- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,951
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Well, I know that Terry Buddingh is putting a lot more up on the Bass Guitar myspace page and youtube pages, but I gotta help keep my peeps here at TB in the loop!
Some of the more interesting things I have seen so far include the all new 'Series 2' UL line from Epifani. All boxes get new drivers (the UL-112 and UL-115 had them shortly before the show, but now they all do). To my ears, in the UL-410, it had the effect of opening up the mids a bit, and perhaps moving the low frequency girth up just a bit in the lower mids. It sounds great! I heard two 8 ohm models and a UL-115/UL-210 stack driven simultaneously by the UL-902C, and folks, this is ridiculously loud!!! I also heard a single 4 ohm UL-410 driven by the UL-902C, and again, it sounded incredible, though actually slightly thicker than the two 8 ohm UL-410's. For the remainder of the UL line, they are telling me that the new drivers are warmer, and have a little more low end output (which wasn't quite what I heard in the UL-410, but sounds about right in the UL-210). I hope to hear more of them shortly.
Accugroove did not have the powered cabs on hand, but they did bring a variety of heads, including the 400w and 800w 1U heads from Hevos (which are just killin' me!) and the trusty Thunderfunk 550. The Jr. is still my personal darling of the Accugroove cab, but I was definitely digging two Tri 115L's.
One of the most amazing rigs I have heard so far is the EA iAMP 300 (my cell phone weighs like half of what this weighs!
) driving two Wizzy 10's (yes, they are real, yes they will see production). Man, oh, man, this is not what I expected to hear from a 'Wizzy' rig. They sound is more reminiscent of a louder VL-108 than it is the Wizzy 12. The high end is incredible. Mike Dimin was playing some harmonic laden upper register groove lines, and you would swear that you were listening to a 2-way or 3-way box. And the off-axis projection seemingly defies physics. Even at 90 degrees, and 12' or more off to the side, it sounded just about the same as right in front of it. Amazing! And these boxes weigh 18 lbs. And they have a package deal price setup for an iAMP 300, a Wizzy 10, a padded shoulder bag to put them in, and all the required cabling. I forget the exaxct price, but I'll confirm it and post here later. It's very affordable for what you get, IMHO.
Phil Jones just went nuts an introduced an entire line of neo cabs (and these are all-new configurations, not former models with different drivers). They have a different look to them too, and are very cool. He has a 2-channel featherweight micro head (I guess these are all the rave for this NAMM!
). He has a featherweight 4x5 combo, called the Flight Case. It is rated at 150 watts, I believe, and is between the Briefcase and Suitcase in volume output, but it's almost as small as the briefcase and light as heck. And he also has a smaller 2x5 combo (voiced slightly higher for guitar, violin, etc., but still plenty low for upright, IMHO) that is feather weight in the extreme. Man, I am resisting the urge to just buy one of everything he is offering!
And last night's bass bash (bassquake and then some?) was incredible. It would take me too long to put it all down, but let me say that David Dyson just blew me away. There were lots of great - GREAT! - players up there, but David really tripped my WOW! meter. And his Skjold was probably the best sounding instrument of the night. Just incredible. He and that bass got lots of attention afterwards. And what a nice guy, too!
The best thing about NAMM so far has been meeting all of these fine, fine people. Roger Sadowsky is one of the nicest people I have met, and John Dong's obvious enthusiasm and 'fatherly' pride are contagious. Phil Jones is just a real pleasure to hang out with, and Steve and Jill Azola are two of the nicest, coolest people I will ever meet. And I was so thrilled to be able to meet Adrian Garcia and his lovely bride! I hope you two made it back to Vegas safely!
Well, back to the show, soon. I will try to keep y'all posted. I have too many pictures and too little time, but I'll try to get some up.
Later, Tom.
Some of the more interesting things I have seen so far include the all new 'Series 2' UL line from Epifani. All boxes get new drivers (the UL-112 and UL-115 had them shortly before the show, but now they all do). To my ears, in the UL-410, it had the effect of opening up the mids a bit, and perhaps moving the low frequency girth up just a bit in the lower mids. It sounds great! I heard two 8 ohm models and a UL-115/UL-210 stack driven simultaneously by the UL-902C, and folks, this is ridiculously loud!!! I also heard a single 4 ohm UL-410 driven by the UL-902C, and again, it sounded incredible, though actually slightly thicker than the two 8 ohm UL-410's. For the remainder of the UL line, they are telling me that the new drivers are warmer, and have a little more low end output (which wasn't quite what I heard in the UL-410, but sounds about right in the UL-210). I hope to hear more of them shortly.
Accugroove did not have the powered cabs on hand, but they did bring a variety of heads, including the 400w and 800w 1U heads from Hevos (which are just killin' me!) and the trusty Thunderfunk 550. The Jr. is still my personal darling of the Accugroove cab, but I was definitely digging two Tri 115L's.
One of the most amazing rigs I have heard so far is the EA iAMP 300 (my cell phone weighs like half of what this weighs!
) driving two Wizzy 10's (yes, they are real, yes they will see production). Man, oh, man, this is not what I expected to hear from a 'Wizzy' rig. They sound is more reminiscent of a louder VL-108 than it is the Wizzy 12. The high end is incredible. Mike Dimin was playing some harmonic laden upper register groove lines, and you would swear that you were listening to a 2-way or 3-way box. And the off-axis projection seemingly defies physics. Even at 90 degrees, and 12' or more off to the side, it sounded just about the same as right in front of it. Amazing! And these boxes weigh 18 lbs. And they have a package deal price setup for an iAMP 300, a Wizzy 10, a padded shoulder bag to put them in, and all the required cabling. I forget the exaxct price, but I'll confirm it and post here later. It's very affordable for what you get, IMHO.Phil Jones just went nuts an introduced an entire line of neo cabs (and these are all-new configurations, not former models with different drivers). They have a different look to them too, and are very cool. He has a 2-channel featherweight micro head (I guess these are all the rave for this NAMM!
). He has a featherweight 4x5 combo, called the Flight Case. It is rated at 150 watts, I believe, and is between the Briefcase and Suitcase in volume output, but it's almost as small as the briefcase and light as heck. And he also has a smaller 2x5 combo (voiced slightly higher for guitar, violin, etc., but still plenty low for upright, IMHO) that is feather weight in the extreme. Man, I am resisting the urge to just buy one of everything he is offering!And last night's bass bash (bassquake and then some?) was incredible. It would take me too long to put it all down, but let me say that David Dyson just blew me away. There were lots of great - GREAT! - players up there, but David really tripped my WOW! meter. And his Skjold was probably the best sounding instrument of the night. Just incredible. He and that bass got lots of attention afterwards. And what a nice guy, too!
The best thing about NAMM so far has been meeting all of these fine, fine people. Roger Sadowsky is one of the nicest people I have met, and John Dong's obvious enthusiasm and 'fatherly' pride are contagious. Phil Jones is just a real pleasure to hang out with, and Steve and Jill Azola are two of the nicest, coolest people I will ever meet. And I was so thrilled to be able to meet Adrian Garcia and his lovely bride! I hope you two made it back to Vegas safely!
Well, back to the show, soon. I will try to keep y'all posted. I have too many pictures and too little time, but I'll try to get some up.
Later, Tom.
