Perfect amp for ehrlund?

[basdanne]

Hi again! Long time..
I have been looking around for a while now. And i think I will choose either the phil jones D600 or tc electronics rh450 or 750. I really like the fact that the D600 has two channels, witch makes it easy to use when I play theatergigs (electric and double bass) The tc electronics has presets, so it is pretty easy to use with two basses. BUT, the most important thing is that the head sounds good on the db. I already have an ebs top that sound good with my electric basses. So, the main question is: Which one of these amps should I go for? Have any of You tried the tc with a db?
/Daniel

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by basdanne

Hi again! Long time..
I have been looking around for a while now. And i think I will choose either the phil jones D600 or tc electronics rh450 or 750. I really like the fact that the D600 has two channels, witch makes it easy to use when I play theatergigs (electric and double bass) The tc electronics has presets, so it is pretty easy to use with two basses. BUT, the most important thing is that the head sounds good on the db. I already have an ebs top that sound good with my electric basses. So, the main question is: Which one of these amps should I go for? Have any of You tried the tc with a db?
/Daniel

Daniel
I know that the Phil Jones Superflight Case with it's 6 speakers is evidently not a good match with the Ehrlund EAP, because Treyzer could not get it to give him adequate output. Growler Box would be the one to ask about this as he has the TC.
One thing I find really puzzling about the Phil Jones D600 is that it's actually a 250 watt amp at 8 Ohms, and a 400 watt amp at 4 ohms. The 600 watts is only available if you're running a 2 Ohm load which isn't all that common even in 2012. Granted
you can designate an amp any way you want to, but it's a little weird to me.

Ric

[basdanne]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Daniel

One thing I find really puzzling about the Phil Jones D600 is that it's actually a 250 watt amp at 8 Ohms, and a 400 watt amp at 4 ohms. The 600 watts is only available if you're running a 2 Ohm load which isn't all that common even in 2012. Granted
you can designate an amp any way you want to, but it's a little weird to me.

Ric

That is weird! And I really feel that i would like to have some more headroom... I will try the amp, but that was disappointing!

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Growler Box would be the one to ask about this as he has the TC

I do have one (the RH450), and bottom line is, I don't use it for DB, although I think it's a great amp for BG and EUB. I get better results from my Markbass F1, although I wouldn't take that as an endorsement as such; it's just the only other head I have right now.

If you like the Ampeg sound with lots of flexibility in the EQ, presets, etc, then the TC may work well for you, perhaps in Rockabilly-type settings. Its not nearly clean enough for jazz, IMO.

Enjoy the search

[basdanne]

Thank U GrowlerBox. I am searching for a head that I can use for playing jazz. That is mainly what I do (90% of my gigs). So I´ll guess that I have to keep looking. But, it is worth a try with the TC. Maybe it fits my old german bass and ehrlund mic pretty well. What kind of gear do You use?

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by basdanne

Thank U GrowlerBox. I am searching for a head that I can use for playing jazz. That is mainly what I do (90% of my gigs). So I´ll guess that I have to keep looking. But, it is worth a try with the TC. Maybe it fits my old german bass and ehrlund mic pretty well. What kind of gear do You use?

No problem, hope it was helpful information. My gear is in my signature, and hasn't changed for a while. That's not to say I'm necessarily happy with it, but my gigs over the past year have been on trombone.

FWIW, I think an ideal amp would pair the TC's EQ section (4 x semiparametric bands), on board tuner and even compressor with the more transparent voicing of something like the AI or EA amps. Throw in a HPF, phase switch and 10 MOhm impedance on the input for good measure (although the fdeck is a lightweight, simple, elegant solution to these issues). Not sure if such an animal exists in one piece.

[tito mangialajo]

hello,
I'm thinkin' to buy the Ehrlund to replace my old underwood.
I play gut strings and I have an old GK 200MB.
What do you think about matchin' Ehrlund with GK?
Experiences?

[engedi1]

I play 100% straight ahead jazz on my upright. I did this for about a year with my RH450, and it was servicable. However, my whole band and I noticed a HUGE improvement when I got an Aguilar TH500. I found the Aggie and the TC elec 212 I was using made the upright boomy and dark and I found the best tone was by plugging into the effects return and bypassing the preamp (which would only work with the Ehrlund) Then, when I got my TC115, I found I needed to plug into the pre again, and suddenly the tone went from good to magical. Just dial down the bass knob, and back off the mids a bit, and you have a GREAT upright tone with a thunderchild. The cab actually made more of a difference than I could believe. Even my guitar player was blown away by the difference. He said it just sounded "normal" like the bass only louder. Quite a compliment from a six stringer. Of course this amp also rocks for the slab bass as well. Until I got the TC115 I was thinking I would need to get a another amp to handle the upright, but the clarity of the cab took that need away for me. My signal chain is now very simple. Ehrlund EAP, to Erhlund Pre, to TH500, to TC115. That is it. No effects or anything needed. No feedback issues ever with this setup. It gets MY tonal goals which is to sound as much like my bass as possible, especially when bowed. Of course many other amps will deliver this, but I would NOT recommend the RH450. I got really tired of mine after a year of use and many many gigs. It is simply underpowered and can't play loud AND clean. It is always somewhat or a lot dirty at higher volumes.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by tito mangialajo

hello,
I'm thinkin' to buy the Ehrlund to replace my old underwood.
I play gut strings and I have an old GK 200MB.
What do you think about matchin' Ehrlund with GK?
Experiences?

Tito,
It's a very different type of pickup than the Underwood. It works great on my bass, with Evah Parazzi Weich's, into one of two different Walter Woods Amplifiers, and a Audiokenisis TC 112. Unfortunately, the only way to tell if the Ehrlund will work is to borrow one, or get it on trial. Bob Gollihur offers that service here in the U.S. I don't think that he can do that overseas, because 10 days wouldn't be enough time to shipp it back and forth. You have the perfect amp toneally, so I would think it would sound great, but since it's a contact transducer of sorts the only way to know is to demo it on your bass.

Ric

[Mark Gollihur]

Just to clarify/correct - we do allow the 7 day trial for foreign orders, but it's a *lot* more costly to ship back and forth. There are also higher credit card costs, VAT/Customs, etc.

So it may not be as practical or affordable to do so from outside the USA as it is in the USA.

[basdanne]

Originally Posted by engedi1

I play 100% straight ahead jazz on my upright. I did this for about a year with my RH450, and it was servicable. However, my whole band and I noticed a HUGE improvement when I got an Aguilar TH500. I found the Aggie and the TC elec 212 I was using made the upright boomy and dark and I found the best tone was by plugging into the effects return and bypassing the preamp (which would only work with the Ehrlund) Then, when I got my TC115, I found I needed to plug into the pre again, and suddenly the tone went from good to magical. Just dial down the bass knob, and back off the mids a bit, and you have a GREAT upright tone with a thunderchild. The cab actually made more of a difference than I could believe. Even my guitar player was blown away by the difference. He said it just sounded "normal" like the bass only louder. Quite a compliment from a six stringer. Of course this amp also rocks for the slab bass as well. Until I got the TC115 I was thinking I would need to get a another amp to handle the upright, but the clarity of the cab took that need away for me. My signal chain is now very simple. Ehrlund EAP, to Erhlund Pre, to TH500, to TC115. That is it. No effects or anything needed. No feedback issues ever with this setup. It gets MY tonal goals which is to sound as much like my bass as possible, especially when bowed. Of course many other amps will deliver this, but I would NOT recommend the RH450. I got really tired of mine after a year of use and many many gigs. It is simply underpowered and can't play loud AND clean. It is always somewhat or a lot dirty at higher volumes.

I have also considered the TH 500. But he reason why I got interested by th Tc was because of the useful features like headphonejack and presets, which make it easier to shift between basses. But, I would actually prefer an amp with two channels, so I could mix the Ehrlund with a mic, or between electric an db on theater gigs. Is there a mixer You could use for that cause?
What about the RH750? It has a lot more power than the 450. Maybe it can play loud and clean because of the power?
/
Daniel

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by basdanne

I have also considered the TH 500. But he reason why I got interested by th Tc was because of the useful features like headphonejack and presets, which make it easier to shift between basses. But, I would actually prefer an amp with two channels, so I could mix the Ehrlund with a mic, or between electric an db on theater gigs. Is there a mixer You could use for that cause?
What about the RH750? It has a lot more power than the 450. Maybe it can play loud and clean because of the power?
Daniel

Daniel,
I was really interested in the TC 450 just because of the presets, which would seem at least in principle to give you a two channel amp. There are only a few true two channel amplifiers around now. Acoustic Image builds one, Euphonic Audio has the Doubler, and of course Walter Woods here in the U.S. That's essentially it as far as I know. The AI sounds great with Double Bass, but isn't as robust with Electric. I've never had the opportunity to play through a Euphonic Audio Doubler, but they are available in Europe, reasonably priced, and full featured. I own two Walter Woods Amps, and they are incredible but, out of reach price wise for most players. Based on the demo's by Chris Mihn Doky I was hoping that the TC RH 450 would be the next thing, but then came the review in Bass Gear magazine, which concluded that the amp really didn't produce the power that it was rated at. After I read that I concluded that unless I could get my hands on one and play gigs with it, I wasn't interested.

Ric

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Daniel,
I was really interested in the TC 450 just because of the presets, which would seem at least in principle to give you a two channel amp. There are only a few true two channel amplifiers around now. Acoustic Image builds one, Euphonic Audio has the Doubler, and of course Walter Woods here in the U.S. That's essentially it as far as I know. The AI sounds great with Double Bass, but isn't as robust with Electric. I've never had the opportunity to play through a Euphonic Audio Doubler, but they are available in Europe, reasonably priced, and full featured. I own two Walter Woods Amps, and they are incredible but, out of reach price wise for most players. Based on the demo's by Chris Mihn Doky I was hoping that the TC RH 450 would be the next thing, but then came the review in Bass Gear magazine, which concluded that the amp really didn't produce the power that it was rated at. After I read that I concluded that unless I could get my hands on one and play gigs with it, I wasn't interested.

Ric

A three channel amp, no less. The beef over the TCE amp power ratings was about misrepresentation of true specifications rather than their loudness, which my RH450 cerrtainly does not lack. As I understand it, the RH750 is the same only louder still -- they simply do not do hi-fi clean, in response to the other poster's question. I was similarly impressed by Chris Minh Doky's demos, and achieved similar results with my EUB (speaking purely in terms of amplification, I hasten to add, not my playing). It is probably more true of this amp than most modern heads that it should be tried before buying, if at all possible, especially for DB. So +1 to Ric.

[basdanne]

Originally Posted by engedi1

I play 100% straight ahead jazz on my upright. I did this for about a year with my RH450, and it was servicable. However, my whole band and I noticed a HUGE improvement when I got an Aguilar TH500. I found the Aggie and the TC elec 212 I was using made the upright boomy and dark and I found the best tone was by plugging into the effects return and bypassing the preamp (which would only work with the Ehrlund) Then, when I got my TC115, I found I needed to plug into the pre again, and suddenly the tone went from good to magical. Just dial down the bass knob, and back off the mids a bit, and you have a GREAT upright tone with a thunderchild. The cab actually made more of a difference than I could believe. Even my guitar player was blown away by the difference. He said it just sounded "normal" like the bass only louder. Quite a compliment from a six stringer. Of course this amp also rocks for the slab bass as well. Until I got the TC115 I was thinking I would need to get a another amp to handle the upright, but the clarity of the cab took that need away for me. My signal chain is now very simple. Ehrlund EAP, to Erhlund Pre, to TH500, to TC115. That is it. No effects or anything needed. No feedback issues ever with this setup. It gets MY tonal goals which is to sound as much like my bass as possible, especially when bowed. Of course many other amps will deliver this, but I would NOT recommend the RH450. I got really tired of mine after a year of use and many many gigs. It is simply underpowered and can't play loud AND clean. It is always somewhat or a lot dirty at higher volumes.

Sounds like a good choice with the TH500. Have You played with an Acoustic image? How do they compare? Do You get mor volume out of the TH500?

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by basdanne

Sounds like a good choice with the TH500. Have You played with an Acoustic image? How do they compare? Do You get mor volume out of the TH500?

I've tried to like the AI Focus avid Ten 2, but with my bass, Evah Parazzi
Weichs, and The Ehrlund Pickup And Pre Amp, I just couldn't get a the same Timbre and Presence that I get with the Walter Woods Amps I own. That's just my opinion though, lots of players love and use Acoustic Image Amps, and their customer service is second to none. The best thing is to try out on a gig. Fortunately, I bought my amps many years ago, because I couldn't afford a new Walter Woods today.

Ric

[engedi1]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Fortunately, I bought my amps many years ago, because I couldn't afford a new Walter Woods today.

Ric

AMEN. I wish I could go back in time and score a walter woods. I have never used an Acoustic Image. I have heard good things, especially for upright bass. They have a lot of features that the Aguilar doesn't. However, for my needs, the Aguilar is perfect as it is small and light, and has enough features to be useful. I sling it over my shoulder, wheel the bass in with my case with wheels, and hold the tc115 in my other hand, and go a pretty good distance without fatigue. Awesome.

[Earl]

So what about the Ehrlund with this

[drurb]

A good pickup is a good pickup, a good amp is a good amp, a good cab is a good cab. Interactions become important to the extent that there are substantial shortcomings.