LeftyBassist.com

You know, I feel like I own one of the best bass amps ever built - a 2003 Walter Woods Electracoustic Stereo Bass Amp, but lately I've been thinking about having a back-up, and have always been interested in the TC RH450. A fellow bassist here in Hawaii has one, plays it through an SWR 4x10 cab, and it sounds killer! Are any of you out there playing one, or something similar?

These days it seems that Mark Bass, and Genz Benz both get a lot of press, but there's something about the TC that just makes me want one... any other small, portable, powerful amps that come to mind?

I have one and have used it extensively here in NYC and on tour since I bought it almost two years ago. I bought the matching 2X12 cabinet to run it through.

I tried out pretty much every single class-d amp on the market that I could before I bought it at stores and studios. I can't recommend doing this enough as I was amazed at the tonal variations out there. Sometimes even between models made by the same company. MarkBass Formula 1s, for example, sounded nothing like their Little Mark series. Also, the prices can often be quite different, but the most expensive amps did not always sound best. The RH450 was one of the more expensive, but it was the sound I liked best. It's pretty clearly inspired by the sound of an Ampeg, although it's no carbon copy by any means, and I always liked Ampegs. Like Ampegs, they are among the least "transparent" sounding of the class-D units I tested. When you are playing through a TC Electronic, it has a distinct low-fi, "rock" coloration of the sound as opposed to Mark Bass (more transparent, although still Fender inspired) to Genz Benz (very transparent, you are pretty much hearing your instrument only). Eden had a very high-tech modern sound to it. Gallien Kruger was somewhere in between.

What I have enjoyed the most:
- the compressor is the best I've ever had built into an amp by far
- you can adjust the center point of each EQ knob so the options there are pretty unlimited - then of course you can save the presets too but that's less important to me
- the digital out in the back sounds great and saves engineers a ton of work getting a sound in the studio
- the speaker cabinet has a tiny footprint but the thing is insane loud
- for some reason, the amp really loves effects pedals - they sound really great either up front or in a loop

Having said all that, and as much as I love the lightshow on the faceplate, it was probably overkill for me. I never use the built in tuner because there already is one on my pedalboard. The EQ presets are nice to have for sure but I worked without them for 20 years and don't really need them now. If I was changing basses mid show it would make sense but I never do that and in the studio you have to retweak all the time anyway.

Had it been available at the time I made my purchase, I would have instead purchased TC Electronics' sister amp, the Classic450, instead. It has the same basic sound, look and weight, but with less bells and whistles and it's a few hundred bucks cheaper. Although there is much less EQ adjustment possible, the basic center frequencies of both units are great if you are an Ampeg fan. But since that unit wasn't around at the time, I don't regret the purchase of the RH450 at all. I certainly haven't seen anything since from another company to make me want to trade it in. My amp and cabinet have driven cross-country and played in all kinds of venues, studios, climates, elevations etc etc for two years straight and never broken/sounded bad etc. Great workmanship, really reliable and consistent.

But seriously, I really would try as many different amps as possible if you want to go class-d because the sonic variation is really wide between them. What I like/need might be different from what you like/need.

Guys (since we are mostly guys here) Let's get exited! I let you decide what is the most exiting, the TC Electronic amp or the great bass playing Check this link - This bass player is endorsed by TC Electronic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vixII8hXAfc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gdTymlS5YI

She is not using a TC Electronic on this one but it is my fav

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdhsRjlmKUk&feature=related

Agent00Soul - thanks for a very well informed review of the TC Head. Makes me want to have one that much more! I have a friend who asked me about buying a head and cab for rock (she currently plays a Phil Jones suitcase w/extension cab) and I wanted to recommend the TC. I'm a big fan of 12's... does the one 2x12 have enough volume for rock in an average-sized club?

Frenchy-Lefty - I've seen her videos in the past, but forgot how hot the '70's look is/was.... nice hotpants! Plus, she obviously can play! Thanks for the posts....

Oh yeah - it's easily loud enough for that. Anything more and you would probably get DI'd anyway. BTW another bit of experience with the amp: if the venue wants to DI you, insist that they take it from the amp's on XLR output post EQ. It sounds exactly like you are playing through your speakers. The output transformer is really high-end.

I had a Staccato '51 for about a week and didn't like it at all. Nice built quality and lots of features, but I just didn't like the sound. To me it had the same feeling and response I get when playing through a Line 6 product, which can sound warm but it's all digital a sort of detached from your fingers. . . hard to explain.

Also, this amp had an insane amount of low end built in (as TC explains, that's how Rocco likes it) and it has a scooped sound built it. I was playing through an Epifani UL2 4x10, Jazz bass with Dimarzio Js, and I got a very muddy and super bass heavy sound. I had to cut the lows almost entirely. I usually like to give the sound guy an EQ'd signal with a bit of lows and highs, but in this case I had to feed him a pre-EQ signal, because my post EQ signal had all the lows removed.

So, I don't know if it was just that the EQ points in Staccato are not for me (and I did play with the frequencias a lot) or if it just wasn't a good match with the Epifani, which is known to be bass heavy, but it sounded really bad to me ears.

I had been using a Markbass LMII for years before, and that sounded a lot better, but I have sinced discovered G-K, and I'm really loving the sound. I have an MB-200 paired with a Schroeder 1212L, and I'm getting enough volume for 95% of my gigs, and I just love the sound. I put an EBS compressor in front of it to keep levels in check.

I bought the MB200 as a backup to the Markbass, but I have since sold the LMII and been using just the MB200. If I were to get something else, it would be an MB500.

I also tried the Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 about two years ago, but I had the first units and I got two defective units in a row, so I gave up. They sound great, but not better than the G-K.

Digging up an old thread here but I just discovered that TC has upped the wattage of the amp from 450 to 750, with the other features more or less the same. This is of interest to me because my band Soundpool, already "The Loudest Band In New York," has if anything gotten louder since I wrote the first review.

My question is would I have to change my speaker cabinet. The TC 2X12 I use is rated at 400watts, but on the TC site they are still pairing the new amp with it. How is this possible? In fact, the original amp it was made for is 450W so I don't even know how that works either. How can putting a 750W amp in front not blow the speakers? Can someone help? I certainly don't want to change the entire rig....

Errrrr, it won't blow unless you turn it way up??????

Is that true? I do tend to turn it way up though. We are mad loud. The keyboards and drums (which are electronic) all have their own personal PA systems on stage even before they send their signal to the house PA! It's very My Bloody Valentine...

I'm sure others here could more technical, but as long as you don't run your amp wide-open for extended periods, you should be fine. The extra watts will give you more headroom....

At times I play a 4-ohm EA Wizzy cab with an after market speaker, through my Walter Woods amp, set up in bridge mode. This is supposed to be supplying 1000 watts to the speaker cab, which is most likely rated at 400 watts max. Although I'm sure I'm not playing at the volume levels you are, I've never had a problem being heard in small-medium venues, and when I need more volume, I combine my 8ohm AccuGroove Tri112 with the wizzy, which puts out as much volume as I need.

Some will argue about mis-matching different ohm cabs, but the WW is capable of handling it. A lot of amps aren't rated to safely go below 4ohms, so I don't recommend it, unless the manufacturer condones it.

Maybe the thing to do is get another 2x12 cab, utilize all of the power in your new head, and put out crazy volume! Then you'll be the undisputed Kings of volume!

You guys probably already know this from Talkbass, but in case you don't, the guys at Bass Gear mag tested the RH450 and say it only puts out 133 watts @ 8 ohms, & 236 @ 4 ohms.

Could be the new version rated for 750 watts is now putting out 450-500, hence the pairing with a lower rated cab.

That explains a lot! So the consensus seems to be to buy another cab with the head I already have rather than trade up to the RH750.

Thanks for all the advice!