thinking of getting a micro amp

[JimmyM]

The TC RH450 is the bomb if you dig a classic Ampeg type tone. It is one of the loudest small heads I've ever heard (don't let the 450 rating fool you). Also, the 'Classic' would probably sound great if emulating an Ampeg was your main goal, and it is a few hundred less than the fully featured RH450

It's almost like they have one of those VT pedals built in, and the additional features of the 'top of the line' RH450 are great (tuner, compressor, tube emulation, and four full bands of EQ). The 'Classic' has fixed EQ, compressor (GREAT compressor) and tube emulation, but does not have the tuner,memory presets, or semi-parametric EQ of the RH450.

These heads do a pretty good 'SVT' imitation, but also can get clean and modern if you want it. They like 4ohms (given they are solid state amps) to get the full wump out there.

Ken, by SVT imitation, do you mean it sounds like an SVT turned up into the red at low volumes, or do you mean that it cops the clean SVT sounds as well? Because that's the big selling point of the VT...that it does both clean and dirty and sounds like an SVT or B-15 no matter which way you go. And since you're on record as saying it doesn't matter whether you use tubes or SS if all you want is clean tones (it does, but that's beside the point), I thought I'd better clarify.

Not that I'd ever buy one since I consider the folks who run TC a bunch of JO's, but I would like to know for curiosity's sake.

 

[JimmyM]

What op-amps are you running in them??

I think it was Munji goofing on his new hobby, switching tubes in and out of an amp in the quest for the most perfect sound ever.

 

[KJung]

Ken, by SVT imitation, do you mean it sounds like an SVT turned up into the red at low volumes, or do you mean that it cops the clean SVT sounds as well? Because that's the big selling point of the VT...that it does both clean and dirty and sounds like an SVT or B-15 no matter which way you go. And since you're on record as saying it doesn't matter whether you use tubes or SS if all you want is clean tones (it does, but that's beside the point), I thought I'd better clarify.

Not that I'd ever buy one since I consider the folks who run TC a bunch of JO's, but I would like to know for curiosity's sake.

The clean tone along with the 'moderate growl' (i.e., more like a 'better' VT pedal) I don't think any sort of tube emulation does a good job of the all out, pushed into the red snarl of the classic SVT tone.

The tube emulation of the TC sounds very good though.. it adds a bit of 'feel' along with the tube tone. The tube emulation has a bit of compression as part of its tone profile, and that seems to do a pretty good job of mimicing a bit of the 'feel' you get from tubes IMO (again, close but no cigar, but as close as I've experienced from a solid state power section).

I was able to mimic the 'clean tone' of the TC RH450 with my LMII by dialing up the VLE to about 11 o'clock and reducing the low end a click. However, the LMII didn't have that 'character' that I associate with a tube amp (that sort of harmonic complexity, etc.). The TC RH450 (and I assume Classic) had that in spades. Really impressive box, and it seems like a majority of players on the TC bandwagon have come from Ampeg.

 

[JimmyM]

Very interesting. Thanks for the extra details. Sounds like I might actually like it. Too bad that TC could never get me to buy any of their products in a million years.

 

[KJung]

Very interesting. Thanks for the extra details. Sounds like I might actually like it. Too bad that TC could never get me to buy any of their products in a million years.

Their initial marketing campaign was a bit 'over the top', but they seem like a solid company, and Donovan (a TBer who runs Fretspot.com) is a GREAT retailer who really takes care of you and represents TC very nicely.

It's a cool box though. I'm not one to really use all the fancy stuff on amps (compressors, presets, etc.), but the usability of this thing is amazing. Dial in a tone with the four bands of semi-parametric EQ, put a touch of state of the art multiband compression and a little 'tube warming' if you want, then push a button and it is stored. Very cool. It's like having a three channel amp! You can store EQ (frequency and level), tube emulation, compression pre gain level AND post gain level (i.e., the signal level just before it hits the master). Very cool.

 

[Eublet]

Very interesting. Thanks for the extra details. Sounds like I might actually like it. Too bad that TC could never get me to buy any of their products in a million years.

Dude, put your grinding ax away. Seriously, you got upset over nothing, and you're giving TC bad press that they don't deserve. Sorry you didn't get the entitlement you thought you deserved, and that they don't run their marketing campaigns to your standards, but move on or something. Do they really deserve you bashing them every time their products are mentioned?

 

[Passinwind]

I was able to mimic the 'clean tone' of the TC RH450 with my LMII by dialing up the VLE to about 11 o'clock and reducing the low end a click. However, the LMII didn't have that 'character' that I associate with a tube amp (that sort of harmonic complexity, etc.). The TC RH450 (and I assume Classic) had that in spades. Really impressive box, and it seems like a majority of players on the TC bandwagon have come from Ampeg.

+1

I played through a friend's RH450 at a big jam (15+ players) the other day, and Ampeg-ish was definitely the vibe I got. In all honestly, I look forward to dialing some of that out when we get together the next time. He's got it dialed in perfectly for old school rock tone though, I have to say.

 

[KJung]

+1

I played through a friend's RH450 at a big jam (15+ players) the other day, and Ampeg-ish was definitely the vibe I got. In all honestly, I look forward to dialing some of that out when we get together the next time. He's got it dialed in perfectly for old school rock tone though, I have to say.

+1 If you (obviously) turn that tube emulation thing off, and widen the shelving start points for the bass and treble (they are set at 280hz and 1.5K in default mode, which gives the amp that old school sort of chewiness in the low mids, and more grind than sparkle up top), it moderns up pretty nicely, although it doesn't quite have the 'sheen' way up top of the Markbass stuff.

 

[Eublet]

Like Ken said, drop the bass frequency all the way down, and turn the treble way up, 3 o'clock or more, based on taste.

I also have played with changing the two mid-centers to get a more modern sound, and it works great. I'll take the high-mid center up to around 1k, and the low-mid to around 600k. The 600k setting is great because you can add or subtract the amount of "cut" you want in a mix without really changing the tone of the bass. It's a very neutral mid-center in many respects. The 1k hi-mid still lets you remove some of that upper-mid yacking without removing the mid-punch, but it will also remove more of the fret grind. Of course, if you drop the treble down to around 2k, you can add plenty of fret grind in if you want.

Another thing that works. If you like the low-mid of your bass, then drop the low center all the way down, and boost it a bit for more open low end. Set the Low-mid around 800-1k to remove that gank, set the hi-mid to around 2k to control fret grind/noise, and then set the high center all the way at the top for sizzle. Boost the lows and highs to taste, and use the two mids to actually sculpt the voice of the instrument.

Lots of options with 4 semi-parametric contols!

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Its going to be tough to get something other than a "name your favorite micro amp" response from everybody. If you are happy with your SVT (and why would you not be?), then I'm going to assume that you like the way it sounds. From your post, it sounds like you may keep the SVT and are just looking for a smaller amp for practice and for when you don't feel like lugging around an 70 pound head....

...So, I'd probably take a good hard look at the LMIII and the BX500 if I were you.

you are correct that I don't want to fire up the SVT every time I want to diddle round or practice on an idea I came up with.
But it doesn't have to sound exactly like the SVT, as long as it has a tome I can be happy with, from an SVT user's standpoint.

I have played through an LM III at GC, but that was through a pair of MB 2x10's and a Sterling 5 HH. I was greatly impressed with the sound. But I always find that amps sound really good at the store, but then sound different at home.

That RH450 amp sounds really nice, but too bad it costs $1000...

 

[JimmyM]

Dude, put your grinding ax away. Seriously, you got upset over nothing, and you're giving TC bad press that they don't deserve. Sorry you didn't get the entitlement you thought you deserved, and that they don't run their marketing campaigns to your standards, but move on or something. Do they really deserve you bashing them every time their products are mentioned?

First off Jason, I haven't mentioned them in a long time. Second, don't worry about what I do with my grinding ax.

 

[Passinwind]

Like Ken said, drop the bass frequency all the way down, and turn the treble way up, 3 o'clock or more, based on taste.

I also have played with changing the two mid-centers to get a more modern sound, and it works great. I'll take the high-mid center up to around 1k, and the low-mid to around 600k. The 600k setting is great because you can add or subtract the amount of "cut" you want in a mix without really changing the tone of the bass. It's a very neutral mid-center in many respects. The 1k hi-mid still lets you remove some of that upper-mid yacking without removing the mid-punch, but it will also remove more of the fret grind. Of course, if you drop the treble down to around 2k, you can add plenty of fret grind in if you want.

Another thing that works. If you like the low-mid of your bass, then drop the low center all the way down, and boost it a bit for more open low end. Set the Low-mid around 800-1k to remove that gank, set the hi-mid to around 2k to control fret grind/noise, and then set the high center all the way at the top for sizzle. Boost the lows and highs to taste, and use the two mids to actually sculpt the voice of the instrument.

Lots of options with 4 semi-parametric controls!

Thanks to both you and Ken. But bear in mind that I never, ever, play fretted basses, and in fact I use my EUB at least 90% of the time when I play out...

 

[R. Laevinus]

...soooo, I have an ENX-260 (budget model Eden micro), and I am very happy with it. Opinions seem to be divided here as to Eden't micros (the ENX-260, WTX-260 and WTX-500), but I'm okay with them.

I would prefer that my amp had a compressor defeat, and that I could jack it to 11 without the power amp limiter coming into effect, however, it is a small box with a small price tag (I paid circa 400 for it, retail), and you do get what you pay for. What you get is good, solid, deep tone, and enough power to play small gigs and rehearsals. You'll want to try one yourself though, to see if there's enough punch and power for you.

The only others I've tried are the Markbass units - they're good, solid amps with good tone. I haven't played them enough to really comment, but I can tell you now that I'm looking at either a Little Mark 3 or a WTX-500 for my next amp. For practice and small gig duty, if you're interested, I'm looking at an Ampeg 2x10 micro cab, and I'd like to swap out my 56-pound Yamaha 2x10 for something like a Markbass Traveller 102.

 

[KJung]

Thanks to both you and Ken. But bear in mind that I never, ever, play fretted basses, and in fact I use my EUB at least 90% of the time when I play out...

I have very good luck with my piezo loaded Rob Allens with this head also. The RH450 is a bit low end attenuated when all the tone controls are at noon. This is not a bad thing for that huge piezo low end. I basically turn the tube emulation and compressor off, keep the low end 'neutral', and just mess with the low mid control to make it 'still woody sounding but not thin, nor overly boomy'. The default low mid center point works pretty well, and the relatively mid-oriented voicing of the unit works great (IMO) on fretless basses with piezo's, which can get a bit bloomy with some rigs. IMO and IME.

 

[Eublet]

Thanks to both you and Ken. But bear in mind that I never, ever, play fretted basses, and in fact I use my EUB at least 90% of the time when I play out...

Ah, I didn't know that. I'm probably the last person who could advise you on any of this then!

 

[JazznFunk]

Munji, you made me do a double-take at first, thinking someone had taken a picture of *my* setup and posted it for some reason. haha! That's exactly the setup I used this past weekend, minus my ART Tube preamp and my chorus pedal. That VT Bass just makes EVERYTHING sound better... even an Eden!

Here's a pic of my SVT rig.

 

[Doodaddy]

It's 13 lbs, so not "micro", but a Mesa Walkabout will give you better tone, imo.

I recently picked one of these up and I couldn't agree more. It's fairly large for its class, but 13lbs in a carrying bag is very easily managed.

 

[Eublet]

I recently picked one of these up and I couldn't agree more. It's fairly large for its class, but 13lbs in a carrying bag is very easily managed.

Definitely. The Walkabout is THE definitive old-school head in a portable format IMO. The RH450 is a complement to that. If Mesa would update the Walkabout with a bit more power (it's only weakness IMO), then it would be hard for me to resist. When it comes to the tone, I can think of very few heads in any weight category that sound as good as a Walkabout.

 

[Doodaddy]

I do think 300 watts is a bit limited, but it's been fine for me so far. If it were 500, perfection.

 

[Eublet]

I do think 300 watts is a bit limited, but it's been fine for me so far. If it were 500, perfection.

They designed it to be a portable gigging amp, and for that there is plenty of power! So in that respect, they accomplished their goal. The drawback is that the Walkabout sounds so darn good that it makes you want to use it for those big events, and then it just doesn't quite have enough sometimes. I need to quit talking about the Walkabout, or I'll get gassed to pick another up.