SmallDawg Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 (edited) Hey there The title says it all really, what i'm after is some advice on any rack mountable amp heads with a graphic EQ that i should look in to for up to £250. I'm mainly after an Ampeg B2-RE but typically, since having the money, i haven't seen any available. There were loads available on eBay and Gumtree leading up to the point of having the money! Bloody annoying eh! The practise space I use has them in every room but whenever I'm there, the owner isn't so I can't even ask them in they'll sell one. I've also tried emailing them but got no reply haha. So yeah, whatever amp i buy, it has to be 2u rack mountable, 250w @ 8ohm and have a graphic EQ. I have owned a Hartke LH500 before and hated it so please don't recommend one of those or anything Markbass (not a fan of their stuff what so ever). My budget is £200 - £250 at very maximum. I'm using a Sansamp RBI and DBX 1066 compressor that i'm running in to it just so you know what my signal chain is. Thank you in advance Edited September 13, 2014 by SmallDawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmallDawg Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Anybody? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) I was going to suggest Hartke HA3500, but you seem to have ruled that out. How can you know if any other suggestion will please you more than that..? You'd have to play one to find out, anyway. There's a whole world of other amps that fit the price range (Trace Elliot..? Ashdown..? Aguilar..?), some are offered in the forum Marketplace, but you might not like those, either. What was so wrong with the LH500 that created this allergy..? Could you be more specific (Too heavy..? Unreliable..? Wrong colour..?)..? Edited September 13, 2014 by Dad3353 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmallDawg Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1410620479' post='2551339'] I was going to suggest Hartke HA3500, but you seem to have ruled that out. How can you know if any other suggestion will please you more than that..? You'd have to play one to find out, anyway. There's a whole world of other amps that fit the price range (Trace Elliot..? Ashdown..? Aguilar..?), some are offered in the forum Marketplace, but you might not like those, either. What was so wrong with the LH500 that created this allergy..? Could you be more specific (Too heavy..? Unreliable..? Wrong colour..?)..? [/quote] The only Hartke I ruled out was the LH500/LH1000 because i don't like the fact it's a "cut only" circuit on it, you have to have everything on full just to have it running flat and that isn't how i like to run my amps, i like to boost the bass & treble but drop a bit of the mids out. I know some people like that but personally, i found it to be a glorified power amp that essentially had a passive tone circuit in it. The lack of gain control also annoyed me eventually. I'll be honest, the only reason I bought it is because i'm a big Megadeth/Black Label Society fan and saw David Ellefson & JD DeServio endorsing them so i bought one. Both of them then swapped them out for the Hartke Kilo not long after they both started using them. So yeah, the lack of tonal control, & lack of gain control are what eventually made me sell mine. The Hartke 3500 seems to be a good choice of amp though. I'd love to get an Ampeg B2-RE as said but they seem to be few and far between at the moment. I used to own a Trace Elliot GP12SMX (the 2u one, not the huge 3u one) and I loved it but sold it when my old band broke up. I've tried to find one recently but they all seem to be £300 plus. Briefly owned a GK 700RBII but got annoyed with the fact everything was on the front (effects loop, tuner loop etc) and it only had one speaker out. As for Ashdown, I'd love to try out one of the ABM RC EVOIII 500 or the MK500/JJ500 but they seem to be well out of my budget and don't like the lack of tonal control on the others. Never tried any Aguilar stuff but from what I've seen, it's all really out of my budget again. Wouldn't mind trying some Aguilar stuff though. Sorry for the long answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 [quote name='SmallDawg' timestamp='1410622804' post='2551374'] Sorry for the long answer [/quote] Don't be; that's how we can best help you. There's an HA3500 in your budget right now in the 'Amps and Cabs For Sale' section (I have one of these; it's a very 'all-purpose' amp, lot's of folks get on well with them...), there's also an Aguilar just slightly more than the budget you've set. Have you had a look through there..? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/forum/20-amps-and-cabs-for-sale/"]Amps and Cabs For Sale...[/url] Hint : there's a 'Custom' menu in the black bar; one can filter to see only 'Open' ads. Another hint : It's a good idea to fill in your Profile, so that folks can see your location (helps with delivery options and such...). No obligation, of course, but it's useful. Good luck in your quest, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funky8884 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 There was an EBS hd 350 floating about in the For Sale Forum , good and good price . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmallDawg Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1410626438' post='2551417'] Don't be; that's how we can best help you. There's an HA3500 in your budget right now in the 'Amps and Cabs For Sale' section (I have one of these; it's a very 'all-purpose' amp, lot's of folks get on well with them...), there's also an Aguilar just slightly more than the budget you've set. Have you had a look through there..? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/forum/20-amps-and-cabs-for-sale/"]Amps and Cabs For Sale...[/url] [/quote] I messaged the bloke with the HA3500 this morning but he said he has nothing to courier it in and being up in Merseyside, that's miles away from me as i live an hour out of london. Shame though because I've used a 2500 combo before and it sounded really good so the 3500 would of been quite nice. As for the Aguilar one, i just saw that on there so i had a read up on it and it doesn't seem they do a rack kit for it anywhere plus as you say, it's over my budget anyway :/ [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1410626438' post='2551417'] Hint : there's a 'Custom' menu in the black bar; one can filter to see only 'Open' ads. Another hint : It's a good idea to fill in your Profile, so that folks can see your location (helps with delivery options and such...). No obligation, of course, but it's useful. Good luck in your quest, anyway. [/quote] All done Just been an done it, completely forgot to update it all. Thank you for the tip and thanks for the good luck! [quote name='funky8884' timestamp='1410629669' post='2551468'] There was an EBS hd 350 floating about in the For Sale Forum , good and good price . [/quote] Yeah i saw that on there but again, out of my budget and it was "sale pending" when i saw it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkin Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 [quote name='SmallDawg' timestamp='1410631088' post='2551488'] I've used a 2500 combo before and it sounded really good [/quote] I've an HA2500 head that I'll probably be shifting in a couple of weeks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funky8884 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 It's definitely worth spending the extra few quid on secondhand goods as the small increase in price can make a huge difference in quality, just my 2 pence, Happy hunting ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmallDawg Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 [quote name='funky8884' timestamp='1410632929' post='2551507'] It's definitely worth spending the extra few quid on secondhand goods as the small increase in price can make a huge difference in quality, just my 2 pence, Happy hunting ! [/quote] I really wish i could throw some more money in to the pot but I really haven't got the money to do so. My "happily do that" budget would be £200-£220, my "fine i suppose I need to" budget would be up to £250 haha. Annoy thing is, i saw 3 Ampeg B2's going for under £200 in the month leading up to me having this money. Now I can't find them for love nor money anywhere which is why i'm thinking of other options as a back up plan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I know it's a bit late now, but it's worth noting that with the LH amps, with the eqs all at noon, you'll get a slight boost to top and bottom, with a cut in the mids. That passive eq isn't for everyone though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmallDawg Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 [quote name='Mikey R' timestamp='1410638805' post='2551575'] I know it's a bit late now, but it's worth noting that with the LH amps, with the eqs all at noon, you'll get a slight boost to top and bottom, with a cut in the mids. That passive eq isn't for everyone though. [/quote] Yeah i tried the noon EQ and tried so many different variants on it. I kinda liked the sound of it when i was jamming in my garage but when i got it in to a gigging environment, it was totally different. I ended up asking the sound man at one of the gigs to run just the DI from my rig out to the head then EQ the hell out of it. It's unfortunate but as you say, the passive EQ isn't for everyone. Fair enough to the people that do like it, it's just a case of horses for courses/whatever floats our boats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ern500evo Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 If you've played and liked a Hartke HA series amp before, wouldn't it be worth buying the one in the for sale section here and just jumping on a train/coach to collect it. You'd still be within budget and have an amp which you know you like. Just a thought. Good luck in your search man, it can be so frustrating when you settle on something and then they just don't appear to come up for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 (edited) I'm with Dad3553. HA3500. A VERY good workhorse. I've had one since about 2002. It did hundreds of gigs but it developed a fault that was so intermittment I couldn't be bothered with it, so I sold it as faulty and I managed to pick up another HA3500 cheap from DV247 which I still have. Currently I'm using an ampeg pf-500 but the Hartke is in the rehearsal studio as is still used whenever we rehearse. There's plenty of them about. good luck Edited September 14, 2014 by police squad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 250 watts will not be noticeably louder than 200 into the same cab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmallDawg Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) There's a lot of love for the HA3500/HA series in general. I have my eye on one on eBay at the moment. If I was to get a train up to Liverpool to go get the one that's on here, it would end up being more than I want to spend as a train ticket up to there is about £50 minimum. I'm going to keep my eye out mainly for either an Ampeg B2R, Bugera BVP5500 or reluctantly a Trace Elliot GP12SMX (as i owned one before and quite liked it but it's definitely not my first choice right now). [quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1410777888' post='2552895'] 250 watts will not be noticeably louder than 200 into the same cab. [/quote] Yeah I know there won't be much difference between 200/250 watts, that just seems to be the usual rating of the amps I'm looking at that run 8 ohms Edited September 16, 2014 by SmallDawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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