What's the best class D bass amp head you've used?

[gabaghoul 3]

EBS Reidmar never makes it into these lists but I sure do love my 750, 250, MicroBass 3 and my Neo212 cab.  EBS is the sound I hear in my head.  

[fretmeister 2,361]

On 06/03/2020 at 12:37, Al Krow said:

Lovely to be able to meet up with fellow BC'er this morning and get a chance to A/B our D class heads.

Both amps sounded really good (using my Yammy BB1025 and BF SC). The key differentiator for me was the greater versatility of the DG AO900 with its 6 band EQ and ability to blend in anything from a touch of grit to full on AO drive. 

"You've got a LOT of usable sounds from that amp". Yup. 

Wasn't expecting that end from the A/B as the other amp has a great pedigree too, but good to be reminded of how good our existing kit is sometimes, and maybe the grass isn't always greener eh? 

@dave_bass5probably won't be needing a loan of your MB head just yet after all, a certain DG amp got withdrawn from fleabay earlier today and will likely be surviving a little longer in the crow household 😉

Having both is awesome!

 

i would love my DG amp with the MB Marcus EQ. The M900 bass control is a bit high.

[Al Krow 4,693]

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Having both is awesome! i would love my DG amp with the MB Marcus EQ. The M900 bass control is a bit high.

I find playing two amps at once a bit tricky 😉

I guess 80Hz might be a little high for bass EQ and 65Hz does seem to pretty much nail it - but 80Hz is the first harmonic of the low E so kinda makes good conceptual sense  I have the additional option on my active basses of boosting / cutting on the on-board EQ which seems to get me there.

I do like the 6 band EQ on the AO900 (and M900 Mk2) vs 4 band on the M900 Mk1; and the AO dirt is (for me anyway) more usable than B3K / VMT.  Starting to also appreciate the really cool "double blend" option on the AO900 i.e. I can (i) blend Alpha & Omega drives and then (ii) blend how much drive I want with my clean.

The AO900 seemed to get a big thumbs up from @MacDaddy - and always good to get an unbiased fellow BC'er's opinion on these things.

What is it about the M900 poweramp that you prefer to the MB Marcus?

Edited March 8, 2020 by Al Krow

[fretmeister 2,361]

Not the power amp, the drive section.

 

trying not to take any pedals! 

[dave_bass5 2,555]

5 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Not the power amp, the drive section.

 

trying not to take any pedals! 

There are amps that have a drive channel which is not really much more than a second input stage that can be driven hard and turned on and off. I like this as you keep your basic tone. 

What i like about the DG and Tech 21 heads Is that they go much further and you actually get a DG or Tech 21 pedal incorporated in to the head. Obviously you have to like that pedal first, but if you do, these type of heads are great to help travel light. 

[Cuzzie 3,104]

6 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

There are amps that have a drive channel which is not really much more than a second input stage that can be driven hard and turned on and off. I like this as you keep your basic tone. 

What i like about the DG and Tech 21 heads Is that they go much further and you actually get a DG or Tech 21 pedal incorporated in to the head. Obviously you have to like that pedal first, but if you do, these type of heads are great to help travel light. 

Tech21 kill it

[dave_bass5 2,555]

57 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Tech21 kill it

Ive always had a soft spot for Tech 21 stuff. Ive had a few DG pedals and while I liked most of them i always went back to my BDDI.

Never tired any of these heads though. 

[Cuzzie 3,104]

1 minute ago, dave_bass5 said:

Ive always had a soft spot for Tech 21 stuff. Ive had a few DG pedals and while I liked most of them i always went back to my BDDI.

Never tired any of these heads though. 

Invest the Hx sale money wisely

[dave_bass5 2,555]

Just now, Cuzzie said:

Invest the Hx sale money wisely

Haha, I’m trying to down size what i take out so cant see me buying anything Amp/Effect related. I love my Fender Rumble, and also my GK heads, so I’m sorted for that. I still have a BDDIv2 and PBDDI, neither get used these days.

 I wish the GK Legacy 500 was actually 500 in to 4 ohms like most 500watt heads. I’d get that in a heartbeat. 

[Al Krow 4,693]

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

There are amps that have a drive channel which is not really much more than a second input stage that can be driven hard and turned on and off. I like this as you keep your basic tone. 

What i like about the DG and Tech 21 heads Is that they go much further and you actually get a DG or Tech 21 pedal incorporated in to the head. Obviously you have to like that pedal first, but if you do, these type of heads are great to help travel light. 

That's a nice way of thinking about it.

A lot of love for the DG AO Ultra as a preamp pedal from folk who have / used one, but it will set you back £345 new. Bolt that on to something like MB LM800 and it starts to make a lot more sense of the price differential. And then if you look at the additional feature set on the rear of the DG AO900 / M900 v2 (go on I dare you) then these £1k amps no longer seem quite so outrageous price wise. Darn it, they're almost value for money 😁

[dave_bass5 2,555]

14 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

That's a nice way of thinking about it.

A lot of love for the DG AO Ultra as a preamp pedal from folk who have / used one, but it will set you back £345 new. Bolt that on to something like MB LM800 and it starts to make a lot more sense of the price differential. And then if you look at the additional feature set on the rear of the DG AO900 / M900 v2 (go on I dare you) then these £1k amps no longer seem quite so outrageous price wise. Darn it, they're almost value for money 😁

Haha, i’d never accuse DG of offering value for money, but it does seem like a complete package. I’d love to get the MKII  VMT version of these amps. I liked the VMTD i had, and use the B7K sim Ultra a lot in my Helix, but at the price they are asking i doubt I could afford it. I know the first gen is a lot cheaper but i like the EQ on the MKII. 

The rear panel seems full of stuff I’d never ever need but its nice to havre i guess.

Edited March 8, 2020 by dave_bass5

[afterimage 98]

Bergantino b amp  excellent very articulate

[PatrickJ 892]

This thread has got me gassing for a new head dammit, and I've been trying so hard to control my bass related spending this year 🤣.

When I played in a rock covers band my GK MB500 was a great sounding head.  I got plenty of comments on it's tone and presence in the mix without being over powering.   I only moved it on as I fancied a change but if I was going to go back to that kind of music I'd be looking at the GK Legacy line. 

Last year I switched to a Markbass head.  It seemed with every band I saw live the bassist was using some kind of MB rig and I always liked the tone.  So I picked up the Little Mark Tube, the size / weight of the head and the Traveller 2x10 cab I paired it with make it super convenient rig the carry round.

I'm now running 2x para EQ blocks on my Helix FX in front of the LMT that are aligned to the EQ points of the Little Marcus heads. 

--

This year I want to play more Jazz and am thinking again about what tone I want.  The MB LMT does clean and  clear pretty well but I am very curious about the Ashdown RM range and how that would compare.  

I'd also like to try the Eden, Genzler and EBS offerings,  though if I'm honest the greatest improvement to my tone would be I'd I actually did some practice.

Edited March 8, 2020 by PJ-Bassist

[Chopthebass 382]

Bergantino Forte HP. It has everything on it a bass player needs IMO. The parallel compressor is particularly nice. And the filters are great for removing any unwanted frequencies. 

[grenadillabama 78]

On 04/03/2020 at 08:11, stevie said:

Lightweight amps I've had are the Ashdown Mibass 500, the Markbass LMIII and the Aguilar TH500. I've ended up with the Ashdown RM500. It's got the most sensibly specified eq and does the 'slam' thing that not all lightweight amps do well.

 

The RM500 is my favorite . I want the RM800 when it is available. 

[Jazzjames 36]

I started using an Ampeg SVT-7 Pro recently, and it’s much more grown up in its power delivery that the other light weight amps I’ve used in the past. The tube preamp, compressor and ultra high/low buttons give it bags of personality.  It brings my instruments to life in a way to date none of the super small heads have. And as far as willy waving goes: 1000w at 4ohms!  Let’s just hope it doesn’t break like the early models did!

 

In the event that the SVT decided to fry itself, I carry a Quilter BB800 around as backup- a little rough around the edges in terms of sound but also punches well and is very small if that’s important to you.

The Tonehammer 500 would also rank highly on my list, but only if you plan to run it either at low volumes or through big cabinets- it gets a bit shouty/out of breath at high volumes.

[NancyJohnson 2,071]

Owned two.  A TC Electronic with the modelling thing, it was ok, loved the ease with which you could change patches, but it never seemed loud enough.

Currently on a Darkglass A/O.  In a band environment it's fantastic; output volume is mental and tonally it's the nuts and I'm 100% happy with what it does.  At home though (or at lower volumes) I prefer to use a dUg into the effects return.

Edited March 15, 2020 by NancyJohnson

[Al Krow 4,693]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

Currently on a Darkglass A/O.  In a band environment it's fantastic; output volume is mental and tonally it's the nuts and I'm 100% happy with what it does.  

+1 ^^ for the DG AO900 

Still discovering new nuances of this versatile amp. It's not a cheap amp though! 

[NancyJohnson 2,071]

8 hours ago, Al Krow said:

+1 ^^ for the DG AO900 

Still discovering new nuances of this versatile amp. It's not a cheap amp though! 

@Al Krow I'm amazed how my amplification set up has changed over the years, from this huge tri-amped Trace/SWR set up, scaling back to a smallish Ashdown MAG/Line 6 POD set up, the Hartke endorsement period, racks of Tech21 and power amps.  Mental.  If I was starting out now and looking for advice from an amp perspective, I'd just say do your diligence and spend as much as you can on a decent head/enclosure or combo because it will last you years.  If the A/O had been about 30 years ago, I wouldn't have needed to throw thousands at my backline, but I guess the road travelled makes the destination a little sweeter, eh?

Head aside, the only thing I do think about changing periodically is the enclosure.  I won Alex's Barefaced Big One prototype at the SE Bass Bash a few years ago; it's a wonderful thing, but my mate @Graemeross owns a pair of Super Compacts BB2s that edge things slightly tonally, plus they look a bit tidier, so maybe one day I'll look to going that route, but for now, I'm tiptop.

Edited March 15, 2020 by NancyJohnson
speling/accuracy

[bassfan 1,956]

Having had a Bergantino BAmp for 24 hours, my fav class D head is now the BAmp! 

[Cuzzie 3,104]

Just now, bassfan said:

Having had a Bergantino BAmp for 24 hours, my fav class D head is now the BAmp! 

Until you pop in passing my hoose get a play on a Tech21 dUg Ultrabass - made for Status...

[dave_bass5 2,555]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

+1 ^^ for the DG AO900 

Still discovering new nuances of this versatile amp. It's not a cheap amp though! 

That’s because you don’t read the manual 😂😌

[bassfan 1,956]

39 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Until you pop in passing my hoose get a play on a Tech21 dUg Ultrabass - made for Status...

I’m on my way. Postcode please. 😂 

[Cuzzie 3,104]

22 minutes ago, bassfan said:

I’m on my way. Postcode please. 😂 

Just follow the noise - it’s loud!

[Al Krow 4,693]

25 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

That’s because you don’t read the manual 😂😌

But surely why I invite you round, what's the point of doing that otherwise? 😁