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Epifani Piccalo Amp-anyone else looking forward to its release?

gkbass13

gkbass13

Supporting Member
Mar 29, 2006
7,643
1,900
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Southern Vermont
#1
The only reason i havnt bought a Markbass LMII or F-1 is that im waiting for the epifani piccalo....would love a matching epifani stack(currently have an nyc 1x10t and nyc 1x12t). anyone else pumped about this amp? i emailed some guys from epifani a month ago and was told that it should be released this fall.:hyper::bassist:
 
#2
gkbass13 said:
The only reason i havnt bought a Markbass LMII or F-1 is that im waiting for the epifani piccalo....would love a matching epifani stack(currently have an nyc 1x10t and nyc 1x12t). anyone else pumped about this amp? i emailed some guys from epifani a month ago and was told that it should be released this fall.:hyper::bassist:
Click to expand...

Since the front end looks pretty similar to the bottom channel of the 502, I'm not that excited about it. The 502 sounds nice, but just doesn't 'punch and growl' like the F1 or LMII. The mid response if very polite, and the top end is very hi fi, and a bit 'muted'. I guess if you are looking for a very 'creamy' tone in a micro amp, the picollo will be pretty cool. However, I find that tone of the 502 to sound a bit dark and get a bit buried in a mix. I would expect the Epi micro to be more similar than different from the 502/600.

IMO, and IME based on my experience A/Bing my 502 to the F1/LMII.
 
#3
awesome post ken, as usual.

ive been playign the f-1 quite a bti at my local guitar center, and i prefer it over the LMII, the genz shuttles, eden microbass and EA micro stuff.

i was leaning towards waiting untill the piccalo came out to ab it directly with the F-1, but i really really dig the F-1. need to test it with my epifani cabs though.

tonight played a lakland 44-02 with lakland electronics and a maple board thorugh the f-1 and a markbass 4x10+1x15 stack...it was tone heaven and i had a bit of an audience at GC for a bit. might be the answer.
 
#4
The F1 is also my favorite amp, maybe of all time at this point.

However, just to clarify my comments on the 502 (and hence my Epi Micro amp expectations), I really do have a love/hate relationship with that amp. It sounds SO good solo... fat, big down low, HUGE headroom, a very 'woody' organic mid response, and a very clean, crisp hi fi top end. It really is a very 'studio board' type sound, and I actually keep it set up at home to practice and noodle with.

However, given the big low end and the somewhat limited EQ (lot's of bells and whistles, but still basically bass, mid treble), I've had BIG trouble with this head in boomy rooms.

The F1, while sounding a bit 'rougher' in the mids and 'thinner' down low solo, just seems voiced wonderfully for live performance. It seems to be voiced to just sit right where a bass guitar should sit in a live pop/funk sort of mix.

Anyway, I think my earlier post came out more negative than I meant. For certain playing contexts, the Epi amps are really beautiful. However, similar to my experience with the Glockenklang Heart Rock, that big low end, very pristine, pretty high end, and smooth mids can be very addictive solo, and can also be very frustrating in a less than perfect live situation.

IMO!

K
 
#5
good call ken.
that is one reason i was somewhat hesitant to get an epifani head ot couple with my cabs...the HUGE low end. i really dug the combination of gallien krueger heads with epi cabs, as the tight low end of gk stuff sort of tames that huge bottom of the epi gear. ill carry my cabs to GC sometime soon and give ti a full on whirl wiht the f-1 before progressing in the decission making process.

anyone try the piccalo at a namm booth or in the shop? im sure there are a few demo units being tested aroudn the usual epifani circles...
 
#10
When someone says they play the piccolo and then shows you a very small flute, you know they actually play the piccolo flute, and were just using a common nickname for their instrument.

Piccolo is an Italian adjective meaning "small." Piccolo does not automatically mean "small flute," that's just an easy way to say piccolo flute--kinda like saying bass instead of bass guitar.

Does this mean the Epifani piccolo amplifier is small in weight, dimensions, features, power, price---or some combination of these? :D :D :D
 
#14
Avezzano said:
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http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=19739
Click to expand...

That 1000 might be a very good seller for them if it ever comes out. The selling price, from what I understand, will be under $1000.

Looking at the front end of these, I like the idea of putting a level control on the mid cut. The mid cut switch on the 502 is, IMO, a little too extreme even for slap style playing. That's a nice option, and I guess will act like a footswitchable variable enhance control. It also looks like they have included the treble shelving shift from the lower channel of the 502. Nice!. I wish they would have also kept the semi-parametric mid of the lower channel of the 502.

Knowing Epi's typical 'announce way before these things are ready to ship', and also the way they change the design and spec's between showing early proto's at NAMM versus the final production models, my guess is the final products will be a touch different, and are further down the road than they are letting on at this point:hmm:
 
#16
fenderhutz said:
Naming a bass amp "Piccolo" is like naming a brand of drinking water "Desert".

Quench your thirst with "Desert"!

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It's set for failure. Someone in marketing would have to find a new job.
Click to expand...

ˡpiccolo, -a adjective small, little;
‹vacanza, pausa› little, short;
(di statura) short;
(gretto) petty

Italian is a different language.. ;)
 
#17
>It's set for failure. Someone in marketing would have to find a new job.

Decidedly not: "Piccolo" (small) is just the contrary of "big"! Where is the problem? Now, with the latest evidently growing trend, thank God it seems more and more clear that dimensions are not necessarily related to an excellent performance of the equipment. Always more people adds also this specific characteristic (small) to the usual list:

"punchy", "clean", "powerful", "versatile", "light", "faithful", "reliable".

To me they got it just right!!! And Epifani is an... italian name, too; so the "Piccolo" name for the puppy one is not a bad touch at all!!! (MVHO)

:)
 
#18
im pretty sure the actual release should be the fall.

originally when the amp surfaced at namm(not sure which one) the release was supposed to be spring of 2008.
i contacted 2 people from epifani a month or so ago about the amp and possibly preordering one and they said that it should be hitting the market in the fall.
 
#19
gkbass13 said:
im pretty sure the actual release should be the fall.

originally when the amp surfaced at namm(not sure which one) the release was supposed to be spring of 2008.
i contacted 2 people from epifani a month or so ago about the amp and possibly preordering one and they said that it should be hitting the market in the fall.
Click to expand...

We shall see. I found the release date info coming out of the Epifani shop being about as useful as a bucket of you know what:hmm:

Remember the 902 release info! It was to be released 'in about three months' for over two years!
 
#20
looking at ym little epifani mini stack makes me want to try one even more. ultimately, tone will be king once i start AB(C?)'ing mini 500ish watt heads in the fall, but im still (like many of us) a sucker for aesthetics and amtching configurations as well.

i have a feelign it is goign to come down to the epifani and the f-1, though.
 

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