hamfist

[quote name='phatbass787' timestamp='1340124173' post='1699520'] Think GK may be going down the route of creative marketing with these Neo's(I assume they must have outsourced to TC Electronics marketing dept) theres no way the 112 cab Soundslive are selling has a real Neo in it, cannot be done at that price, I'm sure it's a perfectly decent cab and light but getting tired of companies and their half truths... [/quote] Evidence ? evidence ? libel, libel ? It's pretty that lucky posts like this on forums like these don't seem to attract the attentions of company lawyers

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1339665554' post='1692110'] Thanks for the review Is it the MBE 2x12 you've got, the vertically aligned one, or the NEO 2x12?... Eude [/quote] Neo 212 II

Tried out my new 2 x 12 GK neo last night at a rehearsal. very nice cab indeed ! A bit of a bump in the hi mids (2000-2500Hz), and a small unexpected dip at around 600Hz (not difficult to adjust back with amp EQ though). Can be very bright if you want that. I ended up running the tweeter almost off. There is plenty of bass response with the cab, although not perhaps as tight as it could be. I have heard it said that these cabs have no damping inside, so if it really bothers me, I could always put some foam batting inside to tighten things up ... a pretty simple job for almost anyone. That might well remove the dip at 600Hz too. Fit and finish seems really good. And it's light. I haven't weighed it but it "seems" lighter than the GK quoted weight. If the 112 is anything like the 212 (and it is by all accounts) then it would be a great cab for the money, for sure.

Will be in receipt of a GK 212 Neo later today. Not exactly the same, of course, but I will post my thoughts on it. I ordered one because they seem a superb match of quality, power-handling, price and weight. Tonewise, they are reported to have an upper mid bump and tight (but not excessive) bass, which is exactly what I want.

If I had a grand or so burning in my pocket for a gigging rig, I'd go for a GK Neo 2x12 II 4 ohm cab (£440) plus a Genz streamliner 600 (£560 ish). Or for more hi-fi tones a Genz shuttle 6.0 instead. Outstanding alternative amp - Ampeg SVT 7Pro Just more thoughts to put in the mix. Great time to be a bassist with a few quid in your pocket, wanting to pick up a great, lightweight gigging rig. Have fun deciding !

Value for money .... certainly. However, they are a budget range. I have read stories of poor damping (affecting low frequecies mainly) and general lightness of build. However, this is surely no surprise. Can't get something for nothing. No direct experience from me though.

I'd add the GK MB500 to your list. A few quid more, but worth it.

I'd be really interested in hearing a decent review of one of these. I'm in the market for a cheapo rehearsal cab, as lugging my 8x10 to rehearsals is a PITA, and my only other current option is to use a passive PA wedge, which I do not like at all. There seems virtually nothing online about Harley Benton cabs at all

[quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1338415817' post='1674431'] The Streamliner looks about right but there seem to be lots of people out there changing the eq valve to make it something a bit more useable, which is a concern. [/quote] I wouldn't worry too much about that. It's just the TB tinkerers. Reading into that thread carefully, you can see that any valve changes in tone are minimal in reality. Mine certainly is pretty much perfect with the standard valves. What is more important with the streamliner is to [u]not[/u] match it with a boomy and/or mid-scooped cab. The amp puts out so much thick bottom that with a cab that is not tight and well-damped in the bottom end, things will become boomy. To clarify, the amp is not boomy, but a cab that cannot cope with much bass will be. The amp also potentially can be a bit hi mid-shy unless you EQ it appropriately. To pair this with a hi mid-scooped cab is not going to be ideal to most folks.

Just done this MV mod on the pedal. Worked a treat ! So thanks Dannybuoy and a well-deserved bump for this thread in case anyone else may be in need of it.

[quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1338333070' post='1673056'] Thanks, I'll have a look at them. Has anyone tried the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2? [/quote] If you try the shuttle and then a streamliner back to back (and if you are wanting to play rock of any genre) you will never want to play the shuttle again. The Shuttles are great amps but are relatively hi-fi, modern and "thin". Of course, you can thicken them up a bit with EQing but their basic tonal signature is as I described, which is what a lot of non-rock players are looking for. In contrast, the Streamliner signiture sound is thick, utterly full and powerful. Much more "Ampegy", much more "tubey". They are very, very different amps. I cannot recommend the Streamliner enough for anyone looking for a rock bass amp.

GK MB500 is well worth a look. Or the Orange Bass Terror. Both well within your budget. However, if you could push the budget then the Genz Benz STreamliners (600 and 900) and the Ampeg SVT 7Pro are all in a league above. To be honest I'd recommend a good pedal for dirt with virtually any amp. Just IME and IMO of course.

Took both amps out last night to the wedding we were playing at. Not a huge room, but no FoH support for the bass, so actually got the amps and cab (GB 810-XB3) working a little bit. First set - used the 7 Pro. Fiddled a lot with the EQ (mids really) to find a tone which slotted in the mix nicely without getting lost in just low bass. Kept fiddling, and tweaking during the first set. It was OK, can't really say much more. I honestly struggled having enough brightness without it sounding brittle. And also struggled at finding a mids setting which gave me the clarity and cut that I was looking for. Second set, out comes the Streamliner. ... instant satisfaction. Despite my perceptions of the amp being a bit mid-shy. In the mix it instantly had more richness and mid-clarity. I have used the amp in a band before, but at very significantly less volume. THis event was my first chance to really put it through it's paces. Once things were cranked a little bit, I found myself tweaking the treble down and the bass up (certainly compared to settings I'd used before). I perceived no lack of clarity or tightness in the bass, despite perceiving this at low volumes with the SL (could, of course, been the cab more than the amp). With the SL I ended up with bass at about 11 oclock, mids (600 KHz) at 2-3 oclock, and treble at about 10. (gain was at 11, pre-volume at 4). With the Ampeg, I heard it's own tone, and actually felt that playing with the EQ yielded less flexible results than with the GB. A bit weird really, as it's almost the opposite of what I perceived at lower volume. All I can think is that this is really more of a comment on both amp's responses with my cab. So for me, it's going to be the Streamliner all the way. THe Ampeg is clearly a great amp, which works incredibly for some people, but the SL with my cab just has some magic which, for me, makes me smile.

Nice review. It certainly seems to have a good feature set, especially for the price. But for those of us who know nothing about the promethean ... is this a "clean" amp, or will it move into OD/distortion if required ? If so, what's that like ?

Nice one !

LIke a number of you I declare everything, and claim back for everything also . The self-assessment form is pretty straightforward for most people. Once you've claimed back for travel, gear, consumables etc, etc, most of us hobbyists will be making very little profit. And if I do, I am happy to pay the appropriate tax on it. I only keep receipts for larger items. Otherwise, it just all goes into a little "band notebook". The taxman is actually very uninterested in checking up on details for someone who is claiming fairly minimal earnings.

Thanks guys. Yes, I was suspecting that it almost certainly was simply different tapers on the MV's of each amp. And a real 750W will be more than ample for my usage I suspect, although I do seem to like it loud. Cant' wait to try this sucker out in anger tomorrow night !

OK, the new 7pro arrived this morning and I have spent a couple of hours flipping back and forth between it and my streamliner 900. So here are my first impressions, and also a question ! Firstly, it's obvious to me that both are GREAT amps. The streamliner sounds more "tubey" to me .... now that is an almost impossible word to define, but what I mean by that is that it has a somewhat rounder tone which is just a little soft at the edges. The Genz puts a "pillow" of bass underneath a band. I set my bass knob at somewhere between 8 and 9 oclock on the Genz, and it is ample with my cab. I typically boost the mids (600 KHz) - 3 oclock and treble, about 2 oclock also. The Genz's natural voice is a little mid-scooped compared to the Ampeg, but that should come as no surprise to anyone here. So the Genz requires some serious EQ knob turning, but that's what it is, and it shouldn't have to apologise for it. I found the useful gain range on the Genz to also be far wider than the Ampeg, and in fact the onset of overdrive and dirt is more musical to my ears on the Genz. Although, to be honest, I wouldn't use it on either, as my Darkglass B7K trounces every amp and pedal in terms of dialling in musical OD or distortion. On the Ampeg, the input clipping light was starting to come on with the gain less than noon (with my passive Yamaha BB). So I followed accepted Ampeg lore and ignored it. I settled with the gain at 1 to 2 o clock which was as high as I could get it without audible clipping/OD. The 7Pro, however, instantly felt "balanced" as soon as I played it, without the pillowy bass of the Genz. Also noticeably crisper in response, especially on the low strings, than the Genz. The range of mid-adjustment is also way, way more flexible. In fact the whole amp is more flexible than the Genz. For me, the ultra lo on the Ampeg was something I would never use. I like the Ultra hi though, which added some very controllable brightness, without it being harsh. The Ampeg's compressor seems useable, and I shall have to play with it some more. One thing I definately noticed (and this will lead me on to my question) is that the Genz's master was really only just on, providing tolerable volume levels in my house. I had the Ampeg's up to 9 oclock for similar levels. THis could just be very different tapers on the master volume control, but has me wondering and hoping that the Ampeg will be loud enough. I mean this is a "1000W" amp into a pretty sensitive ported 8x10, in a 25" x 12" room. Surely I should be deafened with the gain up as high as clean headroom would allow, and the master on 9 oclock ? Is this something that other 7 Pro owners have found ? Maybe the master volume truly keeps getting louder throughout the whole range, and maybe the Genz's just starts compressing past noon. I just haven't had the chance to try either of these amps out at volumes that would allow me to find out yet. I will add that I have gigged the Genz once and rehearsed 2 or 3 times with it, so I do have some "real world" experience with it. Ultimately though, I think I may well be keeping the Ampeg as number one. The streamliner is a great amp, but the mid-control and flexibility of the Ampeg and it's "crispness" are very attractive to me. It also is a better match for my cab, which has extended bass reponse. That, along with the streamliner's bass response, seems to be just too much of a good thing. I'll gig the 7Pro, at some volume, on saturday and see how it goes. The streamliner will be there as backup though ! and, sorry, all this was copied from a post of mine over at TB, but I would love to hear about volume issues with any 7Pro owners over here.

THe question has certainly generated a healthy discussion. It seems that what is obvious is that the tones people want for "rock" vary hugely. I don't play metal, for example, but I'm aware that a lot of metal bassists really like a nice clean sound. However for other genres, like more in the indie rock direction, bassists tend to want rather more hair in their tone. The "clean" markbass amps like the LM series will obviously work really nicely, if paired well with a cab, for any clean tone, but individual bassists may well find them rather lacking in organic, rich, fuzzy, gooeyness if that's what they're after. Pedals may help, but can't really overcome the ultimate base tone of an amp. For me, the LMIII didn't work at all. I found it too clean and too "flat" (whatever that means). I like a very organic, tubey, slight underlying fuzzyness to my tone. Even trying a shedload of pedals I could never get what I wanted from the LMIII. I don't think anyone else has talked yet about EQ frequency centres, which are also an issue. I have discovered that I like to boost the mids at around 500-600 KHz to get "my" tone. Markbass simply don't allow you to access this, without external EQ's, which I'd prefer not to have to use. So, great for some "rock" tones, bad for others. All comes down to taste.