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Darkglass Microtubes Head


Daz39
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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1453496654' post='2960145']
It would be an interesting experiment to glue a couple of housebricks inside a 2u rack case with a bog-standard ICEpower module to see whether bass players coo over the "heft" of the sound!
[/quote]

Would you expect them to..?

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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1453498053' post='2960164']
I don't know, TBH. That's why it would be interesting! I do wonder how big a factor expectation bias is though.
[/quote]

Not sure... I've played thru a lot of class D and lightweight amps and the only one I bought was a TH500
and that was more because I swapped it (plus cash to me) for an amp I'd 'tired' of.
I knew straight away that the trade had compromises and in a way I regretted it... but it also led me to
my current D amp (I have 3 amps... 2 are trad and 1 is class d..
If I could only have one amp..I wouldn't keep the class D.

Do I think I always knew about the class D thing...no, not really, not at first, but I never bought one until relatively recently
and the reason for that is that I wasn't convinced but could indulge in a lightweight option ...but I've also always referred to it as the B rig.

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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1453496654' post='2960145']
It would be an interesting experiment to glue a couple of housebricks inside a 2u rack case with a bog-standard ICEpower module to see whether bass players coo over the "heft" of the sound!
[/quote]

I [i]really [/i]wanted go get on with all the micro heads I've used over the years, 'cos carrying a big amp around is a PITA. I approached each of them with open ears... until I eventually realised there was a common characteristic that didn't gel with me.

If anything, I stuck with them longer than I would have done otherwise [i]because[/i] they were light. Had they been lead sleds, I would have moved them on a lot quicker.

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[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1453993929' post='2965121']
Internal shot of the prototype.

A B&O power unit according to Doug on Facebook.
[/quote]
Yes B&O makes the ICE Power modules - in this case the [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]700ASC.[/font][/color]

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  • 2 weeks later...

It would be even better if it had a double footswitch so you could toggle between the B7K and Vintage circuits as well as go clean.

In my opinion, for it to be a completely killer amp, it would need to have some kind of cab emulation on the DI output so it doesn't sound like bees once you send your signal to the PA, and your on stage sound and PA sound are quite similar.

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[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1453464030' post='2959690']
For me class-D nails "my tone", i like a clean and natural bass tone with note-to-note definition even when playing faster lines. The low-mids have all the trouser-flapping i'll ever need on stage. I must point out that i always go through PA, even in pub gigs so i don't need to fill the venue with my rig. I think this may be the prime cause for most people going for class-A, i know a lot of bands on your side of the pond only use PA for vocals.
[/quote]

This is pretty much it for me as well - I did get an Ampeg SVT3-PRO, loved the sound, but it was too "hefty" for the sound I need in my band, so I went back to my Class D Aguilar Tonehammer. I`ve heard my rig used in other bands both with FOH and standalone and it has plenty of heft/oomph behind it, so it`s not like I find Class D weak at all, just more articulate/less weighty perhaps?

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[quote name='PauBass' timestamp='1454784021' post='2972999']
It would be even better if it had a double footswitch so you could toggle between the B7K and Vintage circuits as well as go clean.
[/quote]

I suggested it to Doug and he said :

[quote]That is a very reasonable request and I thought about it.
The main drag there would be that in order to have LEDs in the Footswitch we would need to use a special connector/cable which makes things more complex and expensive. If now the cable fails sourcing a 1/4" mono or TRS cable is super easy. Not so much if it's a din 4 pin.[/quote]

[URL="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/darkglass-microtubes-700-class-d-amp.1200895/page-22#post-18313439"]Darkglass Microtubes 700 Class D Amp foot switch discussion[/URL]

So I think it is still a possibility.

Edited by bjelkeman
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[quote name='bjelkeman' timestamp='1454794735' post='2973131']
I suggested it to Doug and he said :



[url="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/darkglass-microtubes-700-class-d-amp.1200895/page-22#post-18313439"]Darkglass Microtubes 700 Class D Amp foot switch discussion[/url]

So I think it is still a possibility.
[/quote]

So it might be possible then?
It would be great as you'd virtually get three different tones, you could have clean, overdriven and full on distortion all in one little amp! I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra.

My worry is when sending the signal to the PA, unless there's some EQ or CAB Sim, the distorted tones sound awful so not sure how useful the DI on the amp will be, when using dirty tones that is.

Edited by PauBass
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  • 4 weeks later...

The dark glass head looks nice and I'm sure will do a great job for a lot of players.

I recently went back to using a preamp/power amp set up and noticed a difference at volume over my TTE 500. It might have been the added flexibility of the parametric pre amp EQ over the usable but limited eq on the TTE which was making me hear something different. The pre/power set up is heavier and with out having looked inside I'm confident it's the transformers which can only be a good thing. The TTE isn't a bad amp and it works well, has the B&O power module but to me I can notice a bit more oomph with the power amp/preamp set up. I'm happy to gig either but I'm favouring the 'heavy rig' and this comes after A/B'ing the power/pre and the pre into the TTE at gigging volume.

Anyhow back to the dark glass. Be good to hear one in anger but I'm not gassing for one.

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I do wish I liked the Darkglass 'take' on overdrive/tubes being pushed etc. I always revisit what they have coming out but everything seems to sound like modern metal, which isn't my thing. I still think the VT Bass and Sansamp BDDI are the best for that type of tone, IMO....but I like the Darkglass approach and innovation.

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[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1457056640' post='2994959']
The TTE isn't a bad amp and it works well, has the B&O power module but to me I can notice a bit more oomph with the power amp/preamp set up.
[/quote]

I believe that Markbass use their own modules and do not use B&O. My (class D) TTE801 is voiced slightly different from my old analogue TTE500 with a little more bottom end and, of course, power.
I've always found Markbass heads to have more authority than the B&O module heads, personally.

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[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1457088567' post='2995139']
I do wish I liked the Darkglass 'take' on overdrive/tubes being pushed etc. I always revisit what they have coming out but everything seems to sound like modern metal, which isn't my thing. I still think the VT Bass and Sansamp BDDI are the best for that type of tone, IMO....but I like the Darkglass approach and innovation.
[/quote]

I tend to agree. I love that sound with certain combinations of the right (usually active with both pickups on) bass and the right tune, but it's not my main sound. I prefer the more natural vintage growl of a passive bass into my Blueberry, Tonehammer, or Agro pedals, so there are a few other amps higher on my wishlist than the Darkglass (namely Genzler, Mesa, Tech21, GK!).

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Opticaleye

I was led to believe that the first run had the B&O analogue power modules - since production went to Asia there were some changes (not better or worse just different) which could be reflected in the 801. I've no point of reference only in the gear I have and to me the big rig wins ...not that the punters notice the difference :)

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