Genz-Benz Shuttle

[Born 2B Mild]

I've had my 6.0 since June 2008. I happen to think it is still the best head I've ever had.

This thread is intended to be informative to future Shuttlers, including a 'warts 'n all' about any shortcomings.

If you are/were a Shuttle user, please add your thoughts.

Here's mine...

[b]Pros[/b]
[list]
[*]Louder than a Vulcan bomber
[*]Great range of tone
[*]Stupidly small and light
[*]Useful functions, such as the mute, effects send, tuner
[*]Actually works as a studio pre-amp
[/list]

[b]Cons[/b]
[list]
[*]Tiny feet, meaning it doesn't sit well on top of cabs with strap handles + this can't help cooling
[*]Noisy fan
[*]Headphones socket doesn't cancel speaker output
[/list]



Apart from these criticisms, I'm still amazed by these little amps, as are the rest of my band.

[Dood]

Nice one B2BM, reviews are always welcomed! I'm going to move this thread to the reviews section...

[alexclaber]

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='563872' date='Aug 8 2009, 11:18 PM'][b]Cons[/b]
[list]
[*]Tiny feet, meaning it doesn't sit well on top of cabs with strap handles + this can't help cooling
[*]Noisy fan
[*]Headphones socket doesn't cancel speaker output
[/list][/quote]

Feet have to be surprisingly tall to clear a strap handle, which would increase the total thickness. The fan's much quieter than on my QSC PLX (unsurprisingly!) Why would you want the headphone socket to switch off the speaker output? Just unplug the speaker!

Good amp isn't it?!

Alex

[Born 2B Mild]

[quote name='dood' post='563876' date='Aug 8 2009, 11:26 PM']Nice one B2BM, reviews are always welcomed! I'm going to move this thread to the reviews section...[/quote]
Sound, Dood.

Alex, you are technically spot on, about disconnecting the speakers. This mere (and perhaps lazy) mortal would rather just plug in the headphones, either at home or whilst configuring EQ before a gig, without having to remove two speaker connections, as well. However, it's not a deal breaker and there's far more things to worry about in life

[Kiwi]

[b]Pros:[/b]
[list]
[*]tiny size and weight
[*]clean sound (although not as clean as studio grade kit)
[*]all the essential features and no gimmicks
[*]loads of power
[*]set new benchmarks and fantastic value for money
[/list]

[b]Cons:[/b]
[list]
[*]controls are hard to see on stage while the LED's are blinding.
[*]one input
[*]dimensions aren't rackmount compatible
[*]doesn't take a 2 ohm loading
[/list]

[Rich]

[b]Pros:[/b][list]
[*]Sound. (I saw a band at the Bristol harbour festival the other week, the bassist was using a Shuttle combo with an extension cab... the best bass sound I've heard in ages.)
[/list][b]Cons:[/b][list]
[*]I haven't got one.
[/list]Just when you think your GAS is sorted...

[alexclaber]

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='563887' date='Aug 8 2009, 11:42 PM']Alex, you are technically spot on, about disconnecting the speakers. This mere (and perhaps lazy) mortal would rather just plug in the headphones, either at home or whilst configuring EQ before a gig, without having to remove two speaker connections, as well. However, it's not a deal breaker and there's far more things to worry about in life [/quote]

Indeed. It's just that I know I sometimes like to monitor with headphones when recording whilst sending a low volume signal to my cab for miking, hence if the headphones cut out the speaker outs I wouldn't be able to do that.

CK, why would you want to make such a tiny amp rack size? What's the point of putting something this small in a rack?

With the performance of this and the Markbass equivalents I shall not be bothering with Barefaced amps for some time!

Alex

[sk8]

it can be rack mounted though, the 6.0 not the 3.0

[Rich]

[b]Pros:[/b][list]
[*]I'M GETTING ONE! THIS WEEK!! [i]*jumps up and down like an excited 3-year-old*[/i]
[/list][b]Cons:[/b][list]
[*]It's not here yet.
[/list]

[doctor_of_the_bass]

[quote name='Rich' post='630243' date='Oct 19 2009, 12:05 PM'][b]Pros:[/b][list]
[*]I'M GETTING ONE! THIS WEEK!! [i]*jumps up and down like an excited 3-year-old*[/i]
[/list][b]Cons:[/b][list]
[*]It's not here yet.
[/list][/quote]

Knees bend, arms stretch, ra ra ra!

Well done matey! I tried one out t'other day down at The Bass Merchant and I was actually quite impressed, being a Markbass man!

[Born 2B Mild]

[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='630392' date='Oct 19 2009, 02:45 PM']Knees bend, arms stretch, ra ra ra![/quote]
Actually Doc,
With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment,
It is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which
almost went unnoticed last week.
Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at
the age of 84. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him
into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble
started.

[urb]

I have to say I tried the 3.0 Shuttle and it knocked my socks off - I was an EBS user for years and didn't like the box-y sound that I was getting - I've since moved to Epifani and they suit my sound loads better and are by far my fave amp overall - however... I tried a Shuttle out through a Epifani 110 and the sound was BEAUTIFUL... it had that crisp EBS top end but with greater warmth - and my Sei 5 string sounded wonderful through it - and I kept all the settings flat - straight up and down as they say.

So now I'm thinking of getting a 3.0 and a small Epi 112 cab for club gigs - as the power of the amp and the Epi cabs - which sounds more focused than my SWR baby baby blue (and louder) - as for an amp of its size I don't think I've heard anything as sweet and powerful (much nicer IMO than any of the MarkBass stuff I've tried too).

Just have to find the dosh to do it - which won't be any time soon - it's the one bit of kit I really want right now!

M

[sk8]

Just get the 3.0-10T combo. Awesome little box of sound

[Born 2B Mild]

Just imagine, if Alex could build a Compact or Midget that had a slot to slide a Shuttle 3.0 in to!

Lighter than a Mr Kipling sponge!

[bassmeg]

[u][b]Genz-benz shuttle 3.0[/b][/u]

[b]PROS:[/b]

I have got one.
Unbelievably small and light!!

[b]CONS:[/b]

Wish i got this ages ago.


Previous amps: trace ah350smx, Gk400rb, Eden Nemesis NA650.

The Eden has powered an NV610 cab for the past 8 months.

The GB makes the cab sound better. Gigged it last night and got one setting and it stayed like that the whole night. Just had to use my tone control on the bass to get the sounds that i wanted-Believe me this is unheard of.

If you are considering one of these-STOP-get one.

Edited January 3, 2010 by bassmeg

[Conan]

[quote name='bassmeg' post='699350' date='Jan 3 2010, 12:42 PM']If you are considering one of these-STOP-get one.[/quote]

So why you selling yours then?

[bassmeg]

[quote name='Conan' post='852038' date='May 30 2010, 07:36 PM']So why you selling yours then? [/quote]

Constant need for new toys.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='564289' date='Aug 9 2009, 05:01 PM']CK, why would you want to make such a tiny amp rack size? What's the point of putting something this small in a rack?[/quote]
Better late than never...

...sometimes it would be nice to use my rack equipment with it but not carry around two bits of kit that need setting up and plugging in.

[farmer61]

Have just taken delivery of my Shuttle 6.0 12T combo. Now sitting on top of my 2 x 10 cab. Also have the shuttle 6.0 max and the Neox 2 x 12 as my main rig, so my thoughts are

Pros
Great tone and sound
Really loud
Easy to carry
Transparent sound, each bass has it's own discrete tone

Cons
Ive spent too much cash
The shuttle max is almost too flexible with the 2 channels and the extra eq settings

Can't recommend this kit highly enough, I was sad to see my Trace kit go, but have no regrets.....!

[MoonBassAlpha]

I agree with an earlier comment about the l.e.d.s - they are much brighter than you need, and in an ill-lit environment can close your pupils down enough to not actually be able to see the control settings properly.
Bright blue leds are actually not very good for your eyes too.
I do like the solid machined knobs and the feel of them with indented operation, it all adds to the feel of quality.
At a pub gig last night with a three piece band, I found that my 3.0 was being driven pretty hard to produce good volume. The upside of this is that the carefully designed protection circuit does clip in quite a musical way in much the same way as a valve amp warms the sound up as it starts to clip.
You may miss out on this if you go for the 6.0, but then you will have the valve pre to warm it up.

[Rich]

I agree about those mad blue LEDs too -- faaaaar too bright. I wish there was some way of taming them a bit.

[mart]

[quote name='Rich' post='919848' date='Aug 9 2010, 05:36 PM']I agree about those mad blue LEDs too -- faaaaar too bright. I wish there was some way of taming them a bit.[/quote]

You could put a bit of tape over them - gaffa-tape, or parcel-tape. Or just sellotape some paper over them. There's probably an electronic solution, but a low-tech approach seems safer.

[Etienne]

My solution to the over-bright lights on my old Shuttle 6.0 (now Rich's) was to press tiny blobs of Blu-tack over the LEDs- worked a treat! They still let enough light through to see what functions are working, are easy to remove and don't mess up the look of the amp if you're careful putting them on...

[rmshaw37]

just thought i'd share my experiences with the shuttle 6 after a few months of owning it!

i have tried the unit with a few different cabs and usually use it with a pre amp and use the shuttle as a power amp.
i heard that it has a low end cut built in, and i believe this to be true because when pushing it a bit (volume half way up) with my RPM as the pre it clips the limiter quite a bit!

using just the shuttle the loss of low end is not noticable on 10" speaker systems because on the whole 10s dont go particularly low! it is however noticable with a p bass and 15's

just an observation - aparently the shuttle 9 and 12 do not have this low cut, something to consider depending on the cab set up you have. on the whole though and for most people/ general use, the shuttle is an awesome little lightweight head!