Which head for my cab ? (Epifani UL2 112)

Reviz · #1 12-28-2010, 04:25 AM

I have made a search in the forum but I have not found informations.
I would like to know from the Epifani UL 112 (first or second series) owners (or ex-owners) what is (was) the bass head that you use with. And furthermore, what the result ?

I'm asking this question because yesterday I tried a Tecamp Puma 500 with my cab and I had not liked it. With the same cab i prefer my Little Mark (yellow series).

What is a good head for a Epifani UL2 112 ?

KJung · #2 12-28-2010, 04:30 AM

I agree, the massive low end, smooth mids and hi fi upper treble extension of the Puma500 does not really match up with the similar voicing of the Epi112UL... too much of a good thing. Although, the Puma's EQ really does line up pretty nicely with 'fixing' the inherent 'peaks and holes' in the UL voicing by just slightly cutting the Puma bass control (30hz shelving) and slightly boosting the lower mid control (a nice, wide Q centered at 250 hz) and possibly adding in a bit of upper mids at 800hz... just very slight boost or cut to these freqs.

That being said, if you were missing some punch and mid character with the Puma500 (the Puma has VERY low mid distortion, which can sound a bit sterile and dull with some cabs), you might very much like the Markbass F500... tighter in the low end (rolls off a bit higher), nice semi-parametric low mid control to add back some of the missing 'punch' of that particular cab, and a nice aggressive upper mid voicing to plug the hole between the top of the driver and the tweeter. My favorite head with the UL cabs if you again find the UL's to be just a bit scooped sounding and a bit too relaxed in the upper mids.

The Shuttle Max 6 is also very nice sounding with the UL cabs.... bigger than the F500, but more features and a similar 'tight, warm, punchy' tone with great EQ power.

IMO and IME

Reviz · #3 12-28-2010, 04:38 AM

Thanks too much.
I find my epifani a little scooped but I really love it.
I never tried the F500 but I'm Italian....so i think that I can find it in some music shop.
I tried the GB shuttle 6 at The Gallery Bass Merchant in Camden Town (London). It was good but I had not used my cab, I was there for a journey.

Gabriele

KJung · #4 12-28-2010, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reviz

Thanks too much.
I find my epifani a little scooped but I really love it.
I never tried the F500 but I'm Italian....so i think that I can find it in some music shop.
I tried the GB shuttle 6 at The Gallery Bass Merchant in Camden Town (London). It was good but I had not used my cab, I was there for a journey.

Gabriele

To be clear, I'm talking about the Shuttle MAX 6, not the little Shuttle 6, which I am not a fan of.

Reviz · #5 12-28-2010, 05:11 AM

oh...ok, I'm going to make a search to understand better the differences between them.
Unluckily I can't try the shuttle max. In Italy, GB is quite unknown and it's difficult to find GB stuff in shops.
However the Shuttle Max seems to be a great bass head. Complete and useful for small and big playing situations.

KJung · #6 12-28-2010, 05:17 AM

Try the F500 with that cab, since you are in Italy! The only downside I find with the F500 is that there are a LOT of controls crammed into that tiny little faceplate. The concentric tone controls are not exactly designed for quick 'on the gig' tweaking. This isn't an issue for me, but if you are one that turns the knobs on your amp regularly 'on the gig', it might bother you. The F1 is basically the same amp with fewer features, but you lose the semi-parametric low mid control, which is pretty nice with the UL cabs.

The features are great though.. wonderful DI, two bands of semi-parametric mid EQ, a 'contour/enhance' type variable filter (that you wouldn't really need with that cab) and a very nice variable hi pass filter (VLE) that allows you to control the top end of your frequency response (i.e., roll-off the top end of your treble at different frequencies for a more 'paper cone, old school tone' for cabs with tweeters. Plenty of power to drive the UL112 to full performance. It also has a mute switch, but it is a push/pull on the master volume, which isn't the best execution.

Good luck with the search!

Reviz · #7 12-28-2010, 05:56 AM

I saw online that the F500 eq section is quite a mess, it's not for me. I really love simplicity (in effect my primary bass is a Pbass) and, if it's possible, light and small heads.

Maybe the F1 could be better.
However, I tried some heads like little mark II/III and i think that the actual production of Markbass is not so good as the older one (heavier).

(I don't know if the older Markbass series was exported, so I don't know if you ever listened/tried/played with an old yellow Little Mark or other heads)

KJung · #8 12-28-2010, 06:04 AM

The F1 might do you quite nicely... still punchy. I find that I run my F500 completely flat with most of my cabs, so the busy knob layout is a zero issue to me. I like the DI better on the F500, and have found the low mid semi-parametric useful with some cabs, since the F1 and LMII/III fixed low mid control is centered quite high.

I never played the old, original heavy MB heads, but find the current line high quality, reliable, and very lightweight, and a very nice match to the Epi UL cabs. Worth a try.

Edit: Since you have the 112UL, which most would describe as somewhat 'modern' sounding, I assumed you were looking for a somewhat clean, full range, modern amp head (like the F500). Not sure what companies are available to you, but the Mesa Walkabout with a PBass is a beautiful sounding thing also! Tubey and fat and warm and chewy sounding, with plenty of EQ power to mate up with the 112UL.

Reviz · #9 12-28-2010, 06:44 AM

The main "problem" of the Walkabout is that it delivers 165w @ 8 ohm.
If I will buy an head with a valvestate preamp, I want to be sure that I will have enough volume to take the sound clean (if i want).

However, I will try markbass.

Still waiting for more suggestions

**JxBass** · #10 12-28-2010, 07:08 AM

Another fan of the Markbass/Epifani pairing. In my case the LMII.

Reviz · #11 12-28-2010, 11:35 AM

Anyone else ?

**jlepre** · #12 12-28-2010, 11:41 AM

Unlike others on this forum, I "AM" a fan of the Shuttle 6. I used to have it paired with your exact cab. It worked great, and really sat nicely in a live band mix. I even paired it with a second UL112 to get the total 600 watts.

Reviz · #13 12-28-2010, 11:49 AM

Thank you for the feedback.
If I will decide to buy a Genz Benz, I think that I will buy a Shuttle 6.
The FET channel of the Max version I imagine that will be great but i prefer the low cost and dimensions of the Shuttle 6.
I tried it once and i found it very versatile, and the valve overdrive sounds good (however i will use the amp as clean for 95% of the time)

Ewo · #14 12-28-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reviz

I saw online that the F500 eq section is quite a mess, it's not for me. I really love simplicity (in effect my primary bass is a Pbass) and, if it's possible, light and small heads.

Maybe the F1 could be better.
However, I tried some heads like little mark II/III and i think that the actual production of Markbass is not so good as the older one (heavier).

(I don't know if the older Markbass series was exported, so I don't know if you ever listened/tried/played with an old yellow Little Mark or other heads)

On Ken's recommendation (with assists from Vic and TomBowlus!) I picked up an F1 for my pair of Aggie GS112 cabs. (Was looking to buy a used F500 but didn't see one available, so pulled the trigger on a used F1).

Flat out, it's a fantastic sounding little amp. There's a very musical quality to the midrange from it--and (as Ken said earlier) the VLE control is a great help in taming the high end response of the tweets in my cabs. I would second Ken's suggestion that you give it good consideration.

**jlepre** · #15 12-28-2010, 11:57 AM

This was my setup. I only sold it because I had some deep financial troubles. I would get this setup again in a heartbeart, but I have just purchased the Shuttle 9 for the lower voicing.

MarTONEbass · #16 12-28-2010, 12:28 PM

Other Markbass heads with the semi-parametric mids are the SA450 and the SD500. If the F500's tone controls were too hard to tweak/use, you might like those heads. I agree with Ken that the UL112 EQ's really well and adding more low mids makes that cab much punchier. If that's what you are after, you should give those heads a try.

I used a Shuttle 9 with my UL112 and it was fantastic. I currently use it with a UL212 and it is equally great. The lower voicing of the 6 versus the 9 makes all the difference for that deep Epifani low.

Reviz · #17 12-28-2010, 12:34 PM

I'm not considering the shuttle 9 because it delivers too much power (500w @ 8ohm).
Also i don't understand why people sell the Shuttle 6 to buy the Shuttle 9. If you need more or less lows just use the eq section...

I will be very afraid of using a 500w amp with a 350w cab...

KJung · #18 12-28-2010, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reviz

I'm not considering the shuttle 9 because it delivers too much power (5002 @ 8ohm).
Also i don't understand why people sell the Shuttle 6 to buy the Shuttle 9. If you need more or less lows just use the eq section...

I will be very afraid of using a 500w amp with a 350w cab...

The Shuttle 6 is voiced a bit differently than the Max heads and the 9, since it was really designed to power the very small Shuttle cabs. So, the low end is not nearly as full as the other heads. Also, the 9 is a powerful head, but it really isn't a true 900 watt head... they use some fancy limiting etc. to allow it to be pushed into higher wattage at higher levels of distortion beyond the spec of the ICE power module they use, similar to a tube amp. Actually, pretty cool. It does put out a nice wallup of power into 8ohms, but you just control that with the volume.

The Shuttle 6 sounds fine though, and you can widen the low end and boost a bit with the 'bass boost' control, but IMO it does not sound as full and even as the Shuttle 9 or the Max 6.

If you are considering Genz Benz and like 'clean tube tone', Genz is introducing a three tube preamp model in 600 and 900 watt versions in about 4 weeks. I have on on order. It is called the Streamliner... very simple front end, and designed to mimic/emulate an all tube amp (both clean and overdriven). Obviously, no one has heard one yet, but the specs and design look great. Another option! Some of us are hoping it is a bit of a 'higher powered Walkabout', but that is all just guessing at this point.

As often happens, I sent my check and am 'taking one for the team' to see what it is all about

There is a Streamliner thread with pictures and rough specs if you do a search.

Reviz · #19 12-28-2010, 01:02 PM

I saw the Streamliner but it also deliver 900w @ 4 ohm (maybe, I don't remember well).
Now, I prefer to consider the Shuttle Max 6 (or 12, using only one power amp) rather than the Shuttle 9. I want to be sure of not damaging the cab.

ps: excuse for my english, i hope it is enough good to be understood

KJung · #20 12-28-2010, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reviz

I saw the Streamliner but it also deliver 900w @ 4 ohm (maybe, I don't remember well).
Now, I prefer to consider the Shuttle Max 6 (or 12, using only one power amp) rather than the Shuttle 9. I want to be sure of not damaging the cab.

ps: excuse for my english, i hope it is enough good to be understood

Your English is wonderful. Thanks for not making me try to speak Italian. That would be something!

The Streamliner will also be released as a 600 watt version FYI.

I really do like that Shuttle Max 6... lots of knobs... but not really that crazy when you consider there is a tube and solid state pre with the same knob configuration, and then three very nice variable master voicing controls (versus the push button on/off on the smaller Shuttle amps). Very nice stuff.