Light Vs Heavy

[charic]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1173666' date='Mar 23 2011, 06:52 PM']I've heard the TC heads have reliability problems, have you had any probs?[/quote]

First I've heard

I have the RH450 and honestly it is great. Lovely growly tone and a tonne of punch.

Plus you get surprised faces to entertain you while you first turn it on

[chris_b]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1173462' date='Mar 23 2011, 04:07 PM']....I only ever use one side of the power amp at 4 OHMS TBH....[/quote]
I guess you'll be after a 500 watt amp then. There's a lot of choice in that range! GB, MB, TC, GK and many more will give you 500 watts and great bass tone for less than 10 lbs.

This year I’ve decided on one rule: I don't care how good gear is if it weighs more than my TC I'm not interested.

[robocorpse]

Why not just buy an SVT3 pro and a Boss OD1, and save yourself 2u and 14 pounds of wrist damage? or do you actually use the onboard compressor and octaver?

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='nash' post='1173496' date='Mar 23 2011, 04:37 PM']i'm a traditional guy. i can't get on with class D power amps.[/quote]
My old(ish) QSC is class A/B. [b]Only[/b]1200Wrms into 4 ohms, though.

[nash]

right? i can't see what you're getting at?

[mrtcat]

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1173736' date='Mar 23 2011, 07:47 PM']As an Ampeg fan, I`ve been more than happy with my TC Classic 450.[/quote]

Traded an Ampeg SVT6pro (1100w @ 4ohm) for a TC Classic 450. The TC is far far better and can dial in any sound from gritty to warm to clean very easily. It puts out an alarming amount of volume too (never had it past half way and seems much louder than the ampeg) and is super light.

[4 candles]

light is better. fact

[waynepunkdude]

The problem I have with lightweight heads is that I used to have a Superfly which was awful, has the technology moved on that much?

[nash]

[quote name='4 candles' post='1175250' date='Mar 24 2011, 09:15 PM']light is better. fact[/quote]

how?

[alexclaber]

Yes and no. It has moved on but not that much - the Superfly was rubbish.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1175284' date='Mar 24 2011, 09:41 PM']Yes and no. It has moved on but not that much - the Superfly was rubbish.[/quote]


It really was and that has put me off.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1175277' date='Mar 24 2011, 09:37 PM']The problem I have with lightweight heads is that I used to have a Superfly which was awful, has the technology moved on that much?[/quote]
Yes and more yes, That was a crap amp regardless of it power stage mate most people will agree.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='nash' post='1175283' date='Mar 24 2011, 09:40 PM']how?[/quote]
Because they sound as good and have as much bottom end yet are easier to carry than a heavy amp ,where are the negatives to lighter weight amps? Portability is clearly a big bonus to many so its FTW as they say

Edited March 24, 2011 by stingrayPete1977

[Mr Fudge]

I think I may have cracked this ....

A few years ago I spent some serious cash and went high end. MarkBass SA450 and 2 x Berg AE12's. This rig has been fantastic. Lightweight and very powerful. I play in a covers band and gig in pubs one week and town halls the next, very often without PA support, so I often split the bergs the length of a big stage and stick them at the front of me.

Guilty secret time .... I recently bought a tech21 VTbass valve jobbie, because my ultra light kit doesn't give me the warm, growl I like. I really think the difference between what I have and a big ampeg valve and 4x10 cabs would be negligible.

After all there is probably only ever me at a gig who would know the difference ... and I don't think there is much of one. Add to this I play a Rick and Jazz basses loaded with wizzard 84's.

[chrismuzz]

Like Mr Fudge, i love my lightweight MarkBass stuff! And yes I dirty it up with my SansAmp, but I prefer to start with a clean slate and then mess around with pedals because the super clean tone is useful to me and I find it gives me more tonal possibilities without too much of a compromise. Plus the combined weight of my pedalboard, head, cab, bass, and leads still weigh considerably less than most cabinets!

[scalpy]

Aguilar Tonehammer 500?

Not quite out yet but 4lbs £600 and in built drive (but not footswitchable.) I'm itching to try one!

[Mr Fudge]

I like the ultra clean too, but recently I find a bit of growl on the VT bass and that's it! The only pedal I hit is the tuner at 1/2 time. All my other pedals are in the loft. I have found that the sound I am getting really complements the sound of the band I play in. I like the idea of having one sound for everything and just focusing on playing my bass at gigs. Obvious thing to say I know, but a great band is the sum of all it's parts, so Im trying to make sure that the noise I make is the best for the whole band, not just me.

I wish I had thought like this years ago ...

[chrismuzz]

I was always a straight up bass - amp kind of guy, until I started hearing all those modern heavy metal tones and became the biggest tone chaser i know! I'm more or less satisfied now, but I still seek certain effect pedals.. Some are useful for my band, some less so, but they're all fun to use

[AndyTravis]

The way my back has been since an odd train seating related incident...long story.

And going from 3 basses in the 10-11lb mark to a CS Jazz at 8lbs, i'm thinking as light as possible at the moment.

Heavy gear is a pain in the arse, and i've decided to worry about what i'm playing rather than what through.

I was very excited to see the new Roland Bass cubes have a D.I. Out from the 60w model upwards. And they sound good enough too...

[alanbass1]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1173666' date='Mar 23 2011, 06:52 PM']Cabs aren't a problem, my Ampeg is lighter than the head


I've heard the TC heads have reliability problems, have you had any probs?[/quote]

None whatsover. Probably done about 40 gigs so far.

[tauzero]

[quote name='sk8' post='1173464' date='Mar 23 2011, 04:07 PM']40lbs???

Wimps[/quote]
What's the total weight of your rig today then? And what do you expect it to be in a weeks time?

[tauzero]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1173442' date='Mar 23 2011, 03:48 PM']Basically Ampeg too heavy but sounds good what should I get that's lighter but also sounds good?[/quote]
Superfly.

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='tauzero' post='1176273' date='Mar 25 2011, 06:12 PM']Superfly.[/quote]


I had one and it was the worst sounding thing I have ever heard, I'd rather play through a 10W guitar amp.

[alexclaber]

Depends how light you want. ABM500s and LH500s weigh half as much as your SVT5, are equally loud or louder than the one channel from the SVT5, and are nice slants on the Ampeg vibe. RH450 does the Ampeg thing well but much lighter. The new Streamliners seem to be along a similar line. Also starting to hear good things about the SVT7.

If you use the Superfly with a loud bass (so you don't run into the lack of preamp gain problem), and a loud cab or are not in too loud a band (so you don't run into the lack of power problem), and don't push it too hard or remove it from the aluminium outer case (so you don't run into the appalling cooling problem), and like a relatively clean uncoloured tone then it'll work just fine (assuming you don't get one of the many unreliable examples).

[waynepunkdude]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1176321' date='Mar 25 2011, 06:33 PM']Depends how light you want. ABM500s and LH500s weigh half as much as your SVT5, are equally loud or louder than the one channel from the SVT5, and are nice slants on the Ampeg vibe. RH450 does the Ampeg thing well but much lighter. The new Streamliners seem to be along a similar line. Also starting to hear good things about the SVT7.

If you use the Superfly with a loud bass (so you don't run into the lack of preamp gain problem), and a loud cab or are not in too loud a band (so you don't run into the lack of power problem), and don't push it too hard or remove it from the aluminium outer case (so you don't run into the appalling cooling problem), and like a relatively clean uncoloured tone then it'll work just fine (assuming you don't get one of the many unreliable examples). [/quote]


Mine was broken on one side, I have also heard good things about the SVT7 but I'm thinking about saving for a RH450 and keeping the SVT for special occasions.