I received a brand new LH500 yesterday, just in time for rehearsal. Here are my first impressions, contrasted with my Ampeg PF500. I ran it through an Ampeg 810e-CL with my band; loud drummer, Mesa Triple-Rec halfstack, acoustic guitar and vox through a pa.
This thing is loud and punchy! It's probably just a different taper to the pot, but the LH500 is louder at 9:00 than the PF500 is at noon with the gain just under clipping.
It's very clean and open, yet warm. It has a nice throaty midrange and sweet high end. It reminds me of my Acoustic 320 in how open the sound is, but it's cleaner at high volume. The tube preamp definitely warms it up. The PF500 is warm, but sounds congested in comparison. Maybe it's the master volume setup... I'll have to A/B them with the Ampeg's master volume wide open.
The LH500 stays clean until it's way too loud, which I like. Preamp overdrive generally sucks. Too me, loud punchy cleans with roundwounds growling is the "heaviest" sound there is when mixed with distorted guitars and loud drums. I don't really get the love for bass distortion. To my ear it just removes the heavy.
The "Brite" switch is too bright for me.
The limiter is ok for slap or heavy picking, but it messes with the lovely midrange too much for fingerstyle. This amp is very dynamic and touch sensitive, it would be nicely matched with a good compressor in a rack case, unless you're confident in your technique. I'm mostly confident enough, but it definitely doesn't cut me any slack. The sound of your individual technique and bass instruments and effects comes through loud and proud, for better or worse. This is the kind of tool I appreciate, one that rewards good technique.
It had been a while since I played a tube preamp and it really struck me this time how they have a slight delay in the attack, which I think helps find the bass pocket. It lets you play more on top of the beat, while the sound follows into the groove. And the attack... wow. Full power at your fingertips!
The Fender tone stack is kind of hard to get a grasp on at first because of how interactive the controls are. I like a mildly scooped sound that works for both picking and fingerstyle. I usually wound up around 11:00 - 3:00 - 11:00 when tweaking at high volume. The low end is still a bit pillowy after the boom is dialed out. I wish it had more low mid content like the 50s/Marshall tone stack. On that note, my MXR M80 can provide that, so this may come down to which amp sounds better with the M80... I strongly suspect it will be the LH500 because of its weighty punchiness and open voice.
The PF500 has its strong points. A smooth Ampeg tone, a nice eq section, parallel effects loop, a decent compressor, preamp gain if you're into that. It's voiced nicely to sit in the mix and be more forgiving of technique. It's half the weight and less than half the size. However, it lacks the punch and clarity of the LH500, and those are more important to me.
I'll be A/B-ing these amps more extensively next week to determine if the Hartke goes back or if the Ampeg is relegated to backup duty. The Acoustic is too big for backup, and not quite clean enough for me, but I'm not sure I want to part with it... First world problems... :scowl:
This thing is loud and punchy! It's probably just a different taper to the pot, but the LH500 is louder at 9:00 than the PF500 is at noon with the gain just under clipping.
It's very clean and open, yet warm. It has a nice throaty midrange and sweet high end. It reminds me of my Acoustic 320 in how open the sound is, but it's cleaner at high volume. The tube preamp definitely warms it up. The PF500 is warm, but sounds congested in comparison. Maybe it's the master volume setup... I'll have to A/B them with the Ampeg's master volume wide open.
The LH500 stays clean until it's way too loud, which I like. Preamp overdrive generally sucks. Too me, loud punchy cleans with roundwounds growling is the "heaviest" sound there is when mixed with distorted guitars and loud drums. I don't really get the love for bass distortion. To my ear it just removes the heavy.
The "Brite" switch is too bright for me.
The limiter is ok for slap or heavy picking, but it messes with the lovely midrange too much for fingerstyle. This amp is very dynamic and touch sensitive, it would be nicely matched with a good compressor in a rack case, unless you're confident in your technique. I'm mostly confident enough, but it definitely doesn't cut me any slack. The sound of your individual technique and bass instruments and effects comes through loud and proud, for better or worse. This is the kind of tool I appreciate, one that rewards good technique.
It had been a while since I played a tube preamp and it really struck me this time how they have a slight delay in the attack, which I think helps find the bass pocket. It lets you play more on top of the beat, while the sound follows into the groove. And the attack... wow. Full power at your fingertips!
The Fender tone stack is kind of hard to get a grasp on at first because of how interactive the controls are. I like a mildly scooped sound that works for both picking and fingerstyle. I usually wound up around 11:00 - 3:00 - 11:00 when tweaking at high volume. The low end is still a bit pillowy after the boom is dialed out. I wish it had more low mid content like the 50s/Marshall tone stack. On that note, my MXR M80 can provide that, so this may come down to which amp sounds better with the M80... I strongly suspect it will be the LH500 because of its weighty punchiness and open voice.
The PF500 has its strong points. A smooth Ampeg tone, a nice eq section, parallel effects loop, a decent compressor, preamp gain if you're into that. It's voiced nicely to sit in the mix and be more forgiving of technique. It's half the weight and less than half the size. However, it lacks the punch and clarity of the LH500, and those are more important to me.
I'll be A/B-ing these amps more extensively next week to determine if the Hartke goes back or if the Ampeg is relegated to backup duty. The Acoustic is too big for backup, and not quite clean enough for me, but I'm not sure I want to part with it... First world problems... :scowl:
The GAS will get you sometimes. 
