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new amp time, ampeg pf500 versus little mark 11


huwgarms
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as the title suggests, im looking for a lightweight roughly 500 power rated head, i have so far considered the two above amps,
i have gigged using the ampeg and was really impressed i have not had a chance to try the mark bass nor will i in time before my next gig,

questions to you guys are, a) out of those two any preferances and why - price wise i have found them at around the £300 mark , £249 on the ampeg from the states but i cant wait for the postage time ;-(

is there any others out there that are as good/powerfull tonal small for around the same money i should be considering? money is tight as i wasnt looking to replace this side of crimbo and will be broke till january lol

thanks in advance matt

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That £249 from the States is likely to increase considerably with import duty and Vat, plus you'll need to check it's got a UK-friendly power supply.

They're different beasts tone-wise - a LM III for £300 is a lot of amp for the money, but I found to get anywhere near an Ampeg tone it needed a Sansamp in front of it. You can do this cheap with a Behringer BDI21 instead.

If money's tight, a LH500 might do the job, although they're bigger. The other hybrid small tubey-contenders like the Streamliner or RH450 or LM Tube you'll be very lucky to find for the money you've got.

Worth a look, though...

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hi appreciate the straight approach and honesty , the lm is a 2? how are the lh500 for power and tone? im not very experienced with amps etc having only used ashdown stuff, thanks again,

ps the three mentioned are they kinda the best kit for that kinda money?
thanks and apologies for the ignorance

matt

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Both are great amps. For me, I was always firmly in the Ampeg camp until I bought a Markbass Little Mark Tube. From then on, it`s been Markbass for me - though sadly the LMT has gone, but been replaced with a CMD121 combo, which is the Little Mark II head in a combo.

So it`s a question of sound really. The Ampeg can do the typical Ampeg sound, and the Little Mark II is cleaner than that, though it is still warm sounding, but in the mix it is fantastic. In terms of power, I think the Markbass is louder, but then that could just be down to how the volume control is set. I`ve certainly never used either on full - I`d have no hearing left.

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I've not owned either of those amps, but I have got a PF 350 and I've played the LM II plenty of times.

To me, the PF 350 sounds vintage but a more modern tone can be coaxed out of it. The LM sounds cleaner (as has already been said) and is a great bit of kit. At £300 it is a steal. A quick Google and I can't see it at that price, or were you talking used?

Not sure if this is important to you, but if my Ampeg is anything to go by, the PF 500 will be a very sturdy bit of kit.

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Having owned both the LM2 and PF500,I would say the LM2 is a great neutral platform for solid power and clean tone that you can use with all sorts of frontend pre amps or pedals to customise your sound.
The PF sounds like an Ampeg out of the box, though there`s no reason you can`t change that with pedals etc.
I still have and use on every gig, my PF500.

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I've owned both (5 MB heads) - I love the sound of the Ampeg and probably prefer it in that sense to the LMII but I'm anal about reliability, so my recommendation having done 300+ gigs with MB heads would be to go with the LMII every time. I will say that my Ampeg never failed on me in the short time I had it but for some reason that I can't justify I never had the same trust in it.

You can always dirty up the LMII with a pedal.

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