Ampeg PF800 not compatible with active pickups???

Funny. That's not what the owners manual says. I have a PF800 that loves my Warwick Corvette 6 string with active Basslines pickups and an Aguilar OBP2 preamp.

"The signal output from an instrument (active or passive) may be connected to this 1/4" input by means of a shielded instrument cable." Directly from their owners manual.

 

An active bass is fine with any amp I've ever heard of.

 

My PF 800 works just fine with my active bass. Admittedly, it doesn't have active pickups...as most active basses don't have active pickups either.

 

LOL! The dude puts the SVT-VR at #5 but puts the SVT 7 Pro at #1. Even the head of Ampeg would laugh at that. My favorite, though, was what he said about the Trace Elliot Elf. It's a 200w amp that he says "breaks up easily when pushed." Duh...it's a 200w amp!

As for the PF800, I have 3 basses loaded with EMG actives, and it works fine with all of them. Notice that he got more down votes than up. There's a reason for that...whoever made that video has absolutely no idea what he's talking about.

 

Ampeg's not against freedom of speech And at least he did put an Ampeg as #1. Just the wrong Ampeg.

 

Saying an amp is not compatible with active pickups is kinda like saying your car is incompatible with black tires.

 

I got a different rankings list. The video I watched had the SVT 3 Pro as #1.
It was fine family entertainment though - the computer generated voice was compelling! Hartkuh amp.
My fav con was "mids are too powerful". I also learned that SVT VR "tubes warmed up quickly".
I'll have to go search for the updated video.

 

Take what you see on the internet with a grain of salt. A youtube video is simply someones opinion. Claims are unattested.

I was watching some youtube "how to play" lesson videos the other day. One after the next got it so wrong.

 

I'm really amused by some of the people that post these "cover of..." videos (not talking about the teaching videos). They look so serious. Smug expression on their faces, headphones on, the whole "look at me" deal. Although, had the Internet been around back when I was 16, I probably would have done the same thing! LOL!

 

You are correct. Honestly, once I saw the SVT-VR at #5 I quit watching, and it was all I could do to get that far, so I took the guy's word for it.

 

I need a new amp. One of the amps died in my Carvin BX1500. It still runs on fine with one amp but it has a lot of miles on it and I want something new and reliable as I gig weekly.

I have two 8 ohm cabs, I use one or the other when I gig.

• Gallien-Krueger Neo 212-II 2x12 600W Bass Cabinet
• Fender Bassman Cabinet loaded with a 15" Kappa Pro

I think I have decided on the PF800. Here are the amps I have reviewed online, will check out them in person (hopefully) when I visit Las Vegas in a few weeks.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Are you referring to passive pickups with and active preamp and people saying their bass is active? My active deluxe p bass specials come like that stock. I remove all that and put in active EMG PJX pups. All my basses are truly active

 

Yes he is. It's still an active system even if the pickups aren't active themselves.

 

Yeah it is but I prefer the emg system

 

Well of course

 

I don’t get the assumption that “active” basses are super hot. I have two nearly identical basses. Both have the obp3 pre. When the controls are centered, there is no difference between bypass and on. The bass with the passive pickups “Duncan designed” and the bass with the EMGs J’s have the same output level. Active basses “can” be hot, but IME they can also be perfectly transparent. The only difference to me is the single coil buzz and the way the tone controls shape the sound. Obviously if you go full tilt on the OBP3, you can quite easily go into distortion level signals. As far as the “active” pad I see on many amps, I have very rarely needs to engage that. That being said, my bass with a pair of EMG DC’s is pretty hot. It’s pretty easy to just dial back the gain a bit to get a clean tone out of my pf350 or 7 pro.

 

Indeed. My Yamaha BB735A is not "hot" when my three tone controls are centered. There is no difference in volume when selecting between passive and active, other than the ability to actively add to the treble, mid, and bass as required. As I'm wireless...it's nice to be able to add or subtract tone elements when 20 feet away from the amp.