---
product_id: 109685528
title: "TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor"
brand: "tc electronic"
price: "₩540554"
currency: KRW
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
category: "Tc Electronic"
url: https://www.desertcart.kr/products/109685528-tc-electronic-thrust-bq500-500-watt-portable-bass-head-mosfet
store_origin: KR
region: South Korea
---

# 500W Class-D power Thrust compressor punch Mosfet tube-like preamp TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor

**Brand:** tc electronic
**Price:** ₩540554
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🎸 Power meets portability — bass amplification redefined!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor by tc electronic
- **How much does it cost?** ₩540554 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.kr](https://www.desertcart.kr/products/109685528-tc-electronic-thrust-bq500-500-watt-portable-bass-head-mosfet)

## Best For

- tc electronic enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted tc electronic brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Authentic Tube Feel:** High-voltage Mosfet preamp delivers warm, vintage bass tones.
- • **Unmatched 500W Power:** Command the stage with pro-level volume in a micro amp.
- • **Custom EQ Flexibility:** Shape your sound with a tailored 3-band equalizer for any genre.
- • **Ultra-Portable Design:** Lightweight 2.3 kg chassis fits effortlessly in your gig bag.
- • **Precision Thrust Compressor:** Control every slap and punch with dynamic clarity.

## Overview

The TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 is a 500-watt portable bass head featuring cutting-edge Class-D amplification and a high-voltage Mosfet preamp that emulates tube warmth. Its built-in Thrust compressor ensures punchy, controlled dynamics, while the compact 2.3 kg design makes it ideal for both stage and studio use. With a versatile EQ and robust power output, it’s engineered for bassists demanding professional sound quality on the go.

## Description

Thrust BQ500 is a 500-watt revolution in portable bass amplification, Packing more bang for the buck into an ultra-lightweight micro bass head (2.3 kg/5.1 lbs) than a warehouse full of discounted fireworks! A custom-designed EQ and MOSFET preamp provides a tremendous tonal palette and realistic tube-like sound and feel.

Review: Absolutely Love it. Great sound and power. - I replaced my noisy 20 year old 200W head with this unit but kept the 2x10 200W cabinet to see how it sounded first and, just wow! I can’t believe how good they sound now and they certainly won’t need to be replaced. I’m an old dude so naturally I play classic punk and metal. Loudly of course. The equalizer controls are surprisingly effective and allow me to get the right sound I need for different songs. The Thrust adjustment does a fantastic job of controlling those heavy downbeats and keeping it from clipping. Really beneficial for those slap bass folks. Pros: Plenty of power and the sound quality is first rate. Compact size and lightweight. Easily fits into my gig bag! The external input works well with my laptop allowing me to play along with tunes. The equalizer controls allow for accurate wave shaping. Cons: The was no instruction manual at all with this. It requires navigating their challenging website to download what passes for one. It’s quite rudimentary but does the job. A little more info would be appreciated. The above mentioned instructions sheet mentioned an included “mini jack to mini jack cable” but there was none in the box. No matter, I had one delivered the next day.
Review: Powerful and clean sound! - This is an amazing amp. For the price it is beyond amazing. I’ve played bass for more than 30 years and This amp is powerful!!! I’ve built my own rigs. I had a $3,000 SWR professional set up. I’ve used practice combos. I’ve used PA systems with direct in box. Everything has its pluses and minuses. As a “rule of thumb” the bass player should have 3 times the watts of the guitar player. The bass amp should really not go past half power. You need something like 150-200 watts to be heard over a drummer with a passive bass. After around half power you start trading tight bass for distortion. I truly believe this is a 500w amp and that can be problematic. The 4th picture I added is a picture of cabinet 4 x 6” at 8ohms and rated 300watts rms. At 8ohms this amp should be approximately 250 watts and the 4x6” cabinet sounded like crap around 75watts. It could not handle the bass at all!!! You can see the 2nd picture is a subwoofer for a car and is 4ohm, in a tiny little box, and 1200 watts peak. This 12” subwoofer can handle the power of the amp. The one 12” woofer rattles all the windows in my house and makes my eyeballs wiggle. In other words it will be hard to find a speaker cabinet that will handle power of this amp at 4ohm and 500watts. I purchased a 2x12” cabinet and I’m swapping out the speakers with 1600 watt peak, dual voice coil woofers to get to 4ohms. The amp is simple and effective. I don’t use the compressor on the amp it does kill the sound a bit and I have a compressor pedal. The high frequency control knob is really high. I don’t even hear the high knob with the subwoofer and I keep the high knob turned all the way left/down/off I’d say it’s 10k hertz or higher.. The high mid is pretty high for bass frequencies like 5k ish hertz and the low mid is what I would consider midrange to high for a bass at 1k ish hertz. The “poppy slap” high end sound is going to come from the (low and high mid knobs) The bass knob is BASS and really low. I’d guess 80-100 hertz. The bass knob is what will get you into trouble with your speakers blowing up!! But if the speakers can’t handle the bass knob this amp won’t shine. Personally I want something easy to carry to my buddies house and this amp is perfect. Maybe some small gigs. I want something powerful so I can be heard with a marshal half or full stack and a loud drummer, and this amp will do that easily. The problem I run into is the speakers that can handle this much power are 100 pounds and rightfully so. I needed to get creative to match a small cabinet with this huge power. I would recommend a cabinet that was at least 600watts rms at 4 ohms so you could really use the bass knob. In other words I would not worry about being efficient with the rms rating and I would lean towards higher RMS speaker rating to get the most out of the bass knob, or to handle the power. If the speaker is distorting you can’t turn it up!!! The amp is very clean; whereas I have have a house built in the 1950’s and I get some real bad ground noise, but his amp isn’t reproducing the ground noise at all, I’m sure having the treble knob all the way off helps a bit. Compared to my $1500-$1800 SWR amp it is much louder and even has less ground noise. For the price I would buy it again but I don’t need to because one is all I need.

## Features

- 500 Watt portable micro bass head amplifier for stage and studio
- Compact and lightweight design for ultimate portability
- Cutting-edge Class-D amplifier technology for incredible power and sonic performance
- High-voltage Mosfet Preamplifier for authentic sound and feel of a tube amp
- Thrust compressor for ultimate punch and to capture every nuance of your playing

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN | B07PKWBLL4 |
| Best Sellers Rank | #4,051 in Musical Instruments ( See Top 100 in Musical Instruments ) #1 in Bass Guitar Amplifier Heads |
| Color Name | Red |
| Compatible Devices | Double Bass |
| Connector Type | 6.35mm Jack |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (131) |
| Date First Available | March 5, 2019 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Item Weight | 4.9 pounds |
| Item model number | BQ500 |
| Material Type | Metal |
| Output Wattage | 500 Watts |
| Power Source | Corded Electric |
| Product Dimensions | 9.17 x 10.04 x 2.72 inches |

## Product Details

- **Brand:** TC Electronic
- **Color:** Red
- **Compatible Devices:** Double Bass
- **Material:** Metal
- **Output Wattage:** 500 Watts

## Images

![TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sxD9FE1OL.jpg)
![TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GcDLeIUFL.jpg)
![TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517AVjCAZgL.jpg)
![TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NPQvGMQxL.jpg)
![TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41yQ5ADNIvL.jpg)

## Questions & Answers

**Q: Checked this out on the tc electronics website. the specs list max output power at 500w. it also lists power consumption at 80w. ???**
A: The amp. has 500 watts output @ 4 ohms minimum that is all I know about it.  It drives 4 10in. speakers, 2 - 8 ohm. speakers hooked up in Series and the other 2 in series. as far as I know about the 80 watts is probably output wattage of the input power transformer ?

**Q: Can you use the amp without plugging in the speakers whilst using headphones**
A: Yes you can, in fact I gig this amp without a speaker cabinet using my IEM

**Q: I have 4x10 bass cab 600watts @ 6 ohms will this head be able to push it?**
A: the amp is rated for 4 ohms minimum, so yes you can use a 6 ohm or even 8 ohm speaker you just will not get the 500w it would be in the 300w range 
maybe a little more,  but nothing you will notice.  Rob

**Q: If I plug this into an 80w @ 8 ohms cab and keep the volume down to 1 or 1.5 will it blow the speaker out ?**
A: The amp in rated for about 250 w at 8 ohms The power specification that you will see for speakers (measured in watts) is referring to how much power the speaker is designed to safely receive from an amplifier before it will start to distort. distortion means the speaker is driver too hard
and the speaker will get very hot, then you may permanently damage the speaker and it could become unusable - so you really don't want to be doing this at any volume. 80w is peak threshold and 81w is over the peak 170w more you get the picture

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Absolutely Love it. Great sound and power.
*by F***1 on September 24, 2025*

I replaced my noisy 20 year old 200W head with this unit but kept the 2x10 200W cabinet to see how it sounded first and, just wow! I can’t believe how good they sound now and they certainly won’t need to be replaced. I’m an old dude so naturally I play classic punk and metal. Loudly of course. The equalizer controls are surprisingly effective and allow me to get the right sound I need for different songs. The Thrust adjustment does a fantastic job of controlling those heavy downbeats and keeping it from clipping. Really beneficial for those slap bass folks. Pros: Plenty of power and the sound quality is first rate. Compact size and lightweight. Easily fits into my gig bag! The external input works well with my laptop allowing me to play along with tunes. The equalizer controls allow for accurate wave shaping. Cons: The was no instruction manual at all with this. It requires navigating their challenging website to download what passes for one. It’s quite rudimentary but does the job. A little more info would be appreciated. The above mentioned instructions sheet mentioned an included “mini jack to mini jack cable” but there was none in the box. No matter, I had one delivered the next day.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Powerful and clean sound!
*by J***D on January 1, 2021*

This is an amazing amp. For the price it is beyond amazing. I’ve played bass for more than 30 years and This amp is powerful!!! I’ve built my own rigs. I had a $3,000 SWR professional set up. I’ve used practice combos. I’ve used PA systems with direct in box. Everything has its pluses and minuses. As a “rule of thumb” the bass player should have 3 times the watts of the guitar player. The bass amp should really not go past half power. You need something like 150-200 watts to be heard over a drummer with a passive bass. After around half power you start trading tight bass for distortion. I truly believe this is a 500w amp and that can be problematic. The 4th picture I added is a picture of cabinet 4 x 6” at 8ohms and rated 300watts rms. At 8ohms this amp should be approximately 250 watts and the 4x6” cabinet sounded like crap around 75watts. It could not handle the bass at all!!! You can see the 2nd picture is a subwoofer for a car and is 4ohm, in a tiny little box, and 1200 watts peak. This 12” subwoofer can handle the power of the amp. The one 12” woofer rattles all the windows in my house and makes my eyeballs wiggle. In other words it will be hard to find a speaker cabinet that will handle power of this amp at 4ohm and 500watts. I purchased a 2x12” cabinet and I’m swapping out the speakers with 1600 watt peak, dual voice coil woofers to get to 4ohms. The amp is simple and effective. I don’t use the compressor on the amp it does kill the sound a bit and I have a compressor pedal. The high frequency control knob is really high. I don’t even hear the high knob with the subwoofer and I keep the high knob turned all the way left/down/off I’d say it’s 10k hertz or higher.. The high mid is pretty high for bass frequencies like 5k ish hertz and the low mid is what I would consider midrange to high for a bass at 1k ish hertz. The “poppy slap” high end sound is going to come from the (low and high mid knobs) The bass knob is BASS and really low. I’d guess 80-100 hertz. The bass knob is what will get you into trouble with your speakers blowing up!! But if the speakers can’t handle the bass knob this amp won’t shine. Personally I want something easy to carry to my buddies house and this amp is perfect. Maybe some small gigs. I want something powerful so I can be heard with a marshal half or full stack and a loud drummer, and this amp will do that easily. The problem I run into is the speakers that can handle this much power are 100 pounds and rightfully so. I needed to get creative to match a small cabinet with this huge power. I would recommend a cabinet that was at least 600watts rms at 4 ohms so you could really use the bass knob. In other words I would not worry about being efficient with the rms rating and I would lean towards higher RMS speaker rating to get the most out of the bass knob, or to handle the power. If the speaker is distorting you can’t turn it up!!! The amp is very clean; whereas I have have a house built in the 1950’s and I get some real bad ground noise, but his amp isn’t reproducing the ground noise at all, I’m sure having the treble knob all the way off helps a bit. Compared to my $1500-$1800 SWR amp it is much louder and even has less ground noise. For the price I would buy it again but I don’t need to because one is all I need.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great tone for the money
*by R***L on April 13, 2024*

This amplifier is excellent, offering good tone for its price. I use it for solo practice, so volume isn't a concern; quality sound is what matters to me. It's also crucial that the fan is quiet, as there are no other instruments to mask it. I haven't needed to push the amp to require the fan, but so far, my bass is all I hear. The balanced output integrates cleanly into my basic PC-based home studio, which is consistent with my experience with other TC Electronics equipment. The options for shaping a workable tone are limited. With only four fixed-frequency EQ knobs (80, 400, 800, and 10k), the range of tonal adjustment is narrow. I tend to play with a flat EQ and let my Jazz bass define the tone, so this setup suffices. The 'Thrust' compressor is just adequate. It seems to perform best when it's always on, subtly smoothing out the peaks. However, it noticeably cuts out when turned up high. I wouldn't depend on it for intense compression needs, like slap bass. In summary, for my personal use and considering the cost, this amp is ideal. It's worth taking a moment to listen to it.

## Frequently Bought Together

- TC Electronic THRUST BQ500 500 Watt Portable Bass Head with Mosfet Preamp and Thrust Compressor
- Cable Matters Premium Braided 12AWG 1/4 Inch TS to Speaker Cable 6 ft Compatible with Speakon NL4FC Port
- Cable Matters Premium Braided 12AWG Speaker Cable 3 ft Compatible with Speakon NL4FC Port

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*Product available on Desertcart South Korea*
*Store origin: KR*
*Last updated: 2026-03-01*