Ampeg PF500/PF350

[diglo]

OK! I bought one!

 

[bass dan]

Got my pf500 a few hours ago. If you like Ampeg you will like this head. Just what I expected.....gobs of Ampeg goodness.

I am using a AV '57ri p bass and a Ampeg svt 15e cab. I was hoping it would sound similar to my b100r. It has that vibe to it but with the svt cab its much fuller sounding in the low end and not quite as bright sounding. On the b100r I can roll back my tone knob on my pbass about half way to 3/4 of the way and still not sound like I'm playing with Bob Marley. I needed to keep the tone knob almost all the way up or rolled off just a bit to keep from getting into reggae land. This may just be a eq issue rather than the amp itself. I had everything set flat with the compressor on about 9. I found I could use the ultra high button and it sounded quite good. Usually I don't like the ultra buttons, at least on my b100r and v4b.

I have another 15e but have not hooked up both cabs to it yet. Some folks have shown concern that this amp is not loud enough. This amp is plenty loud. I set the gain at about 1 o'clock just to get the red light to flicker when I hit a low e. On my b100r I can dime the gain and still have to really play hard to get the red light to flicker using the same bass.

Tried the headphone jack and stuck a ipod in the audio jack. Worked pretty good although I usually don't like to wear headphones when I play. I then stuck the ipod into the effects return because the audio does not come out of the speaker.....wish it did. I need to mess with that a bit, the signal was pretty weak. I could get sound out of the speaker but i had to really crank the fx level. Maybe I need to dime the effect level? I have a Acoustic Image contra that I do this with and I hardly need to turn the fx level up at all to get a strong sound.

I like the head quite a bit although i've only spent a couple hours with it. It may be awhile till I get to really crank it up with a band.....all my gigs are on upright this month. Just cranking it up in my bedroom thru one 15 sounded pretty awsome though. I definatley has that good Ampeg buttery sound to it.

Just a mini reveiw and initial impressions of it......now back to playing.

 

[okcrum]

In the interests of being thorough, I just wanted to add that I was using a ‘78sih Ampeg B-40 cab 4x10.

And the bass used was an Epiphone Thunderbird – I do have an Explorer but I had the Thunderbird on this gig. My frustration with the experience musta confused me!

G.C. gave me the return no worries; the sales fellow did mention that someone just brought back the 350 with the same issue. Maybe that one on ebay(for more than it’s worth…?)is for that reason…just speculating, of course.

And I will add that despite my experience nothing has changed in my appreciation, admiration and respect for all things Ampeg – I actually bought the PF500 because I was getting weary of beating up my main amp, a ’74 SVT; as well as beating up my back carting it around! And if another version of this amp comes out in the future I would have company faith enough to give it another go.

And to add to the thoroughness of the explanation of what happened in my case, as I mentioned I play very aggressively through the Thunderbird, digging in very hard, and the band is full tilt – on 11 - from start to finish volume-wise. Dynamics is a word belonging to an alien culture with this band!

cheers

Why didn't you just do an exchange for a new unit if you have that much faith in Ampeg, and believed the old unit defective (as opposed to actually protecting itself from abuse)? I mean, 300W through 1x15" was enough for the gig, and that doesn't sound like a band on 11 to me.

You bought the amp 90 min. before a gig?

Incredible story. Literally.

 

[rllefebv]

Hey bass dan, glad to see you had a good first impression... I'd be interested in your impressions with your upright plugged straight in to see if they're close to mine...

As I said I was going to do in an earlier post, I brought the PF500 to both gigs with my main band this weekend... Roots rock...

Friday night was a 'minimally amplifed' semi-acoustic show... Shen SB100 ==> Realist pickup ==> PF500 into a homebrew 1X12... As before, I had plenty of tone-shaping available... Got a nice full tone at acceptable volume with minimal twiddling... At one point, when the guitar player switched to baritone, I started getting some hollow feedback through the bass that was easily tamed with a quick mid adjustment.

Saturday night was a four-hour bar gig in a 'loud-for-us' club... This time it was my 'new-to-me' Univox "Coily" into the PF500 and a pair of homebrew 1X12s... First off, while this bass sounds killer, it has slightly lower output than either of my Longhorns and noticably lower than my P basses... That being said, I didn't feel any pinch for power... Ran nearly the same tone settings that I loved with a P, compressor at 10:00, gain at 1:00 and the master at 12:00, bass at 2:00, mid switch set to 3 with the control at 2:00, treble at 12:00 he me sounding super in the mix. Had no issues whatsoever with the amp and felt like there was plenty of headroom to be had...

I was a bit nervous going in with an entire new setup, (breaking one of my cardinal rules of never running more than one new thing at a time) but by the end of the night I was way satisfied with both purchases... I love it when things work out this way!!

-robert

 

[bass dan]

I will try it with my upright. I don't think my 15e cab is a very good upright cab. I used it as a extension speaker with a Acoustic Image contra and it just sounded to "big" for my taste on upright. Although this was just at my house and not with a band so I could be wrong about it not sounding great with the pf500.

I do really like my b100r for upright. I'm thinking the pf cab would work better with a upright bass. I could be wrong about that also. The b100r has a really controlled low end. I do use a fishman preamp set to pre just to buffer the pickup and to use the phase control on the fishman when I need to.

I usually have pa support so I don't usually try to carry a room with my amp. Although I have done it with the b100r. I'll give the pf500 a go with my upright tommorrow.

 

[Slaine01]

Anyone tried one of these with a Bergantino AE212 or AE112?

 

[JimmyM]

I do really like my b100r for upright. I'm thinking the pf cab would work better with a upright bass. I could be wrong about that also. The b100r has a really controlled low end. I do use a fishman preamp set to pre just to buffer the pickup and to use the phase control on the fishman when I need to.

That all depends on the bass and pickup system you use, but I find the same thing when I play upright, too, so I gravitate toward less bottomy cabs for upright, too.

 

[ddbassGA]

PF500/PF115 works awesome with my 1950 Kay M1B using K&K Bassmax pickup.

 

[JdoubleD]

ok, i tried it with the 2-10 cabinet and it was horrible at any kind of volume. then...for some reason i decided to try it with the little ampeg av2-10 cab that goes with the micro svt...sweeeeet ! the cabs are only 200 watts but 8 ohm so you could use 2 of them and get the max wattage out of the pf 500. you would need to be careful not to use the whole 500 watts cos of the 400 watt load between the 2 cabs. the sound was super awesome and didnt breakup on the low end at a loud volume. im going to buy the pf 500 and 2 av2-10 cabs for smaller clubs.
!

 

[JdoubleD]

Well my saga continues...
I originally purchased the Ampeg PF350 Amp head and the SVT210AV. Sounded great in GC but in a small to medium church it sounded thin.

So I went back to GC and ordered the GKMB115. It sounds ok but... it isn't an Ampeg! I just overall like the Ampeg sound.

So... I am going back to GC and getting the Ampeg PF500 and the B115E, I think.

I really wanted something I could carry myself and I won't be able to carry this. I am 5'2 and female... Not a weakling but too many years in the Tae Kwon-Do ring has beaten me up.
Preference is: lightweight - but can't seem to find that.

I would have preferred a 1x12 but Ampeg doesn't make that anymore.

What are your opinions/take on this?

I just want to get what I like and move on. Some people love buying and trying new things, I don't. But I had to have a new Amp and this is where I am at.

get a second av 2-10, they are nice little cabs and 2 of them will move some air

 

[okcrum]

...

So... I am going back to GC and getting the Ampeg PF500 and the B115E, I think.

...

What are your opinions/take on this?

I just want to get what I like and move on. Some people love buying and trying new things, I don't. But I had to have a new Amp and this is where I am at.

I use a PF500 and one or two B115Es regularly, and they sound great.

 

[diglo]

I'm waiting on my PF500, but I bought a PF350 locally. I'm really digging the ampeg sound. Wasn't expecting to own both, but the prices on these things are great. I basically got both for the same price. Looks like an Eden amp is going up for sale. LOL

 

[JimmyM]

This is the very first time in history that a solid state Portaflex actually sold numbers. None of them did very well before. I guess everything coaslesced at the same time to make a solid state Portaflex work in the market...light weight, higher wattage, ability to mimic tube sounds much better, price...still haven't seen the cabs yet but the heads are killer.

 

[okcrum]

This is the very first time in history that a solid state Portaflex actually sold numbers. None of them did very well before. I guess everything coaslesced at the same time to make a solid state Portaflex work in the market...light weight, higher wattage, ability to mimic tube sounds much better, price...still haven't seen the cabs yet but the heads are killer.

The compressor (in the PF500) and tone stack are quite nice. The price point tips the scales.

You're right, though. I hadn't thought of it but all the earlier Portaflex attempts failed.

 

[tbof]

...still haven't seen the cabs yet but the heads are killer.

The cabs are of very high quality. I'm still amazed every time I look at my 1x15.

 

[diglo]

Just finish messing around with the PF350. It really made my tecamp 212 blow some air! Also, sounds good with my LEJ5.

 

[ddbassGA]

This is the very first time in history that a solid state Portaflex actually sold numbers. None of them did very well before. I guess everything coaslesced at the same time to make a solid state Portaflex work in the market...light weight, higher wattage, ability to mimic tube sounds much better, price...still haven't seen the cabs yet but the heads are killer.

Are they selling well? Haven't seen sales figures so can't tell whether they're in high demand or short supply.

I've had experience with prior SS attempts. This head beats all.

 

[Fletz]

There certainly seems to be interest. My YouTube test drive of my PF500 has 3,100 views and I posted it less than 2 months ago...
YouTube - ‪Ampeg PF-500 Test Drive‬‏

 

[JimmyM]

Are they selling well? Haven't seen sales figures so can't tell whether they're in high demand or short supply.

I've had experience with prior SS attempts. This head beats all.

They're already back ordered on online music outlets. That tells me they're selling.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

My local shop has told me there have already been 2 separate backorders on the heads, and one on the cabs.

That could be from not keeping up with demand, or under forecasting...