TC Electronic and other wee heads!

[geoham]

Per my post in Repairs and Technical, my TC Electronic BH550 met its maker yesterday. Two days before my first gig in forever! I may have found someone to repair it, but I'm already looking at replacements...

 

I have a pair of TC RS112 cabs, which are honestly the best sounding cabs I've ever used - so definitely keeping them. Most of my tone shaping these days comes from my Helix, so I don't really need anything with lots of options or a particularly baked in sound. Pre-Covid, I had started to make the transition to in-ears live, but did still use my amp for on stage sometimes - nobody else is on in-ears despite my efforts. I also use it frequently at home, normally just in the front end. I'm not considering a power amp, monitor etc - I still want the option of just going in the front end of the amp without the Helix.

 

So, my requirement is for a small class D head, preferably with a speakon connector and pre-eq DI out. I think the TC BQ500 looks like the BH550 minus the tone-print and mute switch, and the price is very attractive. Has anyone used both? There's also the tiny BAM200 which looks incredibly good value!

 

There seems to be a really good choice these days - The Ashdown OriginAL 300 would allow me to bypass the pre-amp when using the Helix for example, Markbass have several, the Trace Elliot Elf. Any particular favourites?

 

Unfortunately, it seems that there's no stock of anything interesting available to try anywhere locally, so I'll likely need to resort to an online purchase.

 

Thanks,

 

George

[LostAmpKnob]

Fender Rumble 800 head checks all the boxes

 

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender/Rumble-800-800W-Bass-Amp-Head-Black-1500000264562.gc?cntry=us&source=4WWRWXGP&gclid=CjwKCAjwxo6IBhBKEiwAXSYBs-vNLWsUNv4WgO0pcoU1-ZsimpGUWQjMdlc7BZ_DsAXzF8FOs-fpsBoCijgQAvD_BwE

Edited July 30, 2021 by LostAmpKnob

[alexa3020]

I really didn’t get on with BQ 500. My first impressions were good - a very neutral sounding head, so ideal for putting preamp pedal in front of it.

But to me it just didn’t sound and feel right at band volume. Whether that’s a class D thing or not, I don’t know, but it was enough for me to go back to class a b.

Of all the class D heads i tried in shops, I liked the Aguilar TH, markbass lmiii & Ashdown RM. The most neutral sounding head of the above is lmiii

[geoham]

15 hours ago, LostAmpKnob said:

Fender Rumble 800 head checks all the boxes

 

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender/Rumble-800-800W-Bass-Amp-Head-Black-1500000264562.gc?cntry=us&source=4WWRWXGP&gclid=CjwKCAjwxo6IBhBKEiwAXSYBs-vNLWsUNv4WgO0pcoU1-ZsimpGUWQjMdlc7BZ_DsAXzF8FOs-fpsBoCijgQAvD_BwE

Thanks, looks nice. Will investigate further…

[geoham]

16 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

I really didn’t get on with BQ 500. My first impressions were good - a very neutral sounding head, so ideal for putting preamp pedal in front of it.

But to me it just didn’t sound and feel right at band volume. Whether that’s a class D thing or not, I don’t know, but it was enough for me to go back to class a b.

Of all the class D heads i tried in shops, I liked the Aguilar TH, markbass lmiii & Ashdown RM. The most neutral sounding head of the above is lmiii

Thanks,

 

The LM III does indeed look interesting, and can be had at a good price used too.

[BassAdder60]

Look at the Orange Little Bass Thing 

Simple but great sounding 500w head and very loud too 

[alexa3020]

There’s a Peavey mini mega 1000w class D on eBay that you could get for £250ish. I don’t know too much about them, but seems like a reasonably good deal. Looks like it has a load of features though - which I know you probably wouldn’t use

[geoham]

3 hours ago, BassAdder27 said:

Look at the Orange Little Bass Thing 

Simple but great sounding 500w head and very loud too 

Thanks - the Orange stuff looks great. Though I think I’d need the cab to complete the look!

[MacDaddy]

Peavey MiniMAX MK2 600W Mini Bass Head

£284

 

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/peavey-minimax-mk2-bass-head/936336?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6eqU4e-U8gIVyu7tCh33sgUxEAQYAyABEgJEq_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[thodrik]

My nephew has a TC Electronic BQ 500 and really likes it. 

I really rate it. The EQ is basic, however if you have an oboard EQ or preamp pedal then the EQ becomes redundant. It would be an ideal head to be played with a Helix. 

I didn't think it struggled in a band setting, but I wouldn't trade one for my main amp, which is a Mesa Big Block 750, but that really isn't a fair comparison. 

Edited August 3, 2021 by thodrik
Can’t spell...

[geoham]

Looks like my head is probably going to be repairable, some more detail in my 'Repairs' thread.

 

I have lost a bit of confidence in it however, so I've ordered a Trace Elliot Elf. Small enough to live in my gig bag and get me out of trouble if needed.

 

I still REALLY like the look of the Markbass stuff. Once gigs pick up a bit again, I think I may save the earnings and buy myself a pretty yellow rig... I like to use gig money to buy gear and pretend to myself this is a self-funded hobby!

 

Thanks for recommendations everyone.

[Chienmortbb]

9 minutes ago, geoham said:

Looks like my head is probably going to be repairable, some more detail in my 'Repairs' thread.

 

I have lost a bit of confidence in it however, so I've ordered a Trace Elliot Elf. Small enough to live in my gig bag and get me out of trouble if needed.

 

I still REALLY like the look of the Markbass stuff. Once gigs pick up a bit again, I think I may save the earnings and buy myself a pretty yellow rig... I like to use gig money to buy gear and pretend to myself this is a self-funded hobby!

 

Thanks for recommendations everyone.

I think you should find the ELF enough with two cabs but it might struggle with a single cab. 

[lownote]

Markbass tends to be marmite.  I loved the sound, some others don't.  I'm a recent convert to Ashdown.  Great sound, great build, easy to repair...

[ern500evo]

One of the best class d heads I’ve owned, and I’ve owned quite a few, is the GK MB Fusion 500. Fantastic little amps and can be found for good prices on the used market 

[JohnDaBass]

So here's another that's joined the party.

https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2021/08/06/phil-jones-bass-unveils-the-bp-200-bass-head/

I have a sneaky belief that all these 200W amps are produced by the same Far Eastern ODM and the brands are simply badge engineering the same platform. 

Sad really that the big corporate organisations are recycling a generic design instead of investing and developing at least their own front ends. Seems sustainable competitive advantage has been out sourced.

[BillyBass]

On 07/08/2021 at 17:04, JohnDaBass said:

So here's another that's joined the party.

https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2021/08/06/phil-jones-bass-unveils-the-bp-200-bass-head/

I have a sneaky belief that all these 200W amps are produced by the same Far Eastern ODM and the brands are simply badge engineering the same platform. 

Sad really that the big corporate organisations are recycling a generic design instead of investing and developing at least their own front ends. Seems sustainable competitive advantage has been out sourced.

If there was one bass gear company that I wouldn't accuse of copying others would be Phil Jones Bass.  Nevertheless, this is another Elf-like amp, to add to the Elf, Warwick Gnome, Gr Mini, several TC Electronic amps etc.  

Rather than just trying to get as small a chassis as possible, the PJB amp has a few improvements over the Elf: Aux in, a speak on jack and pre/post Eq DI.  The Eq looks a bit unusual though, Bass is 100hz, treble 10khz and the mid is centred at 1khz but appears to have a wide Q so it affects a broad range from 120hz to 10khz. 

They will charge US$375 for it, so probably about the same in pounds over here.  Most PJB stuff is expensive compared to competitors.