Why are the Ampeg Portaflex amps so cheap?

[hsech]

They are popular amps that sell well. Selling in high numbers allows them to keep the price down and pass the savings along. Makes it difficult for other companies to compete. The PF-500 and PF-800 offer professional features.

The amps aren't cheap, they are inexpensive.

Similar to the Fender Rumble amps. Thousands sold, simple, inexpensive to manufacture and very popular. What's not to like. Both Ampeg and Fender found winners with the two amps.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Problems reported on here with the PF500 are much fewer over the past couple years. PF350 and PF800 have always been solid with very few reports of breakage. I also witnessed Ampeg CS stepping up and doing their best to take care of customers who had problems, including doing stuff like sending them out new amps before the old ones got sent back and upgrading their original purchases to something else when back-ordered. So hd, I don't see where you can call Ampeg's CS unresponsive, but I guess you can't please everybody who's trying to get their out-of-warranty stuff repaired for free

And Markbass' stuff is made in Indonesia, and every manufacturer uses mostly Chinese parts regardless of where they're assembled, so I can't see cost of manufacture being grossly different for any of them.

The problem is that Ampeg refuses to cover products that are still under warranty. Ampeg gives a warranty to the buyer, not the product. Total BS in my opinion.

I will admit, if you are the original owner, they are pretty good at taking back their faulty crap and giving you back your money.

 

[[skyraider]]

I have a PF500 that I've been playing through an old Carvin 4x10 8 Ohm for over a year now and have had no reliability issues. And have gotten quite a few compliments on the tone over that time.

Many rehearsal rooms in my area are stocking the Portaflex amp combos with the PF500 and they seem to be quite loud.

So I've been wanting to get rid of the big, clunky Carvin cab and go with something that fit under the tonneau cover of my pickup truck. I bought the PF210HE yesterday and gigged it last night. I was pretty disappointed-- It sounds great at LOW volumes, but couldn't handle the low B without rolling off almost all of the bass. It was just barely handling the low E. I was really put-out because the cab is very light and compact and seems to be well-built. In retrospect I'm thinking the rehearsal rooms might have been running the 4x10 version of the cab, but it won't fit under the tonneau, so I'm back to looking at other options.

Also: I used to have two Markbass amps a few years ago and liked them both, but I see no reason to give up my PF-500. I really like it.

 

[shawshank72]

From the 3 or 4 people i have ran into who played these i would say its because you have to go through 2 or 3 of them to find one that works without a fail.

 

[CL400Peavey]

For one thing, having tried the PF500 in the store as well, I can say, if you are expecting a "comparable" volume to a typical 500 watt amp thru the same cabinet, all things being equal, you will most likely be dis-appointed. The one I played, has maybe slightly more volume than my GK MB200. (Which is plenty loud to gig with 2 cabinets BTW).

If you cant get a PF-500 appreciably louder than a GK mb200, then something is wrong with the amp, or how you have it set up.

 

[Robroy]

Cheaper? If it's too good to be true, it's not true. You gets what you pay for, and takes your chances.

Have not played through those PF ampeg heads, but there seem to be a lot of reliability issues mentioned throughout TB, and not the kind of customer service kudos that GK get for dealing with reliability issues on their MB heads when made in China, and now with manufacture brought back to the US.

Sometimes something is cheaper because it doesn't cost much to make. And sometimes that is because of technological improvements in manufacturing, design and materials.

I'm reminded of a pickup canopy manufacturer in Olympia WA that made those wood framed "squarish looking" aluminum skinned canopies, custom, built to your pickup's dimensions. Meanwhile, a nice fiberglass shell was very shiny and aerodynamic and painted to match your vehicle - and cheaper. They were also significantly lighter weight and much easier to remove and re-attach. But some "purists" said the wood/aluminum was the "quality" route for people that wanted the best - and the price reflected it.

I have not seen one of those canopies "new" in at least 15 years.

More expensive is not better, and sometimes there is a weirdly skewed perception of what is "good" within the ranks of those that are "purists" of a particular item.

 

[obimark]

If you cant get a PF-500 appreciably louder than a GK mb200, then something is wrong with the amp, or how you have it set up.

I am pretty sure I know how to use the Gain/Volume and tone controls on the head after 20+ years of playing bass,so I will assume something was wrong with it then.

 

[Eidolon0274]

Place of manufacture. Resale has probably lowered due to reliability issues, specially on the PF500. Yea i know, yours is perfect and is a workhorse and has never had any problems...Im just going off what i have read over the years on these forums. I would gladly play a PF800 without a backup.

 

[DirtDog]

One of the PF500s I own was returned to MF by a TBer (who shall remain anonymous) as not working. I've been gigging it for over three years now. So at least one of the claims of user error with that amp is true.

Mute Button Malfunction?

I'm on my second PF 500 rig (sold the first one to a buddy in need when I wasn't gigging much on bass). When I got back into gigging on bass, I immediately went back to the PF500.

Is it the "best amp" out there? Probably not, but it suits my needs and performs as it should.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Comments from people that have tried products certainly are helpful and are of value. I always check out reviews. But if I based my purchase decisions on internet comments, I would be too terrified to buy anything.

Every major purchase that I've made has come with some negative reviews and horror stories. But issues that are in the past are taken care of. Problems are fixed. Companies strive to improve their performance. Fortunately, I've never had any product issues with any of my purchases.

When I'm buying a newly designed car, I like to wait six months or a year for them to field test the product on a large scale and get the bugs out. The same applies to electronics and amps.

 

[JakobT]

The problem is that Ampeg refuses to cover products that are still under warranty. Ampeg gives a warranty to the buyer, not the product. Total BS in my opinion.

I will admit, if you are the original owner, they are pretty good at taking back their faulty crap and giving you back your money.

I've never heard of anyone giving a warranty to anyone but the original purchaser.

 

[gjohnson441496]

I have a friend that bought a PF500 and I couldn't wait to plug into it. I was very disappointed after doing so. There was really nothing to be excited about. I figured it was an amp designed for beginners or for someone that needed a low volume amp. He eventually sold it back to GC, after trying to sell it to me.

 

[okcrum]

Mute Button Malfunction?

I actually managed to locate and PM the TBer who returned it to find out. It was a variant of the "mid control does not work" syndrome. I think it is the most common Ampeg "failure". JimmyM explained it to me. Folks change the center frequency switch for mids and notice no change since they never touched the mid level (from 12 o'clock), so they think it's broke.

I'm on my second PF 500 rig (sold the first one to a buddy in need when I wasn't gigging much on bass). When I got back into gigging on bass, I immediately went back to the PF500.

Is it the "best amp" out there? Probably not, but it suits my needs and performs as it should.

 

[okcrum]

I have a friend that bought a PF500 and I couldn't wait to plug into it. I was very disappointed after doing so. There was really nothing to be excited about. I figured it was an amp designed for beginners or for someone that needed a low volume amp. He eventually sold it back to GC, after trying to sell it to me.

Well, we know from another thread that the PF500 is not powerful enough to use with a 410HLF, with no PA support, in a college marching band at a basketball game. Are those similar to the volume levels you work at?

 

[Fat Steve]

Congratulations on getting a good one. I've never had any problems demoing them. It's just the risk seemed to great to only have that head for shows.

I dont think anyone is claiming all the amps failed, are bunk, or are garbage. Far from it. There are numerous vocal and happy pf owners. Because yours is fine doesn't mean there aren't/weren't reliability issues. The thing that scared these people off (myself included) was the alarming rate of failures other tb'rs were having leaving some amp-less. It doesn't even have to be a majority of amps failing. All it takes is enough to feel like there's a mild chance that you might and up left out in the rain. This website can be the kiss of death to a line.

Like Jimmy said, the issues are becoming much less common. However, what people remember is the word of mouth issues, substantiated or not.

Besides markbass being import and Aguilar being hand made in New York it seems as though this reputation (earned or not) has damaged the used value of pf500's. This is especially unfortunate if the new stuff is great/of great quality.

I keep searching for problems relating to the PF-350 and or the PF-800, and there aren't any known issues that I can find. You did catch the part that mine was a PF-350, right?

So are you painting the entire portaflex product line with a broad brush because of the issues with the PF-500? If so, why?

 

[Buzz E]

I've never heard of anyone giving a warranty to anyone but the original purchaser.

Fender has a Transferable Warranty on some stuff. I bought a used Rumble from a private party and along with the amp he gave me the original receipt. A few months later the amp gave me problems and Fender replaced it, no questions asked. Luckily I had kept the receipt.

 

[Fat Steve]

Well, we know from another thread that the PF500 is not powerful enough to use with a 410HLF, with no PA support, in a college marching band at a basketball game. Are those similar to the volume levels you work at?

My 350 gets loud enough to be told to turn down, and that's in a folk rock band with a heavy handed drummer and a guitar player that likes his volume loud. i never get these "hurr durr it's not loud at all lolol" posts.

 

[Joebone]

I've never heard of anyone giving a warranty to anyone but the original purchaser.

Transferrable warranties have been out there, but not common.

 

[Robroy]

My 350 gets loud enough to be told to turn down, and that's in a folk rock band with a heavy handed drummer and a guitar player that likes his volume loud. i never get these "hurr durr it's not loud at all lolol" posts.

In my first band experience, as bass player in a small church, the sound man (husband of the keyboard player) would keep telling me I was too loud. Finally, in one rehearsal, I kept turning down until I had turned my bass completely off, but I kept playing. His wife stopped the music and said I was STILL too loud. At that point I revealed my pet peeve to the band. To wit, the guitar player, who could only strum chords, was running two 4x12 cabs with a peavey 200 watt head with his bass turned up.

That fixed it.

 

[Spuk]

Just go with carvin. My bx500 is louder than I should need for the foreseeable future. It sounds great, and its priced like an Indonesian made amp but it's made in the USA.