It's never ending, isn't it?

One Bad Monkey

One Bad Monkey

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You think you're happy with your setup, your gear, your sound. Then, when you add a new piece into the mix, you start hearing where things don't specifically work that well, etc..

Ever since getting my Streamer LX in November, I haven't been that happy with my amp (at the time, it was an EA iAmp Micro 300 w/Schroeder Mini 12R). I sold the EA and got a ProFet 5.2 (mainly for the extra power to keep up with the new band). What I'm finding out is that the sound from the amp is muddy and too midrangey, whereas my tone at church (direct through a Radial BassBone) is KILLER. That's the tone I like, that's the tone I want.

So, after telling my wife this (and having her roll her eyes), I'm looking at a couple of options.

1-Sell the Schroeder and get a 2x12 speaker cabinet that is more "open" or "transparent" sounding, as trite as that sounds.
2-Sell the amp altogether and buy a new one, that has a sort of hi-fi sound, with some good low end. Could be a combo w/extension speaker to allow a couple other options, or a head/cabinet setup.
3-Save my pennies, sell the amp and buy a Hellborg system. I "think" I can do this, if I wait until about November. My only concern with this is the monetary aspect; if the band picks up like they're hoping it will after we finish these two albums, it would easily be justified. It's just too big a unit to try and schlep to a theatre gig, unfortunately.

Currently, I'm leaning towards option 2, going the combo/extension speaker route and here's why. With a lot of my variable gigging, a lot of times I'll find myself in small pits or with choirs where having a small amp for support (and not sheer volume) is needed. Currently, I'm using a GK MB150S combo for this and it works great, but again, it's not exactly THE sound I'm going for (but it can get fairly close).

Ideally, I'd like to sell all the amps and get a combo and a head/cabinet setup (same brand to hopefully - HOPEFULLY - have the same tone). But I think that would anger the wife, resulting in my throwing a diamond bracelet in front of her to get her to ignore the boxes coming into the house...!

Anyway, what do you guys think?

So,
 
Jon,
I know exactly what you mean. For awhile I was using just my EBS MicroBass and a power amp to power a 2x12 and it sounded great (although it wasn't the exact sound I was looking for). I then switched to Genz Benz but still used the MicroBass as a post effects boost. This was closer to the sound I was looking for but not perfect. I've recently come to realize that just using the MicroBass alone I achieve exactly what I'm looking for in terms of sound. Nice growly mids and a solid low-end. I've schlepped more gear in and out of my house more times than I can count and every time I think I've found what I'm looking for and convincing my wife that this is the last gear change, I up and decide I need something different. She has just come to accept that I'm always going to be changing equipment and no longer gives me a hard time about my search for sound. I'm going through this same dilemma again with my GAS for a Rob Allen acoustic electric. I'm hoping it's just a passing phase but I find myself drooling over those basses daily. I think it's an endless battle and with the advances in electronics and equipment, it's going to become harder to just buy one amp or bass and be happy with it your entire playing career.

You're not alone my friend, maybe we should start a support group and have weekly sessions trying to eliminate our quest for the perfect tone. I'll be the first; Hello everyone, My name is Adrian and I'm addicted to finding the perfect bass tone.
 
It's a viscous circle alright!

I'm up to over 30 amps in five years and counting!

:eek: !!!

I'm pretty satisfied for the moment though with my Genz Benz Shuttle and WCA211 Pro being my go to rig out of the gear you see in my signature... I could survive pretty happily (for now) with only that for 99% of the music I play).

The funny thing is I picked up the Genz Benz second hand pretty cheaply - It's got a couple of little scratches in the top case, but it sounds great. It's the best amp I've had I reckon... although the LM Tube is vying for that position too. The Genz Benz was by far the cheapest though! :lol:

:d
 
The funny thing is that I never really thought of the amp as an important piece of the chain until lately. For years, I was searching for "the" bass and had up to 12 electrics at one time. Now I have three (Streamer LX, Corvette $$ and '96 Corvette std) and I can't see any other need for a different bass; my tone is covered.

I may have to try and check out some GB stuff after hearing a lot about them (and chatting with some of the employees on another forum). I'm also looking at some Mesa Boogie stuff, but another that I'd like to try and "try before I buy" type of things.
 
One Bad Monkey said:
my tone is covered.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more about the bass tone..... it's the amps and trying to dial in that tone that has me constantly looking around. I would definitely look at the Genz Benz line, they're quality amps and don't "color" your bass tone like a lot of other brands. Good like in your quest my friend.
 
The only thing I don't like about Genz-Benz is the way they designed the Shuttle combos. The idea of having the head slide out is a GREAT idea (another reason why I'm looking at a MB Walkabout Scout combo), but the way they did it looks like an afterthought. A superficial reason I know, but if you don't like looking at your equipment, you're not going to be inclined to make music with it.

But that's just one small part. If I went that route, I could easily just have one head and a couple of cabs to switch around/bring to the different sized gigs.
 
Yeah, that always kinda bothered me as well. They could have easily made the heads the same width as the speaker box. I played the Walkabout when I was looking at combos (obviously I chose the GB) but it had an awesome sound. It is definitely heavier than my Shuttle and for larger gigs (which I don't play) the Walkabout has more balls.
 
You're dead right! The head integration into the combos is one of the ugliest backyard afterthought deals I've ever seen.

Great tone, but that combo is ugly!

:d
 
ALB, how would you describe the Walkabout Scout sound? I guess what I'm looking for is something that has some of that tube warmth (after years and years of solid-state loyalty) and character, but not the issues that a full-blown tube head has. GB has that kind of "hybrid" set up as well, correct?

I'm also curious how easily something like that would hold up in my band; my GK combo (90w) is pushed to the limit, but the Warwick/Schroeder combo does really well. So I'm thinking the Scout would probably hold its own fine, but with an additional cab would be monstrous.
 
I played the Walkabout for about 30 minutes in the store, I brought my bass with me so there would be no surprises if I did decide to purchase. First off, the Walkabout is built like a tank. Solid construction with a nice heavy chassis, the Walkabout could definitely take the abuse of the road and gigs. It does have a nice warm tone and the volume it can produce will hold its own with larger groups. Overall, I felt like the Walkabout muddied my tone too much and it was hard to dial in the mids with any clarity. I realize playing fretless has a little to do with that but I couldn't get the tone I was looking for with the Walkabout. I asked the store clerk if he had experienced any issues with the Walkabout and he did say one customer brought it in for repairs after having issues with the tubes burning out but that was an isolated incident. Also, the Walkabout is not a small combo. If you were to purchase the 1x12 or 1x15 extension, you'll definitely have to make two trips from your car to carry in your rig. The muddied tone, coupled with the size and weight made the Walkabout a "no-go" for me.

I have the Shuttle 3.0 with 8 inch speaker and tweeter which is the smallest of the line. Having said that, this little amp alone pushes 175w and you do feel the low-end. I have played several small jazz gigs and a couple ambient type shows and the amp had no problems. I have connected a 2x10 to my amp which then pushed out 300w, more than enough for any size gig I play. The overall tone when set flat is exactly what you hear when playing without an amp. Setting everything to 12 and engaging the mid or low sweep will give a nice bass push to your sound. The GB is small and lightweight and even when using an extension cab I can easily get my entire rig (amp, bass, pedals) in one trip.

I might be slightly biased towards the GB only because I've used them in live settings and of course because I own one. The Walkabout is a very nice amp but like I said, I felt it muddied my tone too much. I like the small size and weight of the GB line and they are very well built, albeit the head design does bother me sometimes.

Hope this helps you at least a little.
 
Thank you for that; it helps a lot. If it's one thing I really like right now, it's clarity, ESPECIALLY in fretless. When we recorded my $$ fretless a couple weeks ago, it was direct through a tube preamp and it was great; that perfect mix of warmth and clarity. So, that's what I'm ideally looking for.

I definitely need to try out some Genz-Benz stuff now. Thanks for your options on the Walkabout Scout; I was wondering about muddiness, especially when a lot of reviews said the amp nailed that "vintage tone," and I'm certainly not that kind of musician.
 
One Bad Monkey said:
I guess what I'm looking for is something that has some of that tube warmth (after years and years of solid-state loyalty) and character, but not the issues that a full-blown tube head has..
Click to expand...

As much as I love my GB Shuttle 3.0, it is very solid state, both in construction and sound.

For something with some tube warmth in a portable package my MarkBass LM Tube is the duck's guts! You have variable blend between the solid state and tube preamps so you can go from dry and solid state, to warm and creamy tube tones and blend everything in between.

Add to that that it's a lightweight package, and with 500w you have bucket loads of headroom too.

Lovely!

:d
 
Interesting; the Shuttle 3.0 has an FET pre, whereas the Shuttle 6.0 has a tube pre in it. I'm curious on the tonal differences between the two.

I have tried the Little Mark Tube 800 at GC and remember liking the tone of it. The other Markbass stuff I tried there really underwhelmed me though (the LMII, a 1x12 combo).
 
I've never tried the Shuttle 6.0 but anything GB is worth trying out.
 
I haven't tried the GB Shuttle 6.0 either... didn't realise it had a tube pre. Certainly worth a look.

I agree about the other Marbass Gear... I think the LM II head is nice enough - but nothing extraordinary. I think it's big buzz back in the day was simply it's size. The LM Tube however does float my boat - very versatile little fella.

:d
 
i still haven't found the perfect amp i like the ampeg rocket combo but i would like small light weight combo thats easy to move and can hang with a dum kit in the volume dept.
 
I've heard a lot of good things about the tube pre in the Shuttle 6.0. I'm a happy 3.0 user, but I like a clean sound so solid state suits me fine.

I have the 10" combo but I'm always switching between using the head with the shuttle cab and using the head separately with a different cab, and I got fed up sliding the head in and out of the shuttle housing on the 10" cab. And fed up of all the scratches the head was getting! So I just took the brackets off. That's ok if you use the cab flat but with the kickback the head doesn't stay on the cab very well. So I use an extension cable to connect the head and cab, and have the head sitting somewhere handy for me. Somewhere where I can see those funky blue LEDs :-D
 
Thought I'd give you guys an update.

Since the last message, I've talked with my contact at Genz-Benz about some of the amps, what I'm looking for, etc.. He mentioned the Shuttle 9.0 and 2x12 cabinet would be a good fit. I'm not sure about having 900 watts for my band, mainly because we all understand that thing called "stage volume." I've been debating just buying a 6.0 and a 1x12 cabinet (relying on the return policy if I need it), but given that I want a small amp and larger amp that roughly sound the same, getting a couple heads and cabinets would be too unwieldy in a theatre pit context.

Had a chance to run into Guitar Center and try out some Markbass stuff again. While I wasn't a fan at all of their LMII-1x12 combo (it just sounded boring to me), I liked the 2x10 combo. It seemed to have a little life that reacted to me playing. Same with the LMIII head and a 2x10 cab (yeah I know, roughly the same thing), although it seemed less "boxy." Tried plugging in the LM Tube they had, and I liked it better than the LMIII a little.

I also emailed the staff at Phil Jones Bass with an entire slew of questions, and got a lot of great information from the man himself. So, for my theatre work (which I have a four week run starting on Sunday, doubling on electric and URB), I ordered the PJB Briefcase. It's a little louder than my GK combo, has a closer tone to what I'm looking for, a small footprint and a DI for the sound guy. I am toying with getting the PJB Super Flightcase for the rock band, which Phil said should work fine. He also mentioned they're coming out with a powered speaker cab for those times when you want more out of the Flightcase. But, that amp is still up in the air and I don't have an immediate need until early August when we do some movies.
 
We don't think about it as much as we should, but I was also blown away by Phil Jones's Amps! Great stuff and good choice IMO.
 
Phil Jones Bass..... I totally forgot about those but definitely a good decision. A friend of mine has the briefcase and it sounds BIG for its size. Congrats on the purchase and glad you were able to find what you were looking for.
 
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