New amp on its way.

[Benplaysbass]

Well I finally gave in to the weight of the Ashdown Magc410t, unloading the van after last nights gig I could feel my back screaming at me. A very nice French man appeared and crossed my palm with the right amount of euros and he took it away. He also had the Mag 115 cab.
So with a few gigs in the diary have to get another fairly sharpish. there is so many to chose from and not having any reliable music shops near it has to be online. So have spent most of the day reading reviews and watching you tube videos of various amps and now have a Hartke LH500 on its way, going to run it through a Hartke VX115 which as far as I can tell is 300watt and the amp puts out 350watts at 8ohms so I guess I'll have to be a bit careful.
But looking forward to getting it, and £240 from Thomann is pretty good.

[Benplaysbass]

Turned up today, so have just been having a play and so far very impressed. Will use it in rehearsal tomorrow and crank it up and see what it'll do to the VX115.
I've been playing it for a couple of hours now and the fan has not made a sound(would like to hear it to see if it works) But so easy to dial in a sound.

[PlungerModerno]

I've been looking at amps... this video is interesting [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL0M6dyCTO0[/media] ... the LH series tone stacks seem pretty sweet. I'm leaning towards a GK mb fusion ATM. smaller, lighter, more tubes, GK EQ - which also seems extremely cool.

EDIT: Just checked the LH manual... It doesn't go into detail on the preamp, just that it has one or more 12Ax7 at high plate voltage - cool stuff - part of why they sound good

Edited July 25, 2012 by PlungerModerno

[Benplaysbass]

Have done two gigs with it now and still not quite sure. One was indoor and the room wasn't great but there seemed to be so much low end even with the treble up and the tone up on the guitar. It was so deep and if I rolled the bass off the sound seemed to get lost.
Second gig was outside and whether it was beacause the others were pretty loud, I just couldn't hear myself and wasn't getting the sound pushed forward as I would like.

I know it was asking a bit much of one 15inch cab, so going to add another cab to get the full power out of the amp and push a bit more air. I am holding off until I get my new guiatr and see what it sounds like through the amp, but was thinking about adding either the VX410 or the 410XL, guessing I should keep the cabs matched(same make) would the XL with the alu speakers sound ok with the VX115 or should I just stick with the VX410?

[Lozz196]

The 410XL cabs are very nice, very heavy, but imo, sound great. I had the 210 & 115 with a Hartke HA4000, which had a valve in the pre-amp, and they were really nice with this. With the warmth of the tube, you`d never have thought ali cones, just great bass sound. Not used the VX cabs, but the XL cabs were the higher end cabs when I bought mine (2005), and couldn`t find a bad review of them anywhere.

From what I`ve read, the tone-stack is a strange one on the LH500, and if I recall correctly, "flat" is bass and treble on abt 2, with mids on abt 8 or 9. So the usual, everything at 5 then twiddle doesn`t really work on these.

[Benplaysbass]

Should be picking up my Bravewood Pbass next week so will have a play when I get that and see what happens, the Thunderbird is a pretty muddy sounding beast which won't be helping matters.

[PlungerModerno]

I'm no expert - but look at your mids. The Tbird isn't going to 'cut' like a J with fresh rounds bridge solo'd, tone open... you did try boosting those mids a bit? I'd back off the bass a bit and the treble - then try a subtle boost of the mids. My 2c, gleaned from trying to make my 112 combo keep up with a drummer.

The 115 has a much better chance indoors than out. The bass reinforcement of a corner or wall will be sorely missed outdoors - where the guitarist may (correctly or not) think it's the ideal time to crank their rig(s)...

I'd try a second 115... If you use Thomann you can send it back if you want. 2 115's is a little more than a 410 in area (I'm pretty sure it's about 10% more effectively - maybe more).
It's also a lot nearer your head so will sound better.

I've heard mixed things about the VX's. If you like one try two. The Hartke head should kill at 4ohms. Enjoy your new rig - and enjoy the saving of your back!