Maybe LOUD is listening.

[copacetic]

The other day in SF GC was moving its bass department around and voila during the transition they had all the bass combos, cabs and amos all in one room. GC being what it is there was no one around so I had at it in the room with a Hofner 500/1, Fender deluxe Jazz, Fender P 1956 and a Gibson TBIV 2014. As usual I did not somehow care for the Mark Bass combos( well the 2 x 8" was interesting). The Fender Rumbles were all nicely voiced but perhaps a little boxy sounding next to the new Ampeg BA series. I was surprised because since LOUD Took over everything sound generic and as PSG stated they are made to last about a year or 2 and don't dare think you can get them repaired. Well I specifically played the BA 115 and BA 210. Both sounded surprisingly good and covered the tonal spectrum very nicely. Clear and grungy as you like. Pretty sure could go on medium to large venues and as practice amps. Might trade in my latest small rig Rumble 200 for the BA 115. I would say LOUD has listened to the barrage of deserved attacks since it took over and are interested in reed abolishing the AMPEG name.

[copacetic]

My apologies...at the end of the post I meant to say 're establishing the AMPEG name'.

[clankenstein]

Yes, spellchecker is the work of Santa.        Does the ba210 have enough punchy  lows?

[Dave W]

Last spring I took a friend who doesn't drive over to GC to look at acoustic guitars. While he was looking around, I played a Sterling by MM through Fender Rumble v.3, Peavey and Ampeg small combos. IMHO the Rumble sounded great, the Ampegs were okay and the Peavey didn't sound good at all. Maybe LOUD has made changes, maybe you were just more impressed than I was.

It's always going to be a matter of taste. You and I don't like Markbass but a lot of folks do. The real problem with Ampeg has been the reported poor reliability. No idea if they've addressed that.

[luve2fli]

Dave - precisely. Maybe LOUD has changed up the tone-shaping of their amps but without a serious boost in QC, those amps will fail. Since moving production offshore, I've bought 3 Ampegs (2 heads and a combo) and flipped them all within a month. Sterile tone and reliability issues galore. IMHO, the glory days of Ampeg are a thing of the past.

[copacetic]

My hesitation as well on purchasing for small stage, even practice if they will hold up. Initially they seem quite versatile.

[Basshappi]

My BA115HP is from the SLM era and it is a fantastic amp. It has been a completely dependable workhorse for me. In one of my bands I use the SLM era B2R that belongs to my guitarist and like it quite well. It has been completely dependable and is a good sounding SS amp.

I am extremely happy with my Peavey VB-2, but at some point I'd like to add an Ampeg tube amp to my stable. When I do I will be looking for an older model.

[gearHed289]

I played through a PF-500 in a rented rehearsal room recently and liked it a lot for what it is. Thought about picking up a used one and replacing the head section of my Acoustic B200 (which sounds quite good as-is). But... hearing a lot of horror stories about reliability. 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

The BA series is Ampeg's bread and butter and probably one of the few things keeping the company afloat while their new lightweight amps all went up in smoke. It was recently revamped, and after having so many public QC issues, I'll bet Loud was more careful in selecting a contract factory to build their amps. Ampeg as an actual house-produced brand has not existed for nearly a decade excepting the overpriced "Heritage" series, which are still built from parts sourced overseas from the "regular" line. I've always found the BA combos to be nice, but nowadays, almost anything new from any manufacturer is going to be disposable.

[patman]

I had a SLM BA115...It was a great sounding amp...

[luve2fli]

But... hearing a lot of horror stories about reliability

Trust me, those horror stories are true. All of the PF series amps (350/500/800) are prone to issues. So is the SVT 7 Pro.

[Alanko]

Talkbass has more threads on dead PF350 heads than you can shake a mucky stick at. Sounds like they rushed Class D technology onto the market place and cut a lot of corners.

[Pilgrim]

Well, he said with a sly grin, I don't find many threads on TB about Genz-Benz heads failing.  I think I'll stay with mine. 

[drbassman]

Well, he said with a sly grin, I don't find many threads on TB about Genz-Benz heads failing.  I think I'll stay with mine. 

So far, Mesa hasn't let me down either.  Nor my 1968 B-15 head!

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Talkbass has more threads on dead PF350 heads than you can shake a mucky stick at. Sounds like they rushed Class D technology onto the market place and cut a lot of corners.

Yes and yes, and to repeat/expand on my earlier comment, Ampeg didn't even make those amps at all. Loud Tech's owners sourced production to several disparate Asian factories in China and Vietnam and rolled the dice that they would be made to a viable market standard. With several thousand units produced and shipped and the consumer as the only QC check, the brand would have died were it not for the low end BA series that had been moved to overseas factories many years prior in Korea, where there was a much larger measure of production oversight in place. That Ampeg felt confident enough to change them as well means a couple of things: either the parts used in the "old" BA designs have gone out of production (most likely) or they are now confident in their flagship lines (odd that ALL of their SVT series amps outside of the Heritage model are unavailable now...    )