A lot of bass players would put two classic
Ampeg designs on their amplifier bucket
list. At one extreme, there’s the SVT—the legendary
powerhouse of big gigs. Take a searing,
300-watt tube head stacked on a cab loaded
with eight 10" speakers in four sealed compartments,
and there you have it, man-made thunder.
Sure, the rig looms five feet tall and weighs
225 pounds, but hey, it’s rock ’n’ roll!
At the other end of the spectrum is the
Ampeg B-15, one of the sweetest studio rigs
ever produced. Despite weighing nearly 100
pounds, the venerated original put only a tenth
of the SVT’s power into a single, 15" speaker.
It got its “Fliptop” moniker from its ability to
stash the head upside-down in the cab, but
even with that attempt at convenience, the
B-15 was hard to hoist with one strap handle.
Though it came with a dolly that helped make
it a little less of a hassle to use, the B-15 left
many players yearning for an amp that put its
essence in a more convenient package.
Enter Ampeg’s new Portaflex series. Though
not necessarily lightweight at a combined 56
pounds for our review unit—48 pounds for
the cab and eight for the 350-watt (at 4 Ω)
solid-state head—these new rigs are easier to
truck around. Like the B-15, Portaflex cabinets
feature a flip-top design for storing the matching
heads during transport, and they provide
rugged reliability and serious tone. Ampeg also
offers a 500-watt head and a 1x15 cabinet in
the series, but for this review, let’s take a closer
look at the Portaflex by matching up the Ampeg
PF-210HE 2x10 cab with the PF-350 amp.
A Purple Glow
Original B-15s came with a Lucite panel that
lit up when the amp was on—some owners
even ordered a custom plate with their name
on it. Ampeg’s PF-350 nods in the direction
of tradition with a two-inch, purple-lit line
above the basic EQ section. There’s no graphic
EQ, no enhance, scoop, boost, distortion, or
ultra-anything controls. Just Treble, Midrange,
and Bass, with each set at an appropriate
frequency—8 kHz, 500 Hz, and 40 Hz,
respectively. Despite being scaled from 0 to
10, they’re actually cut/boost controls, with the
straight-up position being flat. The front panel
also has a jack for an MP3 player and another
for headphones. Happily, the manual says it’s
perfectly fine to unplug the speaker from the
amp and practice silently.
The front panel also has Gain and Volume
controls, a -15 dB pad for hot pickups or
hard attack, a Limiter button to keep things
in check when the volume gets pushed, and a
Mute switch. During my time with this rig, I
found that the input Gain control could be set
at noon or higher without triggering the clip
light. Likewise, the Volume control just started
cooking around noon—kicking in the limiter
required turning the Volume up nearly all the
way. At a moderate level, this rig sounded sweet
and round. It turned nasty when cranked—in
a good, aggressive way—with more grit and
grind than all-out distortion. This rig can get
loud enough for many musical settings, far
more so than the original 25-watt version.
Like the front, the back panel is also pretty
basic—almost too much so. While there’s an
XLR output, it lacks a ground lift, a pre/post
EQ switch, and a level control to help tame
its rather hot output. There is an effects loop,
but it’s not switchable. Finally, I’ve really grown
fond of the sturdy speakON plugs, but this
amp only offers the standard 1/4" speaker jacks
that don’t provide as secure of a connection.
More “Porta,” But No “Flex”
The name Portaflex represents an amalgam of
“portable” and “bass reflex.” In other words,
because the amp can be moved around on
its own wheels, it can be considered
portable.
However, bass
reflex suggests that the speaker
is housed in a cabinet with a hole, tube, or
shelf-cut in the front or back baffle, and is
tuned to increase low-frequency response.
That’s what’s different here—the PF-210HE
cab is actually a sealed design. And if you’re
looking for more mids and a more focused
sound, a sealed cab can be just the ticket. My
experience with sealed cabs is that they often
provide smooth, singing highs, as well. And
that’s just how I would describe the tone of
Ampeg’s new 2x10. The pair of Eminence
speakers—which handle 450 watts RMS—
and a level-adjustable compression horn
(which can be switched between on, -6 dB, or
off) provide well-defined punch, along with
a good deal of low end. Most of the room
shook at home when testing out the amp at
moderate volume levels. In the studio, the
cab sounded full and warm, holding its own
quite easily against a small Gretsch jazz drum
set and a 335-style guitar running through a
Fender Deluxe.
The cab itself is built from 15 mm poplar
plywood—the good stuff, for both strength
and lighter weight—and it’s lined throughout
with sound-deadening material. It also
includes four pop-out casters. Ampeg even
went to the extra effort of providing a small
zipper pouch and a Velcro tie-down for stashing
the power and speaker cables during transit—
a great way to avoid losing them, while
also keeping the speaker cones safe.
The Verdict
In all, the Portaflex PF-350 head and
PF-210HE make a sweet-sounding rig with
a decent tonal palette and adequate power
for a variety of settings. It’s priced nicely,
too. The main downside is its transportability—
it’s not going to be easy to get up and
down stairs easily with the one strap. But
on flat ground, rolling it should be a breeze.
Further, its build is solid and sturdy, with the
basic features you’d expect in a contemporary
amp. It should do well in studio settings,
much like the B-15 of old, and as long as
extreme volume isn’t called for, it’ll also do
just fine for club gigs.
Buy if...
you need a combo-sized rig with
basic features and nice tones.
Skip if...
you need to shake walls and
flap pants, or you’re a fanatic
for tone tweaking.
Rating...
