Biaeothanata-Bassist Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Hey guys and girls I've got a Hartke LH500 head that if i'm honest, i'm bored of. With my band, i've been practising in a studio that supply an Ampeg B2-RE head an i've been really enjoying using that thanks to the switchable Graphic EQ along side the Parametric EQ. As you all know, the LH500 only has a 3 band parametric EQ which doesn't give me enough options. It sounds really good but just falls a bit short for me because of the lack of Graphic EQ. So, as is, I would say my budget to replace it with is £220 so i was weighing up a couple of options. Obviously I would love to get an Ampeg B2-RE and i've seen them going around that price but the other options I found was the Bugera BVP5500 (SVT-3 Pro copy) and BTX3600 (SVT-4 Pro copy). i checked out a couple of videos of both on Youtube and they both sound fantastic with a hell of a lot of options but I want to know what the general opinion of people on here is? One thing i will say is though, if someone is going to come along and say "Just get an SVT-4 or SVT-3 etc etc" of a much higher price, please don't bother because my budget is what it is, i can't add anything to it. In an ideal world I would love the SVT-3 but it's not feesable. Also, the amp has to be rack mountable, 2u preferable but I have a blank space that I could use to make it a 3u. So yeah, any one used the bugeras? What do you think? Cheers! Edited July 14, 2014 by Biaeothanata-Bassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Bugera amps are like Behringer's "boutique" brand. Yes, they sound GREAT, but quality control is not so great. I would say its worth the money, but make sure that you have some kind of back up even if its just a DI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biaeothanata-Bassist Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Ah okay i didn't realise the QC on them could be a bit... naff! I should probably invest in a DI to have in my rack case any way for such situations. To be fair, a lot of the venues i've played normally have DI boxes there to hook up to if needed but it probably is sensible to have one myself. Cheers for the tip dude! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Behringer BDI21 maybe? It's basically a pretend Sansamp, which is a pretend SVT in a DI box that you can pick up for like £20! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biaeothanata-Bassist Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Thanks again for the advice Chris, i'll see what money i have left over from getting whichever amp i end up getting an i may get a BDI21. Can't see it being too bad for that price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyellowcar Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 [quote name='Biaeothanata-Bassist' timestamp='1405366714' post='2501324'] Thanks again for the advice Chris, i'll see what money i have left over from getting whichever amp i end up getting an i may get a BDI21. Can't see it being too bad for that price [/quote] The BDI21 is a cracking bit of kit. Best £20 you could spend on your tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old_Ben Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I had a bugera 5500 for 3 years with no problems, sounded good too. I would recommend them. But get one with a long warranty if your worried about getting a lemon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 The good Bugera kit on bass and guitar (really rate a lot of their guitar stuff!) is really good. if you're just missing a graphic, but like the power and core tone of the LH500, have you considered a graphic EQ pedal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Another vote for the BDI-21. And yes, you do see a lot of posts on t'interweb trashing Behringer, but remember they make and sell more gear than all other manufacturers put together, so statistically you're going to see a lot more threads about how crap they are. [size=4]Percentage-wise they have a very average failure rate. [/size][size=4]Their QC has improved over the last year or two as well.[/size] Edited July 14, 2014 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) We had a Bugera BTX3600 in the shop not hat long ago. We sold it, including a rack case for £60 and were pretty happy to see it go I'd go for a decent quality pedal graphic eq and run that in front of the Hartke. I quite like MXR and MarkBass personally. Edited July 14, 2014 by molan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Plus one on what attitude castle said . . . . Or a floor multi fx with decent eq facilities, you coul then use that as a flexible programmable eq . . . . Plus fx . . . . And just use the LH 500 (which used to be mine!) as a power amp . . . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raslee Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I have an Ampeg pre amp up for sale that is within your budget. It will give you a great SVT sound into your Hartke. It's basically the same pre as the SVT 2. I used mine into a Carvin Amp which is a very clean amp like the Hartke, the addition of the Ampeg pre gave me 'that warm Ampeg sound'. Plus with pre you have best of both worlds as you could still use the Hartke without it should you wish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 [quote name='Raslee' timestamp='1405402469' post='2501543'] I have an Ampeg pre amp up for sale [/quote] http://basschat.co.uk/topic/240507-fsft-ampeg-preamp-svt-ii-p-price-drop-l200-bargain/page__fromsearch__1 Looks good man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidlovellbass Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 (edited) Running an eq pedal into the front end would also give more drive to the preamp valve. The eq on the LH500 isn't parametric, it's a Fender style so works well with all tone controls on 10 the roll off high depending on the gig Edited July 15, 2014 by davidlovellbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkHeart Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 The guitarist in the band bought a Bugera head, sounded great till it stopped working after less than 10 hours use................................so did the second one. He has a fender amp now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbowskill Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 (edited) I used a tech21vt bass into my hartke lh500's input with the eq flat ( lh500 flat that is) for a fair while before I got my all tube ampeg cl...... It was a fantastic punchy mix cutting tone :-) They seem to pop up quite often for around £85-95 Edited July 15, 2014 by danbowskill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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