Beer of the Bass

Yep, when I emailed on Thursday they gave the impression they'd send the replacement in advance so that I wasn't waiting, but when I called them today they seemed much less certain about whether it would be repaired or replaced or what the wait would be. They're apparently calling me back by the end of today, though I think there's only half an hour of their business hours left. Beginning to wish I'd just kept quiet and bought some new power valves...

Hmm, I'm hoping they come through OK for me. I contacted them on Thursday, my amp was collected on Friday, but I haven't had any notification about the replacement being dispatched yet. Was hoping to try it out at a rehearsal tomorrow too...

It looks like an Underwood. Shadow also make one that looks similar, though I'm not sure how to tell them apart.

Hmm, I may have spoken too soon - after the first couple of hours playing at home, the bias indicator lights are showing a fault and it can't be adjusted to the correct condition. Reading through the manual, it's almost certainly a power valve issue, though I don't have any 6L6GT valves around to verify this. Fortunately, Kenny's have been helpful to deal with, and are arranging an exchange. I did suggest that I'd be happy with just replacement valves, but apparently Polar don't stock them, they just exchange whole units. Still, it does sound good, and failures in the first few hours can happen with any valves, so I'm not too worried as long as it gets sorted...

Another quick observation; the published dimensions are wrong. This thing is 15" or 381mm wide, not 353mm as quoted. Worth noting if you're searching for a case or if you use a small cab and are bothered about overhang.

It has arrived intact, and first impressions after some low volume noodling are good. It's a nice width to sit on top of my homebuilt 1x12 cabs too. Like most Ampegs I've played, I have to roll the bass back a little, but it does a very nice subtle transition into grit as the gain is advanced, which is a big part of what I'm after.

I've been well pleased with my MB200, and not just as a backup - it's a good sounding little amp and has enough oomph for most settings I've played in. They're cheap as chips secondhand, and they use a speakon connector so you wouldn't have to carry different cables to use one as backup.

They're scooped if you turn the bass and treble up all the way, which seems to be a surprisingly popular way to use them!

In the kind of setting I'd tend to play in, guitarists are rarely using more than a 1x12 combo, drummers usually have some subtlety and there are often multiple vocals or acoustic instruments that necessitate keeping the stage volume reasonable. In that environment I've found that a 100 watt valve amp through a reasonably efficient 2x12" cab was always more than ample. So I'd expect to push a 50 watt amp a little more, but that should be a fun sound anyway. With that in mind (and experience with several valve amps from 40 up to 100 watts), I'm pretty confident that the Pf-50t will work for me. If your guitarists and drummer have more rockish tendencies, then you'd probably want a little more.

Well, I went for it! I guess I'll report back when it shows up...

Aargh, I notice Kenny's is showing the PF50t as still available, and I might be close to caving in! I have a new band lined up who are retro-minded and not crazy loud, so I'm kind of tempted. My old Dynacord would do the job, but this is lighter and has useful stuff like midrange EQ and DI outs that would make it more useful for gigging...

That would make sense, since since the Series 2 is the one that Francis published the schematic for! Myself, I'm going to pick up a Schalltechnik Vong Filterung kit (snappy name!) when they're back in stock. They have a fixed and a variable HPF in a similar configuration to the Series 3, plus a switchable lowpass filter and boost and a DI output.

Cheers for bringing attention to these; it looks like a really useful little problem solver and I can think of uses for one both with my electric and double bass. And it can be bought as a kit that's not too pricey, which suits me. I might have to get one...

Hmm, that is a good price - I'd be hard pressed to DIY a good 50 watt valve amp from new parts for much less. I shall be frugal and stick with my quirky old modified Dynacord though...

If you've got another amp around with 12AX7 and 6v6 valves, I'd be inclined to pop 'em in the phase inverter and power positions just in case that sorts it.

That's a shame, a lot of Hartke stuff has been pretty good sounding. I played a combo a while ago, not sure of the model name but it was basically the LH500 head in a 2x10 combo, and that was one I could use quite cheerfully.

A Guild/Dearmond Rhythm Chief 1000 with the fingerboard rod mount could perhaps work. It's another guitar pickup, but about the only one that mounts to the bass side of the fingerboard.

If anyone is considering the KNA pickup, it's worth mentioning that Thomann stock it (branded "Fire and Stone" for some reason), and it may work out cheaper than ordering from the US. I picked one up recently after my J-Tone wing pickup stopped working, though I won't have it out for a gig until next week.

Thinking about it, if you had the budget for it, it would be very cool to pick up a pair of the Adeson repro pickups and find a custom builder to come up with a nice lightweight short-scale to get that sound in a more dependable instrument.

I haven't seen one in the flesh, but the Bass Collection Bill Wyman bass looks like it might get towards that sort of character in a modern instrument. (Short scale, tiny body, pickup positions etc.)

I have done it, and it can work, but it is very drummer dependent. While people did it "back in the day", you really need a drummer who is aware of how they played in that era, or at least one with some restraint and sensitivity to the ensemble sound. A kick-heavy rock or funk approach rarely works with unamped bass!

I voted no, because I don't have any electric bass gigs at the moment, only double bass, often with the bow and sometimes unamped. I could do anything I do on electric bass on a 5-string Squier with a decent setup though.

The current R500h does look like good value for what you get, though not the most compact of it's sort. And I guess the graphic EQ might appeal to the guys who pine for their old Trace Elliots! I like that they used sparkly grille cloth too, superficial though that is...