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TC Electronic BQ500 Review

#41
funkinbottom said:
Well, it's been a few months since your post. Now that you've lived with it for awhile, and the honeymoon is over, are you still diggin' it? Using it more (or less) than your Rumble?

Edit: Asking because I had a BH250, and sold that to get a TE Elf. I like the Trace a lot, but I'm missing the TCE. Thinking of selling my LMll and pick up the BQ500
Click to expand...

I sent it back due to the input switch. However, I did that in hopes that in the coming months the next batch would be sorted out. I really liked the tone and simplicity of the amp and still believe it to be a good, slightly more modern alternative to my Rumble.

I'm considering swapping my Rumble 500 Combo for a 2nd Rumble 2x10 Cab and the new Rumble 800 head and then get a corrected BQ500.
 
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#43
034DDD12-DCA8-48D3-9A42-9DD789BA7C58.jpeg
Here are my current settings into a TC K210 (which is 8 ohm) with my MIM 2015 factory P Bass. Plenty loud and clear enough for my rock band at small gigs when the Master is moved to 12 o’clock. I tilt the cab back and hook the front feet of the BQ 500 over the front of the cab.
twc1313 said:
Picked up a new TC Electronic BQ500 head and a K212 cab as an alternative to my Rumble500 Combo. I got to gig with it Wednesday night and figured I would share the experience with you all.

Setup:
BQ500 head into TC K212 Cab
Sire V7
Sansamp (only on for a few rock songs)
Playing with two guitarists (one AC30 one Peavey Classic 4x10) and a drummer

The Bad:
1. My active/passive switch is also backwards, seems to be all of the first units shipped have this.
2. Nothing on the amp or manual as to what the wattage is at 8ohms (however not a problem as the review will point out.)

The Good:
1. Plenty of power: I had the gain at 1 o'clock and the master around 1 o'clock as well and it kept up easily with the full band, no FOH support. Sound was clean and well defined.

2. Gain: Since this amp is from the same parent company as the Bugera Veyron M, I was worried it would have the same issue of the clip light coming on even with a super low setting. However even with the amp in passive mode (switch on active lol) I could crank the gain before any serious clipping showed up.

3. Tone: I got this amp as a compliment to my Rumble, I was looking for a very transparent modern sound. This amp delivers! The BQ500 does have some warmth to it, and doesn't get into a clanky GK style tone; however it is more modern than the Rumble. The eq settings are all in a good place, bass is 80hz, low mids are around 400 I believe. I prefer this separation so that I'm not getting a muddy sound.

I ran the Sansamp into it with a little more drive than usual and this gave me a nice alternative setting for rock songs. I enjoyed being able to do this, and then turn the pedal off for a Hip-Hop song and go back to a clean, modern tone.

What I noticed most on this amp that differs from my Rumble is that the lower notes from E up to A all had a strong definition and punch to them.

4. Thurst: I'm not an expert on compression, so take this with a grain of salt. The Thrust compressor worked well to me on this amp. The Bugera compressor felt like just a limiter, if you turned it past noon and slapped a low E, it just turned that into a muffled farty sound. The Thurst on this amp seems to give a nice even squash to all notes but still retains their tone nicely.

5. Comparison to Rumble 500: This amp has the same power with a k212 as the Rumble500 combo. The TC setup has a bit more tightness and a thump that can easily be felt (probably due to the 212s vs 210s). The TC also has noted definition on lower notes and less eh....rumble. That being said, the Rumble still has a stronger presence in the mix, high notes come through with more girth on the Rumble vs the TC and the tone of the rumble seems to just permeate the room better. Both are great amps and I don't know if I'd get rid of either.

Overall: The BQ500 does have the power, and a great semi-modern tone that is easy to work with. Any skepticism regarding power rating can be forgotten as this amp easily did the job. It is quite transparent with a touch of warmth. This was the first gig where my V7 sounded like an active, modern jazz bass. Granted, the issue of the flipped active/passive switch is a concern, especially since the Music Tribe group sometimes gets poopoo'd on here regarding quality. Overall I am quite pleased with this amp and will continue to enjoy it!
Click to expand...
 
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#44
Hi BQ500 users! I've been using this amp for 3-4 months, but I still can't really figure out how the Gain section works. I tried to crank the Gain all the way up, and it was still playing fine without any distortion or clipping. I found that the clip light has nothing to do with the gain knob position, but it reacts on the amount of input signal from the bass or pedal preamp. So I usually set BQ500 gain at 12 o'clock, and then adjust the Master knob to reach the volume I want. So my question is, if you play a passive bass like I do, what is your Gain knob position?
 
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#46
Just wanna ask a (stupid) question, I'm using my BQ500 plugged to an interface (scarlett solo), but it seems that the my master volume doesn't do anything, doesn't affect the loudness, I've played with all the eq together with the volume but I didn't notice any changes when turning the volume knob. Is it doing anything thru an interface or does it need to be plugged in a cab to optimize its usage?
 
#47
jmwreck said:
Just wanna ask a (stupid) question, I'm using my BQ500 plugged to an interface (scarlett solo), but it seems that the my master volume doesn't do anything, doesn't affect the loudness, I've played with all the eq together with the volume but I didn't notice any changes when turning the volume knob. Is it doing anything thru an interface or does it need to be plugged in a cab to optimize its usage?
Click to expand...
Are you using the Balanced output directly to the interface? The master volume shouldn't affect the volume of the Balanced output. But you have an option to use Pre or Post EQ button at the back.
 
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#50
I have the bq500 with k212 cab.
The active passive switch is correctly labeled on my amp.
Does anybody know if I can safely use the headphone output without having a cab connected because my rig is set up in the living room and I want to practice in my bedroom without caring the cab aswell.
 
#54
Bass Jones said:
Since I'm a hobbiest :) here are some photos of the inside of mine. Hard to get a decent shot of the individual components...

View attachment 3610581 View attachment 3610582 View attachment 3610583 View attachment 3610584 View attachment 3610585 View attachment 3610586 View attachment 3610587 View attachment 3610588 View attachment 3610589 View attachment 3610590
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Nice shots - my active/passive switch is the wrong way around, do you think it would be easy to turn it around the other way?
 
#55
bpmben said:
Nice shots - my active/passive switch is the wrong way around, do you think it would be easy to turn it around the other way?
Click to expand...

It's soldered to the board so no way to flip it over. I believe mine is upside down too but it doesn't really bother me. I would have to put my glasses on to see what it says anyway so I just remember up is louder...or was it down?
 
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#56
Bass Jones said:
Since I'm a hobbiest :) here are some photos of the inside of mine. Hard to get a decent shot of the individual components...

View attachment 3610581 View attachment 3610582 View attachment 3610583 View attachment 3610584 View attachment 3610585 View attachment 3610586 View attachment 3610587 View attachment 3610588 View attachment 3610589 View attachment 3610590
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What's the voltage of those two large 1000muF caps? What about the four medium-largish caps beside them? Just curious. I like to play electrical engineer from time to time ;)
 
#57
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#59
Bass Jones said:
Since I'm a hobbiest :) here are some photos of the inside of mine. Hard to get a decent shot of the individual components...

View attachment 3610581 View attachment 3610582 View attachment 3610583 View attachment 3610584 View attachment 3610585 View attachment 3610586 View attachment 3610587 View attachment 3610588 View attachment 3610589 View attachment 3610590
Click to expand...

These are great shots. It would be great to see them posted on the Amp Guts thread
Amp Guts Photos - Official Thread - Lets see those pics

TC did some good work here. And this is one of their lower technology heads. Looking good.

For others:
I'm curious why people bothered by the reversed switch on the early models don't contact the Music Tribe support and have them fixed? It would be a warranty repair.
 
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