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Take advantage of fully programmable settings.

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As far as small but powerful bass amp heads are concerned, Ampeg seems to be covering all aspects of the genre with a fervour. Hot on the heels of its currently successful ProBass range comes the B500DR. And this is not just more of the same because it actually offers yet another step forward by having the advantage of fully programmable settings.

This facility allows you to develop and store four distinctly different sounds of your own choosing and access any one of them at the push of a button. What’s more, as there is a second input provided, you can have another bass also set up with another four sounds.

This is ideal for the player who switches between four- and five-string basses, or fretted and fretless models. Swapping instruments usually requires some degree of tweaking, but now that can all be done in advance so changing basses becomes stress free at last!

Typically robust Ampeg construction reveals a standard 2U rackmount design with a simple control layout. The operation centre of the B500DR is based purely on necessity with nothing superfluous added, and although there are two inputs provided only one is active at any one time. Switching between them is easy, but a pad switch is also provided in case the output levels of the basses used vary greatly.

To take full advantage of what is provided here the rear panel needs to be well equipped, so it includes a variable line out, effects loop and a footswitch socket. It also provides a power amp input and a preamp output, which offers an extra degree of versatility, particularly in the studio. The circuit breaker may seem a luxury but, as mains spikes do sometimes occur when turning on high-powered bass units, this is a sensible addition. Ampeg’s units are not particularly troublesome in this area, but should it occur this will eliminate having to keep spare fuses.

In use

Switching on presents the user with a virtual lightshow as each control has a bright green indicator to clearly show its setting and, when fired up, the circuit runs through the whole sequence to provide a visual check that all is working correctly. Once it settles down just a quick glance will instantly reveal your settings and, as the unit automatically defaults to preset one, it makes sense to make this your most frequently used sound.

Whenever you change a setting the relevant indicator light will flash until you store that particular setting into the program. This applies to the switches as well and, until you actually store any changes made, the program will revert to the previous setting. But whatever input and settings are used can be instantly digitally stored at your command.

With such a logical control layout, sound shaping is easy. Three variable tonal parameters are provided – bass, ultra mid and treble – and these are enhanced with the appropriately titled ultra high and ultra low switches. This increases the tonal range at both ends should it become necessary, so any playing style is amply catered for.