tc electronic BQ500 Bass Head

There’s a lot of different opinions online regarding bass rig set setups on what you should use and what to avoid. I got lost in the noise on many different forums speaking about this, but I decided to purchase this on reviews from people with the same outlook as myself.

I’m a very simple ‘plug in and play’ bassist, and this amp stood out to me because that’s what it allows me to do. With the pedals I use (distortion, chorus and an EQ pedal) it just amps up my tone and keeps things simple. 99% of the gigs I play have a sound guy and use a DI for FOH so it’s more than loud enough with a single cab that I use for monitoring on stage. Very responsive EQ to fine tune your tone! The ‘thrust’ compressor seems to have a minimal impact on the sound but it’s a nice feature to have (it’s still early days so it may be better than I give it credit) A compressor pedal would be more beneficial but for the price of this amp I don’t expect it to be groundbreaking.

Overall, this head is fantastic if you’re on a budget and want to upgrade from a very heavy combo amp (like myself) I can’t wait to get gigging with this thing and break it in!

I bought this just before Christmas intending to use it in the house as a practice amp plugged into my computer. At the same time I was looking to buy a decent DI box but having read the specs and for the price, I thought I might be able to use it live.

One of the things that attracted me to this amp was the line in and headphone socket, something every amp should have but some don`t which is crazy in this day and age when playing through a amp isn`t practical due to noise.

Using as a practice amp, this unit is ideal, small with lots of sound available via the eq and a nice compressor via the Thrust function.

Usually I gig with a Ashdown ABM 500 but on my last gig at the last min, I decided to take along the TC as a back up. As it fits in a laptop bag, I stuck it under the car seat. At the soundcheck, my ABM started to play up, a loud buzzing noise making it unusable. "Have you got a di box?" asked the sound man, I have a spare amp I said. Got the TC out of the cab and plugged it into the Barefaced cab not knowing what to expect.

Well, after a bit of tweaking with the eq, I got a sound I liked and I must say the small TC done good. Even the band mentioned how good the sound was. Good sound out front as well.

So what I have is a small class D amp that saved the day for the the price of a decent effects pedal, a great home practice amp and a 3 year warranty from Thomman.

Will it replace the ABM? I don`t know as I love the kick I get from a old style amp but I would have no hesitation in taking the TC along and gigging it in the future. And even if I use the ABM the TC will be coming along just in case.

Basses used: Fender Nate Mendel P bass, Sandberg California P bass.

If you've never had your own rig and decided to buy one without investing too much money - this amp is the perfect option. It also could be a great backup amp as it's light and quite small.

Control: just a few knobs will help you to dial the tone you like. EQ is very understandable. However, Passive/Active switch position is reversed (known issue with this amp). Doesn't bother me, but might be a problem for perfectionists.
Thrust control is useless for me, but I tried and felt it cuts quite a lot of treble. Not my cup of tea.

Sound: I play STD Fender Jazz Bass through GK CX210 cab, for me the sound feels warm, transparent, with enough of punch and bass. Wide range EQ can help you to reach desirable sound.

Fan is not very loud, but I haven't pushed it hard yet.
I might change my opinion and add some more details in the future, but so far I'm pretty happy, especially for this price.

Add:
- 100~240 volts main input is the best thing TC came out with!
- With one 210 cab plays nicely with 2 guitarists and a loud drummer.

I've compared this little amp to many others before deciding to buy. Its really incredible how much power it packs. At the moment it drives 2 GK cabs for 500 watts together and it doesn't feel like its breaking a sweat.

The sound is really natural, it feels like there is little to no digitalization going on which is cool for a class D amp. Personally I like to have a rather sterile sounding amp. You cannot go wrong with this guy for the price. Do not buy this amp if you are looking for a ton of options however since it only has a simple equalizer and some compression which does not seem to do a whole lot.

Finally it looks and feels very nice. Clean finish and solid production.

I purchased this head to be used for live applications both in the EU as well as US (universal power babyyyy!) and also because it is EXTREMELY lightweight and VERY loud.

Full disclosure - I ended up returning this shortly after it arrived because the bassist in my band changed minds about having 2 heads, and we kept the Quilter BassBlock that we've been using for the past year or so.

The Quilter has some more gain controls and I feel can be used effectively without pedals, while the BQ500 doesn't have much texture on its own. It's a great power amp, and if you want simple (yet tweakable) controls for a pure tone - the BQ500 is great for you. If you rely on pedals for your tone shaping - GET THIS AMP and use it as a power amp.

The compressor feature is interesting, but I prefer the tweakability of pedal compressors rather than a built-in knob. But again - this is just an added feature so no harm in it being there!

All in all - I'd recommend this head if you need an amp to make your pedal tones LOUD. If you're looking for a bass head with some more character, however - I'd recommend a Quilter BassBlock ;)