brensabre79

I've often wondered why they don't have metering. Especially the more comprehensive ones - the Compressore I use is great, has all the basic compressor controls, but the only metering I get is a single LED to say it either is or is not compressing. How much it is doing I don't know. And it seems my levels change with each song so it would be good to see how close to the threshold I'm getting! Even a row of 3 or 4 LEDs to show gain reduction would help. Its all very well setting the thing up with your ears at home but when you get to a gig and find its not working the way you expected, you need to be able to identify which knob to turn and how much during the 8th note rest in bar 67 - thats if you can tell its not set up properly in a live situation, often it is the last thing I think of after meddling with gain on my amp, turning the bass up and down etc.

Thanks Kenny and ThomBassMonkey. I think either the Eden or the GK will serve me well. I guess they will both be well made and reliable. Slight concern over spares for Eden as nobody seems to have one (Marshall still haven't got back to me about where there's a WT550 near me). Slight concern over GK in that I'd probably go for the 1001RB but I've always thought they were more of a heavy metal / rock amp and seem to be larger and heavier than the rest (not class D) - maybe thats a good thing... but I do quite like my one trip from the car/taxi setup: Bass, bag (with leads and amp in) and speaker on wheels. In the end I think I'll need to try both and see which I prefer personally. But thank you to everyone who has helped give me some insight into what these amps can do. I don't need to make a fast purchase, my Genz is doing OK, its just not got my 'holy grail' sound. If I can't find an Eden to try by the end of the year its probably going to be the GK anyway - at least they seem readily available.

I'd guess this is precisely the reason they wouldn't accept Paypal! A bank transfer is very difficult to get back from an individual unless they are willing to refund it... Another eBay horror story for someone Remember kids: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Nah you're f*****d I would classify these sort of pedals as a preset compressor, as alot of the parameters are just that - pre-set. So you can't change the attack time, ratio etc. The sensitivity control is basically setting how much level from your bass is needed before the compression kicks in. The output will be a make-up gain to counteract the reduction in level from the compression. So all you can do really is find the sweet spot on the sensivity control (according to your playing) and try and match the level between on and off using the level control. If you want to adjust anything else, refer to my first answer!

Well I emailed Marshall and got a reply straight back! - like a minute later! Looks like a lot is changing at Eden and they are working to bring all production back to the US at the moment. Marshall are distributing in the UK, someone from sales is going to find an amp near me that I can try out...

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1350474504' post='1839308'] "No-one else has complained". [/quote] That seems to be the stock line at GAK, alongside "Sorry, no, I told a guy last week too, we don't stock those as there's no demand for them"

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1350480228' post='1839437'] The problem is that there just aren't very many drummers. Drums are just about the least practical instruments around so very few people have either the space or the family/neighbours willing enough to indulge them in having a set at home. The consequence is that drums are not a very popular instrument, and then, to make matters worse, a high proportion of drummers literally never touch the drums unless they're at a band practice or a gig. So you've got small numbers of them in the first place, magnified by the fact that a high proportion of that small number just can't/won't practice. [/quote] This is compounded further by the fact that these days most people use a smapler or a loop in the studio so there's no work for the ones that are good, can practice and don't mind lugging all the kit around. I put down my sticks years ago because I got much more work on bass. But recently I'm starting to see the demand for a good drummer, having played with a couple who are... mm well OK, the rest useless. I was considering getting my drums out of the loft the other day. Then the guitarist in one of my bands asks me if I know a drummer because ours is unavailable for a one off covers gig in December. Well as it happens I don't, but I know a few bass players who I would gladly have dep for me... So out come the drums! (I need to loose a little weight anyway)

Some of the effects on the B3 are dual effects, so I guess if you select 3 of them you have technically blended 6 effects. Although I don't tend to use the dual ones as they are not in combinations I would like anyway.

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1350075408' post='1834428'] Also on Amazon at that price, with two terrible reviews. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alesis-Two-Track/dp/B005NFG65U"]http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B005NFG65U[/url] Useful US shop site [url="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Portable-Digital-Recorders/ci/14934/N/4248627700"]here[/url] that has customer reviews for a whole range of recorders. And a [url="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/audio/hands-reviews/portable-digital-recorder-roundup"]product roundup[/url] with spec summaries. Customer reviews there for the Alesis not good, but very enthusiastic for Zoom products. [/quote] I took a punt on the Alesis before I read this (well it was £30 and I had a new band gig in 2 days). I can now confirm that I agree with these reviews. It is possibly the worst piece of equipment I have ever bought, including the alarm clock I got on the market that loses 12 minutes every day and ended up getting thrown against the wall one morning for waking me up 3 hours before I asked it to. The recording quality was abismal, the bass managed to generate a load of artifacts from the back of a 25 foot room. It stopped itself recording after 3 songs, probably to save further shaming itself with the atrocious quality of what it did manage to record! FOR SALE: Alesis Two Track recorder, used once. Totally sh*t. Not even heavy enough to be used as a paper weight!

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1350458167' post='1839006'] They are solid, reliable and really difficult to get a bad sound from them. [/quote] Believe me if its possible I will! I'm a qualified sound engineer and the only thing I can't seem to get right every time is my own bass sound

Thanks everyone, I'm going to try and see if I can get me near an Eden - everyone seems to be out of stock of Eden stuff near me at the moment. The shop near me only has a Nemesis which has been on display for at least 2 years and they have only knocked about £50 off! If I can find someone to take my Genz as part-ex that would be great too, otherwise I'm going to have to sell it first I will try the GK amps too if I can, they seem good value and coming a close second to the Eden in terms of recommendations. The picture on the Eden site of the World Tour series amp that survived a studio fire fully functional is quite something in terms of ruggedness testing - it does make me wonder why they put cheap plastic knobs on such an expensive amp though...

Yes I think the WT550 might be 'the one' for me. The last Eden designed product i had lasted me 20 years before I sold to someone on here who is now enjoying it immensely. I don't really mind where something is made, (although for the sake of our economy alone I'd prefer to buy something made in GB). What I care about is paying £600 for an amp and not having to worry about whether its going to let me down on a nightly basis, either in terms of just not working, or just not sounding how I want it to. [quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1350395842' post='1838218'] Probably the new micro stuff and certainly the WTDI pedal is, (as i've got one), but my WT550 was made in the US in April of last year. You might find the GK stuff is as well. [/quote]

Well it will if your guitaist puts his amp on the floor facing the back of his ankles and then turns up incredibly loud because he can't hear himself. Simple answer is to put it on a chair (or stand for the well heeled). My suggestion was that the reason the big stacks are popular isn't because they are loud, or big, but because there is a speaker in line with your ears, so you are hearing more like the sound the people several feet away are hearing because you are in-line with the dispersion. Also, I think its been established with the popularity of products like the Gramma Pad that getting your speaker off the floor is a good thing. The problem I have had in the past is everyone telling me I'm too loud but not really being able to hear myself clearly. Sure I can feel the bass through the floor, but can't hear the nuances like pitch and tone. Raising my cab up high was a revelation in that it reminded me of the days I used to have two 4x10s stacked. But not the days when I had a single 18" folded horn design (which was the same size as 2 4x10s). ergo, I think its down to the position of the speaker rather than the size of the cab.

I agree its about cubic inches, and also agree with Lozz in that standing next to an Ampeg fridge, even if its not would up means you can feel the air moving. But I think one reason that those huge towers work is because the speakers are at head, and more importantly, ear height. I played a gig the other night where the stage space was small and I had to put my S12 up on top of the other bass players 1x15 combo. The tweeter and top 12" of my S12 were less than a foot away from my head and directly in line with it. Needless to say I wasn't turned up loud but I definitely felt the air moving past my ears and for the first time in a long time I was turning down (well, trying to - the amp was having none of it!) and everyone else was saying "turn up, turn up" I might start using an amp stand or something to get my speaker elevated in future. I've been banging on about it to the guitarists for years... get your amp up high, it'll sound so much better!

Yes I think the new ones are made in China, like most of them these days.

I think the Big Bang is the model to replace the discontinued F1/500s. I also think its a bit lacking in features, a semi-parametric mid is really useful for getting rid of unpleasant resonances in a room. The Streamliner would be a strong contender had I not had quite so many issues with my Shuttle in the early days, that only has one valve not 3 and I've replaced the valve in my shuttle 3 times in a year. Another reason the rugged reputation of the Eden appeals to me actually... I guess I should try and be more specific about the sound I'm after. The thing is I like a bit of clank, but the Shuttle makes it sound like quite unpleasant fret noise, wheras even my Roland cube does a much better job of warming it up. Underneath the 'clank' I also like to hear a substantial amount of low low bass, again the shuttle lacks a bit here and I find myself boosting LF everywhere (Bass, Sansamp, Amp) throughout a gig but it just ends up being uncontrolled and unwieldy. All that, and with some warm mids to cut through the band! The closest amp I've tried to the sound I'm looking for was an old Sound City 50 watt all-valve head I used a while ago, but it was too quiet unless driven into to distortion, quite heavy, very unreliable and not mine. What I'd like, in an ideal world, is around 600 watts of [i]that[/i] sound in a robust and portable package I'm all for compromise, so out of the available micro-heads I was wondering what would get me somewhere near that...? Cheers B

Mine's been doing this for ages, usually stops if you just turn it back and forth. But will look into this now thanks for the thread!

Bit late to the party, but I think Artec mainly make stuff for OEM. I know they do pickups for some Ibanez guitars and basses. I went the other way, started with an Artec 2-band and eventually upgraded to an EMG 2-band expecting a noticable difference in sound quality or reduction in noise. There wasn't one really, so I'd recommend the Artec to anyone. Not sure about their pickups though.

Thanks. I've always been absolutely useless at deciding upon gear in a shop. You can't crank it to gig levels with a full band blazing away so you just have to try and judge how it will behave based on very low volume, no accompaniment in an acoustically unfamiliar room. I'm sure all these amps are great, and each have their own character, but I can't try them side by side due to different stockists. So all input is appreciated. Looks like most of you agree with me about the Genz and its the right way to go. I'm leaning toward the Eden right now or the Fusion. Anybody A/B'd these two? Edit for typo as usual Cheers

Thanks guys, so definitely Eden, definitely MB fusion and almost definitely MarkBass. I think the WT800 will be beyond my budget unfortunately. Will check out the 550 on here though. Cheers

OK I'm thinking of changing my amp soon. Currently using a Genz Shuttle 6.0 which has been mostly a good amp for me (1st one went back faulty and was replaced, 2nd one had faulty valve but sorted now). The reason I want to change is that I'm after a slightly more old school sound now. I find the Genz to be very clinical/HiFi, and a bit harsh in the top end and its just not what I'm after any more. I've been using a Sansamp BDI, MB compressore and the Amp emulator on my Zoom to get somewhere close but would like an amp that has a nice fat sound all on its own. Despite the above the Genz is still astoundingly clean until you push the preamp valve then it breaks up in a cold, harsh way. It also doesn't seem to have much in the very low bass frequencies - I'm after a big sound even at low volume... Power wise the Genz is adequate, the limit light flashes on towards the end of a loud gig sometimes but never more than that, and to be honest I'm probably turned up a bit loud when it does. So I think 500 - 600w will be ample. So I've had a look around and I think I have a shortlist, I was wondering if any of you had compared these, or indeed have other suggestions within my budget (c.£600) currently I think the Eden has it from what I've read. Its really difficult to find a store that stocks all of these so I'm hoping to narrow it down... 1. Eden WT550 2. GK MB Fusion 3. GK 700RBii 4. MarkBass Big Bang What say you....? Thanks for reading

Hope so, sometimes the valve on my Genz works a bit loose with travel and it causes all sorts of thunderous horrible noises. Its a bad mounting design in my opinion, but it cant hurt to make sure all your valves are seated properly.

How does it compare to the Shuttle in terms of sound. I'm getting tired of lugging around dirty pedals to compensate for the pristine HiFi sound of mine - its just not me! I was looking at Eden and GK but I wondered if I could get over the look of the Orange (to me it looks like an old military field radio phone or something) for a sound with some b*ll*cks...?

Jazz bass has a thinner neck. I had T-bird for a while, lovely piece of wood but the Jazz bass is way easier to play. As said though if you move the strap button to the back of the neck(where it flattens off to meet the body) you'll get rid of the neck dive so if the Epi ticks all other boxes I'd try this before you invest in a Gibson - it might cure all your worries. If the P sound is what you're after though there are a few models with a Jazz neck on a P body IMO the Jazz is more versatile all round though.

+1 to what 5im0n says. Plus, its never going to be a studio quality production, but you can certainly give it a helping hand if you run it through a home studio with a couple of plug-ins. Compression and Eq for starters. This is what you'd do if you were recording a proper session rather than just a pub gig - even a live room recording with a stereo pair at the front would go through some post production...