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Good head for ampeg 410hlf

J

Jdog568404

Oct 14, 2010
109
3
#1
Hey guys, I realize there's probably hundreds of these types of posts but I really wanted my own.

I am about to buy my first gigging rig. I'm about to buy an ampeg 410hlf for about $500 used because I like the punchiness and low end from them.

Obviously the next step is to buy a head. I love the tone from the ampeg SVT all tube head but I'm not looking to spend nearly that much. I think my cap would be about $500. I'm looking for something that sounds killer with a P bass or jazz bass (I'm a fender guy), has lots of options, doesn't have cut out problems like some of the hybrid amps (pf-350 pf-500 pro 7) etc, and would be great for recording (I'm in school to be a recording engineer).

If you can defend the pf-500 or pro-7 I'd like to hear it but it scares me lots of people have told me they have issues.

Thanks.
 
#5
I'd do the PF800 in your shoes. Sounds the same as the PF500 but has a lot more wattage, which counts in micros IMHO. Not a big fan of huge wattage rigs personally, but when it comes to micros, more headroom is always welcome.

You can make your own decisions about the PF500 and 7 Pro, but I'll just say that Ampeg has sold an absolutely crazy amount of PF500's (as of last January, over 12,000 in a year and 8 months), and while it's a bummer that some have had problems, the vast majority of folks don't. Someone on here quoted an email from Ampeg's CS that said the failure rate is less than 1%, and CS has hopped on warranty problems and done everything they could to make things right for those who got a bum head. This is just my opinion, but the fact that so many people bought them contributes to seeing the amount of failures reported, but there are plenty of folks who haven't had a single problem. I have a PF350 and it's worked great for almost two years now, and I haven't exactly been easy on it. And the 7 Pro, while certainly not immune to failure (no amps are immune to failure), had the lion's share of their problems in its very first batch, and nowadays it's isolated incidents rather than the norm. That's my only slightly biased opinion ;)
 
#7
Hi mate,

I am by no means any sort of a technical expert but I wouldn't be too hasty in dismissing the idea of matching an ampeg cabinet with an ampeg head!!

I have found over the years that I paid too much attention to marketing hype and opinions of others to only find that my own playing ability and my limited technical knowledge were far bigger impediments on my sound than the gear itself

Its also fair enough for any of us to avoid a product if it has known design flaws or a bad reputation because of breakdowns but ampeg on ampeg for a lot of people would be a desirable choice
 
#13
ctrotier said:
still waiting for a comment on the thread title, since it sounds like a Craiglist ad...
Click to expand...

Was thinking this as well, but everyone's keeping it very tasteful.

BTW, I pair a SVT4 Pro with an 410HLF and it's pretty solid. Not the all tube sound I have with my other amps but this thing can get very loud and is very versatile. My feeling is you need a lot of power to push the HLF and the 4Pro can do it, no problem. No experience with the 3 Pro but I assume it's similar.
 
#17
My personal favorite amp with my 410HLF is the GK MB800. GK and Ampeg have always been a popular combo, in my experience, but the MB series has more in the deep low end than the RB. So I get the maximum volume and low end punch I like out of the cab with it. I always run mine with the tweeter off though.
 

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