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TC RH450 Club
- Thread starter REAPER52
- Start date
Yesterday I used my RH750 at loud levels for the first time with my 2 "super-fifteen" cabs. A very nice rehearsal with my new band. 6 musicians. The head was very loud, more than enough, I don't think I'll get a power amp soon.
Last time I used an old all-tube Music Man 120W amplifier paired with a Music Man 2x12 rear horn loaded cab. Same room, same band, same basses. Sounded fantastic (and they told me every former bass player in the band was equally surprised by the loudness and quality of the old rig). But lacked deep lows (the 2x12 horn is not very big, I´d say similar to a 4x10 cab). I liked very much the overall result much, not hearing anything below some 80 Hz but being loud enough and having some "natural compression and true tube sound" was a new experience to me. I didn't miss much my previous Marshall MB4410 combo. 300 "loud" Watts / 4x10. But I missed a lot on the 5th string. I had to be carful when using lowest notes, I was even moving fingesr or pick to the bridge in an attempt to boost some mids / cut lows just on these notes.
But yesterday with the RH750 I was considerably louder in all the range (with a good margin) down to the fundamental of the 5th string (playing on the neck, nexk pick-up, boosting lows for just a couple of songs). New experience to me to play music in a part of the spectrum almost empty. The RH750 probably generates their 240W (twice as much as the MusicMan), my cabs are a tad more efficient than the Music Man rear horn cabinet so I could be considerably louder than the rest of the band... down to any deep lows I could wish.
No matter how "tubey" or "compressed" my RH750W is, that's nothing to try the limits of my cabs, even if they use Kappalites 3015 non-LF. At the end of the day the 2 of them displace a bit more than a single true fEARful, and 240W with occasional bursts up to 300 or 400 is nothing for Kappalites. When testing the amp's limits I could hear the "tubey" compression similar to the MusicMan, but at much louder level (I'd say some 6...10dB over the level required for the band) and down to any frequency my basses can generate. At normal rehearse levels I turned "tubetone"up a little bit to keep the sound as nice / warm as it was during the amp loudness test. I ended up wuth both TubeTone and Spectracomp at 9.
Master was at 11 o'clock, no "peak" light at all in the pre, preset volume to 50%. This does not mean I had dozens of dB of margin, I could play some 10 dB higher slightly above noon, but then I could be maxing out the power of the amp with a lot of extra useless gain in the master control. I think many people buy thinking "if it shakes everything in the music store at 9 o'clock, then it is more powerful than this one that needs to be at 11 for the same loudness".
I suspected this from forum's comments, now I can confirm. I suspect the same is true for many other amps out there. At least there are tons of (probably useless) margin to set controls maximizing power without causing clipping in pre-amp or intermediate stages. I don't agree with some user reporting they cannot maximize power without clipping in the pre. Maybe this was referring to the RH450.
I believe my lows will be better in the next days as I break-in the woofers.
I didn't use the EQ of the amp in 3 hours, I only changed my sound as required for the song with pick / fingers, pick-up selector and the EQ in the bass (using center detents as a reference for most situations). Again, first time in my life that I got a nery nice sound boosting lows in some songs (instead of cutting mid and high or boostigng low mids). Something unheard in normal recordings or in previous amps I owned / used before.
Veredict: The RH750 is loud as hell and sounds nice at any level (even when testing its limits at an unreasonably loud level) and now I'm very happy with it. But if I had known the power story and had had easy access to Genz-Benz or Carvin amps I would have chosen their "true" watts instead. In fact I designed the cabs to deal with 750W RMS at ANY frequency content that my basses can generate. Being reasonable with EQ this could correspond to some 1500W RMS. Not 240W / 450W bursts / 900W absolute peaks from my new head.
Bottom line: very happy with the amp, not that happy with TC-E marketing because I could have optimized my rig differently if I had known the facts. Nothing new.
Now is time to play many hours and forget gear, cab making or spending time in forums
!
Last time I used an old all-tube Music Man 120W amplifier paired with a Music Man 2x12 rear horn loaded cab. Same room, same band, same basses. Sounded fantastic (and they told me every former bass player in the band was equally surprised by the loudness and quality of the old rig). But lacked deep lows (the 2x12 horn is not very big, I´d say similar to a 4x10 cab). I liked very much the overall result much, not hearing anything below some 80 Hz but being loud enough and having some "natural compression and true tube sound" was a new experience to me. I didn't miss much my previous Marshall MB4410 combo. 300 "loud" Watts / 4x10. But I missed a lot on the 5th string. I had to be carful when using lowest notes, I was even moving fingesr or pick to the bridge in an attempt to boost some mids / cut lows just on these notes.
But yesterday with the RH750 I was considerably louder in all the range (with a good margin) down to the fundamental of the 5th string (playing on the neck, nexk pick-up, boosting lows for just a couple of songs). New experience to me to play music in a part of the spectrum almost empty. The RH750 probably generates their 240W (twice as much as the MusicMan), my cabs are a tad more efficient than the Music Man rear horn cabinet so I could be considerably louder than the rest of the band... down to any deep lows I could wish.
No matter how "tubey" or "compressed" my RH750W is, that's nothing to try the limits of my cabs, even if they use Kappalites 3015 non-LF. At the end of the day the 2 of them displace a bit more than a single true fEARful, and 240W with occasional bursts up to 300 or 400 is nothing for Kappalites. When testing the amp's limits I could hear the "tubey" compression similar to the MusicMan, but at much louder level (I'd say some 6...10dB over the level required for the band) and down to any frequency my basses can generate. At normal rehearse levels I turned "tubetone"up a little bit to keep the sound as nice / warm as it was during the amp loudness test. I ended up wuth both TubeTone and Spectracomp at 9.
Master was at 11 o'clock, no "peak" light at all in the pre, preset volume to 50%. This does not mean I had dozens of dB of margin, I could play some 10 dB higher slightly above noon, but then I could be maxing out the power of the amp with a lot of extra useless gain in the master control. I think many people buy thinking "if it shakes everything in the music store at 9 o'clock, then it is more powerful than this one that needs to be at 11 for the same loudness".
I suspected this from forum's comments, now I can confirm. I suspect the same is true for many other amps out there. At least there are tons of (probably useless) margin to set controls maximizing power without causing clipping in pre-amp or intermediate stages. I don't agree with some user reporting they cannot maximize power without clipping in the pre. Maybe this was referring to the RH450.
I believe my lows will be better in the next days as I break-in the woofers.
I didn't use the EQ of the amp in 3 hours, I only changed my sound as required for the song with pick / fingers, pick-up selector and the EQ in the bass (using center detents as a reference for most situations). Again, first time in my life that I got a nery nice sound boosting lows in some songs (instead of cutting mid and high or boostigng low mids). Something unheard in normal recordings or in previous amps I owned / used before.
Veredict: The RH750 is loud as hell and sounds nice at any level (even when testing its limits at an unreasonably loud level) and now I'm very happy with it. But if I had known the power story and had had easy access to Genz-Benz or Carvin amps I would have chosen their "true" watts instead. In fact I designed the cabs to deal with 750W RMS at ANY frequency content that my basses can generate. Being reasonable with EQ this could correspond to some 1500W RMS. Not 240W / 450W bursts / 900W absolute peaks from my new head.
Bottom line: very happy with the amp, not that happy with TC-E marketing because I could have optimized my rig differently if I had known the facts. Nothing new.
Now is time to play many hours and forget gear, cab making or spending time in forums
!
I love my RH450 now that I learned how to use it ! ! !
What are your opinions of the RS112 ? Thinking of getting one and pairing it with another 112 . Does it pump , does it fart ?
Thanks 
That really depends on what you like and what you play.
Can you try them all in a store (or a few stores)?
We can only say so much... it's up to your ears.
Nice looking rig, but can you actually play it at volume without having to worry about something falling down?I love my RH450 now that I learned how to use it ! ! !
That's funny. I can see how looking at all those rounded corners can create a sort of optical illusion or suggestion of "wobbliness." I think rear alignment of the 210 adds to that.
Fact is, there's plenty of flat surface area mated in that stack.
Someone above mentioned getting a nice Motown reminiscent sound. I think, as a practical matter, especially with all the varying conditions that are out there (rooms, cabinets, strings, playing style, your personal interpretation of the difference between "round" and "meaty" in describing sound qualities), it's going to be difficult to convey the difference between those types of descriptions effectively.
That said, you might poke through this thread:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/tc-electronic-rh450-favorite-settings--thread-609634/
Another thing you might try is starting from the settings that scope out as flat and move to new tones from there.
Hello fellow TC Electronic peeps! As I am the proud owner of a TC Electronic Staccato rig I'm selling my backup RH450 rig. I'm not a supporting member yet so can't post the sale on this forum, but I'm selling the RH450 combo as well as a TC Electronic RS 210 rig on Ebay. About 2-4 hours of playing time on them total as I've used my Staccato rig mostly. Great price!
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
Thanks,
Dustin
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
Thanks,
Dustin
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Hi Chaps, may I join your throng?
Recently picked up a classic, 112 and a 210. Tonight it comes out to play, so will have a rig pic then.
Will be using full rig for blues band gigs and head and 112 for acoustic gigs.
Anyway, be nice to get a number
NS
Recently picked up a classic, 112 and a 210. Tonight it comes out to play, so will have a rig pic then.
Will be using full rig for blues band gigs and head and 112 for acoustic gigs.
Anyway, be nice to get a number
NS
)
digest and forward...
Reaper=1
Eublet=2
A J Brown=3
John Wentzien=4
J-Razz=5
LM Bass=6
dkb=7
mcnach8
KJung=9
onkelpo=10
Legion=11
oddio=12
Petersland=13
wraithwrider=14
fisheadjoe=15
drpepper=16
mingusbass=17
Sparks 55=18
Musicman20=19
jackANSI=20
Freddels=21
gnuv=22
fazzoes=23
coedvette=24
Lizzy D =25
James E=26
Addlepate=27
leehoop=28
tifftunes=29
stflbn=30
bassmanjla=31
Baird6869=32
joeykun=33
caw=34
Jam119=35
nervous=36
hogbog=37
Steve Clark=38
dimetech=39
petey=40
SharkUSMC=41
Ivan M=42
Ron Plichta=43
mjdyson=44
ms502arc=45
walkingUpright=46
frankie5string=47
antonismbass=48
TheShape101=49
jkramer5=50
jeliot=51
peledog=52
vin*tone=53
Tieiririyi=54
arai=55
Gregor69=56
4-string=57
madinventions=58
slawie=59
badboyb=60
Menno=61
parapentep70=62
pauliebass=63
dustinfennessey=64
badboyb=65
fretno=66
major10th=67
Nightsun=68
mikepcann=69
rsm=70
Abertho3=71
Reaper=1
Eublet=2
A J Brown=3
John Wentzien=4
J-Razz=5
LM Bass=6
dkb=7
mcnach8
KJung=9
onkelpo=10
Legion=11
oddio=12
Petersland=13
wraithwrider=14
fisheadjoe=15
drpepper=16
mingusbass=17
Sparks 55=18
Musicman20=19
jackANSI=20
Freddels=21
gnuv=22
fazzoes=23
coedvette=24
Lizzy D =25
James E=26
Addlepate=27
leehoop=28
tifftunes=29
stflbn=30
bassmanjla=31
Baird6869=32
joeykun=33
caw=34
Jam119=35
nervous=36
hogbog=37
Steve Clark=38
dimetech=39
petey=40
SharkUSMC=41
Ivan M=42
Ron Plichta=43
mjdyson=44
ms502arc=45
walkingUpright=46
frankie5string=47
antonismbass=48
TheShape101=49
jkramer5=50
jeliot=51
peledog=52
vin*tone=53
Tieiririyi=54
arai=55
Gregor69=56
4-string=57
madinventions=58
slawie=59
badboyb=60
Menno=61
parapentep70=62
pauliebass=63
dustinfennessey=64
badboyb=65
fretno=66
major10th=67
Nightsun=68
mikepcann=69
rsm=70
Abertho3=71
Just got my RH450 today! Sounds great, can't wait to play it on a few gigs. Pics to come.
Also, any one use the rh450 w/ the rs112 for upright? Im thinking of selling my markbass 112 combo to buy a rs 12.
Also, any one use the rh450 w/ the rs112 for upright? Im thinking of selling my markbass 112 combo to buy a rs 12.
I've had my RH450 and RC4 for several months now, and I dig it!
I'm going to try the posted flat EQ settings from BGM and use that as my new starting point, should give more room for dialing in tones with a solid flat response as a starting point.
I have three presets that I call Deep, Punch and Growl...I've used these named settings for years with my old Tech 21 Programmable Bass Driver DI which coincidentally also had 3 presets.
FWIW, Deep is a smooth bass sound, reminiscent of Beatles era McCartney; Punch has a bit more bite, close approximation to my favorite Trace Elliot MP11 (which I still own) setting ...a blend of Flea / Steve Digiorgio tone; finally, Growl is an early '70s Yes Chris Squire tone (Fragile, CTTE, Relayer, etc.). My main bass is a Ric 4003, so YMMV.
No cabs needed here, as I run my RH450 direct to FOH or my Bose L1 Model II.
I'm going to try the posted flat EQ settings from BGM and use that as my new starting point, should give more room for dialing in tones with a solid flat response as a starting point.
I have three presets that I call Deep, Punch and Growl...I've used these named settings for years with my old Tech 21 Programmable Bass Driver DI which coincidentally also had 3 presets.
FWIW, Deep is a smooth bass sound, reminiscent of Beatles era McCartney; Punch has a bit more bite, close approximation to my favorite Trace Elliot MP11 (which I still own) setting ...a blend of Flea / Steve Digiorgio tone; finally, Growl is an early '70s Yes Chris Squire tone (Fragile, CTTE, Relayer, etc.). My main bass is a Ric 4003, so YMMV.
No cabs needed here, as I run my RH450 direct to FOH or my Bose L1 Model II.
