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New TC Elec. BH550 & 800
- Thread starter PokeyPrasch
- Start date
Are you using the "beam" with the app? I updated the firmware and downloaded the app. I select a toneprint and hit beam. The phone makes a noise for a couple of seconds but nothing changes on the amp. Am I missing something? The manual gives no instruction for toneprint changes via app.
Nevermind. Tucked away on TC site is says hold the phone to the guitar pickups. Everything works.
Had a chance this morning to play some into a single 12/3 8ohm cab. It gets loud and stays clean. Sounds nice in the basement. Hope to get it out of the house soon for the real test.
Had a chance this morning to play some into a single 12/3 8ohm cab. It gets loud and stays clean. Sounds nice in the basement. Hope to get it out of the house soon for the real test.
I have the Bh250 and just found a refurb by tc BH550 for $350 so I snagged it.
Interesting reading that one of the post earlier found that the 550 was warmer than the 800
The 250 was really enough for me but I'm playing larger clubs and thought the extra power might come in handy.
I also like that the 550 has the 2 presets available with the flip of a switch if I don't want to bring my footswitch.
Can't wait to check it out! Regarding the power discrepancy, I guess for Me I assume that most manufacturers these
days quote peak power and not continuous or program? I just bought an Jbl eon 615..I think they quote that as being
1000 watts but if you read further thats the peak and its continuous is more like 500.
caveat emptor or your mileage may vary or something like that!
Rock on boys!
Interesting reading that one of the post earlier found that the 550 was warmer than the 800
The 250 was really enough for me but I'm playing larger clubs and thought the extra power might come in handy.
I also like that the 550 has the 2 presets available with the flip of a switch if I don't want to bring my footswitch.
Can't wait to check it out! Regarding the power discrepancy, I guess for Me I assume that most manufacturers these
days quote peak power and not continuous or program? I just bought an Jbl eon 615..I think they quote that as being
1000 watts but if you read further thats the peak and its continuous is more like 500.
caveat emptor or your mileage may vary or something like that!
Rock on boys!
I was trying to decide between a bh550 or bh800 considering I play in a loud rock band with 2 guitarists, a loud drummer, 2 vocalists and some keyboard. I really was wanting to get the 800 for the fact that I could practice with it but also take it to a gig. I have to drive quite far so I was trying to have an amp that was lightweight so I wouldn't kill myself lugging around gear (my hartke lh1000). Problem is I use a 15 at practice which has an eminence beta 15a in it which is rated at 300 watts rms at 8 ohms amd I noticed at 8 ohms the bh800 puts out 450 watts. Is that something I should avoid I mean I know peak on the speaker is 600 but I have heard that doesn't matter much. Also if I should go for the bh550 do you think it will be loud enough? I run a 410 at 4 ohms that can handle 1000 watts when I play shows so it would get the full power. I am just worried about practice without having to lug my 410 around.
I played with the 800 at practice. The band is a trio and the guitarist plays too loud. We are working on him but I'm beginning to think his hearing is messed up. I made him put his amp (a 100watt all tube peavey 212) on a cabinet right next to him and he still complained about not being able to hear himself at certain times without digging in hard. I'm baffled because I heard him fine across the room.
Anyway, here was my setup:
The cab is an 8ohm GK 212MBE rated at 600watts so it was not getting full power. My main amp with this group is a mesa prodigy that puts 200+ watts into this cab. I was looking for a small, inexpensive but powerful backup amp. I have two 8ohm hathor 1203's that I gig with but I want to leave this cab at the rehearsal space. I have used a tonehammer 350 and kustom kxb500 previously and they were both pushed to their max with this band and cab, so I felt like I needed something more.
While hunting for a backup a Jule Monique M700 became available. It's awesome but is bigger and more expensive than I want to deal with but I'm glad to have experienced it. Both the Jule and the prodigy stay clean and loud enough with this cab. The TC amp was heavily discounted on black friday so I gave it a shot. Put the Jule up for sale and the buyer had the Mesa d800 for trade and so now I have both. I did the first half of rehearsal with the TC and second with the d800.
The back of the TC is aligned with the back of the mesa so you can see the size difference. The TC is wider but the mesa is deeper and taller. They are both rated at 800 watts and have bass/lo mid/hi mid/treble knobs and pre/post DI's. The TC has two tone print options and a 3 year non-transferable warranty) and the mesa has a voice knob, an extra speaker out, comes with a bag, does 2ohms and has a 5 year transferable warranty..
Both ran quietly and stayed cool. Initially all the knobs at noon on both amps except the master. Both amps ended up with the master around noon to produce the needed volume and both stayed clean. They both had more to give. I didn't try to max them out because I don't want to blow the cab or encourage the guitarist to play louder. It seems both have linear taper knobs.
I didn't try to play with the voice knob or tone prints. I really just wanted to see if the tc would be an adequate backup, if it produced more clean volume than the previous 350/500 watt amps (less power at 8ohms) and how it compared to the mesa. It will, it does and it seems to be in the same clean volume category as the d800, though I didn't really try to max out either.
These were selling for $7-800 so at that price the mesa ($699) wins out easily on features and warranty. But at the discounted price ($455) it compares well. The new peavey minimegaalso does 2ohms (oops). MF was giving 20% off so I've got one on order. So it's a 1000watt amp for $480. Assuming it arrives next month (big assumption), I may end up deciding between the prodigy, d800, TC and minimega. Right now the d800 seems like a keeper.
TLDR; The TC holds up well for the price but there are similarly priced amps available (or, more accurately in the peavey case, sort of available) with more features. The d800 with high power, 2ohm capability and reasonable price is really shaking things up.
Anyway, here was my setup:
The cab is an 8ohm GK 212MBE rated at 600watts so it was not getting full power. My main amp with this group is a mesa prodigy that puts 200+ watts into this cab. I was looking for a small, inexpensive but powerful backup amp. I have two 8ohm hathor 1203's that I gig with but I want to leave this cab at the rehearsal space. I have used a tonehammer 350 and kustom kxb500 previously and they were both pushed to their max with this band and cab, so I felt like I needed something more.
While hunting for a backup a Jule Monique M700 became available. It's awesome but is bigger and more expensive than I want to deal with but I'm glad to have experienced it. Both the Jule and the prodigy stay clean and loud enough with this cab. The TC amp was heavily discounted on black friday so I gave it a shot. Put the Jule up for sale and the buyer had the Mesa d800 for trade and so now I have both. I did the first half of rehearsal with the TC and second with the d800.
The back of the TC is aligned with the back of the mesa so you can see the size difference. The TC is wider but the mesa is deeper and taller. They are both rated at 800 watts and have bass/lo mid/hi mid/treble knobs and pre/post DI's. The TC has two tone print options and a 3 year non-transferable warranty) and the mesa has a voice knob, an extra speaker out, comes with a bag, does 2ohms and has a 5 year transferable warranty..
Both ran quietly and stayed cool. Initially all the knobs at noon on both amps except the master. Both amps ended up with the master around noon to produce the needed volume and both stayed clean. They both had more to give. I didn't try to max them out because I don't want to blow the cab or encourage the guitarist to play louder. It seems both have linear taper knobs.
I didn't try to play with the voice knob or tone prints. I really just wanted to see if the tc would be an adequate backup, if it produced more clean volume than the previous 350/500 watt amps (less power at 8ohms) and how it compared to the mesa. It will, it does and it seems to be in the same clean volume category as the d800, though I didn't really try to max out either.
These were selling for $7-800 so at that price the mesa ($699) wins out easily on features and warranty. But at the discounted price ($455) it compares well. The new peavey minimega
TLDR; The TC holds up well for the price but there are similarly priced amps available (or, more accurately in the peavey case, sort of available) with more features. The d800 with high power, 2ohm capability and reasonable price is really shaking things up.
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I don't think the MiniMega is stable to 2 ohms, have not seen or heard that from Bobby...
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Only had these amps a short time and with the holidays haven't had much playing time except some headphone practice. But I plan to put each head through a 1203 side by side and do more comparing the next couple of days.
The BH and the D800 both performed admirably in my limited, non-scientific comparisons. The only events I played the last few weeks didn't require bringing a rig so I didn't play either out live. But at home, side by side through identical 8ohm cabs, they both seemed capable of clean, clear tone at loud volume. With all knobs at noon they sounded similar. The TC seemed a little, and I mean very little, warmer. Just a slight decrease of bass and upper mid knob on the TC seemed to make it sound like the mesa. I suspect the Mesa will have more inherent bite that I've come to like in gig situations but TC wasn't scooped by any means.
Of course the EQ, voice knob, deep switch and tone prints could make either amp do all sorts of different things. I ended up shipping the TC back to Amazon today. It would easily suffice and is a great value at the discounted price. High quality and well designed, IMO. I like the little D handles on the front of these small amps to help protect the knobs. Although it didn't come with a bag like the Mesa it easily slips into any laptop bag and might would fit into some gigbag pockets. The toneprints are cool but a little gimmicky, again, IMO. Obviously this is all my opinion though for some reason I feel compelled to add IMO after certain statements, IMO.
Ultimately the d800, with it's 2ohm capability, 5 year transferable warranty and outstanding Mesa service and support won the day. But if you're looking for a bargain priced small, powerful, capable, flexible amp the BH800 is a viable option. IMO.
Of course the EQ, voice knob, deep switch and tone prints could make either amp do all sorts of different things. I ended up shipping the TC back to Amazon today. It would easily suffice and is a great value at the discounted price. High quality and well designed, IMO. I like the little D handles on the front of these small amps to help protect the knobs. Although it didn't come with a bag like the Mesa it easily slips into any laptop bag and might would fit into some gigbag pockets. The toneprints are cool but a little gimmicky, again, IMO. Obviously this is all my opinion though for some reason I feel compelled to add IMO after certain statements, IMO.
Ultimately the d800, with it's 2ohm capability, 5 year transferable warranty and outstanding Mesa service and support won the day. But if you're looking for a bargain priced small, powerful, capable, flexible amp the BH800 is a viable option. IMO.
I have the BH800 and it is currently my favorite amp. I see many up for sale or being sent back, and I am convinced that most people have not truly got a grip on the very different EQ setup on the BH heads or there would be a lot more praise of this amp.
There was a hesitation by many, at least in talkbass circles, to give it a chance after the BGM power rating deal with the RH amps. Probably accounts for the lack of praise more so than the EQ, which I didn't observe to be particularly difficult.
There are other options without the stigma. The d800 sounds great and offers a few things I value that the TC doesn't.
There are other options without the stigma. The d800 sounds great and offers a few things I value that the TC doesn't.
The EQ on the BH800 is not your typical cut and boost on a particular frequency. As you turn each knob the frequency point changes that is cut or boost. As a result there are numerous different usable tones throughout the entire range of each knob that can make it easy to dial in and go from old school to modern hi fi with incredible tone, power, and clarity. I've been through the gammit of micros excluding the new D800 and MiniMega and I would put the BH800 on top.
Can't say I disagree. I'd like to keep it but the wife just remodeled the kitchen and a choice needed to be made. And I appreciate Mesa and agedhorse.
How's that Markbass 800 compare?
It amazes me a bit that almost nobody talks about these amps. It's probably because of the RH wattage fiasco that TC is almost an obscene word around these parts.
Anyway...
Love it.
Anyway...
Love it.
