Bass Culture Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 (edited) Does anyone know what the difference is between these two amps aside from the former being black and the latter being red?! The website makes various fairly vague statements about there having been a process of consultation and tweaking with Rocco and TC but skillfully neglects to mention what it was they tweaked from the RH450 model. It seems that the control array and 'extras' are the same - Tube tone, Spectracomp and on board tuner for example - so I'm at a loss, no matter how much I've read, to identify a single [i]significant [/i]difference between the two models to justify the fairly substantial price difference. Anyone able to enlighten me? Edited February 16, 2010 by Bass Culture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 As far as I can tell, the 'Flat' setting on Rocco's sig head is meant to be his personal settings - probably more akin to the type of sound he is used too. Thus I suspect its a bit like having a RH450 with a preshape built in..err..sort of... Given that the EQ centres are all adjustable - I wonder what the benefit is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 [quote name='dood' post='747282' date='Feb 16 2010, 02:36 PM']As far as I can tell, the 'Flat' setting on Rocco's sig head is meant to be his personal settings - probably more akin to the type of sound he is used too. Thus I suspect its a bit like having a RH450 with a preshape built in..err..sort of... Given that the EQ centres are all adjustable - I wonder what the benefit is?[/quote] This is basically it. But, those craving HUGE low end and quite a high treble extension would love it. They have apparently changed all the preset centres and the tubetone/compressor. If you like Rocco, and you like fingerfunk a lot, then maybe its the head for you. Me? I prefer just the standard...you can basically ALMOST dial in the Rocco sound anyway....at a gig probably no difference. Nice bit of kit none the less. Talkbass threads have a lot of info on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alhbass Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 [quote name='Bass Culture' post='747219' date='Feb 16 2010, 01:48 PM']Does anyone know what the difference is between these two amps aside from the former being black and the latter being red?! The website makes various fairly vague statements about there having been a process of consultation and tweaking with Rocco and TC but skillfully neglects to mention what it was they tweaked from the RH450 model. It seems that the control array and 'extras' are the same - Tube tone, Spectracomp and on board tuner for example - so I'm at a loss, no matter how much I've read, to identify a single [i]significant [/i]difference between the two models to justify the fairly substantial price difference. Anyone able to enlighten me?[/quote] Now then, +1 to this question! I've been trying to unravel exactly this mystery myself over the last few days, and have drawn a similar blank.... There are fair screeds of text online from TC on the subject - none of which seem to answer this question satisfactorily. Only today I was contemplating emailing TC with this question. I think I will. Unless someone else has already...in which case please let us in on the secret! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 (edited) [quote name='alhbass' post='768342' date='Mar 8 2010, 06:58 PM']Now then, +1 to this question! I've been trying to unravel exactly this mystery myself over the last few days, and have drawn a similar blank.... There are fair screeds of text online from TC on the subject - none of which seem to answer this question satisfactorily. Only today I was contemplating emailing TC with this question. I think I will. Unless someone else has already...in which case please let us in on the secret![/quote] I have rehearsed and gigged my Rh450 over the last few weeks and am very impressed, I am not sure what else it could do that it already does not that would be worth an extra few hundred Not a very technical answer i know Edited March 8, 2010 by lojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 [quote name='Musicman20' post='747320' date='Feb 16 2010, 03:15 PM']This is basically it. But, those craving HUGE low end and quite a high treble extension would love it. They have apparently changed all the preset centres and the tubetone/compressor.[/quote] That makes sense, but still doesn't account for the fairly large price difference! Possibly cheaper to fly Rocco over and get him to set up your RH450 to his preferences?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass Culture Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 [quote name='Musicman20' post='747320' date='Feb 16 2010, 03:15 PM']They have apparently changed all the preset centres and the tubetone/compressor.[/quote] When you say 'apparently' have you seen a reference to that being the case somewhere - Talkbass maybe? I'd guess that might the kind of tweak they'd do. Me, I'm in the 'so what?' camp - the RH is so adjustable in the first place why would I want to pay a few hundred pounds more for an adjustment that I could make anyway - in all likelihood? The more I read the more I think what you're paying for is Rocco's name being attached to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 [quote name='Bass Culture' post='768958' date='Mar 9 2010, 10:21 AM']When you say 'apparently' have you seen a reference to that being the case somewhere - Talkbass maybe? I'd guess that might the kind of tweak they'd do. Me, I'm in the 'so what?' camp - the RH is so adjustable in the first place why would I want to pay a few hundred pounds more for an adjustment that I could make anyway - in all likelihood? The more I read the more I think what you're paying for is Rocco's name being attached to it![/quote] Basically, I think what the Talkbass guys are saying is that the centres have been changed, as well as the tubetone and compressor, but this means flat you are stuck with Roccos tone. It has HUGE low end, fairly sucked mids, and more prominent highs. You can get there with the RH450....apparently. But then again both amps are probably capable of different tones due to the minor changes. Me? Im happy with the standard RH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass Culture Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 "Me? Im happy with the standard RH. " Me too! Can't see me changing for anything for quite some time. I'm as happy as I've ever been with an amp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alhbass Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 [quote name='alhbass' post='768342' date='Mar 8 2010, 06:58 PM']Now then, +1 to this question! I've been trying to unravel exactly this mystery myself over the last few days, and have drawn a similar blank.... There are fair screeds of text online from TC on the subject - none of which seem to answer this question satisfactorily. Only today I was contemplating emailing TC with this question. I think I will. Unless someone else has already...in which case please let us in on the secret![/quote] Just receieved this email from TC in reply to my question as outlined above; Dear Al, Thank you for getting in touch with us. The two amps are based on the same hardware, but have completely different voicings. The Staccato's sound is specifically tailored for Rocco Prestia. 'Behind the scenes' we have a huge array of tweakable parameters that can basically make the amp sound exactly the way we (or in this case Rocco) want it. The difference between the two amps is quite obvious if you hear them next to each other. Lots of great comments etc. here: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=629357"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=629357[/url] Regards, Rune Jensen Product Specialist tc electronic TC-HELICON dynaudio acoustics Blue Microphones Great to get such a swift reply, but I still don't feel it's a completely satisfying answer. They certainly don't address the question of what the price difference reflects directly. The implication is that there isn't any extra or better hardware - just some reprogramming. Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 [quote name='alhbass' post='769538' date='Mar 9 2010, 06:28 PM']Just receieved this email from TC in reply to my question as outlined above; Dear Al, Thank you for getting in touch with us. The two amps are based on the same hardware, but have completely different voicings. The Staccato's sound is specifically tailored for Rocco Prestia. 'Behind the scenes' we have a huge array of tweakable parameters that can basically make the amp sound exactly the way we (or in this case Rocco) want it. The difference between the two amps is quite obvious if you hear them next to each other. Lots of great comments etc. here: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=629357"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=629357[/url] Regards, Rune Jensen Product Specialist tc electronic TC-HELICON dynaudio acoustics Blue Microphones Great to get such a swift reply, but I still don't feel it's a completely satisfying answer. They certainly don't address the question of what the price difference reflects directly. The implication is that there isn't any extra or better hardware - just some reprogramming. Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick...?[/quote] I definitely recommend reading the massive amount of information on Talkbass. There are some top players who really know their gear giving reviews on the amps, (and yes, they have had to pay for them!). Like I said, MASSIVE low end, slightly more trebly, mid sucked (FLAT) = Staccato 51 RH450 is not as extreme as that when set flat. You are basically paying for the fact its Rocco's sig amp, and its red! They obviously had to spend money getting that sound right and reconfiguring it....but for me, the RH450 is just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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