TC Electronic BH-series?

[JazzBassKindaGuy]

Heya fellas. New user, first post.

 

I've been playing bass for about 4 years now, used to play guitar before that. I always played through a Fender '59 Bassman LTD, but it doesn't really handle my needs all that well. I'm in the market for a new amp, and I'm intrigued by the TC Electronic BH series, particularly the BH500 or 550. Anyone have any experience with these amps or any thoughts regarding them?

 

I play an older model Fender Standard Jazz Bass (username wasn't a dead giveaway, I KNOOOOOW ), and I play a wide range of genres, but the bulk of my style revolves around rockabilly, swing, and jazz. Income tax return should be coming back relatively soon, so I have some flexibility, but I'm looking to keep it to a MAXIMUM of $1500 (without tax or even possibly shipping).

 

I'm also considering scrapping the idea of the amp altogether, selling my J bass and buying an NS Design NXT4 EUB (electric upright bass), but that's a discussion for another time

 

Any input is appreciated! Thanks guys!

[DeepEnd]

I haven't tried their amps so please take this with a huge grain of salt but I'm personally suspicious of the "Tone Print" stuff, just on principle. My take on bass gear is "the simpler the better." What's lacking about your Bassman? At a guess, I'd say 45 Watts and an open back cab isn't doing it for you. FWIW, the standard for bass amplification is Ampeg. A PF500 head and PF410 cab would probably meet any reasonable need and be well within your budget: http://www.ampeg.com/products/portaflex/splash.html.

[JazzBassKindaGuy]

I haven't tried their amps so please take this with a huge grain of salt but I'm personally suspicious of the "Tone Print" stuff' date=' just on principle. My take on bass gear is "the simpler the better." What's lacking about your Bassman? At a guess, I'd say 45 Watts and an open back cab isn't doing it for you. FWIW, the standard for bass amplification is Ampeg. A PF500 head and PF410 cab would probably meet any reasonable need and be well within your budget: http://www.ampeg.com/products/portaflex/splash.html.[/quote']

 

That actually sounds awesome. Thank you! How did I miss that before....

 

Quick question though: if the PF500 head is rated at 500W @ 4 ohms, and the PF210HE cabinet is only rated at 450W @ 8 ohms, would I need a second 2x10 cab, or should I just buy a 4x10 cab to be safe. I'm unfamiliar with the watts-at-ohms comparison. Thanks!

[WRGKMC]

It looks to be a pretty good head. The street price is $500 which comes down to $1 a watt which is a good deal. I usually use $1 a watt for buying used gear so its a good economical piece of gear new.

 

TC was into making foot boxed before making heads. They did well building up that market and are moving up to bigger stuff now. Hopefully the heads will do as well.

 

The head is solid state and designed like a PA power head is where is voltage driven and varies its maximum RMS wattage based on the load impedance. As with most SS gear you can figure a the RMS wattage to be about half of what a tube head might be. A 500W SS head would match up to a 250W tube head when it comes to real live punch working side by side. That's still plenty if you use the right speakers and more then plenty of stage volume for most club bands.

 

As far as your 2X10 cab goes it will likely handle the power OK but its not going to sound very big, because it just doesn't push enough air, especially if the guitar players are using 12's. Maybe if they use 8's it would be OK but the bass really needs to compete with a kick drum that 24" or so. 4X10's in a deeper cab should do fine, but any bass player I've played with that uses a two 10" always sounds anemic to me. There's just not enough bottom end no matter how loud it is and it winds up interfering with the guitar frequencies. In other words its just not a good match for most bands unless you're doing acoustic work and only need a wash tub to complement them. If you use the 2X10 I'd suggest getting a single 15" for the lows or you will likely be blown away by a hard kicking drummer.

 

Its unlikely you'd ever run the head at max so if its 50W short it will likely be breaking up n making your teeth rattle before you got close to that level. A 4X10 half stack would be great then if you play bigger gigs getting a second for a full SVT stack should get you there.

 

I will note, I'm not a fan of having digital added to an amp, and especially not a bass amp. Memory requires battery or capacitance backup. Batteries eventually go bad in 5 or 6 years and when it does you loose digital functionality. That stuff is OK in pedals but in a head, especially with a bass where the head can vibrate allot, the vibration weakens solder joints and you have a higher failure rate over something basic. I haven't seen inside the head but given this is solid state and likely a push pull class A/B head I've seen enough of them as a tech to know what the circuitry likely involves. 5 or 10 years down the road is what I'm looking at and I'm just not sure the head might make it long term.

 

Hopefully the manufacturer has covered all bases and isn't just using their reputation to make more cash. Their heads have to be very good and durable given their point of growth in the industry. If the head winds up being a dud, it could bankrupt them as with any company trying to break into the larger markets with all the competition there is with long standing manufacturers.

 

The head does have some benefits. Its got the low z line out which is good for recording or plugging into a PA. If your band has a powerful PA setup then it may do OK with a 2X10 alone. Its got line ins for connecting a CD player so you can practice. The multiband EQ is a bit overkill. Three bands are usually enough for bass but so long as they are well designed, you can probably do OK. One knob built in comps aren't usually the best because you have no attack, decay or threshold settings and different basses have different pickup outputs so the threshold may not work well, especially on a weaker fender pickup. Normally I'd recommend a good rack comp and run it through and effects loop but hopefully the built in one wont turn your notes to mush or cut then notes off too soon.

 

The other item is the single speaker output. This isn't a huge problem because you can simply daisy chain the cabs together from a second cabs speaker jack but a second jack can be handy in certain situations.

 

So that's my 2 cents. I can say it looks good and the specs look OK so its just a matter of how you like the tone. The price is good so why not.

[DeepEnd]

. . . Quick question though: if the PF500 head is rated at 500W @ 4 ohms' date=' and the PF210HE cabinet is only rated at 450W @ 8 ohms, would I need a second 2x10 cab, or should I just buy a 4x10 cab to be safe. I'm unfamiliar with the watts-at-ohms comparison. Thanks![/quote']

The PF500 is "only" 300 Watts @ 8 Ohms so you'd be safe. Your best bet is to try it with both cabs if possible. I've heard both bass and keyboard played throught a Peavey 210TX cab and it shook the building. That said, the PF410 is another $150 or so if you can afford it. Either pair will run under $1000 so your budget should accommodate whichever you choose.