Beer of the Bass

I just read it as saying that having dabbled in cab design, he knows from experience that getting it down to that sort of weight is an impressive feat.

I can imagine the TKS S112 or S212 would be good with these amps too. I used the same driver in my DIY cabs, and the sensitivity and voicing work well with the Pf-50t.

I'm using one or two of my DIY 1x12 cabs with my Pf-50t though I did take it to a rehearsal yesterday and tried it with the house Ampeg 810-AV cab. That was sort of fun - with that much speaker area it really doesn't give the impression of being a low powered amp!

I played an older model Bassix EUB for a few years, and always struggled with posture. While he did well to offer the only EUB available for less than a grand in the early 2000s, I felt like a few details of mine weren't well thought out. One was the lack of a waist/bout extension, and there's no obvious way to fit one since the body is a thin fibreglass shell. The fingerboard on mine was oddly shaped too, and couldn't be planed as it's a moulded resin material. So while it was basically a functional instrument, I found I developed much less useful double bass technique on it than I'd hoped. Hopefully he'd have refined things a little more with later models though.

Why are almost all the youtube demos of these done with active basses with the onboard EQ cranked, and so focussed on slap? I don't really have anything against that sound, but it doesn't feel like the most obvious role for these amps...

The HiGain or Toaster style pickups here might suit the vibe of the bass quite well. https://retrovibe.co.uk/product-category/parts/pickups/

I wonder how long they'll have that for!

I'd be interested to know how you get on with the TC-61. I'm a fan of that downward "bowww" sound, but probably wouldn't find enough uses for it to justify spending a lot. So a cheap pedal with a reverse sweep could be appealing.

There's a strong element of "work smarter, not harder" too. When I first started playing a few years back I had a fairly high setup, too much relief in the board and Thomastik Superflexibles that are about on a par with Spiro Mittels. I hurt myself and had to take week long breaks a couple of times trying to brute-force my way through situations I was daft to go unamped in. With a bit more experience, I think the maximum volume I can get with my current bass, technique and setup is about on a par with what I got back then, but I don't hurt myself.

This is long, but worth it!

I quite like the preamp on the old MAG amps, the EQ bands are in useful places and I find it easy to dial in what I need. Also, these are quite a small box for a 15", if I'm thinking of the same model, so there may be some sort of mid-bass hump going on that suits your tastes.

I did enjoy the D'Addario tapes I had for a couple of years, other than the B string. Then I had Sadowsky Black Label flats for several more years, then some Fender flatwounds that I didn't quite bond with. But currently I'm about 6 weeks into a new set of TI Jazz flatwounds and getting what I want out of those. They have the mid presence I liked from the Sadowskys, but clearer on the low strings and a hell of a lot less stiff feeling. They also have about the best sounding flatwound B I've used so far. They needed some setup tweaks and I've conciously lightened up my right hand, but they're starting to settle in now and I like what they do. I've joined a new band and got a new amp head at the same time, so I'm going through one of those stages of re-working my sound and approach that goes with that.

I've not seen inside these, but AFAIK, keeping as much as possible in-house is their usual way of working. So I reckon it'll be a proprietary power module in there.

I get the impression they chose to make these look a bit more utilitarian, both to save on fancy potted transformers and chrome plating, and to differentiate them from the Heritage line.

Yep, my Pf-50t has only been out for one gig so far (being a recent acquisition), but did just fine through a pair of 12"s with drums, brass and guitarist with a Fender Blues Junior. The master was less than halfway up and it didn't seem too close to running out of steam. I think the midrange voicing of these amps helps with making the most of their output, as they're not really scooped unless you use the ultra-low switch.

They seem OK - I bought a Pf-50t from them recently, which had a minor valve issue, and while there was a bit of a communication mixup between them and the distributor over the return, they did get things sorted out. And others have have had a much smoother experience with them than I did.

Orange seem to have regretted their proprietary class D design with the Terror Bass too, as there were quite a few failures and they've declared they won't be doing any more class D amps. Markbass don't appear to have run into the sort of issues Ampeg and Orange did, so it might be fair to say that the design and execution of their own class D stuff has been more successful.

I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't have Nobsound across the front in big letters. I'll have to be contented with giggling at the Sola Sound BUM Fuzz Unit instead...

The Fender Rumble combos seem well liked in that size/price range.

I haven't played through the CL, but I recall the VR mini-stack sounding pretty nice when I jammed with one a while back. Not one for massive volume though.

I was surprised at how quiet mine was after reading about the hum issues. I had a look inside mine, and the mod was already carried out from new. Here's a pic of the relevant area on mine showing the added capacitor and resistor. (the extra capacitor is the one on its side connected to the diode leg, and the added resistor is in series with R128).

I'm just back from an afternoon gig in a park with my Pf-50t. Can report that with my homebuilt 1x12" cabs, it has plenty of oomph for the band I'm playing with. Sounded good too! We didn't run any bass through the PA, but the drums were also unmiked so that set the overall level. Regarding the Pf-50t and hum, I've had a peek inside mine, and can confirm that on mine at least, the hum fix linked above is now being applied to them. Mine really isn't noisy, now that my valve issues are sorted. So I feel like it was a good buy despite my initial niggles.

The 50T works nicely at low volumes - the master volume is not too abrubt at the bottom end, so you can dial it in pretty easily. The EQ seems quite versatile too, with the selectable mids, and I don't find it noisy unless the mids and highs are really cranked (which is true of a lot of amps, SS or valve) I'm going to take it out on a gig tomorrow and see how it fares! I was unlucky with valve failures on mine, but most have been fine and they will sort if for you if needs be.