Painy Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 A few weeks back the amp in my trusty old Ampeg BA500 combo died at a gig and after it's intended replacement which I bought from here was brutally murdered in transit by myHermes, I had to look for another replacement within my very limited (£200) budget. The problem I had was that (as I was planning to continue using the old combo without the amp as just a 2x10 speaker cab) the new amp had to be able to run down to 2ohms like the old BA500 had (4ohm 2x10 & 8ohm 1x15 = 2.67ohms). Anyway, this is the solution I came up with:- 2 x Behringer BVT4500H heads at just £98 each (thank you very much Thomann) with each head running a cab. By linking the preamp out on one to the poweramp in on the other, they're both controlled from one preamp with the other head becoming a slave. After a first attempt at gigging it all last night my thoughts on the amps are: On the down side- These amps really are not all that loud at all given the 450w rating at 4ohms. To get to similar volume to the old amp set on 2 (my normal gig volume) this was set on nearly 7. Still plenty loud enough but nowhere near as much headroom. Bearing in mind though that's running 2 of them! The controls, and particularly the graphic eq , feel distinctly cheaper than the Ampeg. They are pretty heavy and again I now have to carry two of them about. On the plus side though- The sound! For a while before it died, my old amp was gradually losing bottom end for some unknown reason, but last night it was back in spades. When I hit the open low B with the bass set at 7 it felt like my lungs were going to fall out of my bottom! For the first set I did think it was lacking a little zing and sizzle in the top end but then remembered that the horn was turned all the way off on the cab. After turning the horn back up (to just over halfway) for the second set though - just wow! Classic Ampeg SVT tone! Overall I can happily live with all the downsides in exchange for Ampeg tone and a 3 year warranty for second-hand Ashdown money. The only other thing is it's, er..... A bit big! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 [quote name='Painy' timestamp='1433672662' post='2792910'] When I hit the open low B with the bass set at 7 it felt like my lungs were going to fall out of my bottom! [/quote] Quote of the month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Can we expect to see a bicep development photo diary from you any time soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1433674007' post='2792933'] Can we expect to see a bicep development photo diary from you any time soon? [/quote] Well to be fair, carrying one in each hand from the car is a bit like a farmer's walk in a strong man competition Edited June 7, 2015 by Painy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Nice looking stack - very glad I don`t have to carry any of it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I can't help thinking you may have been better off spending the £200 on getting the Ampeg repaired.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 [quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1433676591' post='2792970'] I can't help thinking you may have been better off spending the £200 on getting the Ampeg repaired.... [/quote] I'm actually getting married next week and with all the last minute arrangements, looking after 2 littluns under 2 and working full time - plus living out in the sticks miles away from the nearest amp tech - I've not had any time to take it anywhere to get it fixed and just placing a quick order with Thomann just seemed easier. I had actually planned to take the amp out of the combo anyway to reduce its back breaking 95lb weight and build a head box for it but that was going to cost a fair bit in materials so I kinda saw this as killing 2 birds with one stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Fair point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted July 19, 2015 Author Share Posted July 19, 2015 The old combo has now been cut down to make it just a 2x10 cab so there's no weird hole through the middle of my rig anymore and it's ever so slightly less ridiculously tall now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Have you been a bit cheeky with the badges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painy Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1437828582' post='2829366'] Have you been a bit cheeky with the badges? [/quote] I'm afraid I have. I like the look of a matched stack and while I did consider re-badging the cabs as Behringer, I opted for this in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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