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TC Electronic BH550 Amp Head
- Thread starter scottfeldstein
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Also, a third glass of wine last night revealed that this rig sounds killer with my Ibanez six string. The TC atop my GK Neo 112 cabs absolutely kills after a few EQ tweaks. Then I kicked on the YYZ and wow. With some reverb you could gig the F out of this as a guitar rig.
I learned many years ago that TC amps sound really good with GK NEO cabs. Like in really really good.
It really does. I've been flipping on the rig once or twice every evening just to revel in the gorgeous sound. Maybe I'll make a recording this evening and share.
Think I'm going to plug my RH450 into my GK NEO 112's today and work on some songs. That combo is always fun to play through.
Hey, folks. Revisiting this thread for one reason. Do all TC amps use the non-standard way of listing their wattage? Does this thing really make 550 watts at 4 ohms? The manual doesn't say, neither does the website, which makes me suspect it does not.
I respectfully suggest that no one has ever documented getting 500 watts out of a '500-watt' TC product. I believe the protective limiting starts to affect the signal before the amp exhibits actual clipping. TC used to claim something along the lines of "sounds like it's 500 watts". So I guess we can say it has 500 "sounds like" watts.
If it will only produce 385 watts into 4 ohms in a bench test, are you going to like it any less?
(Just for the record, I have a BQ-500 that I like fine, regardless of the actual power it produces. Interesting factoid: the difference between 500 watts and 385 watts is just over 1dB.
If it will only produce 385 watts into 4 ohms in a bench test, are you going to like it any less?
(Just for the record, I have a BQ-500 that I like fine, regardless of the actual power it produces. Interesting factoid: the difference between 500 watts and 385 watts is just over 1dB.
Nah. Not unless I find that I'm limited in some way. I've been using 500 watt amps for more than a decade so I have a sense of what I can expect from them. If this amp gets as loud as I need it to, I'm perfectly happy.
Of course my main gig dried up in the pandemic and the studio I recorded in moved to California. Who knows if I'll get another regular thing ever. I'm not looking for one, but you never know. So it's hard to say when then next time I'll need 500 watts. Right now I'm just "curating" a collection of gear that makes me happy. And right now I dig this amp.
Edit: I just want to reiterate that I like the way TC amps sound. Is it the wacky EQ? Is it the strange compression they use? Whatever it is, I'm in. My GK was sterile. My Ampeg and my Tech 21 were both way to baked-in retro. These guys are doing something different. I don't know what it is, but I hear it and I like it. I think the last time I liked an amps sound this much was my Carvin BX1500.
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if the specs don't tell it's 550W RMS, just 550W, it's some kind of peak power.
I recall that the BH250 was known to produce maximum volume when the compressor was engaged. HTH
I remember that crazy massive thread years ago about TC Elec watts not being as advertised... yikes, people were losing it, lol.
At the time, or it was shortly after I had a TC Elect BG500 115 Combo that really delivered. Might not have been delivering 500 watts, lol, but dang it sounded great, and as loud as it wanted to be.
I think TC is really good at processing or sumfin... they know how to get the most out of some watts.
At the time, or it was shortly after I had a TC Elect BG500 115 Combo that really delivered. Might not have been delivering 500 watts, lol, but dang it sounded great, and as loud as it wanted to be.
I think TC is really good at processing or sumfin... they know how to get the most out of some watts.
For the life of me i can't get this Toneprint working, got the app, beam it in from the bass amps bit and nothing. Do you have to connect the phone in anyway to the amp, i.e. bluetooth?
I don't know if you have the same problem, but I misunderstood the capabilities. It's not everything you see in the app. it's just the ones under Toneprint Bass Amps. I can't tell you how much time I wasted before someone told me this. Hope it helps!
It can be a real pain on some basses and super easy on others. Best advice I can give you is raise the volume all the way on your phone and on your bass and try using your phone in different positions as close as possible to the pickups. Also mute your strings as string noise will interfere with the signal being sent to your amp. Good luck.
I just bought a mint BH550 loaded with the compressor and chorus. Love the EQ, the low mid control is really nice, tuner comes in handy. Even in tough rooms it gets the job done. It does not have the power my Carvin BX500 has but close. The best $325 I've spent on an amp, She is a keeper.
Nice. I absolutely love the EQ. I really thought it was a gimmick when I read about it, but it's the most usable EQ I've ever seen on an amp.
Another topic that may be of interest to y'all: I picked up a third party foot switch for the TonePrints from Sweetfoot Pedals. Once I had the right cable for it, it works like a charm.
