NBAD - TC Electronic BH250

[neepheid]

That's New Backup Amp Day, BTW.  Yesterday this BH250 came into my possession.  Had a quick razz on it last night and I was very impressed.  Sounded really good at neighbour friendly levels through a Markbass New York 121 cab.  I think I'd get a knock on the door if I cranked it, and that's at 8 ohms.  I'd get an earful if it was one of my neighbours, but if it was the other one, he's probably bring a guitar round for a jam.  One cool neighbour is better than none I guess.

 

Anyway, I digress.  Yes, great wee amp - despite only having three EQ bands, the frequencies seem well chosen and have a big effect on the tone when they're swept from min to max.  The built in tuner is super handy and very responsive - the LEDs dance around while you're playing, it's quite fun to watch!  But the secret weapon is the Toneprint.  I thought this would be little more than novelty value and a toy to p!ss about with but I loaded up the Spectracomp Toneprint and it's actually really good - really smooths out the playing and makes it punchier, better than any single control compressor has any right to.  I was super impressed with it.  I think I'm just going to leave it on Spectracomp and have at it.  And thank <insert deity>, there's a mute switch (plus the power LED blinks when it's engaged - nice).  I like to have a mute switch on my amps.  I was a little sceptical about the lack of preamp gain control beyond an active/passive switch but the gains seem to be set sensibly and it didn't seem to be clipping horribly.

 

Have a pic.

 

 

Very happy with this for my home practice/recording amp, and it's nice and small (not as small as some like the BAM200 or the TE Elf) but certainly not a chore to take to the gig, just in case.

[bigthumb]

A really handy little amp what with the tuner. I've only used mine for home use with the 1x10 cab but yeah, nice tones and the comp is great. Plenty loud enough to drown out the neighbours shouting and screaming! I'll be taking it to the NYE gig as a back up but now as the band is rehearsing in a much smaller room, I might leave the EBS at home. 

[spongebob]

Looks good. 👍 

 

I’m still torn between this and the BQ500….prices will probably hike by the time I’ve decided. 
 

Can’t decide if the extra umph is worth it, or given TC specs, how much difference it would make in the real world. 

[neepheid]

On 21/12/2024 at 18:26, spongebob said:

Looks good. 👍 

 

I’m still torn between this and the BQ500….prices will probably hike by the time I’ve decided. 
 

Can’t decide if the extra umph is worth it, or given TC specs, how much difference it would make in the real world. 

 

Between Christmas and New Year, I'm going to take my BH250 and a single cab to the rehearsal room and face off against my drummer.  For Science!

[ahpook]

On 21/12/2024 at 18:26, spongebob said:

Looks good. 👍 

 

I’m still torn between this and the BQ500….prices will probably hike by the time I’ve decided. 
 

Can’t decide if the extra umph is worth it, or given TC specs, how much difference it would make in the real world. 

 

 

I bought a BQ250 about a week ago, but I was concerned about whether it'll have enough welly, given TCE's attitude to power ratings...

 

So a BQ500 arrived today - when it's warmed up from the van and I'm back from veg shopping I'll let you know how they compare.

 

 

[spongebob]

7 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

Between Christmas and New Year, I'm going to take my BH250 and a single cab to the rehearsal room and face off against my drummer.  For Science!

Excellent idea! 👍

[spongebob]

5 hours ago, ahpook said:

 

 

I bought a BQ250 about a week ago, but I was concerned about whether it'll have enough welly, given TCE's attitude to power ratings...

 

So a BQ500 arrived today - when it's warmed up from the van and I'm back from veg shopping I'll let you know how they compare.

 

 

That would be awesome info…..think there’s probably a few of us on here tempted by the current deals…..but worried about the power. 🤟

[lemmywinks]

Great little heads really, still tiny without sacrificing features. I left the Spectracomp on mine after doing the obligatory tour of Toneprints, nice bit of icing on an already tasty cake. Not sure where the HPF is at but it definitely seems higher than on the more powerful versions.

 

It's worth watching the Uriah Duffy video (or just reading the manual) regarding the eq points btw as they cut and boost at different frequencies. Bass cuts/boosts at 80hz/100hz, mid at 500hz/800hz and treble at 1.5khz/5khz.

https://mediadl.musictribe.com/download/software/tcelectronic/tc_electronic_bh250_bg250-208_manual_english.pdf

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by lemmywinks

[lemmywinks]

If you need a bag for it the Gator 0909 fits perfectly btw:

https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/gator-9″-x-9″-mini-amplifier-bag/

[ahpook]

On 23/12/2024 at 18:17, spongebob said:

That would be awesome info…..think there’s probably a few of us on here tempted by the current deals…..but worried about the power. 🤟

 

Well, bearing in mind this is a try-out-at-home-as-loud-as-I-dare try out, not against a drummer. But I did bloody crank it..

 

I'd say the 500 is louder - by much ?  I played it though an SWR 2x12 and an Ampeg SVT210AV and it certainly made everything rattle more in my boxy studio, so by that yardarm quite a bit ! I think the 500 sounded better at that volume as well- more controlled.  Also,  I didn't have to turn the gain up as much with the 500, which gave the compressor a bit more control and over all less hiss.

 

If you can stretch to the 500 do. The 250 is going back, even though it kindof takes it out of the price bracket I'd set myself.

 

They're nice-sounding amp's too, overall I'm impressed.

 

Oh, and the fan isn't loud, which was a worry. It's audible, but it's like a gas fire, not a whine. Quite relaxing.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2024 by ahpook

[neepheid]

OK, I just got back from my "war volume" test against my drummer at our rehearsal room - BH250, into a single 8 ohm Markbass NY121 cab, so probably doing one hundred and something (TC annoyingly tightlipped about power output at 8 ohms).

 

Let's just say that the master was a tickle over 12 o' clock and I was punching through no bother.  I could hear it fine, drummer said he could hear it fine.

 

Make of that what you will.  I'm delighted with this result and will have another go in the future with guitarist and singer in tow also but I think there's enough headroom there.  I am confident I'll have enough oomph should I ever need to press this into emergency service at a gig.

[lemmywinks]

The BH250 shsould be plenty loud enough for most people I think unless they have a power hungry cab, I use mine with a single 8ohm Basslite equipped 1x10 and it's capable of playing along with a drummer if they aren't too crazy. The only time I found it lacking is with my PJB C8 Lite which likes a lot of watts thrown at it (and sounds better that way), the BH250 was still loud but seemed like it was running out of steam so I did the logical thing and bought a BH800 as well. I think with another matching 1x10 the smaller head would have been fine.

 

[neepheid]

26 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

The BH250 shsould be plenty loud enough for most people I think unless they have a power hungry cab, I use mine with a single 8ohm Basslite equipped 1x10 and it's capable of playing along with a drummer if they aren't too crazy. The only time I found it lacking is with my PJB C8 Lite which likes a lot of watts thrown at it (and sounds better that way), the BH250 was still loud but seemed like it was running out of steam so I did the logical thing and bought a BH800 as well. I think with another matching 1x10 the smaller head would have been fine.

 

 

Fair point about cab choice being a factor.  Looks like I chose correctly with the Markbass then...

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

 

Fair point about cab choice being a factor.  Looks like I chose correctly with the Markbass then...

 

 

At rehearsals I used to put it through a pair of supplied 2x12 TC BH cabs, was plenty loud enough even if I didn't like the sound of the cabs all that much. I also tried it through a pair of Ashdown 4x10 cabs at a different rehearsal space and it was hellishly loud (despite the tiny amp on an 8x10 setup looking ridiculous) so I don't think anybody should have issues with it.

 

That PJB cab is just a bit thirsty I think, goes low and loud in a small package but needs more power to get the best out of it.

[Lozz196]

I’ve used one of these as part of a provided rig - the other part being an Ampeg 610. For stage volume to match the drums it was barely ticking over.