Beer of the Bass Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Well, I went for it! I guess I'll report back when it shows up... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misowaki Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 11 hours ago, Beer of the Bass said: 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... Do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misowaki Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Do it! I love my pf20 and that's plenty loud with 2 cabs. Would've gone for the 50 but already got the pf500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 I find this quite interesting. Im guessing that a PF50 wouldn't really cut it for a loud group? I normally run a TC450 at half volume into 2 12" tc cabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Woodinblack said: I find this quite interesting. Im guessing that a PF50 wouldn't really cut it for a loud group? I normally run a TC450 at half volume into 2 12" tc cabs. Not unless you like a really dirty sound. That said, you're almost certainly not using all of the 450 watts of your TC. Perhaps half, maybe?! I've always assumed that for a tube amp, if you want a clean sound, you'd want at least 100watts. I know Hiwatt make a 200watt all tube head which I reckon sounds really nice and clean, ££££££ though. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 I assumed as much. I think for me it’s the weight rather than the cost, the tc is one small bag amoungst loads of other things that doesn’t cause me any issues! the 20 for home still seems appealing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 In the kind of setting I'd tend to play in, guitarists are rarely using more than a 1x12 combo, drummers usually have some subtlety and there are often multiple vocals or acoustic instruments that necessitate keeping the stage volume reasonable. In that environment I've found that a 100 watt valve amp through a reasonably efficient 2x12" cab was always more than ample. So I'd expect to push a 50 watt amp a little more, but that should be a fun sound anyway. With that in mind (and experience with several valve amps from 40 up to 100 watts), I'm pretty confident that the Pf-50t will work for me. If your guitarists and drummer have more rockish tendencies, then you'd probably want a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 26 minutes ago, Beer of the Bass said: If your guitarists and drummer have more rockish tendencies, then you'd probably want a little more. The guitarist doesn't have rockish tendencies, he is just loud, and the drummer has two volumes, "flat out" and "oh, so you thought it was flat out before?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 I think if you want to push power valves and have a gritty/tone, all tube is unbeatable (although there are some excellent pedals out there), however if you're looking for tube 'warmth' but lots of clean volume, just get a tube preamp like the Jule Monique or similar and plug it into your standard SS amp. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Sibob said: Not unless you like a really dirty sound. That said, you're almost certainly not using all of the 450 watts of your TC. Perhaps half, maybe?! I've always assumed that for a tube amp, if you want a clean sound, you'd want at least 100watts. I know Hiwatt make a 200watt all tube head which I reckon sounds really nice and clean, ££££££ though. Si I've got the Weber Mywatt 200 which is a clone of the Hiwatt. Fabulous sounding amp with the advantage of not weighing a ton and not being ridiculously expensive. Highly recommended for anyone looking for that sound. Sounds especially good with the Normal and Bright channels joined by a patch lead. Edited August 31, 2018 by Japhet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 10 minutes ago, Japhet said: I've got the Weber Mywatt 200 which is a clone of the Hiwatt. Fabulous sounding amp with the advantage of not weighing a ton and not being ridiculously expensive. Highly recommended for anyone looking for that sound. Sounds especially good with the Normal and Bright channels joined by a patch lead. Nice, how much do they tend to go for? The HiWatt DR201 is £3000 and DR401is £4000. Although fantastic work and an unarguable heritage (I remember one of the best amps I played at a gig once was a HiWatt). Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Sibob said: Nice, how much do they tend to go for? The HiWatt DR201 is £3000 and DR401is £4000. Although fantastic work and an unarguable heritage (I remember one of the best amps I played at a gig once was a HiWatt). Si I got mine used off the forum for £900. I think they are around £1500 new although I don't know if they're still being made. Weber get top notch reviews from their customers though and the Mywatt is a seriously good amp. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) It has arrived intact, and first impressions after some low volume noodling are good. It's a nice width to sit on top of my homebuilt 1x12 cabs too. Like most Ampegs I've played, I have to roll the bass back a little, but it does a very nice subtle transition into grit as the gain is advanced, which is a big part of what I'm after. Edited September 3, 2018 by Beer of the Bass typo correction 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 Another quick observation; the published dimensions are wrong. This thing is 15" or 381mm wide, not 353mm as quoted. Worth noting if you're searching for a case or if you use a small cab and are bothered about overhang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Hmm, I may have spoken too soon - after the first couple of hours playing at home, the bias indicator lights are showing a fault and it can't be adjusted to the correct condition. Reading through the manual, it's almost certainly a power valve issue, though I don't have any 6L6GT valves around to verify this. Fortunately, Kenny's have been helpful to deal with, and are arranging an exchange. I did suggest that I'd be happy with just replacement valves, but apparently Polar don't stock them, they just exchange whole units. Still, it does sound good, and failures in the first few hours can happen with any valves, so I'm not too worried as long as it gets sorted... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
converse320 Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 I've been looking for something small and practical like this for ages, so have ordered the PF 20T based on the positive reports on Kenny's. I'll be using it with an old MB diesel cab so that should be an interesting comparison. New bass and new amp in the space of 2 weeks............😃 I'll report back when it arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 On 15/08/2018 at 18:13, Bridgehouse said: Old one being picked up Friday - new one dropped off Friday. Second time lucky? Hmm, I'm hoping they come through OK for me. I contacted them on Thursday, my amp was collected on Friday, but I haven't had any notification about the replacement being dispatched yet. Was hoping to try it out at a rehearsal tomorrow too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 3 hours ago, Beer of the Bass said: Hmm, I'm hoping they come through OK for me. I contacted them on Thursday, my amp was collected on Friday, but I haven't had any notification about the replacement being dispatched yet. Was hoping to try it out at a rehearsal tomorrow too... Mine arrived same day... odd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 39 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: Mine arrived same day... odd Yep, when I emailed on Thursday they gave the impression they'd send the replacement in advance so that I wasn't waiting, but when I called them today they seemed much less certain about whether it would be repaired or replaced or what the wait would be. They're apparently calling me back by the end of today, though I think there's only half an hour of their business hours left. Beginning to wish I'd just kept quiet and bought some new power valves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 From a very small sample set, they really don't seem very reliable things do they! Now I remember why I tend to avoid valve amplifiers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Well, that's Kenny's opening hours finished for the day, and they didn't call back. And that's after not dispatching a replacement last week as they said they would, and not answering my email enquiring about that earlier today. Not sure why the seem to have dropped the ball for me when they've been OK for others. I'm not too worried about the reliability of valve amps in general, or even particularly about this model, as these things happen with all sorts of gear. But it'd be fair to say I'm not impressed with the shop right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterimage Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 If going for the ampeg the 50 watts looks the best ,one home use the twenty watts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterimage Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Fingers crossed it arrives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterimage Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 If going for the ampeg the 50 watts looks the best ,one home use the twenty watts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilly Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 3 hours ago, Woodinblack said: From a very small sample set, they really don't seem very reliable things do they! Now I remember why I tend to avoid valve amplifiers I’ve been playing a secondhand Ashdown CTM-100 for a year now with no issues. You just need to remember 2 things. Always have a load and don’t move the. When they’re hot and you’ll have no problems (with well made ones). They’re worth it IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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