wait, What?!

Pappasgrind · #1 05-17-2011, 06:13 PM

so i played my nt thumb thru my rig, a sansamp rbi pre/qsc gx5 power amp into an eden 4x10 xlt. it sounded awesome. then i traded my sansamp for an eden wtdi which sounded awesome except for the gain over clipping at 4%. so i tried just plugging right into the power amp and bam dream tone! its so clean punchy bright amazing it sounds the way i want it to! why is this? is there a amp that achieves this kind of clarity but gives it huge balls? for some reason aguilar came to mind. any comments?

MuzikMan · #2 05-17-2011, 06:34 PM

The closest I have gotten is the Avalon U5. The second closest is the Aguilar Tone Hammer set flat. Both are great units. For my money the Tone Hammer is the way to go. I can't justify keeping the U5 around (and I've had two of them) when something like the Aggie exists for much less money. I'm sure if I did a lot of recording my thoughts would be a lot different but I'm just a weekend warrior.

Pappasgrind · #3 05-17-2011, 06:39 PM

thats funny cause those were the 2 i was thinking of. im also leaning towards the aggie cause the avalon is kindda awkward to carry around. im just in aw that my bass sounds that good thru just clean power. but then again my bass sounds great in everything

MuzikMan · #4 05-17-2011, 06:43 PM

I used to own a Sansamp DI that I thought sounded good until I did exactly what you did. I plugged straight into my power amp and WHOOOAAAAAH............what an amazing rich sound!!!! From then on I knew that preamp color wasn't for me.

craig.p · #5 05-17-2011, 06:47 PM

Pappa, if you like the sound of your bass plugged right into the power amp, then the only thing you're missing is a gain stage to drive to the power amp to its full output. Therefore, a mic preamp may be the best option. You can get them for anywhere from sixty or so USD all the way up to thousands. In your case, the simpler the better.

Pappasgrind · #6 05-17-2011, 06:47 PM

so do you just use the tone hammer?

Pappasgrind · #7 05-17-2011, 06:49 PM

craig any suggestions?

MuzikMan · #8 05-17-2011, 06:50 PM

I only use the Tone Hammer straight into a power amp with the 1/4 out. Of course I also use the DI set to pre-gain to the main board.

MuzikMan · #9 05-17-2011, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pappasgrind

thats funny cause those were the 2 i was thinking of. im also leaning towards the aggie cause the avalon is kindda awkward to carry around. im just in aw that my bass sounds that good thru just clean power. but then again my bass sounds great in everything

I should mention that the U5 racks up fine bolted to a rack tray. It takes up two spaces in height and half a rack width. I never had any issues keeping it in my rack.

Pappasgrind · #10 05-17-2011, 06:53 PM

yea ive seen it done, im kindda leaning towards out of rack di because my racks full and i dont feel like getting a bigger one ha

MuzikMan · #11 05-17-2011, 06:55 PM

That's one of the things that lead me to the Tone Hammer. My six space rack is now a two space rack. I really like the light weight solutions these days.

Pappasgrind · #12 05-17-2011, 06:58 PM

i hear yuh, im actually trading in my eden 4x10 for a lds 6x12x15 thatll be 3 inchs taller then the eden, but 30 pounds lighter!

Pappasgrind · #13 05-17-2011, 06:58 PM

what about the john east stomp box? has anyone ever tried that before?

craig.p · #14 05-17-2011, 07:03 PM

Pappa, consider the Applied Research & Technology Tube MP at the bottom end (somewhere around $70 street), or check out one of their dual-channel preamps which run the tube at a higher plate voltage. You can get as rich as you want. If you really want your jaw to hit the floor, go get a Universal Audio Solo 610, which is a pure tube gain stage and as far as I'm concerned is the standard when it comes to bass amplification where you don't need additional functionality such as a second channel or a compressor or tone controls and so on. And of course there's a huge middle ground in between the low-end stuff and the high-priced spread such as the UA Solo.

MuzikMan · #15 05-17-2011, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pappasgrind

what about the john east stomp box? has anyone ever tried that before?

John East stomp box

Pappasgrind · #16 05-17-2011, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuzikMan

John East stomp box

ha well that settles that.

Pappasgrind · #17 05-17-2011, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craig.p

Pappa, consider the Applied Research & Technology Tube MP at the bottom end (somewhere around $70 street), or check out one of their dual-channel preamps which run the tube at a higher plate voltage. You can get as rich as you want. If you really want your jaw to hit the floor, go get a Universal Audio Solo 610, which is a pure tube gain stage and as far as I'm concerned is the standard when it comes to bass amplification where you don't need additional functionality such as a second channel or a compressor or tone controls and so on. And of course there's a huge middle ground in between the low-end stuff and the high-priced spread such as the UA Solo.

the ua solo 610 is that the one that looks like a dust buster?

craig.p · #18 05-18-2011, 09:58 AM

LOL, I always thought it looked like a geeky lunch box:

MM · #19 05-18-2011, 12:34 PM

RBI with the blend knob turned down to where you like the sound. Blend controls the mix of direct signal and processed signal. All the way up, all processed. All the way down, all direct. Shoulda kept the RBI. Just sayin.

Pappasgrind · #20 05-18-2011, 04:34 PM

the rbi was nice, but it wasnt enough, plus i figured if i had the wtdi i could bring it anywhere and have good tone regardless of cab/amp. the only problem is the gain on it is bad. i cant push it past 5% its just noise. i like edens amps for sure, and i wouldnt mind getting a wt800 or even a navigator. id really like one of those ampeg preamps. their hard to come by these days though