Using Raezers Edge -- Good head for doubling?

[edge83]

Hi everyone-
I have a Raezers Edge cabinet which is great. While I primarily play acoustic bass in jazz situations, I am looking for a head that still sounds good with electric and the Eminence bass when on the road--

At least with my experience on the electric and eminence, the acoustic image is out of the question-- had truly terrible experiences with these on both e and eub-- I currently have a cheaper GK backline model but i'm looking to get away from the GK.. i'm realizing it has a specific sound that i'm not so into right now.

I know that walter woods sounds incredible with everything in my experience but with the price and waiting list.. i'm wondering with all the new advances and companies if anyone has come across something with a similar quality (maybe not sounding like the woods, but sounding great on the different basses)

Thanks

[gnergaard]

...It's hard to say. Acoustic image is pretty much the way to go if you can't quite afford a Woods ro if you need a mic pre built in. And hey, I have a Woods and I can't really afford it either. Still paying off the credit card. That said there are some Woods heads available used more often these days- even one on this site right now.
I assume you prefer having two separate channels, so...
My guesses would be:
The Epifani Heads (902 and 602) not cheap, and not light either, but people I know using them love them and they sound very clean, fairly clear and might be good for URB. Definitely good for electric.
The Aguilar 2 channel head looks interesting. Lighter, cheaper and aguilar's other stuff is really great. I haven't heard these myself but it looks like a product to ask about.
Find a used SWR Baby Blue head-only version. They sound great on anything. Best thing SWR ever made. Not really two channel but perfect for anything.
Other than that I know that Edan and EA are both now making super tiny "micro" heads. I haven't tried either but I think they have the doubler in mind.
Good luck!

[edge83]

Thanks for the info-
just fyi i'm not concerned so much with doubling on the same gig (2 channel), just being able to buy one head that sounds good with both basses.

[bolo]

Had you thought much about the Euphonic Audio heads? IMO the iAMP-200 (discontinued) sounds great w/ DB and EB. The iAMP-800 has been around for a while and is pretty widely used I believe. And the iAMP-500 sits in the middle, power-wise.

[mchildree]

I do both electric bass and URB gigs with my iAmp 800 and I've been very happy with it. I make minimal eq adjustments and it seems to sound great both ways, but the eq section is comprehensive enough to address most any need.

[jrlynch]

i run a gallien-Krueger MB150III head into either one or two raesar bass 12s. the amp is a little happier with the four ohm load presented by two cabinets, and there's obviously more air moving with two cabinets for electric gigs ... meanwhile the single cab with the amp sounds fab, too. it's a reasonably priced amp, relative to the walter woods or acoustic img, and is super light weight.

jeff.

[tombowlus]

Tonally, I do like my Walter Woods a bit better with my Raezer's Edge cabs, compared to my iAMP 800. Recently, I have been checking out some Markbass heads, and the SD800 in particular reminds me somewhat of the WWU. You may want to give one of these a try, or the LMII, which sells for $599, and has both balanced and unbalanced inputs.

Tom.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by edge83

Hi everyone-
I have a Raezers Edge cabinet which is great. While I primarily play acoustic bass in jazz situations, I am looking for a head that still sounds good with electric and the Eminence bass when on the road--


I know that walter woods sounds incredible with everything in my experience but with the price and waiting list.. i'm wondering with all the new advances and companies if anyone has come across something with a similar quality (maybe not sounding like the woods, but sounding great on the different basses)

Thanks

IMHO
The Amps that are more suited to the Double Bass are the Walter Woods, Acoustic Image, and the iAMP. So, it depends what features you absloutely have to have on the amp to get a decent sound. AI amplifiers all have hi pass/notch filters and flexible inputs that will accept either mic's or pickups. If you don't have the cash for the AI then I'd certianly wait for TB to review the new EA Micro. It dosen't have all the bells and whistles but it has intelligent channel switching and internal custom jumper configurations for changing some of the amps parameters. It's the least expensive of the three. Walter Woods amps are wonderful (I have two and wouldn't part with either of them)
but they are custom built and very expensive compaired to either the EA or the AI heads.

Ric

[edge83]

Thanks-
I live very close to NYC-- does anyone know a place/store where you can plug into a lot of different heads where it wouldn't be a huge drag?

[bolo]

Originally Posted by edge83

I live very close to NYC-- does anyone know a place/store where you can plug into a lot of different heads where it wouldn't be a huge drag?

peterpalmieri had a series of euphoric experiences at The Groove Shoppe in Farmingdale. Don't know if that's too far out of your way or not.

Their EB selection is probably the most dazzling I've ever seen ... on the web anyway. Eye candy. Double click on the 'Gallery' button, and you'll see what I mean.

[bassbuddy]

I picked up Markbass LMII a month r so ago. I've been very happy with it for slab, but hadn't had a URB gig to use it on until yesterday - and I was completely blown away by it. Very full, lots of air and bloom, but articulate at the same time. I much prefer it to the iAmp350 I was using. Note I'm going for the big thumpy old-school sound, which it does beautifully. I didn't try to eq it for a drier sound, but it's proven to be pretty felxible for slab, so I assume the same may hold true here.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by edge83

Hi everyone-
I have a Raezers Edge cabinet which is great. While I primarily play acoustic bass in jazz situations, I am looking for a head that still sounds good with electric and the Eminence bass when on the road--

At least with my experience on the electric and eminence, the acoustic image is out of the question-- had truly terrible experiences with these on both e and eub-- I currently have a cheaper GK backline model but i'm looking to get away from the GK.. i'm realizing it has a specific sound that i'm not so into right now.

I know that walter woods sounds incredible with everything in my experience but with the price and waiting list.. i'm wondering with all the new advances and companies if anyone has come across something with a similar quality (maybe not sounding like the woods, but sounding great on the different basses)

Thanks

The Backline is a heavily voiced amp, but can be dialed flat. At least as a stopgap, I suggest reading my geeky review of the Backline amp, and trying something close to the settings that I have documented.

[robgrow]

Originally Posted by bassbuddy

I picked up Markbass LMII a month r so ago. I've been very happy with it for slab, but hadn't had a URB gig to use it on until yesterday - and I was completely blown away by it. Very full, lots of air and bloom, but articulate at the same time. I much prefer it to the iAmp350 I was using. Note I'm going for the big thumpy old-school sound, which it does beautifully. I didn't try to eq it for a drier sound, but it's proven to be pretty felxible for slab, so I assume the same may hold true here.

Is Guitar Center in Cincinnati carrying Markbass amps now?

[bassbuddy]

Yep - In fact, I was running the guitar department there until the beginning of this month. They should have the full compliment of products that the chain is carrying - meaning not the full line, but the eight or ten items the company believes will be the most popular.