New TC Electronics Rig - RH750 & RS Cabs

[baseline9]

So after having a once in a life time event where I got a call out of the blue to say you have inherited some money I was able to go out and buy a bass new rig!

I had already been thinking about changing the set up due to requirements with a new band I had joined and I had already been researching bass amps at this point, the first obvious choice was Ashdown as I already had one and I had previously been endorsed with them in an old band, however having subscribed to the online magazine "No Treble" (Great site by the way!) I was introduced to the bass amp 2.0 concept that TC were offering, having done some further research, watching, listening and going to shops to try different amps out I decided to take the plunge and go for the TC rig

Seen as I thought I will probably never get an opportunity like this again (especially in these hard times) I decided to go for the full set up RH750 + 210 + 212 + Covers + FS. I purchased the rig as a job lot from giggear.co.uk and I can recommend them as a very good retailer, they also price matched and I felt it was a great deal, had I purchased separately it would have cost me a good £200/£300 more!

The purchase did not come without its problems, first of all when I set the amp up down at the studio I could not for the life of me get the thing to omit a sound! We had the whole band huddled around the thing pressing buttons, wiggling leads and looking at the manual to try and get the thing going! It was quite funny "How many band members does it take to switch an amp on!" however at the time I was quite concerned, finally I moved the speakon cable out of a lock position to about 11 o'clock and its jumped alive! Having tried both cables I still felt it was an issue with the amp. To compound the issue the foot switch was not working either and had a _E on the display, doing some further research I found this was a known issue and needed replacing

I went home from rehearsal a little despondent however determined to correct things and after all it would all be covered under warranty. The next day I contacted gig gear an explained all the issues with them, they were very apologetic and surprised as they said TC is very reliable, they arranged pick the items up for the next day! Later that night the singer out of my band came round un-announced with two brand new speakon cables and he said "I don't believe it's the amp, I know we tried two cables but it not the amp" so we plugged in again and it worked perfectly! I was so relived; it was some rotten luck that I had two dodgy speakon cables! I sent the footswitch back as originally planned and they sent me a brand new one along with some free stuff, t shirts, lanyards, spare amp parts and pens etc. which was a nice touch.

Having lived with the amp for a couple of months now and despite the early hic ups I really love it, it gives a great tight, punchy responsive sound, which is to my taste. I can get a couple more weeks out of the strings as well! You can also get a real 70s scoope sound by lowering the mids upping the tube tone and compressor which is great for slap and finger funk etc.. ! The compressor is the best one I have ever used and it does not kill the sound. I did not need to tweak the EQ too much to get what I wanted as it comes out of the box with a nice sound. Using the studio side stuff is great as well; the DI is really good quality and when using headphones or IEM's it comes across really nice. I have used it at one gig so far and some of our fans gave me some great feedback about the amp and the sound guy said it's the best post DI sound he has ever worked with! Finally its blummin loud and easy to carry around!

Hope that's helpful

Base.


www.roughtwist.co.uk

Edited October 8, 2012 by baseline9

[NAS]

Hi Base,

Just reactivated my account here (couldn't even remember my User Name let alone the password!) after a while in the wilderness.

Very interested to see you have plumped for the RH750, RS210, RS212 + Footswitch combo as I've just done the same!

Not expecting delivery for a few days as being held back until all units available, but looking forward to sampling it soon.

I got a couple of new Speakons thrown in so hope I don't have your startup problems.

Will be interested to see how I get on with the compressor and TubeTone particularly. With a built in tuner I'm hoping to get away without the need for any additional foot pedals. Will simplify set up no end.

All the best with your new purchase. Good to know I'm not alone.

NAS

[Musicman20]

I have the RH750 with two RS210s. Absolutely love this setup.

By the way, you get speakons with each cabinet in the box!

[baseline9]

Hello Nas - great news you won’t be disappointed the rig is amazing, the rest of the band love it too! It feels a real step forward in terms of technology and amplifier progression. Did you go with gig gear as well? I think bass direct do the full thing as well.

The tuner is great with full bypass and I no longer need my boss TU2 meaning less leads quicker set up for those multi band nights we all know and love! I have found a use for both the tube tone and compressor and dialling a bit of both really compliments the sound.

The memory pre-sets are really useful; I have a passive and active bass so it’s nice for me to be able to have it set up for both basses and quick change over mid gig.

Finally I use the amp head allot at home for practice, it comes with a phono to mini jack lead so you can plug into your PC/Mac soundcard or phone, plug some headphones (Or I use my IEM's) into the back of the amp and you can play along to music without killing next door! I had been borrowing a practice amp, this means I don’t have to go out and buy one and my mate gets his little amp back (I have had it for about a year!!1 lol)

I would recommend getting new speakons as the ones that came with it did not seem good quality, however i'm bound to say that due to my bad experince, if they work then stick with em

Cheers
Base.

[W11ATO]

Great thread, I'm pretty close to buying a RH750, RS212 & RS210 rig myself and its great to hear first hand reviews, waiting to see Level 42 next Wednesday as I understand Mark King is using this now.

Out of interest, what basses are you guys playing and what style? Are you slap, fingers, pick?

Cheers
Rob

[The Dark Lord]

I have an RH750 with an RS210 and an RS112. It's perfect. Just perfect. It's a small and relatively light rig. It looks different to the norm. People often as me what it is at gigs. The cabs are incredibly well designed - look like something out of an art gallery. The main thing though is the versatility of the sound. Really quite amazing.

I upgraded from the RH450 just recently - just because GAS caught me when I had spare cash. It is louder and a different colour, but, to be honest, sounds the same and the RH450 was plenty loud enough anway. Never really used it more than 50% volume.

I really don't know what other people are doing using anything else.

[baseline9]

Agreed!

I would def recommend one - having used it more and more I'm really getting on with the thing now!

The RH750 also has the added feature tweeter tone; I have it quite high as I like a bright modern sound.

I use a Fender Jazz and a Music Man, using one preset for each bass, they both sound great.

I used it for my 2nd gig this weekend and the sound guy said it was that loud he hardly had it coming out of the front of house; this is in a 350 capacity venue! I had the volume about half way and the gain about a quarter.

Hope that helps
Base.

[W11ATO]

I bought it and fcuking love it, best sounding amp and cabs I've ever heard.

[baseline9]

I have recently been playing with the settings more, we have started to write a new tune and I pumped the tube tone right up to 11 with no compression, lots of bass and treble and a bit of mid, hey presto through a fender Jazz I got that queens of the stone age ampeg valve/growl sound, its monstrous!

[4-string]

I too have the RH750/RS210/RS212 setup, amazing rig! Highly recommended.