Ampeg RB210 reliability?

[midichlorine]

I’ve had 2
1 first run then the newer owned company (?)one
Not sure but the early one has eminence speakers ( still have that one and have played the crap out of it)
The newer one has levoice speakers and it was great when I got it but about 1 month in it started shutting down here and there at 1/3 volume.
Not sure if something changed or I just got a bad one but the first one has been rode hard and it’s still rocking

 

[DJ Bebop]

I'm talking about a new RB210, like this one:

View attachment 7364718

I think what @InkCow is saying is, there is more or a lot of talk about the Ampeg PF or Portaflex 500 amp line was having problems early on. That might be the talk you are hearing associated to Ampeg models, not the Rocket Bass.

 

[Dana R Gregory]

I bought an Ampeg RB-210 4 years ago and have lugged it to band practice and small gigs almost every week since.
There were some initial teething problems with the model, but after 4 years of weekly use and transport - mine is still working fine.

View attachment 7365133

That is a fine looking rig you have. I have the Steinberger 5 string with the Labella double ball flats and am very happy with it. I just ordered an Ampeg RB210. The Steinberger really rocks through an Ampeg.

 

[SJan3]

I dont know. I'm just here to comment about how odd it is that Ampeg chose "RB" as a model line, that being the most famous model line of their main competitor GK. Or am I missing something in the battle of the "RB" moniker?

EDIT: Dang, I guess Ibanez had the fabulous rb bass guitar series too. At least those were not amps.
new gas??? a multi company RB bass rig from strings to speakers. . and then get a gig at Arby's.
Gotta get an old Ross Rockbox rb200 in there too.

Ok... this thread can now resume it's original programming.

Ampeg had the "Rocket" moniker line as early as the 1960's before Gallien Krueger even existed.
I'd say Ampeg has legit rights to resurrect the model designation.
P.S. What is MB to you?
MarkBass or Mesa Boogie?

 

[InkCow]

P.S. What is MB to you?
MarkBass or Mesa Boogie?

Gallien-Krueger MicroBass series, of course

 

[SJan3]

Gallien-Krueger MicroBass series, of course

There you have it!

 

[bordinco90]

Well I've had RB210 for a few months now and it took a lot of getting used to. I bought it from a church that was selling it. It is a 2021 model with the eminence speakers. I actually wanted to sell it a couple of times. I just couldn't get over the white noise of the amp. It even has the white noise through the DI.

That was until I finally gigged with it. I decided to put it on my cable box (just a Bauer rolling toolbox from harbor freight). This lifted the combo around 28 inches off the ground. When I plugged my Sire P5 in and started playing with my band, I was really impressed. I could not hear the white noise while gigging, even during downtime with no instruments playing. The volume on the combo is excellent and the speakers actually handle the volume well (no speaker farting or distorting and no cab rattle). The combo is super loud and I think it's better than the Rumble 500 due to the fact that it handles loud volumes better. I've owned the Rumble 500 twice and gotten rid of it due the speakers farting out and cab rattling.

The big test for the RB210 was last weekend at a gig. I played with a different band who's lead singer likes it really loud on stage. The venue had a big stage, but was a metal building with concrete floors. I used a hotter bass for this gig (Ibanez GSR100EX, first time using this bass with the amp). The amp did well and sounded great. When I walked towards to lead singer while playing., probably 8-12ft away from the amp, I couldn't hear the amp as well, but standing in a normal playing position (probably 3-6ft away from the amp) it was really loud and sounded great. I know the RB210s have had some issues and mine has some as well, but it sounds great, gets super loud, and is built better than any Rumble 500 I've played.

 

[devnulljp]

I'm on the fence about buying one of these. I've been using a nice Aguilar rig -- DB359 or an AG700 with a pair of DB112s -- but I got tired of the weight and never really need to turn up past about 3. So I sold the tube amp and the cabs, still have the AG700. So, I'm trying to decide should I just buy the Ampeg 210 and be done with it, or keep looking and get some SL112 cabs and keep the Aguilar? I like the idea of at least 500W, with lots of headroom, so the smaller Ampegs the 112 and 115 wouldn't do the job.
I also saw a really nice looking MarkBass 210 combo yesterday that's 400W and 35 lb -- 4x the price of the Ampeg mind you. I'm in Canad, so Traynor is also an option but their stuff all seems to be so heavy. (I used a little 200W SB112 at practice and it's a nice little amp)

Sounds like there aren't any real reliability issues with the Ampeg as OP feared, right?
Anyone added a second cabinet with one of these? It only has 1/4" speaker out, which seems weird. How hard is it to replace with a speakon?

 

[Yahboy]

I'm on the fence about buying one of these. I've been using a nice Aguilar rig -- DB359 or an AG700 with a pair of DB112s -- but I got tired of the weight and never really need to turn up past about 3. So I sold the tube amp and the cabs, still have the AG700. So, I'm trying to decide should I just buy the Ampeg 210 and be done with it, or keep looking and get some SL112 cabs and keep the Aguilar? I like the idea of at least 500W, with lots of headroom, so the smaller Ampegs the 112 and 115 wouldn't do the job.
I also saw a really nice looking MarkBass 210 combo yesterday that's 400W and 35 lb -- 4x the price of the Ampeg mind you. I'm in Canad, so Traynor is also an option but their stuff all seems to be so heavy. (I used a little 200W SB112 at practice and it's a nice little amp)

Sounds like there aren't any real reliability issues with the Ampeg as OP feared, right?
Anyone added a second cabinet with one of these? It only has 1/4" speaker out, which seems weird. How hard is it to replace with a speakon?

Shame that i own the RB112 stacked ..... 200w total. Handle B string on 3 o'clock volume has no farted and distorted at all.

 

[devnulljp]

Shame that i own the RB112 stacked ..... 200w total. Handle B string on 3 o'clock volume has no farted and distorted at all.

So, is that 2 RB112s ? Are you slaving one amp off the other or stereo or something else? It looks cool.

What is the actual power rating? It says 500W 2 x 10" 16 Ohm per speaker
External speaker cab 250W @ 8 ohms
So its a 500W amp at 8 ohm but 250 at 4 ohm? Or am I reading that wrong?

 

[Yahboy]

So, is that 2 RB112s ? Are you slaving one amp off the other or stereo or something else? It looks cool.

What is the actual power rating? It says 500W 2 x 10" 16 Ohm per speaker
External speaker cab 250W @ 8 ohms
So its a 500W amp at 8 ohm but 250 at 4 ohm? Or am I reading that wrong?

Connect effect loop send from top unit to effect return on bottom unit.

RB210 are 250w@8ohm stand alone . With extension cable connect release full 500w@4ohm.

 

[bordinco90]

I'm on the fence about buying one of these. I've been using a nice Aguilar rig -- DB359 or an AG700 with a pair of DB112s -- but I got tired of the weight and never really need to turn up past about 3. So I sold the tube amp and the cabs, still have the AG700. So, I'm trying to decide should I just buy the Ampeg 210 and be done with it, or keep looking and get some SL112 cabs and keep the Aguilar? I like the idea of at least 500W, with lots of headroom, so the smaller Ampegs the 112 and 115 wouldn't do the job.
I also saw a really nice looking MarkBass 210 combo yesterday that's 400W and 35 lb -- 4x the price of the Ampeg mind you. I'm in Canad, so Traynor is also an option but their stuff all seems to be so heavy. (I used a little 200W SB112 at practice and it's a nice little amp)

Sounds like there aren't any real reliability issues with the Ampeg as OP feared, right?
Anyone added a second cabinet with one of these? It only has 1/4" speaker out, which seems weird. How hard is it to replace with a speakon?

I would get the Ampeg RB210 if you are looking to save weight. It's a nice all in one package and probably the best combo I've ever owned and I've owned many nice combos (Yamaha RB112, Fender Rumble 60, 100c, 500c, Hartke KB15, Bugera BXD15A, Trace Elliot Elf 1x10, Markbass CMD151p combo, Markbass Jeff Berlin 151 combo, and Markbass CMD121p combo). When I first got the amp I was disappointed with the volume, because I was so used to the Fender Rumble and Markbass Combos have most of their volume from 0 to about midway up the dial. The RB210 starts getting loud at 12 oclock and goes way past that. Plus it keeps the volume and tone without farting out. The one thing I will say is if you want a super quiet (no hissing or white noise) amp for practice, I would stay away from the RB210. But for a gigging amp this is a perfect combo. It gets super loud and keeps the tone which I love(I can hear this amp clearly over a loud drummer, monitors, guitar players ect...). I do have mine on a cable box to get it closer to my ears, it really does the trick! I do not have to turn the bass down or anything the louder the amp goes it just takes whatever I throw at it.