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New TC Elec. BH550 & 800
- Thread starter PokeyPrasch
- Start date
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I received my BH800 yesterday, and I am A-B comparing with my GK MB800, so far the EQ is pretty good and gets to where I need to be as far as tonal variety for what I play, but it seems like the MB800 just has more adjust-ability in either direction, clean or dirty. It took a while to figure out how to load the toneprints, believe it or not I do not own an Apple or Android product. I suppose TC Electronics doesn't think it is possible for a household not to have at least one or the other (I had to borrow an Android tablet). I was surprised to find that you can not create nor adjust toneprints for the BH heads. I seen a toneprint editor and thought you could adjust toneprints for the BH heads, as it turns out this is only for the pedals. Not really in love with the toneprint selection, the few I tried were OK, I didn't find anything that I you couldn't get from an MS-60B pedal. I realize that the attraction is it is an all-in-one package. It is definitely loud and more amp than most needs, the same as the MB800.
Tuner comes in handy, not as robust as the RH head built in tuners but good enough to get by on if you are trying to downsize and get away with as little gear as possible. I think I need a little more time with it, and an Android tablet.
Tuner comes in handy, not as robust as the RH head built in tuners but good enough to get by on if you are trying to downsize and get away with as little gear as possible. I think I need a little more time with it, and an Android tablet.
Should be in the instructions. Basically you just download the Toneprints onto your computer, hook a USB cable from your computer to the back of the amp, then double click the TonePrint and it will load into the TonePrint slot. Check the instructions though to be sure and check out the TC website.
Here are the TonePrints
http://www.tcelectronic.com/bh250/toneprints/
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Wow, just glancing at the website (because I know it used to be there), it looks like they've removed or "hidden" the computer based app. They had Mac and Windows versions. You might have to make a support inquiry.
Maybe try looking searching from the amp's page instead of the TonePrint page...weird.
Do they still include a USB cable?
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Hoping to hear from someone who has used this amp on a gig, to find out if these new amps "hit the wall" like the 450 does when cranked.
Thanks,
Fishheadjoe
Thanks,
Fishheadjoe
Chef
In Memoriam
Mod Insert:
Threads are open to whomever wants to post in them
We all remember the other amp. We all remember how both sides "talked to each other" about it.
That'll be enough of revisiting that.
Threads are open to whomever wants to post in them
We all remember the other amp. We all remember how both sides "talked to each other" about it.
That'll be enough of revisiting that.
Well, I use the RH450 with an RS212 and an RS210 cab in a 10-piece band with a loud drummer, three horns, two keyboard players, and a loud guitar. We play mostly larger private events in larger venues, from hotel ballrooms to 3,000-seat theaters and even outdoors festivals with 100,000 attendees. The RH450 sounds great at any of those (admittedly, with PA support in the larger ones). So I would agree that the RH450 "Is what it is" -- and for me that is a great sounding amp that is portable and allows me to avoid lugging around an SVT and an 810 cab. Maybe to you, an RH450 does "sound like arse," but were I to hear your rig at gig volume, I might think it sounds like a wet fart in a hurricane.
As has been repeatedly proved, everyone has different tastes. Had they not, we all would still be playing Leo Fender's original P Bass design through 410 Bassman combo amps.
I'll also add that if you have to crank your amp, your band is probably too damned loud to begin with.
As has been repeatedly proved, everyone has different tastes. Had they not, we all would still be playing Leo Fender's original P Bass design through 410 Bassman combo amps.
I'll also add that if you have to crank your amp, your band is probably too damned loud to begin with.
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You just needed to look harder. Try here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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I completely respect your viewpoint.
As I stated early on in the thread, I have high hopes for the the new BH amps. If TC has remedied what I (and others) consider the two fatal flaws in the RH amps (and you may call it subjective if you choose to), then the new BH amps should be a real win. Also the BH amps could be a stepping stone to an entire new line from TC that offers the best of both the RH & BH feature sets.
Hopefully the new BH amps will bench well and I look forward to seeing/hearing TC's future offerings.
As I stated early on in the thread, I have high hopes for the the new BH amps. If TC has remedied what I (and others) consider the two fatal flaws in the RH amps (and you may call it subjective if you choose to), then the new BH amps should be a real win. Also the BH amps could be a stepping stone to an entire new line from TC that offers the best of both the RH & BH feature sets.
Hopefully the new BH amps will bench well and I look forward to seeing/hearing TC's future offerings.
If your phone can play MP3 files, you can actually just play an MP3 of the tone print through any phone/speaker.. just hold the phones speaker near an active pickup. I remember seeing a link to the individual MP3 files some time ago. I'll keep looking and post the link if I find it. You wouldnt get a fancy app interface, but it will be playing the same analog modem tone that the amp will use to load the correct effect.
I'll try searching again later.
I'll try searching again later.
aaargh I am all googled out. If you really want some of the toneprints to play from any phone that can play MP3 files, let me know which ones and I'll record them off my phone to MP3 files and post them for you.
I own both the original BG250 combo and the BH250 head that I bought this year. IMHO, the BH250 sounds better than the BG250, so I think that the BH500 and BH800 will improve as well. I like the tone circuits' interaction. The RH series EQ may require tweaking to find the right tone for each bass, but the three presets allow me to use different basses with no headache.
I should say that I once reviewed equipment for a website and that I had access to all the TC bass line at that time -- this was before the more powerful RH models came out. So I have experience with most of their equipment in various situations.
I'm old enough to remember the arguments about RMS power versus peak music power as far back as when Kustom was cutting-edge technology, so I understand the discussion.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] on the TC website has links to the TonePrint app for iPhone. Download it through the App Store. Once installed, you can download the free Toneprints to the phone, then load them to the amp through your bass. Plug in the bass, open the app to the desired Toneprint, hold the phone to the pickup, and send the tone. You can also use a USB hookup from computer to amp to do the same. If you have TC Toneprint-enabled pedals, you can load to the pedals through the computer.
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Yes, the 5xx & 8xx amps seem to be going after the set it & forget it type. Four band EQ with different cut and boost points, built in tuner, built in FX should really allow the user a friendly load in and set up/ tear down and load out. These amps could quickly become working players "best friends". So you get your amp, tuner, and FX all in one in the pocket of your basses gig bag. Now just add yer cab and it sound like a one trip load to me.
Looking forward to field reviews
Thanks... the poster earlier said they did not have an iphone or ipad or android device. I was trying to come up with a way for them to be able to upload tones to their amp through a non-smart phone or tablet. The tones from the toneprint apps can be recorded and played through any speaker right near the pickup and it will work to program the amp.
Hey Joe, just my opinion, but such a "confirmation" is probably too much to hope for...reason being that many don't find that the RHs hit a wall for them.
If you get gig reports from people saying "The BH performed great and is loud as hell!" that would be people *not* saying anything about a wall. That would also be people saying the same thing that was said about the RHs (almost universally prior to the BMG article). But they're only speaking to their own use, not yours.
I don't run into any walls in my use. I'm a weekender with multiple projects, doing the various types of things that weekenders do, from smallish PA on stick gigs, to 500 capacity venue bar gigs, to the occasional larger outdoor gig (last weekend, I played on a system that was set up for 20,000 people and didn't bring a cabinet at all).
I use an RH750 with a 115 or 212 cab. The 115 covers my use up to a certain point, and beyond that, the 212 handles everything else quite well. For me, as things scale up, the amp is only on stage as a monitor or just for feel/backup with IEMs. In none of these cases do I ever need to "crank" the amp. It's as loud as it ever needs to be with the capacity to be louder. It's funny, my experience in scaling up from the smallest gigs, there seems to come a point that the volume needs level off and even start to decline (e.g. the loudest I have ever played was without an amp on stage).
