EA iAmp 350 or Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0?

[GrooveWarrior]

I had an EA iAmp 350 years ago, and loved everything about it. I found myself needing more power for gigs we were doing, so I sold it and got a Phil Jones Bass Buddy paired with a Stewart World 1.2 power amp. Both setups powered an EA CXL 210.

I'm now in a situation where I don't need the power, and prefer to go back to a head and cabinet setup. My question is should I go with the EA or the Genz-Benz? I've never played the GB, but I know they get a lot of love around here, and they seem to have a lot of the same features (plus a tube preamp).

Just looking for opinions of people who have used both . . . tombowlus, where are you?

[1kinal]

I've owned both and gigged extensively with both too.

For me, those are two very different heads. The iamp350 is voiced super wide, with extra deep low-end. Too deep for my taste as they put extra stress on your speaker cabinet especially if you're using a small cab. I could never get the mids to sound like I wanted on this head too. Finally, I found the high frequency (even if it's variable) to be set extremely high which made it unusable for me. No need to say I didn't really enjoyed this amp. I sold it for the iamp800 which was mostly the same thing but more powerful.

I later got an Ashdown ABM500 which I sold for a GB Shuttle 6.0. The 6.0 was the perfect head for me. Light, simple and sounds great. The lows are not super deep. It helps onstage so you can hear yourself instead of some deep rumble in difficult rooms. The semi-parametric mids, while somehow limited are extremely effective and the highs are voiced where I like to add brightness or remove some high-end zing that I don't always want in some styles. My only concern with the 6.0 is that it's slightly underpowered. I solved that problem by getting the Shuttle 9.0. If you're considering the 6.0, spend the extra money and get the 9.0. The extra power is worth it and the low-end is slightly deeper on it.

While I know many people refer both the iamp350 and Shuttle heads as being hi-fi or modern, for me they are really different. You also have to know that it is possible to get an overdrive from the shuttle's tube preamp while the iamp is all about clean sound.

[GrooveWarrior]

Great post. Thanks. That is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.