Quote:
|
Originally Posted by mrpc I think a phase switch could be the source more problems than it MIGHT solve. |
I disagree. I don't see how a phase switch can cause ANY problems. It CAN solve a whole mess of live sound problems. Every top of the line preamp used for acoustic instrument amplification has that option on it for feedback control, except his.
I use some pretty excellent top of the line stuff. Mixing the AMT mic with the Full Circle pickup is really the sound I prefer. The full circle whether by itself or in tandem with the AMT sounds best phase reversed. I may change my mind on that if I ever get around to using something else that I haven't tried or that comes up in the future, but so far the direct/mic combo is really compelling to me. Admittedly it's the Full Circle's problem that require phase reversal not the WWU. Fishman has chosen not to address that because their preamp, which they suggest to use with their pickup, has a phase switch.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by mrpc And I trust Walters wisdom in not including it in his design, for whatever reason. |
Walter is brilliant but not faultless. He is done redesigning his product. He has ceased R&D not because his product is the perfect acoustic instrument amp but because they are finally selling like crazy. They never used to until the Ultra model, so he kept tweaking them until they did.
He told me he didn't have enough room for the phase switch, DI and the fx loop in the box he had been using. He didn't want to change the size of the box so something had to go. Most sound engineers prefer to take a Direct signal before an amp so that if the amp fails they still have sound front of house. Walter felt the DI wasn't needed because of that. He also said he had phase switches on his amps for years and nobody knew what to do with them. Probably true.
When he designed this version most bass amps had fx loops but not phase switches. They were also used by electric bassists not acoustic bassists. He took his focus off the DB player and centered on the EB player. Bigger market, bigger money. His R&D suggested compromises on the DB players priorities to sell more product. That's smart.
If you take a poll of all the DB players using his amp You'll find the fx loop goes largely unused. In addition hardly anyone uses his amp without the send mix pegged. That amp could be redesigned to get rid of those things and put in phase and DI components. The DI component could be passive and put in the front of the amp so that it would function with the power off. But that favors the acoustic player over the electric player and that's just not good business.
He knows all this too and told me he has no plans to modify his current design or offer any different options. He can't keep up with demand on the current model so He doesn't feel He has to move forward with any more changes. Ever. I don't fault him for that. He can retire on this one.
I don't buy into the deity worship people get into over him. His amp is my current favorite bass amp side by side with the SVT as my two all time favorites in the history of bass amplification so far. It is not the best possible DB amp. It's not designed that way anymore. That doesn't mean somebody can't design a better one. At some point somebody will.
