Emery Sound?

[dwjazz54]

Morning, everybody.
I had a recording session last night and, upon learning that it was on the third floor of a walk-up here in NYC, I was pretty pleased to hear that there was backline available so I wouldn't have to lug an amp up there.
Upon arrival at the studio - which might have been the coolest place I've ever seen - I am thrilled to see a vintage Ampeg B-15 Portaflex. I've only ever played one before, and (sorry to the Ampeg guys) it's the only Ampeg I've ever loved. However, as there were two saxes, a tuba, an accordion, a bassoon, and a full drum kit, all the other mics were spoken for.
The sound engineer / alto sax player suggested I plug into a rather beautiful looking "tube direct box". As soon as I started playing through it for levels, I was BLOWN AWAY. I still prefer mic'ing my GK for recording and gigs, but I have NEVER heard a direct signal that was so pleasing. LOVED IT.
I wanted more info, but things were pretty busy, so all I could get was that it was from a company called Emery Sound. I went to their website just now, but found no info on a DI, just low-wattage guitar amps. I suspect I was playing through an ultra-low wattage guitar amp serving as a DI.
I was just wondering if anyone else had any experience with their products - would love to know more!
Thanks-
dwjazz54

PS - our guitarist was playing through a very similar Emery Sound 5-watt tube amp through an old 1x12, and he sounded spectacular as well!

 

[dwjazz54]

Maybe any stories or feedback on using an ultra-low-wattage tube guitar amp's direct out for recording bass?

 

[darius8]

I think the DI is called the "BassBaby". They are very expensive from what I remember.

 

[dwjazz54]

Yeah, it looked expensive - but sounded it, too! For a direct-to-board signal, it was warm and fat with just a hint of break-up that seemed to really bring out the harmonics content.

He had a few different models lying around, but I don't think any of them were clearly labeled - I know that he gave my guitarist the option of "5-watt or 2-watt", but they all looked the same to my relatively untrained eye (with this sort of thing).

So, I honestly don't know if I was through the BassBaby or a guitar amp. Whatever it was, I was happy.

 

[radiopicture]

I played a set last night sharing the bill with two other bands (smallish club). One of the other bass players had an Emery Bass Baby, which I would call a medium power amplifier. It was powering 12 and 15 inch bass drivers in separate cabinets. Beautifully constructed thing with two 6550s. It has an illuminated Lucite shield in front reminiscent of some of the B-15 models. I played a passive Jazz Bass into it using the upper input jack which the amp owner said was the one to use for my "not hot" bass. Minimal controls. There was a big knob for volume and I forget what the smaller knob to the left was for. There was also a three position switch, probably for countouring that I didn't try. I did use a lot of the headroom this amp had, but it really sounded good to me. It had an XLR output from a Jensen transformer, so I think that's why it's being referred to as a DI even though it obviously has a power section. So it's an amp with a direct output that I"m sure sounds good. Unfortunately, I was told that the amplifier's maker had died recently. Fortunately he left behind these monuments to his craftsmanship.