wally8

So contrary to some peoples belief, the pf500 hasn't tickled everyone's fancy. What a wonderful opinionated democracy we live in.

Cheers Lozz, my thoughts exactly. Just like the legendary dirty harry said "Opinions are like ar$eholes, everybody has one" I want an ampeg so bad, im not a hater, just reviewed a siuation to see what people thought. There is a lot of love for the PF500's so i may of missed something. The TC cab may of been pants (dont hate me TC owners), the head may of been iffy, i just found it unusual that at a fairly low level it was farting. I trust your judgement lozz, if you say its good then it cant be bad I may of been unlucky

[quote name='The Burpster' timestamp='1336135544' post='1641398'] Well maybe not too hard but, hard enough to put some of our younger viewers off the idea..... I can only find a couple of responses that agree with you and the vast majority seem to say that with a decent cab they are between good/reliable to fantastic......... does that not say something to you? It does to me, I shall get one ordered. As to shops, dont get me on a rant.... I've seen some fantastic gear slagged off by (IMHO) idiots that should know better, and seen very occasionally really good advice and support. The days of staff in shops ACTUALLY knowing much and in some cases anything about their products is I'm afraid long gone, and this doesnt just apply to the music business. But back to your thread, Ampeg have been in the business pretty much since it started, and they are not design dinsoaurs. I find it impossible to believe that they would release an amp (and certainly keep it in circulation) that does not undergo extensive testing and development before its released. Ask yourself this... "would they really make an amp that farts with a 'ray and then try to sell in the US where most of all the 'rays are owned....?" [i](......sorry, just read your original post again and its a Sterling that you auditioned with not a 'ray, but you get my gist...!)[/i] [/quote] Am i classed as one of these idiots? Bit OTT if you ask me considering everyones entitled to an opinion and i certainly didnt get personal with anyone, just my own experiences. If people are daft enough not to try an amp coz one or two people have had less that sterling experiences, nothing would get bought. As to would a massive company release a product that is less that perfect with faults? Think you only have to look at any market in the world - i.e the motor trade. Many companies have product recalls and release improved products that right the wrongs of the previous. Again, your entitled to your opinion but i take offence at the attitude directed at me [i]Make love not war[/i]

[quote name='The Burpster' timestamp='1336118390' post='1641016'] As I'm on the cusp of buying a PF500 (but with an Ampeg cab) I was interested to read this. I'm sorry but whilst I respect your opinion, you are slagging the head off after a very quick audition through a cab of which you dont ACTUALLY know what Wattage and Ohm rating it had...... and also a TC. That's a bit like saying a MacLaren MP4-27 is sh*te because I have just driven it shod with a set of Michelin Energy Saver tyres. What you should've done was take them up on their 30 day trial and tried it through PROPER cabs that are known to be capable of dealing with the output. My PRSs have 18v preamps and kick out nearlty 20v with fresh batteries but only a couple of very cheap class D amps (Behringer and Yamaha) have ever needed clipping significantly due to high output. The farting is more likely to be due to cheap & nasty chinese drivers in an inappropriate cab. Other posters above have pointed out that this head is excellent through appropriate speaker cabs, and its of more interest (and I wouldve hoped inspired you to have a rethink) to me that the variety of cabs that have been tried that it DOES work with. I'm not impressed with the shop not getting or having an Ampeg cab to play it through for you, but TBH I'm not impressed by shops per se. Give it another chance and play it through a decent cab before writing it off. I was similarly unimpressed with the PJB D200 when I first got it, but through a proper speaker cab it is very very good, and there is no reason why the Ampeg shouldnt be as good. I agree, no it wont be a Mesa but then its not Mesa money or weight. [/quote] I didnt slag it off too hard did i? Just that i wernt that impressed as others have also said. I'm really pleased how many people have joined and given there opinion, thanks guys. Humm, if the opportunity arises again, perhaps i just might trial one with a decent cab. It's a shame it seems most of the shops now stock cheapy stuff as well as a truckload of guitar stuff and we bassist have to travel far and wide to find specialist shops.

I know what u mean mrtcat, ive got a 900 year old soundcity 100w valvehead which has zero issues (apart from generating a small powerplant amount of heat) with my MM signal. You would of thought they would have cracked it by now with modern tech.

Ha, Cheers Lozz, the old skool way of thinking "if it weighs a ton it must have balls"!!!!! I remember doing a gig at the twist in colchester back in the day. I lugged the 1x15 and 4x10 in my old astra, nearly killed it. The volume of the amp was approx 10% and they D.I'd me through the main PA anyway - what a chump. The chic's loved it though

[sub]Dunno what the TC cab was, i sure it was a upright 2x10 with the speakers verticle rather than side by side. Had a speakon connecter thats fo sure. It did keep clipping for me as well with the 15 dB - in or out. Perhaps im just too powerful!!!! All joking aside, I semi regret not buying it and trying it at practice at a proper volume with my 4x10. The bloke in the shop said i could trial it for 30 days and get a full no worries refund if i hated it. However, the drummer + guitarist in the band are goons are would like throw water over it or set fire to it and i would be stuffed for a refund.[/sub] [sub]I will forever kick myself for not buying a mesa 200w valve head with a 4x10 and 1x15 in the same enclosure back in 98, that was offered at teh same price as my firebass head and cabs = thicko[/sub]

I wanted to love it, the purple light, the weight, the ampeg sign, but I was left wanting. Bit like that old bird Kate who wills married. She's alright and worth one but perhaps gets more kudos than deserved!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1335898620' post='1637784'] For some reason I don't get the match up with a TC cab. I would have tried an Ampeg cab if I could in the 1st instance to give it its best chance. Also, how did you run the MM as IIRC, the bass is boost only, and the treble might be notched +- 12 BD..which is a LOT of Eq to mess with. [/quote] Hi JTUK. Yeah i would of tried an ampeg cab if they had one. The joy of modern music stores having bugger all in them and everything is "based in their warehouse". This was DV in cambridge. The only bass cab in the entire shop was this TC. They had to order me the PF500 in. I first of all tried my MM with my normal settings with the treble and Mid on full with the bass at neutral - full farting straight away. i cut them all back to neutral and it was okish, a bit farty when i was ramping the vol up. Then i decided to cut the lot and use the EQ on the amp.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1335885493' post='1637544'] Well I only used my PF500 with a passive Precision, and it sounded great - the regular Precision/Ampeg pairing that works so well. Maybe you should have taken your P-Bass along, Ben? In my opinion, the PF500 is much better for an old-school tube-warmth sort of sound, than a more modern voice (which is why I sold mine, as I need the more modern sound). [/quote] Your probably right lozz but I'm trying to convince myself that my mm is better than my p bass when clearly the p bass kicks the sh1t out of it!

Hello all - i may get slated for this, but.....ive just tried a PF500 connected into a TC 2x10 cab and it sounded very average. I plugged my sterling in keeping its EQ flat and went through the range of sounds on the amp. I cranked it fairly hard with the gain halfway and the volume not far off. The amp was hating the strong signal from my MM and i had to use the -15dB button to stop it distorting as well as reducing the gain considerably. I spent a fair amount of time on it. Now this may sound much better through a 4x10, perhaps using one of my passive basses but initial impressions were not good. To be fair to my old trusty Peavey Firebass700, it sounded just as good if not better than the pf500 and the range of sounds were similar. I was really gutted as i had the readies in my pocket. I think ive just got to stop being a cheapskate and dig a bit deeper for that extra quality. Any one else agree or am i the odd one out re these PF500's which i can only find really positive reviews.

This is the original thread, loads more piccies. Doesn't help with the trussrod id. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/136601-sold-5-string-fretless-passive-bass-with-brand-new-flats-l100/page__hl__fretless+pristine__fromsearch__1

Ok guys, thanks for the help. I will take the chainsaw to it and see what I find.

Sadly that wasn't on it when I got it.

Hi all. This bass has had 2 previous basschat owners (hope you don't mind me using the pic). One owner mentioned in his add it was a ks (sadly not a ken smith). I've googled and can't find anything about that. Anyone seen one of these 5 string fretless bases with a weird headstock.