Bass Culture

Does anyone know what the difference is between these two amps aside from the former being black and the latter being red?! The website makes various fairly vague statements about there having been a process of consultation and tweaking with Rocco and TC but skillfully neglects to mention what it was they tweaked from the RH450 model. It seems that the control array and 'extras' are the same - Tube tone, Spectracomp and on board tuner for example - so I'm at a loss, no matter how much I've read, to identify a single [i]significant [/i]difference between the two models to justify the fairly substantial price difference. Anyone able to enlighten me?

If 'Chromatic Fantasy' was good enough for Jaco to hone his chops on...

Shambo - just noticed you're on the Wirral. You're welcome to drop me a line if you want to pop over to Chester to try my PC 112's / RH 450 set up. Mark

[quote name='Shambo' post='740006' date='Feb 9 2010, 02:25 PM']Next on Shambo's wish list is a micro amp to release it's full potential and then, if needed, a matching cab. [/quote] Get an RH 450, Shambo - don't think about it, just do it. You won't regret it!

[quote name='nique' post='738949' date='Feb 8 2010, 02:16 PM']I picked my 1 x 15 and 2 x 12 up at the weekend.... just gotta wait for a week or so to try them out at a gig [/quote] Excellent! I'd be interested to know how you get on with them.

[quote name='lojo' post='736921' date='Feb 6 2010, 07:30 AM']Just wondering if you tried the TC cabs first and sound was also a factor in your choice to pair the RH450 with differing makes of cabs?[/quote] No, I didn't try the TC cabs first. In fact I didn't try the PC cabs first either! I did speak to Mike Walsh quite extensively about them though, which gave me a pretty good inkling that they would fit the bill - I didn't want anything too 'hi fi' or sterile. As I've posted elsewhere, I don't actually mind something being coloured as long as its colour I like! I know everyone raves about the Bergs but they didn't work for me when I tried my Roscoe through them with a LMIII. Could have been the amp though, of course. I'll admit it was the looks of the PC cabs that initially sold me - that and their ludicrously low weight. Unless someone tells me otherwise I believe they are significantly lighter than any other lightweight cabs out there for their size (I'm thinking one of Alex's Midget's might actually weigh less but those are tiny, size-wise). Having said all that I'd actually quite like to take my amp down to Bass Direct or somewhere and try the TC cabs, just to see how they do compare. It would certainly be an interesting experiment anyway. Oh, and as for - "if it sounds as good in a band situation as it does indoors then I may have found the ideal portable amp": it does and it is!

[quote name='lojo' post='733214' date='Feb 2 2010, 05:39 PM']Really looking for a portable rig, 2 cabs with the best tone and punch I can get for my money[/quote] I was too, and I settled on the RH 450 with two Purple Chili 1 x 12's. This is a crazy light rig - the cabs weigh only 12.7kg - 28lbs each in old money! I find them punchy with a lot a bass weight and depth, but still focussed. I suspect the 1 x 10 cabs would be even tighter and punchier. I've only used one cab for rehearsals since I got them and that keeps up with our drummer and guitarist without breaking a sweat - the amp's master has never gone past 9'o'clock so far. This is playing finger style and a variety of pop and chart stuff; don't know what it'd be like with a plectrum and playing death metal! Mind you, that's what you'd have your second cab for, isn't it? One word to the wise though - I'm beginning to think that drivers in new cabs perhaps take a little while longer to bed in than I realised. Both the PC cabs and the Barefaced Compact I had before them exhibited a distinct harshness when I first got them, which took a good few weeks to smooth out completely. Now that I've been using the cabs for 6 weeks or so (only one gig and about 4 rehearsals in that time though) they sound a lot cleaner and clearer. Pip pip!

This got (one of) my vote(s) earlier - Heaven 17's, 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang' - but I've found a link to it on Youtube now: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F23OHGZCAcE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F23OHGZCAcE[/url]. Bass break starts at about 1:30. 15 secs of 80's funky slappiness!

Another one I've got a particularly soft spot is the solo from 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang' by Heaven 17 - it takes me back just thinking about it. I think the bassist was given as 'John Wilson' and I've never come across him on anything else. Anyone out there able to give me some back story on this fella?

Good choice on the Purple Chili cabs front, Chris!

I'm going old school - Andy Fraser's solo in 'Mr Big' for me, from Free Live.

And to give an alternative (possibly philistine) perspective - most jazz, now as always, just sounds like a load of noise to me. I know there's some great players who operate in that particular musical environment because even I can tell that they have good technique, and they play an awful lot of notes an awful lot faster than most guys can. But, you know what, to me that's exactly what it sounds like - a load of notes; narry a tune or melody to found within a country mile of most free form jazz improvisations that I've ever heard. Most of it is little more than self indulgent musical masturbation...(Puts pith helmet on and ducks below parapet).

I've got two of the Purple Chili 1x12" cabs and love 'em. I think Mike's using the green label Celestion drivers in the PC's and used the orange label drivers on the old Zoot cabs, which are obviously pretty similar to Aggie GS112 in appearance, if not weight and sound. The new Purple Chili are, to my mind, some of the best looking cabs on the market and certainly the lightest. Sound-wise they have a real weight and presence in the bass and lower mids which really nails it for me, and are not as 'hi fi' as I remember my Aggie GS112's being - there's a real character to the tone. I can't recommend them highly enough.

I'm using two Purple Chili PC112's with a TC Electronics RH450 and love this set up. Again, a very full bottom end. I put mine on a short Hi Fi stand to give me a bit more control and that works great, as well as putting them at (my) ear level. The big, big plus for the Purple Chili cabs is their weight - 28lbs each in old money. Ridiculously light but beautifully made and finished too.

Hmm, interesting, sounds as though this isn't exactly unique then. I'm sure it'll be sorted easily enough but it's a bit frustrating too as I'm not in the habit of having 'spare' amps sitting around to cover these kind of eventualities! This problem aside though, I absolutely love this amp.

Bloody typical; just when you acquire the amp of your dreams it goes and dies on you two weeks after delivery! Plugged in the other morning and...er...nothing. Zilch, nada - no lights, no sound. There's a momentary quiet click but no indication of life on the display panel. As I've only had it a couple of weeks it's still under guaranteee so I've no worries about sending it back to Mark at Bass Direct for it to be sorted but I wondered if any other users have experienced the same thing? Or maybe it's got something against me! It's not in any of its protections states (general or overheat) by the looks of things as there's no display and I've obviously left it and tried it after a while again with the same results. Oh, and the fuse hadsn;t gone in the kettle lead either! Cheers, Mark

[quote name='Geddys nose' post='692087' date='Dec 23 2009, 09:24 AM']+1 I've had Mesa's,Ampegs, Sunns,TE,Markbass mostly Valve amps and my RH450 + TC 212+210 gets so close to the Tube amps sound wise it's amazing,I think the TC cabs make a lot of difference to the head TBH with being vertical aligned and work so well together-you get the sound right at ear level with very little volume.[/quote] Yeah, I've done something similar with my PC cabs by putting them on a small, old cut-down hi fi stand I had lying around. Worked a treat at the weekend and you hear exactly what's pumping out front.

I'm not sure I could be in awe of an amp but I do think my RH450 is the best bass amp I've played and/or owned, and - at 46 years old and having played for 30 years - I've been through Marshall, Acoustic, Peavey, Peterson, Markbass, Trace Elliot, Genz Benz. So - RH450: not only a fantastic sounding amp, it cures GAS too!

Gigged with my new RH450 for the first time at the weekend. What a fabulous amp! Matched with my two Purple Chili 112 cabs it sounde warm, full, punchy and tight all at the same time. I love the semi-parametrics on all four tone controls too. And even though it's got a few bells and whistles it's still really easy and intuitive to use - and the bells and whistles actually add to your sound rather than detract from it too!