JapanAxe Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 (edited) I got my TC Classic head a couple of weeks ago, but had only been able to use it at home. Compared to my Ashdown ABM through the same speaker, at first I thought I preferred the Ashdown's fatter bottom end (fnar fnar), but soon realised that the TC had much more clarity in the mids. I wouldn't have gone out of my way for compression and overdrive options, but used in moderation they really add to the sound. Overall the sound is quite 'produced', but not to the point of fakery. The big question was: Will it be loud enough? Today I took the TC to a jam session held in a large room on the side of a pub. I plugged it into my Ashdown 1x15 8-ohm cab (my only option at present) and turned up the wick. The short answer is: YES. (The longer answer will have to wait on my BF Compact arriving.) Plugged in my P-bass, set the gain to avoid clipping, and set the master at 5. Too loud against a drummer, two guitarists, and PA'd vocals! Master down to 4 - still needed to back off the volume on the bass from time to time. Sound is tight, with plenty of punch when the strings are plucked hard. Also met the approval of another bass-player, who owns or has owned MarkBass, Eden, and OTB heads. Result! Can't wait to hear what it sounds like through a Compact! Edited October 22, 2012 by JapanAxe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 The Classic 450 is a nice amp. I had one, and agree with the volume at 5 being too loud, 4 was about right when using the very nice Spectracomp compression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I had one of these and although it was very loud I could not get on with the sound so ended up buying an Ashdown ABM which gave me the sound I wanted - even though it's twice the weight. I now have an Ashdown MiBass which gives me the best of both worlds. The reason I didn't get on with the TC electronics Classic 450 was the low mid knob did nothing from about 2 to 5 on the bass end of it's travel. I thought it may have been a problem with my amp but tried one in the shop and my ears still couldn't hear any change to the sound between 2 and 5. So don't get rid of the Ashdown until you're totally happy with the TC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 I'm loving the sound, Ashdown for sale - see signature! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Lord Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 It won't clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Just a general point, since upon touched on it... Too much bass/bottom end sucks the life out of any tone, IMO A case in point..and maybe to an extreme, would be dub-bass or sub so I'd suggest you want a cab that can get those low B's sounding powerful and punchy...but defined so you don't need an inherently bass-orientated cab, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1349610098' post='1828187'] Just a general point, since upon touched on it... Too much bass/bottom end sucks the life out of any tone, IMO A case in point..and maybe to an extreme, would be dub-bass or sub so I'd suggest you want a cab that can get those low B's sounding powerful and punchy...but defined so you don't need an inherently bass-orientated cab, IMO. [/quote] I don't need low B as I only play 4-string. I did worry a bit that the much-discussed roll-off below 65Hz would thin out the bottom E, but the sound remains balanced all the way down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1349610098' post='1828187'] Just a general point, since upon touched on it... Too much bass/bottom end sucks the life out of any tone, IMO A case in point..and maybe to an extreme, would be dub-bass or sub so I'd suggest you want a cab that can get those low B's sounding powerful and punchy...but defined so you don't need an inherently bass-orientated cab, IMO. [/quote] Agreed. I'm much more in favour of a very tight defined low B. The wall shaking lows can go out the PA....I don't want it behind me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 By way of a follow up, the Classic 450 is now dead. Defunct. Shuffled off this mortal coil. Used it this morning, went to switch it on after lunch, loud crack and flash from mains inlet, second pop and flash from the mesh by the carry handle. Result: trip switch went, one dead amp. Hope it hasn't caused any damaged to my BF Compact (output was muted anyway). GuitarGuitar are picking it up on Monday. Now undecided whether to go for replacement (I do like it) or push for refund and look at some of the usual suspects (MB, OTB, PF500...). But for now, just Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1350656787' post='1841888'] By way of a follow up, the Classic 450 is now dead. Defunct. Shuffled off this mortal coil. Used it this morning, went to switch it on after lunch, loud crack and flash from mains inlet, second pop and flash from the mesh by the carry handle. Result: trip switch went, one dead amp. Hope it hasn't caused any damaged to my BF Compact (output was muted anyway). GuitarGuitar are picking it up on Monday. Now undecided whether to go for replacement (I do like it) or push for refund and look at some of the usual suspects (MB, OTB, PF500...). But for now, just [/quote] If you like it then see how you go with the replacement. Things do go wrong sometimes and it isn't necessarily the amp's fault. One little piece of the puzzle (which TC probably didn't even make) has gone pop and taken the whole shebang down with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I don't think the Classics are prone to failure. If you like it, get another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Thanks for your encouragement guys. I have trawled the web and found no reports of this kind of TC amp death. By contrast, 6 of the 22 buyers (27%!!) reviewing the Ampeg PF500 on the Musician's Friend site have reported power supply failures, or the amp going into fault mode. Best stick with the TC methinks... I have also PM'd bruce@tc so the TC guys can make sure they get hold of the returned unit for a post-mortem. I'm delivering my Ashdown rig to vmaxblues tomorrow, so for a short while I will be without a gigging bass amp. Yikes! Just as well I am mainly playing guitar at present... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) Sorry to hear that. If you do want a change from TC electronics, I recommend the MiBass. The parametric EQ lets you dial in just about any sound. Edited October 20, 2012 by gjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Aha! I did find one report of a failure similar to what I experienced, only it was in the early days of the RH450 (same power stage as the Classic 450 I presume), reported on [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/my-tc-electronic-rh450-amplifier-died-any-users-had-problems-565716/"]TalkBass[/url]. If mine is only the second reported incident out of all the units TC have shipped, that can't be bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Have to say..this would worry me.... I know you can't legislate for certains things failing...but all the same, the only experience of the last 20 years I've had with things going wrong has been the result of external forces..ie, amp dropped under power. Why on earth a component should fail otherwise is not something I've come across .. Poor qc, design or bad luck ..?? A one off is one thing.... any sort of pattern is not really good enough and something you remember in brand terms... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1350850256' post='1844321'] Have to say..this would worry me.... I know you can't legislate for certains things failing...but all the same, the only experience of the last 20 years I've had with things going wrong has been the result of external forces..ie, amp dropped under power. Why on earth a component should fail otherwise is not something I've come across .. Poor qc, design or bad luck ..?? A one off is one thing.... any sort of pattern is not really good enough and something you remember in brand terms... [/quote] Well it [i]does[/i] worry me. Is there a screwy batch? I once bought a brand new CD player - it skipped like a kangaroo on speed. Got it replaced like-for-like - same thing. Ended up shelling out extra for the next model up. What worries me more is if the replacement goes [color=#ff0000][b]BANG[/b][/color] 18 months down the line. On a gig... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I had a Trace Elliot combo that went dead a year into warranty. The replacement is still going 12 years later. Sometimes things just happen, it doesn't necessarily mean that the amp itself is poorly designed or made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce@tc Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Just to come back on this one, I’ve also replied to JapanAxe’s PO. We did have a small batch of UK IEC cables that required a “firmer than usual” push into the mains inlet which may have caused an issue for a few people, but this was the only issue I’m aware of on startup and again our failure rate is pretty low. Cheers Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender73 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) 'pretty low' doesn't inspire confidence...... :-) Edited October 22, 2012 by fender73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce@tc Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 [quote name='fender73' timestamp='1350902263' post='1844749'] 'pretty low' doesn't inspire confidence...... :-) [/quote] Ah the joys of English language, having too much to do and typing too fast, actually "pretty low - as far as the industry goes" is what I was trying to type here In hindsight what I should have said is that I've only ever heard of a couple of instances of startup PSU failures with these amps, which based on the number we’ve sold isn’t a bad thing really. Gets one's coat... ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender73 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 [quote name='bruce@tc' timestamp='1350927198' post='1845178'] Ah the joys of English language, having too much to do and typing too fast, actually "pretty low - as far as the industry goes" is what I was trying to type here In hindsight what I should have said is that I've only ever heard of a couple of instances of startup PSU failures with these amps, which based on the number we’ve sold isn’t a bad thing really. Gets one's coat... ;-) [/quote] Great response Bruce, and great to have people like you on this forum from the companies we spend our money with :-) Cheers (and looking forward to hearing a certain Mr King's amps on Sunday night at the RAH :-) ) Graeme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that I'd followed 'a certain Mr King' from Ashdown to TC - just a coincidence, honest! Still, I expect he gave TC the 'thumbs up' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Replacement unit received today and I am one very happy bunny. Spent a few minutes experimenting with the controls and found 'my' sound. The phatness lies on the Low Mid control, not the Bass control. Full review to follow in the review pages once I've gigged it. (My mistake sticking a review in the wrong forum - d'oh!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1350846491' post='1844240'] Aha! I did find one report of a failure similar to what I experienced, only it was in the early days of the RH450 (same power stage as the Classic 450 I presume), reported on [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/my-tc-electronic-rh450-amplifier-died-any-users-had-problems-565716/"]TalkBass[/url]. If mine is only the second reported incident out of all the units TC have shipped, that can't be bad! [/quote] That was me! At that time I was not yet in Basschat. The amp died on me when switching it on at a gig. A flash, white smoke, smell of burnt plastic. That was a Saturday night. On Wednesday (I believe) I had a replacement in my hands. I posted about it on Sunday, I think. I also wrote to TC. On Monday morning I was told my local dealer (Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh) did not have one in stock, so they'd send one from Denmark and I should be able to exchange my dead one for the new replacement on WEdnesday... and that's exactly how it went. I have used the replacement amp a lot since then, nearly three and a half years ago. It was disappointing that it failed... but the company responded quickly and I have been enjoying the amp ever since. So, no complaints here. Edited October 29, 2012 by mcnach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I've been gigging a classic 450 for two years now. A quick count shows that I've done 177 gigs with it so far. I run it through a Bergantino AE212 and play either a Fender USA 75 reissue jazz or a Yamaha BBG5. I've never owned an amp for two years before. I used to suffer GAS badly but although I have had a wandering eye at times I just can't get past the fact that it looks, sounds and performs beautifully. Totally agree with previous posts about having too much low end. Low mids are where it's at and I'd rather let the PA worry about the mega low stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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