I had some of those Planet Waves cables back in about 2003 and the mute would always fail. The cable would still pass signal, but the mute would stop functioning.
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Demeter VTBP M 800D @ NAMM
- Thread starter Mark Sacchetti
- Start date
Not to derail but curious how this compares to the TecAmp Puma 900.
I know Tom has played around with both of them. Anybody else, please chime in.
I know Tom has played around with both of them. Anybody else, please chime in.
I just placed one of these on order today with the Jensen DI. Looking forward to comparing this against the DeMonique and Prodigy. As much as I absolutely love both of those amps ( and my Walkabout which will always stay) there's something about the Demeter tone that's just always been my thing. I missed my HBP as soon as I sold it but didn't want to go back to a rack setup. I bet this will pair exceptionally well with my CN212! One thing I do know is that at this point I'll have to offload something to keep my wife happy...
If anyone here is in the UK and planning on going to the London Bass Guitar Show on 1st & 2nd March I can can confirm that there will be one of these on display there on the BassGear stand 
I've been eyeing the CN212 too. I thought I had it all figured out, a GK MBF800 and a mirrored fEARful 12/6 stack, but the Demeter and a Berg CN212 seems like an even better way to go.
I should get my hands on the Demeter early next week & it's getting plugged straight into a CN212 when it arrives!
In general terms I find the CN cabs can sound a bit too clean to my ears so it'll be an interesting test.
I'll have an AE210 and a variety of Aguilar cabs on hand as well - really excited about this. . .
Looking forward to your report!!!!
Edited to add: I don't mind clean as long as it isn't sterile, if that makes any sense.
Totally agree
I have heard some ultra-clean heads that start to sound sterile at volume and, when paired with a 'modern' neo-equipped, cab things can begin to get very brittle and harsh.
I''ve heard a VTB201 through a Minnie into a CN212 and an HD210 and it sounded very nice. I think the new head will be, for me, even nicer
Just bought an older Demeter VTBP-201 from a great Tb'er- should arrive in a few days. I'm excited and really like the fact Demeter will install the 800 watt Minnie power module! Awesome option! I'm convinced il have it done in the near future.
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Berg HD210, with a plan to add an HD112 for bigger gigs as needed.
I bet that'll sound really nice!
Also, I know it's been mentioned before about the matchup with the CN212 and some concern whether it might be too clean/clinical, but IME I can get the CN212 quite warm just by dialing back on the tweeter to about 9 o'clock. My guess is a combination of that plus a slight nudge on the presence control will work REALLY well. OTOH, leaving the tweeter up a bit higher and using the "dark" setting on the toggle might work even better. Either way, I can't wait to find out!
First impressions from a brief test today. . .
We used a Fender P with flats, Dingwall passive, Fodera Yin Yang Standard, Sandberg J active.
Cabs were a Bergantino CN212, NV115 and a pair of CN112's plus a pair of Aguilar SL112's.
First thing to say is that this amp sounds HUGE when turned up even remotely loud. We were surprised at just how loud it went even running at 8ohms into a single cab (the NV15).
We've previously been able to try the Minnie power stage so we knew how great it was for clean, clear, note to note definition but hadn't realised just how powerful and 'muscular' it could sound when driven at volume.
I guess this may be because we've always used it being driven from various pre-amps and maybe have backed off on the pre-amp gain a little. Because there's no option to do this on the Demeter head it could be that the power amp stage is being given the full line level signal from the pre-amp and it responds well to this.
With the bright, and powerful, output from the Fodera in active mode the head was super clean and maybe a little 'clacky' inasmuch as it picked up any fret noise and/or poor muting technique. However, backing off the onboard, passive, treble control on the bass and cutting some high end on the amp seemed to tame this.
Switching back & forth between basses really brought out the individual character of each instrument. This is a very responsive little unit. Swapping between pickups and playing with onboard tonal options was really well picked up as well.
The most obvious thing the head was doing really well was translating lower end notes into a thunderous roar at volume! Riffing around low F & G with open A's & E's sounded great. From a personal point of view this may have been the best low end bass tone I've heard in a very long time. This wasn't at all dependent on cabs either - it just worked well with all of them.
Of the various cabs we tried it was, by some distance, the best we've ever heard driving the Berg NV115. I've really not been sure about this cab and thought it lacked a bit of depth and presence but it really came alive being powered by the Minnie Head.
The Aguilar Sl112's were probably my favourites paired with this head but they are my favourite neo cabs so I'm obviously a bit biased here. To my ears the CN112's were a little too bright and 'glassy' at lower volumes but, again, when driven a bit harder the low end was a joy. I find these cabs can be a bit 'picky' with some cleaner heads but the Minnie never sounded overly harsh. The CN212 had more bottom end than the 112's but that's pretty much what we'd expect.
On all of the cabs we tried we generally preferred the tweeters either off completely or dialled right back. However this was a brief test so we might find we just need to work a bit more with the tone controls on the amp itself.
Speaking of which - we didn't have a lot of time to really get to know the onboard tone controls but we tended to prefer the normal or dark setting, a little treble cut and some bass boost with a touch of presence. Playing with the frequency selectors definitely made quite a difference (in a nice, usable, way). We were in two minds on the bass frequency selector, for some styles it worked best on 60 & for others 120.
We obviously have a lot more work to do to really test it properly but first impressions are that this is just a wonderful little amp - it weighs nothing, sounds HUGE (did I mention that already?) and looks very classy. As the light began to fade the little blue internal lights just looked cooler & cooler, this is going to look great on a darkened stage. . .
We used a Fender P with flats, Dingwall passive, Fodera Yin Yang Standard, Sandberg J active.
Cabs were a Bergantino CN212, NV115 and a pair of CN112's plus a pair of Aguilar SL112's.
First thing to say is that this amp sounds HUGE when turned up even remotely loud. We were surprised at just how loud it went even running at 8ohms into a single cab (the NV15).
We've previously been able to try the Minnie power stage so we knew how great it was for clean, clear, note to note definition but hadn't realised just how powerful and 'muscular' it could sound when driven at volume.
I guess this may be because we've always used it being driven from various pre-amps and maybe have backed off on the pre-amp gain a little. Because there's no option to do this on the Demeter head it could be that the power amp stage is being given the full line level signal from the pre-amp and it responds well to this.
With the bright, and powerful, output from the Fodera in active mode the head was super clean and maybe a little 'clacky' inasmuch as it picked up any fret noise and/or poor muting technique. However, backing off the onboard, passive, treble control on the bass and cutting some high end on the amp seemed to tame this.
Switching back & forth between basses really brought out the individual character of each instrument. This is a very responsive little unit. Swapping between pickups and playing with onboard tonal options was really well picked up as well.
The most obvious thing the head was doing really well was translating lower end notes into a thunderous roar at volume! Riffing around low F & G with open A's & E's sounded great. From a personal point of view this may have been the best low end bass tone I've heard in a very long time. This wasn't at all dependent on cabs either - it just worked well with all of them.
Of the various cabs we tried it was, by some distance, the best we've ever heard driving the Berg NV115. I've really not been sure about this cab and thought it lacked a bit of depth and presence but it really came alive being powered by the Minnie Head.
The Aguilar Sl112's were probably my favourites paired with this head but they are my favourite neo cabs so I'm obviously a bit biased here. To my ears the CN112's were a little too bright and 'glassy' at lower volumes but, again, when driven a bit harder the low end was a joy. I find these cabs can be a bit 'picky' with some cleaner heads but the Minnie never sounded overly harsh. The CN212 had more bottom end than the 112's but that's pretty much what we'd expect.
On all of the cabs we tried we generally preferred the tweeters either off completely or dialled right back. However this was a brief test so we might find we just need to work a bit more with the tone controls on the amp itself.
Speaking of which - we didn't have a lot of time to really get to know the onboard tone controls but we tended to prefer the normal or dark setting, a little treble cut and some bass boost with a touch of presence. Playing with the frequency selectors definitely made quite a difference (in a nice, usable, way). We were in two minds on the bass frequency selector, for some styles it worked best on 60 & for others 120.
We obviously have a lot more work to do to really test it properly but first impressions are that this is just a wonderful little amp - it weighs nothing, sounds HUGE (did I mention that already?) and looks very classy. As the light began to fade the little blue internal lights just looked cooler & cooler, this is going to look great on a darkened stage. . .
Quick addendum - we'll have our demo head for at least a week and there's three of us with different playing styles and interests so if anyone has any specific questions we'll be happy to try and test things out for people
We've got a decent array of basses from very high end modern customs to vintage Fenders. Cabs are mostly Aguilar & Bergantino plus some Markbass & Bag End.
Please don't think we're trying to use this as a promotional platform - a) we're in a different country from most people here and b) we're just super-enthusiastic players and we love nothing more than spending hours playing new gear when it arrives
We've got a decent array of basses from very high end modern customs to vintage Fenders. Cabs are mostly Aguilar & Bergantino plus some Markbass & Bag End.
Please don't think we're trying to use this as a promotional platform - a) we're in a different country from most people here and b) we're just super-enthusiastic players and we love nothing more than spending hours playing new gear when it arrives
