Power Amp into Barefaced Super Compact

[jimbartlett]

Hello. After a bit of help please?

I have a Barefaced Super Compact Gen 3 which is 8 ohm and can handle up to 600w. Can anyone recommend a good power amp to drive this with as my current amp isn’t enough for bigger gigs and distorted like a mother on Friday night trying to get over a mic’d up drum kit, keys and brass section.

I am most likely adding a second Super Compact in 2018 so ideally something which can power the two speakers with enough headroom to not distort?

Thanks in advance!

[FinnDave]

I power my Super Compact with as Ashdown Rootmaster 800 and it has plenty of power to spare! For really noisy gigs, I use the same amp into my Super Twin, which is effectively two Super Compacts in one cab. No one has ever told me I'm too quiet! 

[Mickeyboro]

Whatcha got now Jim?

I use an Aguilar TH500 with my SC and never have trouble being heard. These plus bass and bag mean one trip to the car... unlikely to buy another cab, no need. 

[jimbartlett]

I’ve got a Trace AH250. Lovely sounding and fine for a pub gig but Friday was a function room of 400+ people and it had to be pushed to the max. I played the gig but it was distorted due to this.

I was thinking power amp but did actually think about an Ashdown ABM 600. The Rootmaster sounds interesting too as does the Aguilar.

[FinnDave]

I have had both the ABM 600 and the Rootmaster 800 recently. I sold the ABM as the Rootmaster is at least as good and is much smaller and lighter.

[paul_5]

I use an Ampeg SVP pre into an old Laney SP300 bridged to 300w at 8ohms into a BF compact. I don’t think the power amp has been past 3, even with 2 guitarists with half-stacks and a metal drummer. I think it’s down to the output of the Ampeg pre though, that thing’s stupid loud!

[Lozz196]

I agree with Dave, the Rootmasters are incredibly powerful - I have the 500 version and it has so much oomph behind it. Once pushed, on large stages, the ABMs - dare I say the word - heft becomes apparent in comparison, but in regular pub/club sized venues the RMs are more than worthy.

Or, and shameless plug here, I`m selling an ABM1000 - ABM tone with Class D weight, and for not much money, £395. There`s little chance of that ever running out of steam.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Lozz196

[Radchenko]

I use in my supercompact Tecamp puma 500, 900 and mesa boogie d800.

with Tecamp obtain more clean sound (modern sound)

with mesa more old school sound but with the possibility to obtain clean sounds.

more power with mesa and puma 900 than puma 500.

if you play rock maybe better mesa boogie :-)

[jimbartlett]

Thanks for all the replies guys, Food For thought indeed.

I play Ska & Reggae so need a bit of heft with clean tones. Lozz, what are the differences between your RM 500 and the ABM 1000 apart from double the watts?

[JohnDaBass]

+1 for Mesa Subway D800 into a Barefaced Super Compact 3 gen.

Huge sound with marvellous range of tones. 

Edited November 23, 2017 by JohnDaBass

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, jimbartlett said:

Thanks for all the replies guys, Food For thought indeed.

I play Ska & Reggae so need a bit of heft with clean tones. Lozz, what are the differences between your RM 500 and the ABM 1000 apart from double the watts?

The main difference is the ABM has more eq options for shaping/eliminating boom, plus at higher volumes there`s more clarity on the notes. The ABM also has a lower bass frequency (60 v 100) so on the larger stages you get more of that "shake your belly" solidity. Only reason I`m offloading is I use so many provided cabs that can`t handle the 1000s power.

[jimbartlett]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

The main difference is the ABM has more eq options for shaping/eliminating boom, plus at higher volumes there`s more clarity on the notes. The ABM also has a lower bass frequency (60 v 100) so on the larger stages you get more of that "shake your belly" solidity. Only reason I`m offloading is I use so many provided cabs that can`t handle the 1000s power.

Thanks for that, appreciate the explanation. 

[jimbartlett]

1 hour ago, JohnDaBass said:

+1 for Mesa Subway D800 into a Barefaced Super Compact 3 gen.

Huge sound with marvellous range of tones. 

Just checked these out, look good! Can you drive your Super Compact with a loud but clean tone? Does it distort at all at these levels?

[JohnDaBass]

There is a very wide range of tones on offer with the D800/Super Compact setup. The gain allows you the freedom to have a very clean sound right thro to warm distortion. The voice control varies the type of amp sounds available coupled with the built-in HPF you can achieve your own tailored sweetspot.

[mrtcat]

On 22/11/2017 at 19:43, jimbartlett said:

Friday was a function room of 400+ people and it had to be pushed to the max. I played the gig but it was distorted due to this.

If you're doing gigs of this size, I'd be more inclined to look at PA upgrades rather than bass amp. Once you get to the point where you're running 2 Super Compacts on stage then the on stage volume will be getting daft imho.

[jimbartlett]

10 minutes ago, mrtcat said:

If you're doing gigs of this size, I'd be more inclined to look at PA upgrades rather than bass amp. Once you get to the point where you're running 2 Super Compacts on stage then the on stage volume will be getting daft imho.

It was on Friday, silly loud. Good point about the PA. A line out into a bigger PA may be the answer as well.

[bootros]

I play in a ska (plus a bit of reggae band) and use an old Ashdown setup.  The 'old-fashioned' tone that some bemoan suits it perfectly with my P-bass.  As others have said though, shouldn't really need huge stage volumes, the PA should do the heavy lifting.

[jimbartlett]

1 hour ago, bootros said:

I play in a ska (plus a bit of reggae band) and use an old Ashdown setup.  The 'old-fashioned' tone that some bemoan suits it perfectly with my P-bass.  As others have said though, shouldn't really need huge stage volumes, the PA should do the heavy lifting.

Thanks mate. Sounds like the way to go for the big gigs

[Tonteee]

Just throwing this out there -

If you like the tone of your Trace head - and for your style of music, I get why you like the Trace - but it don't got the berries turned up, why not route the Trace pre into a slave power amp?

I say this as it's what I've done with my SWR Studio 220.  Loved the SWR's sound - and now I have acres of power on tap, too.

Okay, so you need to have eaten your Weetabix to do a load in, but at what cost, tone?

 

[jimbartlett]

24 minutes ago, Tonteee said:

Just throwing this out there -

If you like the tone of your Trace head - and for your style of music, I get why you like the Trace - but it don't got the berries turned up, why not route the Trace pre into a slave power amp?

I say this as it's what I've done with my SWR Studio 220.  Loved the SWR's sound - and now I have acres of power on tap, too.

Okay, so you need to have eaten your Weetabix to do a load in, but at what cost, tone?

 

Very good idea. I shall have a look into this.......