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

[Quilly]

3 hours ago, TJ Spicer said:

You called the right man! Love my Little Stubby, it has some beautiful cleans available in it as well as plenty of dirt if needed. Very easily carry-able too, the from factor makes it possible just to hang it from one arm by its in-built handle. Let me know if you have any more specific questions, my video of it is up on youtube too. 

It’s is capable for small / mid gigs ? I have a really efficient barefaced cab.

[Bigwan]

6 hours ago, Bridgehouse said:

Lol - no just the 20. The 50 would be serious overkill!!

Wash your mouth out! We don't need that kind of negative talk here! 

[Bridgehouse]

6 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

Wash your mouth out! We don't need that kind of negative talk here! 

For the size of man cave room it will be in, 5w would be overkill

[Bridgehouse]

17 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

Wash your mouth out! We don't need that kind of negative talk here! 

Tho a nice little 15 watter wouldn’t go amiss too

[Thunderpaws]

That deal from Kenny’s is great. Why do I never have any money?!! I’ve been hankering after an all valve amp for ever and it’s even on my bucket list! The Ampeg sound seems to cut through the mix too so this (PF50) would be great in my 3 guitar loud band for rehearsals and off course for recording. 

[Quilly]

1 hour ago, Thunderpaws said:

That deal from Kenny’s is great. Why do I never have any money?!! I’ve been hankering after an all valve amp for ever and it’s even on my bucket list! The Ampeg sound seems to cut through the mix too so this (PF50) would be great in my 3 guitar loud band for rehearsals and off course for recording. 

Sell a kidney or turn to petty theft, do whatever you have to do and get yourself a valve amp. You wont regret it. I have nothing against SS amps at all and some are great (in truth they probably make a bit more sense for bassists) but there's just something about the sound from a valve amp that hard to beat.

[Musicman20]

I had an Orange AD200b which I loved the tone of, but it was sitting there unused and I just don't have the gigs for something of that calibre at this time of my life...maybe when I'm less busy I'll get another.

Anyway, this is perfectly small, light-ish, and low volume.

I don't need one as I'm hoping to be playing more guitar in the near future despite bass being number 1, but I am sure tempted.

 

 

[Bigwan]

28 minutes ago, Musicman20 said:

I had an Orange AD200b which I loved the tone of, but it was sitting there unused and I just don't have the gigs for something of that calibre at this time of my life...maybe when I'm less busy I'll get another.

Anyway, this is perfectly small, light-ish, and low volume.

I don't need one as I'm hoping to be playing more guitar in the near future despite bass being number 1, but I am sure tempted.

 

 

Apparently they make good guitar amps... Just saying...

[Misowaki]

Just an FYI for anyone considering the PF 20/50T: if you have a fliptop cab (specifically the 210HE at least), the head won't fit inside the cab so you'l need a case for it  (got a quote from Swan for about £106).  I don't know if they changed this with the newer cabs?  Would've thought that given it's modelled on the B15 they would have made it so the tube head can fit inside the cab 🤷‍♂️
Maybe it's different with the 115?  
Also, annoyingly, the PF20T won't sit atop the 210HE because of the handle... so it's either flip the lid and put PF20 on PF500 or just use the 115. 

Or actually... if you have a detachable lid case, flip that and put head on top of that.  That should work, I hope. 

[Quilly]

30 minutes ago, Misowaki said:

Just an FYI for anyone considering the PF 20/50T: if you have a fliptop cab (specifically the 210HE at least), the head won't fit inside the cab so you'l need a case for it  (got a quote from Swan for about £106).  I don't know if they changed this with the newer cabs?  Would've thought that given it's modelled on the B15 they would have made it so the tube head can fit inside the cab 🤷‍♂️
Maybe it's different with the 115?  
Also, annoyingly, the PF20T won't sit atop the 210HE because of the handle... so it's either flip the lid and put PF20 on PF500 or just use the 115. 

Or actually... if you have a detachable lid case, flip that and put head on top of that.  That should work, I hope. 

For such an unusual shaped amp I would have thought they would provide a decent case for it. Id prefer the PF50t if it came in a traditional 'box' case. I wonder could one be retro fitted around it? It looks a little vulnerable. 

[Misowaki]

1 hour ago, Quilly said:

For such an unusual shaped amp I would have thought they would provide a decent case for it. Id prefer the PF50t if it came in a traditional 'box' case. I wonder could one be retro fitted around it? It looks a little vulnerable. 

As far as I'm aware, no official case exists.  I guess they assume yo'll be buying the PF115HE?  Found a pic that doesn't have the central strut the 210HE has so that probably answers my earlier question.

Castle cases do what I assume you mean by a box case https://www.castlecases.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=183_26_76&product_id=1901
Cage is pretty sturdy on the head and I imagine case manufacturers would have some decent hard foam shaped around the protruding bits to keep it snug (any Swan cases I've had have done a pretty decent job of that kind of thing).
Swan have asked for the exact dimensions because of its weird shape so it seems they're taking that into account.

[Bridgehouse]

Replacement has arrived. I keep looking at the box and thinking “are you going to work?”

Maybe I should get it out the box and try it

[Bridgehouse]

And the verdict is?

Plugged in and onto standby for a full minute this time. Main power on, and a teeny bit of crackle for 5 seconds or so (my heart sank) but then silence. Total silence. 

Then I noticed that characteristic valve amp hum. Plugged in the 64 Precision and gingerly upped the gain and volume.

And there it was - that sound. Thick, creamy brown goodness - tweaked the EQ to roll off a bit of mids and top and up the bass - upped the gain to 1 o’clock and dimed volume and tone on the bass.

Yeah. That’s that b15 sound. That’s exactly it. The 15” driver in the barefaced Compact lapped it up and with volume half way the radiator in my room started to rattle on low notes. 

Had a ten minute play and the amp was still silent.

This is a good amp. At 299 it’s a bloody excellent amp. 

[Bridgehouse]

Oh, and for the record - Kenny's Music were impeccable - great comms, brilliant attitude, delivered exactly as they said and genuinely a pleasure. I have no hesitation to recommend if anyone is on the fence - bag one now!!

[Misowaki]

Stoked for you, man. Glad they came through and you got it sorted.

Swan were really decent too, I did them a sketch with all the dimensions and they've now got them on the site to order. Nice enough to give me a discount for the sketch too! Link here for anyone interested.

 https://www.swanflight.com/ampeg-pf-20t-head-flightcase.html

[Bridgehouse]

1 minute ago, Misowaki said:

Stoked for you, man. Glad they came through and you got it sorted.

Swan were really decent too, I did them a sketch with all the dimensions and they've now got them on the site to order. Nice enough to give me a discount for the sketch too! Link here for anyone interested.

 https://www.swanflight.com/ampeg-pf-20t-head-flightcase.html

Interesting - mentally noted that in case it does ever leave the house! 

 

[dodge_bass]

15 minutes ago, Misowaki said:

Stoked for you, man. Glad they came through and you got it sorted.

Swan were really decent too, I did them a sketch with all the dimensions and they've now got them on the site to order. Nice enough to give me a discount for the sketch too! Link here for anyone interested.

 https://www.swanflight.com/ampeg-pf-20t-head-flightcase.html

Ace. What’s the ETA on this? Very interested!

[Misowaki]

2 hours ago, dodge_bass said:

Ace. What’s the ETA on this? Very interested!

They say 7-10 days normally but previously they've come within the week.

[Misowaki]

Should anyone want to comission or build their own...

[Chimike]

Wot's a cm in inches, for us ( old ) youngsters 😳

( no need to answer, I am an engineer ! )

BTW , my PF50t turned up and it's great .

gonna decide which cab suits it best, then see what size of gig it's happy with and report back.

Nice and light for a valve 50 watter, but will benefit from a case to protect it.

Sadly, not suitable for this weekends gig, outdoor marque thingy.

fender Studio bass plus 4 x 12 ampeg cab will hopefully crack it ! 

Edited August 17, 2018 by Chimike

[Kirky]

Nice pics including gut shot of the PF50T here

[jasetbass]

Hi All, 

£429 for the PF-50T sounds like a veritable bargain! I think it looks and sounds great, if the demos I’ve seen are anything to go by. Don’t suppose anyone has tried this in a pub-gig environment with no FOH?

I’m wondering whether this through a pair of Barefaced Super Compacts might just be a go-er. 

Cheers,

Jase

[Bridgehouse]

1 minute ago, jasetbass said:

Hi All, 

£429 for the PF-50T sounds like a veritable bargain! I think it looks and sounds great, if the demos I’ve seen are anything to go by. Don’t suppose anyone has tried this in a pub-gig environment with no FOH?

I’m wondering whether this through a pair of Barefaced Super Compacts might just be a go-er. 

Cheers,

Jase

To be honest through a pair of super compacts I’d give the 20 a go with my band (not heavy - Americana, but drums, guitar, keys and lead vocals/acoustic)

[Misowaki]

My 20 through the pf210he and a pf115lf sounds mammoth in my bedroom... reckon it would more than hold its own in a rehearsal at least so don't see why the 50 wouldn't work for smaller gigs with no pa support.

[Beer of the Bass]

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...