No more Procrastination! (An interesting small valve head story)

[Bridgehouse]

19 hours ago, MartinB said:

Love the idea of a little PF-20T for recording... if only I ever did any recording! 😁
£299 seems like a good price (https://www.kennysmusic.co.uk/ampeg-portaflex-pf-20t-20w-bass-amplifier-head), though "Available to order" might mean "no chance".

@MartinB - did you order one? I'm tempted, but a bit suspish of the price!

[MartinB]

Yup 😊. I've just had the email to confirm. It's being sent direct from Ampeg.

Maybe the new management (Yamaha) are planning to discontinue them, and they're clearing out the warehouse? 🤷‍♂️

[Bridgehouse]

1 minute ago, MartinB said:

Yup 😊. I've just had the email to confirm. It's being sent direct from Ampeg.

Maybe the new management (Yamaha) are planning to discontinue them, and they're clearing out the warehouse? 🤷‍♂️

I'm on it.

[Bridgehouse]

2 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

I'm on it.

Ordered.

So, @MartinB - we should turn this thread into an "Interesting small wattage valve head story" and update progress/experience!

 

No more procrastination. PF20t on the way.

[rubis]

On 09/08/2018 at 18:22, Bridgehouse said:

They are supposed to be £500....

They’re showing the PFT50 at£429 😉

[Bridgehouse]

Just now, rubis said:

They’re showing the PFT50 at£429 😉

Indeed - but £299 for the 20 was too tempting to resist

[rubis]

It is VERY tempting 🤔

[Bridgehouse]

Just now, rubis said:

It is VERY tempting 🤔

Well, I got order confirmation - just waiting for delivery confirmation. They are a bricks and mortar place so no real risk - I did PayPal so I can just reverse if it’s a no show as it’s on pay after delivery. 

[rubis]

Just now, Bridgehouse said:

Well, I got order confirmation - just waiting for delivery confirmation. They are a bricks and mortar place so no real risk - I did PayPal so I can just reverse if it’s a no show as it’s on pay after delivery. 

It’s a good job I’m on holiday at the moment, I had one in mind for exactly the same reason, perfect for recording 😌 

[Bridgehouse]

Just now, rubis said:

It’s a good job I’m on holiday at the moment, I had one in mind for exactly the same reason, perfect for recording 😌 

I’ve been looking for a while and at £500 I couldn’t quite justify it - but £300 is basically the same as a decent Preamp Di so a lot more justifiable!

[rubis]

Quite right, I bet it’s awesome

[Bridgehouse]

1 minute ago, rubis said:

Quite right, I bet it’s awesome

Hope so! I shall update when it arrives!

[Chimike]

Oh Dear,

my hand slipped, and I've ordered the PF50T !

Have to put my Traynor YBA-1 up for sale, now !

Edited August 12, 2018 by Chimike

[Bridgehouse]

4 minutes ago, Chimike said:

Oh Dear,

my hand slipped, and I've ordered the PF50T !

Have to put my Traynor YBA-1 up for sale, now !

That’s quite a slip!

[rubis]

My kinda slip 😏

would that be a gig-able head?

[Musicman20]

Great prices! Hmmmm

[MartinB]

15 hours ago, rubis said:

would that be a gig-able head?

There are definitely people out there gigging with them, but whether or not it'd work for you is hard to say - there's so many variables. How many speakers do you have, and how fancy/efficient/boutiquey are they? Are they just for monitoring? How loud is your drummer, on a scale of jazz whisperer to shed builder? How many guitarists are on stage? Do they get along? Do you always have PA? It is any good? Does the engineer know what he's doing? And so on.

It's got a line out, so in theory any gig with adequate PA and monitoring should be fine. But if the only source of bass noises in the venue is your amp and cab(s)... 🤷‍♂️

[MartinB]

My PF-20T has just arrived. I've only taken it out of the box so far - anything else will have to wait until after work. But I can confirm that it is real, and we haven't all been scammed with a box full of bricks 😄

[MartinB]

Worth noting that although I asked for it to be sent to my work address, it actually came to my home address. Crossed wires since it's coming from the distributor rather than the retailer I guess. No big deal. When you get the "out for delivery" email from DPD you can check this and divert it to a different address.

[Bridgehouse]

Yep got the confirmation it’s this afternoon

[Misowaki]

On 09/08/2018 at 18:12, MartinB said:

When I work up this morning, I didn't think, "Today I'm going to buy a tube amp!". And yet, here we are.
💸

Neither did I.  And yet here we are again...
 

On 12/08/2018 at 19:46, Chimike said:

Oh Dear,

my hand slipped, and I've ordered the PF50T !

Have to put my Traynor YBA-1 up for sale, now !

Must be a slippery button because it almost happened to me too...

But I've got a PF-500 already and an SCR-DI so figured the features lacking in the PF-20T can be accounted for elsewhere, right?

Or should I order a PF-50T too...

[Musicman20]

Looking forward to a review of these when they arrive!

[Misowaki]

Mine's arriving tomorrow too!  Wow, such excite!

Although I have this niggling thing of "ooohhhhhhhh, should I have gone for the 50?!?!" 😖😖

[MartinB]

Seems like the Standby switch is labelled backwards, which is why the the "Quick Start Guide" in the box:

Quote

• Make sure the Standby switch is down [on]
• With all volume controls fully off, turn the amplifier on by pressing the power switch to the on position. Wait 30 seconds.
• Move the Standby switch up [off]

appears to contradict the "Owner's Manual" on the Ampeg website (https://ampeg.com/pdf/PF-50T_PF-20T_OM.pdf):

Quote

STANDBY SWITCH [...] This switch should be OFF when first turning the amplifier on. Allow the unit to warm up for at least 20 seconds before switching to the ON position.

If the Standby switch has "O" depressed, that means the amp is on standby. Easy enough to tell once the amp is powered, because the light is red - but hard to guess before you switch it on! 😆

[Bridgehouse]

PF20T arrived. Not working right

Standby for 5 mins - power on, and regardless of volume gain etc there is a fairly consistent crackle - so something is screwed.

Not happy.