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yet another micro head shootout

OldogNewTrick

OldogNewTrick

Dec 28, 2004
1,816
1,237
Germany, EU
#1
I had a well stocked musicstore bassroom for an afternoon to myself to check out for myself what you guys have been raving about :D
First, the usual caveats, all IMHO and not in a live gig setting but a solo setting. And I'm nowhere as good in describing sound with words like KJung....

The purpose of this exercise was twofold - not just to check out the current crop of micro heads, but also to find out if my trusty Aguilar GS210 is outdated by comparing it to a GenzBenz Neox 210.
I swapped speakers for every head repeatedly and found KJung to be right again, its all in the mix and match :cool:


So, some quick conclusions and some pictures:

GS210
strong, deep lows, attenuated upper mids, bright top, good carry size, but heavy. Did I mention its heavy? I mean HEAVY!

Neox 210
tight bass, definitely less happening down there, where it counts for some the most, prominent mids and upper mids, similiar top, Handling much lighter, easy tilt back rollers, but larger, bit awkward to carry.
In a studio setting the GS210 is much more pleasing, I suppose in a live setting the Neox210 will be better suited. What's the better cab depends very much on the head used and your application. For me, I was quite happy to take my GS210 back home, no regrets, good cab for my needs. :)


atestsetuprear.jpg



atestsetupfront3.jpg



atestsetupfront1.jpg



Glockenklang Soul II
my up to now sound reference, it's still exceptionally neutral and all, but to be honest, I never felt the need to jump back to this head for some a/b-ing after testing some of the others. Sound is just too polite for me...


Tecamp Puma 500
soundwise in the same camp as the Soul II with a fairly wide voicing and warm bottom. Better suited to the Neox than the GS210.


GenzBenz Suttle Max 12
WOW ! :D I liked the FET channel much better than the tube channel, but its good fun for nice fingerstyle. The variable LF Boost of the Global Signal Shape is a great tool, it just acts as agedhorse explained as variable hi-pass filter. That made it an great match for the GS210 to flexibly tame those lows. A much better match than to the Neox210


Markbass LMTube
turned from SS to Tube and back and inbetween... nice enough, but no wow here for me... had high hopes, but SS not fast enough and tube not tubey enough :hmm:


Markbass F500
WOW ! :D Pops are intoxicatingly fast and snappy, very wide voicing, VLE and VPF are very useful, powerful EQ. Could nicely tame the lows on the GS and the (upper) mids on the Neox.


TC RH450
due to the controversy about this product line, I was really curious... great features, I like the presets, the stereo headphone out, the tuner, nice enough compressor, but not really a compressor person myself, the tube emulation is ok i guess, but, But, BUT, BUTT I hated the tone :crying: no amount of knob twiddling from me or the stores attendants got me for instance anywhere near the SMax12 FET channel or the F500. Maybe I was fatigued by then and couldn't give it a fair shake or am just too dumb, dunno - it just reminds me too much of my Bod XT setup. The RH450 offers nothing really new for me, but it does it of course in a really nice and stylish package.
It's got a better resolution than my BODxt/KME setup due to the undoubtedly better components and technology, but it has that ever so slight lifeless and artificial sound which I'm unfortunately so familiar with.
It's very difficult to describe - jumping between the Shuttle FET and the RH450, the Shuttle feels more alive.
Enough of that, for more rants, see my BOD xt threads...


Conclusion:


For me it would be this. My sincere congratulations to agedhorse and the GB product development team, that's one nice amp !!!

btestSMax12GS210.jpg


but could be also quite happy with this:

btestF500-GS210.jpg



/rant over... carry on... :p :bassist:
 
#2
That must have been fun!!!! GREAT reviews. It sounds like our ears are very similar.

A few comments (since I love all these small heads).

+1 That the Puma500 is, to my ear, a smaller, lighter, and a bit punchier Glock Soul II. Those heads are definitely in the same tone universe, and I've posted a few times that if you want 'clear and creamy and smooth', the TecAmp Puma500 is THE choice in the micro category. You can also see from your picture, with the input gain and master CRANKED on the Puma500 that those pot tapers are very different from the other heads, and also somewhat similar to the Glock, in that the Puma does not even start to open up until the master is past noon! I also don't feel the Puma has quite the overall volume capability of the MB and Genz heads, even though the wattage rating is about the same. Part of that, IMO, is the big, smooth, creamy tone with that big low end, that I assume eats a bit of headroom.

I have not played the LMTube, but I heard virtually no impact of the tube channel on the LMTube800 I had for a short while (except for a volume increase when blending tube/ss 50/50). Nice feature set though, and the 'famous' LMII tone in full SS mode.

I have not tried that TC amp, but it doesn't seem like anything I would like at all from all the reviews I've read. Kind of a micro amp for the Ampeg guys or something, from all the reviews I've read. Zero GAS for that one.

And, +1 to both the Marbkass F500 and the Shuttle Max heads. IMO, both top of class, with the F500 being IMO the king of the micro's for a clean, punchy, tight, articulate tone (that 'quickness' of response is what I really like... notes literally explode out of that thing!), and the Shuttle Max being really more of a large, full featured head that happens to weigh almost nothing, with an amazing array of EQ and features, etc. I too like the FET tone much better, and feel that if they ever come out with the small Shuttle 6, but with the FET pre of the 3.0, and add the variable voicing filters, that head would really shoot up my list in the micro category.

+1 to literally everything in your post, based on my experience and the GTG's we've done with some of the stuff above. Nice to be able to try all that stuff side by side with a few different cabs!
 
#6
Yep, it was great fun, but there was just too much stuff to audition properly... that's why I focused on the above.

I'm lucky to live within reasonable driving distance to this shop Musik Schmidt, 1hr due west, Europe's largest store, Thomann 3/4hr due East and Germany fanciest Station Music (Alembic, F-Bass, Sadowsky, Epifani etc) 2hrs due South. If you're handy with a map, you know where I live ;)


some more pics from the store.....
(planning already my next visit)

cDSCN0087.jpg


cDSCN0084.jpg


cDSCN0077.jpg


DSCN0091.jpg


cDSCN0081.jpg


cGlockBACHead.jpg


cDSCN0079.jpg


cDSCN0080.jpg


honourable mention goes to:
DSCN0111.jpg


Plus assorted Ampegs, Phil Jones and Glockenklang stuff, which I wasnt focussing on this time...
 
#10
fast slapper said:
Did something change with the Genz heads? I remember you felt they weren't quite up to the output capabilities of MB.
Click to expand...

What changed was that they have the ' Shuttle Max' now, which is physically larger than the original Shuttle 6.0... same power (in the Max 6, dual amps in the 12), but much better EQ, variable filters and the ability to get the 600 watts of the Shuttle 6.0 and an FET pre with dual mid bands and variable filtes. MUCH, MUCH better to my ear... and of course, bigger and more expensive. VERY impressive piece of gear IMO.
 
#12
BIGREDSIX said:
With all apologies to Mark at Bass Club Chicago, I wish there was a bass store near me that had all that gear actually in stock and available to check out. Nice review too!
Click to expand...

It looks like an amazing store. I would think that there aren't too many other stores in the entire world that have that kind of selection... maybe Bass Northwest in the US and a couple others (regarding having so much of so many product lines actually in stock and on the floor). Pretty amazing place!
 
#13
Don't wanna' steal any thunder from any upcoming reviews or shootouts, but let me say this much... :)

Just as another data point, I echo the OP's appreciation for the SM12 and F500. My first personal choice would be the F500, but not by a huge margin, and for various reasons not relating to any negatives with either one. Just prefs.

I have had some experiences with the TC stuff, and again, I generally agree with the OP on that one, too. Kind of a let down, IMHO.
 
#15
UncleBalsamic said:
When the next issue going to be out? I can't wait! :hyper:
Click to expand...

Hopefully, September. We recently purchased an Audio Precision APx521 system, which is a substantial upgrade to our test rig, and will let us do some things we've been wanting to do for a while. However, this has required us to spend some time reworking our bench tests, so that did cause some delay. In then end, though, I think it will be well worth it. This AP system is quite nice. :cool:

Tom.
 
#16
Guys, thanks for the kind words. Last day of my summer leave and my personal treat to myself :D


@ noisetree - yes, the Ibanez Promethean was in stock, both head and combo. sorry, didn't touch it.


@ Ken, the only other amp which has the notes flying out like the F500 is the Glockenklang BassArt Classic head. It has that same immediacy... amazing for a like 20 years old head design. But of course 3 rack space 19" rack gear, weighing a ton, double the price ... mind you, no fan - its convection cooled. That makes it in my book a studio only piece of gear, if you can score a used one...


I do want to mention, that the Shuttle 3 is an AMAZING little head. My GS210 is an 8 Ohm version - the kind of volume I managed to coax out of that head before clipping was louder than I thought possible and its price is truly a steal !!! For home use, coffee house duty and anything with a sane drummer (ok, rarest of breeds, I know) entirely sufficient.
 
#17
OldogNewTrick said:
@ Ken, the only other amp which has the notes flying out like the F500 is the Glockenklang BassArt Classic head. It has that same immediacy... amazing for a like 20 years old head design. But of course 3 rack space 19" rack gear, weighing a ton, double the price ... mind you, no fan - its convection cooled. That makes it in my book a studio only piece of gear, if you can score a used one...


I do want to mention, that the Shuttle 3 is an AMAZING little head. My GS210 is an 8 Ohm version - the kind of volume I managed to coax out of that head before clipping was louder than I thought possible and its price is truly a steal !!! For home use, coffee house duty and anything with a sane drummer (ok, rarest of breeds, I know) entirely sufficient.
Click to expand...

+1 to the above. I've spent some time with that Glock at Dan Lenard's house (Luthier's Access Group) and it is very nice, and as you say, very big and very heavy!

And, +1 to the Shuttle 3.0. I always liked the tone of that head, but it just didn't have enough power for what I needed, and I again was not a fan of the EQ on the original Shuttles. That Max 6/12 gives you, basically, both the front end of the original 6.0 and 3.0, along with much better thought out EQ and filters. Nice!!!!

But, per Vic's comment, hard to beat the F500 if you like it loud, small, clean, accurate, and transparent!!!
 
#18
"@ noisetree - yes, the Ibanez Promethean was in stock, both head and combo. sorry, didn't touch it."

It´s discrimination :)

I´m waiting for my new USA Lakland DJ and I need an inexpensive
micro head and if the Ibanez promethean sounds good...
and the price is almost perfect.
Thanks anyway!
My kind regards :)
 
#19
Vic said:
I have had some experiences with the TC stuff, and again, I generally agree with the OP on that one, too. Kind of a let down, IMHO.
Click to expand...
What are the let downs for you?

I'm quite curious about the RH 450. On the one hand, it does seem to be attracting more of the rock/metal players. The confusing thing about it is that many of those metal guys seem to like the grindy aspects of it, while the rock guys like the dark, old-school feel.

Then you have guys like Richard Bona and Janek Gwizdala who are endorsing the amp. I guess it makes sense for them, given the darker Fodera tone they are going for, as well as Steve Bailey and his fretless tone. It seems that a lot of the people who like this amp REALLY love it, but they all seem to be using the head with the RS212/210 stack. I wonder if that combo is needed to really give the overall experience.
 
#20
Eublet said:
What are the let downs for you?

I'm quite curious about the RH 450. On the one hand, it does seem to be attracting more of the rock/metal players. The confusing thing about it is that many of those metal guys seem to like the grindy aspects of it, while the rock guys like the dark, old-school feel.

Then you have guys like Richard Bona and Janek Gwizdala who are endorsing the amp. I guess it makes sense for them, given the darker Fodera tone they are going for, as well as Steve Bailey's fretless tone.
Click to expand...

I thought Richard was using TecAmp stuff? He had been anyway. Richards tone can get VERY bright, and his J slap tone is VERY similar to Marcus Miller.
 

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