Ampeg PF500/PF350

[dereksilloway]

Ive been seriously considering selling my Ampeg B2R and replace it with one of the 500s.
Its been a toss up between the Ampeg or a GK MB500. This thread (which I read most of it, as im joining rather late) has sort of helped me to make a decision...for now!

 

[rllefebv]

Chiming in kind of late here, but it takes quite a while to get through nearly 1000 posts!!

Picked up a PF500 from GC yesterday using the 15% coupon... I tried the Markbass LMIII as well, but the Ampeg suited me better... Got it home and ran it through my V4 cab (recently converted from 4X12 to 2X12) and it totally roared! Put it through a TL606, a single home-brew 1X12 as well as a stacked pair of 1X12's... Works and sounds great through any and all of my current cab configurations...

Took it to a minimally amplified semi-acoustic group rehearsal and used it with my upright. Using a Shen SB100 with a Realist pickup straight into the PF500 and 1X12... Super easy to dial in a natural tone. Like bass dan, I was thinking that the Fishman would be necessary, but I found it suitable without it. The mid-selector helped tremendously in dialing out feedback and cutting through. Plenty of volume for this group...

Next week, I have two nights with my roots/rock band... First night is a minimally amplified setting where I'll be playing the same setup as above... Second night is a loud club where I'll be running the 2 1X12's. I can't imagine that I'll be wanting for tone or power! If it's gonna clip/have problems, that'll be the gig... We'll see...

All-in-all, I'm very impressed so far...

-robert

 

[bass dan]

glad to see folks digging these amps for upright bass. The cab will be key for me.....but then again maybe my svt 15e will work with this amp. I have mine ordered from music 123. They are back ordered but they predict it to ship on June 3.

 

[madurolover]

GC seems to be pushing Markbass over Ampeg. Maybe they have a better markup. I am not sold on the tone of a Markbass for the price.

 

[tubaman2]

Just got my PF-500 the other day.

I have to be honest, I almost took it back. I fiddled with it for a long while and just couldn't find a tone I loved. Something was weird about it, and I'm not exactly sure what it was.

I just got through a service of church with it though and man, have I changed my mind. This thing is perfect in the mix. It's just awesome. My tone has never sounded better, and I think this amp is totally perfect for me. My GAS is definitely killed for now. Very happy with this purchase.

 

[513rocks.com]

I got mine (pf500) yesturday and gigged with it last nte through my Benz 6x10.
Sounded really good but not for me. Back 2 GC Looks like im sticking with Ashdown!

 

[lfbassguy]

used my pf-500 last night.

for the band i was playing in, i was pretty pleased. the band is an eighties rock band and they are loud. i mean loud. very loud drummer and 2 guitar players with half stacks that turn it up. now, i had to use my swr 4x10 and g-k 1x15. the house seats 550. i ran the amp pretty much as loud as its going to get and use foh help. and to be honest i was a little loud. i could of came down in volume, but why?? haha! it was sounding sooooooo goooood.. really like the tone much better than my swr. i was playing my p bass and it was everything i was hoping to be.

the pf-115he, we will see tonight. i am going to use it on a rehearsal. i think it will be good for that or small gigs.


i originally was going to buy the big svt, but my wife reminded me of how much money i don't have. so i think the pf-500 will do for now!

 

[cableguy]

My wife is good for reminding me that as well.

 

[rovito]

Can this amp do the low-mid hump or is it a more scooped sound?

 

[rllefebv]

Can this amp do the low-mid hump or is it a more scooped sound?

The PF500 has the selectable mid-frequencies, so I'd imagine that you could find a sound in there...

I just got a call from a buddy and am going to be doing some electric jamming later today... We'll see how I like this with a P bass

-robert

 

[punchclock]

Chiming in kind of late here, but it takes quite a while to get through nearly 1000 posts!!

Picked up a PF500 from GC yesterday using the 15% coupon... I tried the Markbass LMIII as well, but the Ampeg suited me better... Got it home and ran it through my V4 cab (recently converted from 4X12 to 2X12) and it totally roared! Put it through a TL606, a single home-brew 1X12 as well as a stacked pair of 1X12's... Works and sounds great through any and all of my current cab configurations...

Took it to a minimally amplified semi-acoustic group rehearsal and used it with my upright. Using a Shen SB100 with a Realist pickup straight into the PF500 and 1X12... Super easy to dial in a natural tone. Like bass dan, I was thinking that the Fishman would be necessary, but I found it suitable without it. The mid-selector helped tremendously in dialing out feedback and cutting through. Plenty of volume for this group...

Next week, I have two nights with my roots/rock band... First night is a minimally amplified setting where I'll be playing the same setup as above... Second night is a loud club where I'll be running the 2 1X12's. I can't imagine that I'll be wanting for tone or power! If it's gonna clip/have problems, that'll be the gig... We'll see...

All-in-all, I'm very impressed so far...

-robert

keep us posted!

 

[hipcat]

Howdy,

Just purchased my PF-500 today at 2:30pm for a gig at 4 - I play an Explorer bass in a pretty loud punk rock band so the volumes are pretty challenging...

I also play in a myriad of other groups and have always loved Ampegs, around the horn. But this was a test run to see if this amp would be up to the challenge of this particular group.

My sound is a LOT of gain - not fuzz bass really - but crunchy, growly and kind of harsh, and I play hard. I was pysched to try this amp out, and super pysched about the mobility factor of this tiny thing.

Anyhow on the gig in the MIDDLE of the FIRST song the amp went dead with the 'fault' l.e.d. lit - it was overheated I guess. After 1 1/2 minutes?!?! It was a hot room sure, but nothing extreme - the gain was at about 1 o'clock; the master on about 3. LAME.

I shut it down, the band played through the rest of the tune, then brought the gain and master down. It came back on, then in 30 seconds, same thing. REALLY LAME. I borrowed the 1st band's Peavy combo 300 and killed it the rest of the set. Say what you will about Peavy, the things are tanks.

I'm returning the PF500 first thing tommorow, and Ampeg should give vouchers for the money spent driving to get this lame box. I can't imagine how this amp would work for anyone with any kind of moderate volume in their band.

 

[Slackerprince]

^^
Ouch. Not good.

 

[ddbassGA]

Bummer. It shouldn't have done that. Could have been a bad apple. What cab(s) were you driving?

 

[Fletz]

Bummer. It shouldn't have done that. Could have been a bad apple. What cab(s) were you driving?

Really important question.

I was at a GC today and was playing a pf-500 through an Ampeg SVT 810 and was blown away. Almost literally.

 

[Tlow]

Hi,
is the DI out on the PF350 " pre - gain knob " ?

Thanks !! Tlow

P.S.
First post ... greetings to you all

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

Howdy,

Just purchased my PF-500 today at 2:30pm for a gig at 4 - I play an Explorer bass in a pretty loud punk rock band so the volumes are pretty challenging...

I also play in a myriad of other groups and have always loved Ampegs, around the horn. But this was a test run to see if this amp would be up to the challenge of this particular group.

My sound is a LOT of gain - not fuzz bass really - but crunchy, growly and kind of harsh, and I play hard. I was pysched to try this amp out, and super pysched about the mobility factor of this tiny thing.

Anyhow on the gig in the MIDDLE of the FIRST song the amp went dead with the 'fault' l.e.d. lit - it was overheated I guess. After 1 1/2 minutes?!?! It was a hot room sure, but nothing extreme - the gain was at about 1 o'clock; the master on about 3. LAME.

I shut it down, the band played through the rest of the tune, then brought the gain and master down. It came back on, then in 30 seconds, same thing. REALLY LAME. I borrowed the 1st band's Peavy combo 300 and killed it the rest of the set. Say what you will about Peavy, the things are tanks.

I'm returning the PF500 first thing tommorow, and Ampeg should give vouchers for the money spent driving to get this lame box. I can't imagine how this amp would work for anyone with any kind of moderate volume in their band.

Well, that's 2 duds mentioned on the forums here. Any more and we might have a trend. Not very reassuring, and sorry to hear that...

But seriously, maybe you shouldn't have got a gigging amp so close to a gig?

 

[tubaman2]

I had a problem with mine today as well. It was very odd. Everything was working fine in the rehearsal right before church.

Come up to play the first song and nothing. Looked at the amp, and the purple light on front was off. Looked on back and the amp was on, even had the little red backlight on the power switch. Tried turning it on and off a few times to no avail. Eventually unplugged it, then plugged it back in and turned it on and it was fine for the rest of the day.

Anyone have any idea what may have happened?

 

[lfbassguy]

Can this amp do the low-mid hump or is it a more scooped sound?

it is not scooped at all. good low mid hump.

 

[Jeff_K]

Since we're all talking about the problems with our PF500's I'll add to the list.

When I pair the 500 with my Avatar 4-ohm B210 Neo, I get that thing where the amp cuts out for a second or two (mentioned earlier in this thread). What's weird is that the PF350 I had before the 500 did the same thing. I thought getting the 500 would help that. (I'm not sorry I got the 500, more options, power, etc.)

But, if I pair the 500 with an old SWR Big Ben I have (18" 8 ohm), it sounds nothing short of fantastic and I do not get the issue with the sound cutting out.

I'd really love to be able to use this amp with my 210. It's one of the reasons I got a pair of 210's, so I can split them for smaller gigs and practices.

I read earlier in this thread that people were having the same issue with the sound just dropping out. I guess we still don't know why.