i do have a micro vr and its fan doesn't bother me in the least.

 

[bassacechase]

no sir i haven't. but i do have a micro vr and its fan doesn't bother me in the least.

I am interested to hear your review of a 500. We know what vail_bass would say since it is class d.
Ampeg should send you new products to stir interest on TB.
I have only plugged into a micro vr once @ sam ash. I cannot remember my opinion of it. I will have to go revisit it one day.

 

[JimmyM]

vail's my bud and he's actually a great guy but his tastes are so polar opposite of mine that his opinions of gear are n/a to me.

and ampeg is welcome to send stuff to me to stir interest but i'm not one to look for endorsement deals or free gear. i just have a lot of love for the brand and i want to make sure i can always get an svt on fly gigs, so that's my interest in seeing them do well.

 

[bassacechase]

vail's my bud and he's actually a great guy but his tastes are so polar opposite of mine that his opinions of gear are n/a to me.

and ampeg is welcome to send stuff to me to stir interest but i'm not one to look for endorsement deals or free gear. i just have a lot of love for the brand and i want to make sure i can always get an svt on fly gigs, so that's my interest in seeing them do well.

I think Vail is really funny. He makes blanket statements that seem to piss off everyone but you and me.
I think it would be cool if they shipped things for you to demo and send back. It is nice that you actually know what you like. I seem to be on an eternal hunt for the "right" amp.

 

[JimmyM]

I think Vail is really funny. He makes blanket statements that seem to piss off everyone but you and me.
I think it would be cool if they shipped things for you to demo and send back. It is nice that you actually know what you like. I seem to be on an eternal hunt for the "right" amp.

i guess i'm lucky. my tastes were set pretty much in stone when i was 17. i've had bouts of straying from the formula but i always go back.

 

[moishelichtfuss]

this is the place where i come in and say that the fan on my micro-vr never bothered me either. i also like how the thing keeps cool even after hours of pushing it. i'd still like to try that pf500 one day....

 

[fivestringgecko]

I seem to be on an eternal hunt for the "right" amp.

I agree... I think I'm just starting to get into amps, like for real. There's always exceptions of course, but I'm set on basses at the moment and slowing down on pedals. I think I knew going into 2011 that this year is going to be the year of amps for me. lol

5sg.

 

[benjammin420]

I don't mind the fan on the Micro-VR either, but I havent played a PF yet, they may not have the same fans in htem