Has anyone got any experience with this Fishman eq. Is it any good? It seems a little complicated, but I've never actually used one. I want to use it for upright and electric. Any opinions?
I've got one and I love it. I use it for reducing a boomy bottom end on my URB and also for dialling in a very warm and rounded tone for electric bass. You get: a five band graphic eq, a DI, a phase switch (invaluable for URB) a compressor and a sweepable low cut filter. I like it so much I am considering buying a second one just so I don't have to fiddle with the settings when swapping between URB and bass guitar on gigs.
I just bought one a few days ago and I think it is fantastic. I am now able to amplify my upright to a volume much greater than I would probably ever need without any feedback or swells and get great tone on top of it. The fishman website had a pdf file that displays the manual. http://www.fishman.com/Products/PlatinumBASS.htm It would better explain it than I could. All I can say is, that they put a lot of thought it. The only thing I can think of that they left out is a mute switch. Out of 10 I give it an 8.
I just bought one a few days ago and I think it is fantastic. I am now able to amplify my upright to a volume much greater than I would probably ever need without any feedback or swells and get great tone on top of it. The fishman website had a pdf file that displays the manual. http://www.fishman.com/Products/PlatinumBASS.htm It would better explain it than I could. All I can say is, that they put a lot of thought it. The only thing I can think of that they left out is a mute switch. Out of 10 I give it an 8.
I got mine for $150. easy at G.C. I'm not sure if I love it yet. This unit has alot going on, but seems to change the incoming signal a little. I think it dulls it a bit. It almost sounds like the compressor is always on a little. I've only used it on one gig. I'll write more after I use it a little more. Mute button... GOOD IDEA!!!
Although I have never used a Fishman Pro-EQ, I think the differences with the Platinum Pro are that the Platinum Pro has: More EQ bands, A compressor A 'Depth' control which is a sweepable low cut filter, -very good for reducing sub-sonic booming. It also has a phase switch which is fantastically useful for upright bass, but I think the Fishman Pro-EQ has this also.
I've had mine for about a month and used it in a variety of stuations. Firtstly with a P Bass through an Ampeg BA115hp, set the eq mostly flat (on Fishman and Ampeg), depth off, compressor an between 1/2 and 3/4 - gives the whole rig a more vintage sound with the highs compressed as they would be in an old valve rig. Then with a 3/4 Dobmeire Hybrid, Underwood, through an old beige Roland Cube 60. The Rolands' bass and treble flat and the mids at 9 o'clock, the Fishmans, debth almost all the way on (cutting), compressor off and a smile shape on the graphic. the result is a suprisingly clean and transparent sound considering it's such a dirty old combo. Once set up the only tweeking I do is to push the hi-mid on the graphic when I want to cut through a bit more without increasing in volume. I don't understand the phase switch. I understand the principle but sometimes I can't tell if it's in or out. I really love working with this little unit. It makes UB gigs so much more enjoyable knowing that I have control over the specific problem frequencies. Also means I can postpone spending AU$2200 on a high end amp.
I've been looking at the PZ-Pre as a possible alternative to the Fishman. Looks promising, but there's no built in compression. http://www.tonebone.com/tb-pzpre.htm
It is very easy to setup. Here is a slightly blurry picture of the bottom of the Platinum Pro. How many preamps have a simple five step guide permanently attached to the preamp? Even if you lose or forget the manual a simplified version is there. One note, for max output you want the clipping light to come on when playing hard.
I found the one I tried to be a little noisy (hissy) whereas other things I tried in a straight A/B/C comparison were much quieter.
Been using mine for little over a year. Wouldn't be without it. Even with the Revolution Solo, which can be used without a preamp, I like the Pro Platinum Eq because it gives me lots more flexibility than my Roland 100 Cube with a 12" extension speaker. Mainly I like the way you can balance the low equalizer and the depth control to get rid of some of the boominess.
+1. I played an outdoors gig on a busy intersection using my UB and the Ampeg Combo yesterday. Previously I indicated that the Fishmans phase switch I could maybe do without, but it really saved my butt at this gig. I think I set it to out of phase (still not sure) which got rid of boomy feedback (still present with the depth off) and allowed me to push the lows on the graphic leaving me with a pleasingly functional sound in a really difficult situation.
two cents: i think it is fundamentally more than a bit noisy and not very refined, but it is tremendously useful in an unpredictable amplified live context. kinda like a swiss army knife: there are individual boxes that can do everything it does better, but .... not all in one package. jeff.
Whenever I play somewhere that has a new amp, I bring it with me just for the reason that jrlynch mentioned. I tried to plug in direct into the house amp and got the worse tone. that was before I bought my platinum pro-eq. I usually use the pro-eq with the hartke 15 (the school's amp) and i'm getting a better tone out of it than i would have normally. it takes some fiddling around to get used to. but it's a great tool
I have not had any noise problems with the Fishman PPBass. As far as difference between it and the Fishman PP(regular), its like night and day. I use the reg for accoustic guitar, and tried it on DB with poor results. I am loving the PPBass so far.