lefrash Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) I've owned 4 bass heads in the past 7 years. Ashdown, hartke, behringer (haha) and ampeg. My ampeg pf350 is the only one that hasnt stopped working (yet). My guitarist mate has just recently had to get his blackstar head fixed as it stopped working. I appreciate that each of these were towards the budget end of the market, but it just proves that no amps are 100% reliable. Id also suggest that the cheaper amps will sell in far larger quantity, so therefore the number that break might seem higher. Edited March 4, 2014 by lefrash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petetexas Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 [u]chris b[/u], How do you know that there have been up to 10 revisions of components ? Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Last year according to the thread on TB the revisions had got to H (that's 8), so I as someone stated 10 earlier in this thread I accepted that there had been a few more. Even if it's half that number the amp's not reliable enough for serious gigging, in my opinion as a serious gigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I had a PF-500 (Lozz's first one) and used it for a year 2 or 3 nights a week at gig levels and never let me down. Even survived being dropped into a concrete floor from waist height! Such a shame they're so poorly regarded in the reliability stakes; great sounding heads, good weight, they look sexy and they're well constructed (if poorly designed!). It would be interesting to see exactly how many have failed. Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1394025555' post='2387029'] I had a PF-500 (Lozz's first one) and used it for a year 2 or 3 nights a week at gig levels and never let me down. Even survived being dropped into a concrete floor from waist height! Such a shame they're so poorly regarded in the reliability stakes; great sounding heads, good weight, they look sexy and they're well constructed (if poorly designed!). It would be interesting to see exactly how many have failed. Truckstop [/quote] I know someone who went through 3 in two weeks. He's a pro player and used them for his smaller, quieter gigs so they weren't driven hard. One of them expired as soon as it was turned on - just went bang when he first plugged it in I'm definitely with Chris B in terms of not having the confidence to gig one week in, week out. I'm sure they are a lot better now but it would worry me and I'd always have my Sansamp ready to plug into the house PA if I had to gig with one. Of course, I always have this with me anyway but I never approach a gig worrying that my amp is going to fail and I think that's the mind-set I'd have with a PF500. It does rather feel that Ampeg used the general public as a test bed for earlier editions and this is probably what's caused so much ill-feeling. I guess we get used to it from software and PC builders but not from big amp companies who make stuff for performing musicians. Let's hope the latest batch are really sorted because the core concept of these is really good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1394025555' post='2387029'] I had a PF-500 (Lozz's first one) and used it for a year 2 or 3 nights a week at gig levels and never let me down. Even survived being dropped into a concrete floor from waist height! Truckstop [/quote] Yep, I never had any problems with that one, deffo one of the good-uns. It`s such a shame re this, as they are great sounding amps, but having had one that didn`t get past the first rehearsal, I`d never get another, I wouldn`t have the confidence, especially as this seems to still be happening some considerable years after they came out and had the problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) I have a PF 500, which I really only use as a backup head or depending on which band / musicians I'm playing with, I use it as my main amp with a smaller rig...... and I've used it quite a bit for rehearsals I've got to say, I really like the sound the amp produces and it packs a punch, especially for something so small So far, no issues with it whatsoever, except as earlier posts suggest re the gain control On one of my active basses (Ibanez SR500) I need to take care on not setting output on the bass, and gain on the amp too high The limiter simply cuts in - but no cutting out issues..... Although I haven't used it a huge amount, it seems totally reliable and it's a head I really like Again, maybe I'm just lucky and got a good one.... Just adding my own thoughts / experiences to the others who've found their Ampeg PF's to be fine Edited March 13, 2014 by Marc S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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