tc electronic BQ500 Bass Head Reviews

Great head

I use this head with a Markbass extension speaker and it sounds excellent. Not as much power as a Markbass head, but still plenty of volume for small bands. I can recommend this head as good value for money.

Good product for its price

The build quality is quite excellent, the product feels like it can tank quite a lot of damage. Sound-wise I'd say it is fairly loud (enough for smaller to medium gigs and practically all band practices) and delivers a nice, thick yet punchy sound. I gave it a 4 in sound and features, because i really miss a more detailed mid-range EQ, and the compressor isn't extremely useful. I would still recommend the head, as it delivers an excellent sound for it's price and can handle band practice and gigging well.

exactly what u need for a rehearsal room

I bought this specific amp head for one reason rehearsals in our studio,

no one talks how good the di is, its great if u think the price is so low and it gives u an amazing signal to send to your DAW for recording.

The big con for me is that whenever i plugin one of my basses in standard tuning (E) is great sounding cotrollable in the mids, however i play with a bass with really low tuning and there i touch a hair with my finger to get the right tone.

Conclusion, great for the money great di, not too much power to break down a building, but it works fine for small/mid studios.

solid

I bought this amp head to have something easy to bring to gig that I could also line directly to front of house. it's very easy. so easy so solid.

Great amp!

Bought as a back-up, but this amp performs so well I haven't stopped using it. Very usable sound shaping and a great compression built in.

Not great

I guess you get what you pay for, ok for entry level amp but the sound is not great, kinda muffled and 'lo-fi' also there was an unwelcome noise when the compressor was turned up. Maybe I got a duff one but it's going back and I am resolved to spend three times as much for a better amp.

Easy to use, easy to carry, great tool for lives.

Good quality.

Inncludes all the basic settings you need in a resonably low price.

Perfect for me!

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!

Excellent for the price

This is an excellent bass amp for the price. Super solid construction. The passive/active switch is inverted, but this is not a big deal. There is a different quality if used with headphones or a cabinet. It works really well with a cabinet (2x10 or 4x10). With headphones, the quality is probably not the best. Overall, this is an amazing unit, especially for the price. Also, it is very lightweight and super portable. An excellent solution for portability (easy to bring at a gig in a backpack), for the power output (it works well in many scenarios) and for the low price.

Light, loud and low price bass head

I am using BQ500 with Markbass Traveler 102 and Fender precision deluxe bass guitar with Aguilar pickups for practicing alone and with a bend. Eq knobs are very responsive so i can get the sounds I need from it. This head is light, very easy to use, with good features, loud output, and low price. I will recommend it if you are tight on the budget but need something loud for practicing with a bend and small gigs.

Great amp

A fantastic amplifier for the money.

Super lightweight and super loud

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 ;)

Tiny powerhouse

Small, light, cheap, powerful and no unnecessary features. Nice, clean sound and the compressor is really useful.

I was a bit worried that the fan would be a bother for practice but either the fan doesn't work at all (which would, of course, be bad) or it's temperature controlled and only kicks in when you have been playing loud for a while and the amp electronics start to heat up.

Amazing for the price

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.

Good, cheap, powerful

Great amp for the bass player on a budget. Not so many bells and whistles, just a good amount of power in a compact package.

Nice and light

Good power and tone very small and light.

Great product & sevice

Great head, exactly what I wanted, it arrived in the uk very quickly bearing in mind it was new year.

Great value for the money

Great deal, but the tone is very primitive. You need pedals to colour the sound.

Great amp

I use this amp to play mostly in bars and small venues. This amp has tons of power. 500 watts sometimes seems to be not enough, but man, the performance of this amp really shines and I don't think I need more than this power. Very solid. It runs in a broad variety of voltage, and this was the main reason I bought this amp.Overall, considering the price, I have nothing to complain.

Best value for your money

T.C Electronic took the "Tone Print" out, and created a simple head amp, with a big sound and light weight.

The "Thrust" compressor can be useful for pumping more gain. The EQ is simple and responsive and the headphones output sounds good, makes it possible to play at night.

With a 2.3kg and 500W@4ohm, this head is ideal for touring without breaking your back.

I just wish the DI output had a ground/lift switch, but I've had no issues with it.

an awesome amp!