To those who don't care for the sound of AI amps - tell us why.

anonymous02282011 · #1 10-24-2007, 02:04 PM

Are there any of you out there? Even if you just dislike a particular feature or aspect of the AI gear, let us know what you're playing and what you're not thrilled with.

Greg Clinkingbeard · #2 10-24-2007, 08:52 PM

It doesn't work so well with slab.

basss · #3 10-24-2007, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clink

It doesn't work so well with slab.

Yes, it does.

Mr.Phil · #4 10-24-2007, 09:01 PM

I tried one, didn't work with my electric too well. At least, not how I wanted. Sounded good with upright, but didn't have enough body. I know thats vague, but thats all I can say. It was ok, just not good enough for me to justify the price. This is all in my opinion, of course.

Phil Smith · #5 10-24-2007, 09:11 PM

I don't know what you guys are expecting it to do, but the Focus I have works well with BG, the Focus and a Epifani UL112 is a great rig for BG, with two UL112's it's pretty formidable.

basss · #6 10-24-2007, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Smith

I don't know what you guys are expecting it to do, but the Focus I have works well with BG, the Focus and a Epifani UL112 is a great rig for BG, with two UL112's it's pretty formidable.

I think it sounds great w/slab. I had a UL112 with it for a bit and agree thats a nice combination. The AI won't give you an overdriven rock sound but you can always use a pedal for that.

Dave Martin · #7 10-24-2007, 09:48 PM

Umm, what's AI? Artificial Intelligence? American Industry? Anal Intercourse? One of these is in the vague future, one might be in the past and the third is quite unappealing..

I'm missing something, aren't I?

basss · #8 10-24-2007, 09:54 PM

Acoustic Image
acousticimg.com

fish slapper · #9 10-24-2007, 10:45 PM

I love my Clarus with BG. If I want a little more aggressive sound, I goose it either with an EBS multi-comp or an ART tube pre.

Wilbyman · #10 10-24-2007, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Smith

I don't know what you guys are expecting it to do, but the Focus I have works well with BG, the Focus and a Epifani UL112 is a great rig for BG, with two UL112's it's pretty formidable.

+1, I have been using this setup for a while and the focus + ul112 pair terrifically for slab. I use an ht112 for upright. They are great amps IME.

liam_g · #11 10-25-2007, 01:09 AM

To me, it depends on the tone you're after with slab. If you like clean, transparent tone, then it may or will work for you. I like more color in the tone for bg ... Eden, Ampeg, Mesa, Genz Benz (tube preamp models), etc. So I didn't like my Clarus + Wizzy for slab, until I plugged a Sansamp into the effects return and bypassed the Clarus preamp section. Then it became an ultralight wonder-amp.

For upright, I loved it as it was, of course ... except that I much prefer the eq section of an iAmp.

Cheers

sethlow3 · #12 10-25-2007, 01:24 AM

The one I had just didn't have a lot of power. It was like 300 watts and it was back in '02, so I hear they have added a lot of power since then.

I remember taking it in a MARS music store and trying it with a TON of cabs. The best one was a 4 ohm Ampeg 410HLF. It was great.

I used it in the studio once and it was pretty good. My only beef was the EQ, but I was much younger then. The amp was great for uncolored, natural instrument tone which is probably why its used on upright and keys so much.

KJung · #13 10-25-2007, 06:11 AM

The mixed response from those who use the AI amps for EB makes complete sense to me. I don't hear this head as 'flat' or transparent at all. It is somewhat dark, somewhat low mid voiced, and very mellow and polite up top.

The power section is great... plenty loud, but the EQ and pre works very well for some tones (warm, bridge pickup oriented tone) and not so well with others (wider, both pickups on full tone or any sort of 'modern roundwound' sort of tone that needs some presence up top).

The EQ is very subtle... more to gently adjust for room acoustic variations than to really change the sound of the amp. Most EB players that have these that I know put a different or additional preamp in front of the AI pre.

Very well made, plenty loud, and a beautiful, dark organic tone that works very well with some tone goals. It, to my ear, is the amplifier equivalent of the classic Bartolini soapbar pickup tone... fat, warm, full, mid oriented, with an attenuated top end.

Edit: That being said, it's my favorite amp for some piezo pickup instruments like the Rob Allen.. just full fat and warm, and the mid voicing and hi end softness do wonders in taming the piezo's huge frequency range... really nice!

IMO.

Akami · #14 10-25-2007, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

Very well made, plenty loud, and a beautiful, dark organic tone that works very well with some tone goals. It, to my ear, is the amplifier equivalent of the classic Bartolini soapbar pickup tone... fat, warm, full, mid oriented, with an attenuated top end.

Edit: That being said, it's my favorite amp for some piezo pickup instruments like the Rob Allen.. just full fat and warm, and the mid voicing and hi end softness do wonders in taming the piezo's huge frequency range... really nice!

IMO.

Which is one of the reasons why the CodaR (I now have 2 series II and 1 series III) is my favorite acoustic solo act pa system.
Clear, warm and lacking any harshness in tone.

That and it has the capability of taking 4 separate signals and applying eq to 2 of them, as well as a simple but clean digital effects in an 250/400 watt package you can carry over your shoulder.

Now back to our regularly scheduled Hate Artificial Intelligence thread.

**Damon Rondeau** · #15 10-25-2007, 07:00 AM

I quite like the sound of my Clarus with EBG but it's not loud enough to hang if the drummer gets anywhere past "kinda loud". For me, that's been pretty much the only situation where I wished I had coughed up extra for the Focus.

Akami · #16 10-25-2007, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damon Rondeau

I quite like the sound of my Clarus with EBG but it's not loud enough to hang if the drummer gets anywhere past "kinda loud". For me, that's been pretty much the only situation where I wished I had coughed up extra for the Focus.

The Focus definitely offers much more headroom and I concur that they sound very good for EB if you happen to like the sound of them, which I do.

Like your avatar; it reminds me of one of my favorite aurora viewing spots, although you've got a lot bigger trees down there!

Wilbyman · #17 10-25-2007, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

The mixed response from those who use the AI amps for EB makes complete sense to me. I don't hear this head as 'flat' or transparent at all. It is somewhat dark, somewhat low mid voiced, and very mellow and polite up top.

The power section is great... plenty loud, but the EQ and pre works very well for some tones (warm, bridge pickup oriented tone) and not so well with others (wider, both pickups on full tone or any sort of 'modern roundwound' sort of tone that needs some presence up top).

The EQ is very subtle... more to gently adjust for room acoustic variations than to really change the sound of the amp. Most EB players that have these that I know put a different or additional preamp in front of the AI pre.

Very well made, plenty loud, and a beautiful, dark organic tone that works very well with some tone goals. It, to my ear, is the amplifier equivalent of the classic Bartolini soapbar pickup tone... fat, warm, full, mid oriented, with an attenuated top end.

Edit: That being said, it's my favorite amp for some piezo pickup instruments like the Rob Allen.. just full fat and warm, and the mid voicing and hi end softness do wonders in taming the piezo's huge frequency range... really nice!

IMO.

+1, excellent post Ken.

ctxbass · #18 10-25-2007, 09:05 AM

I tried a Clarus a few years ago with my SD systems bridge mounted mic and found the preamp section to be totally dry and one dimensional. While this may appeal to some, I prefer a sound with more body to it. I then ran the mic through my Demeter preamp into the power section of the Clarus and the improvement (to my ears) was quite noticeable. It is not just a tube vs. solid state thing. The AI preamp just did not work for me.

Greg Clinkingbeard · #19 10-25-2007, 09:42 AM

The power of one short sentence.

To clarify................
I have owned one of the new Clarus models for several weeks and used it with BG a few times with mixed results. On a rock/cover gig the tone was as exciting as a wet rag. No punch or definition. The following night, in the same room I used an Eden head with the same bass and cabinets. The tone was quite a bit punchier and cut through the mix better.
My church calls on my to play BG on occasion. Normally I will use their SansAmp RBI direct, but it isn't working right so I used the Clarus last night. No matter how I EQ'd the amp the tone just didn't want to cut through. It sounded warm and wooly. I used the Eden there once and it sounded great.
I have used the Clarus on a couple of big band gigs (Fender Jazz with TI Flats) with great results. It did great Tuesday on a fretless gig. I have run an electric piano into the return a couple of times and the pianist liked the clean tone. The Clarus is a very clean amplifier.
I wonder if the issue is one of gain within the preamp; maybe AI gear runs everything well below the limit to keep things so clean.

Other amps just sound more immediate on BG.

For DB it is the best thing going. Clean, pure and acoustic. I expect the Clarus to stay with me for a long, long time.

tgrant · #20 10-25-2007, 10:35 AM

Lately, I've been using my old GK mb150, with the speaker on, running out of the effects into the effects section of my new Clarus I series III pushing a 4 ohm 1X12 and it works really well for electric bass. I did an outdoor festival gig with this set up a couple of weeks ago. I placed them both on the ground and the sound guy hooked up to the D.I. on the GK. It sounded just how I wanted it to.