Thinking of New Rig - Thoughts

[Linus27]

My current rig is a Hartke HA5500 and Epifani 310UL and it sounds amazing. I have no complaints with the tone, I love the old school Hartke head and I've not done a single gig where I have not liked the tone. It's big, fat, punchy and clean. Both my Jazz and Precision basses sound great through it as well. However, what I don't like is the overall footprint. The 310UL is not heavy but it's big and bulky and the Hartke head is not only big, it's really heavy. My previous rig was a MarkBass LM3 and 2 x NY121 cabs and it was so convenient to carry a cab each in one hand and a gig bag over my shoulder. I could get everything in a boot of a saloon where as I now need an estate car to lug my current rig to gigs. I really miss the portability of my old rig but what I don't miss is the tone. I never liked the tone I got out of my MarkBass rig, it always seemed soulless, sounded generic and some gigs it was hit or miss if I got a good tone or not.

So I'm looking at downsizing and have read good things about the Ampeg Portaflex PF800 and the revised PF500 heads. Pairing it with a couple of Ampeg PF112HLF cabs as well. I know it's a bit mad to go from a rig that sounds great but it seems this Ampeg setup might be a good solid working rig. I play 50's and 60's Rock n Roll so it should suit for some old school bass. I'll be honest in not being a fan of Class D amps and never totally happy with the 3 or 4 I've owned so I'm cautious to go back again but what I've seen and heard of the Portaflex stuff seems good, especially the Ed Freidland review. Plus, the prices don't seem to bad compared to other stuff.

Am I mad to do this, any thoughts, happy to be told I'm a fool 😁

[la bam]

I'd try the Quilter 800, and x2 2x10 cabs.

More power than you'll ever need with the Quilter and you can decide how many cabs to take depending on the gig.

Love mine. Really light and not at all class d sounding.

[chris_b]

If you like Hartke so much you'd better check out any lightweight rigs they make.

I use Aguilar amps and Barefaced cabs. I'd recommend them all day long.

[Lozz196]

The Ashdown RM range is worth a look. The amp itself is the fullest/heftiest Class D amp that I’ve had (amongst Markbass LMs, Ampeg PFs, GK MBs, Aguilar THs) and the cabs are quite small in footprint - the 210 is diagonal and the 115 fits with it exactly. They’re also lightweight, but not I should add sound wise, they really deliver on the sound. Plus the whole range is pretty decent value too.

[Linus27]

33 minutes ago, la bam said:

I'd try the Quilter 800, and x2 2x10 cabs.

More power than you'll ever need with the Quilter and you can decide how many cabs to take depending on the gig.

Love mine. Really light and not at all class d sounding.

Interesting you mention a 2x10. I've just seen Fender do a 700 watt 2x10. Pair that with the new Rumble 800 head and it might make a nice little rig.

[Linus27]

2 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

The Ashdown RM range is worth a look. The amp itself is the fullest/heftiest Class D amp that I’ve had (amongst Markbass LMs, Ampeg PFs, GK MBs, Aguilar THs) and the cabs are quite small in footprint - the 210 is diagonal and the 115 fits with it exactly. They’re also lightweight, but not I should add sound wise, they really deliver on the sound. Plus the whole range is pretty decent value too.

I actually like the Ashdown stuff. I have had ABM stuff in the past and it was great but heavy. My practise rig at home is a 1x10 MiBass speaker and a CTM15 and it is absolutely gorgeous. Will go check out the RM stuff.

[la bam]

6 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

Interesting you mention a 2x10. I've just seen Fender do a 700 watt 2x10. Pair that with the new Rumble 800 head and it might make a nice little rig.

The beauty with 2x10s is that you can take just a 210 or double up for a 4x10 @4ohm.

The downside is 4x10s are not much bigger nowadays, depending on what cab you get.

[Pea Turgh]

There’s a Barefaced 4x10 in the classifieds.  I shudder to think of the damage that could do!

[Lozz196]

9 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

I actually like the Ashdown stuff. I have had ABM stuff in the past and it was great but heavy. My practise rig at home is a 1x10 MiBass speaker and a CTM15 and it is absolutely gorgeous. Will go check out the RM stuff.

Yeah my rig is ABMs, the RM head is my backup. The only real difference in sound is once you get on very big stages, at that point the weight of the ABM sound comes  across but in pub sized venues, or regular sized stages with FOH the RM handles it fine. Oh and it’s plenty loud too, not one of those amps that runs out of steam, or at least I’ve not managed to get it to that point. I tend to gig the RM more and more these days.

[Linus27]

24 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Yeah my rig is ABMs, the RM head is my backup. The only real difference in sound is once you get on very big stages, at that point the weight of the ABM sound comes  across but in pub sized venues, or regular sized stages with FOH the RM handles it fine. Oh and it’s plenty loud too, not one of those amps that runs out of steam, or at least I’ve not managed to get it to that point. I tend to gig the RM more and more these days.

Most of my gigs are clubs and some pubs so a RM should be fine. The prices look great as well. I'd probably look to get two 12's and the RM 500. I do like the look of the Fender Rumble 800HD and the Fender Rumble 2x10 700w cab. Just thinking the two 12's might have more headroom and fill the room better. The 2x10 might be a bit thin. All of this is assumption of course.