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Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 Appreciation Thread

#461
I've been thinking about changing my setup for a while, and when I saw a 9.0 for a very reasonable price on eBay (I am in Canada and I haven't seen much sign of Genz products), I couldn't resist. I don't usually buy sight unseen, but I have tried a 6.0 in the past which I was very impressed with. Man, the 9.0 really is better! The amount of low end it puts out is just unreal, and the tube preamp gives a warmth that I really felt I was missing with my old GK 1001RB-II. I especially love the flexibility of the parametric mid control- I find that I can get a fantastic old-school thump with a bit of boost around 10 o'clock.

Great amp!
 
#463
Munjibunga said:
I am a man who knows what I like, and an amp that does not sound good to my ear is not an amp for the man who knows ...



... what I like.
Click to expand...

dosequis_interesting.jpg


I don't know what that means...Stay thirsty my friend.
 
#465
Munjibunga said:
Should I get one of these? I'm on a quest to get a kilowatt, small, light amp. 900 watts is close enough, and the amp is small and light. Will I like the sound?

I am a man who knows what I like, and an amp that does not sound good to my ear is not an amp for the man who knows ...



... what I like.
Click to expand...


Great who left the door open??!!?? :hiding:

Just buy the amp and realize how nasty it is later.:)
 
#467
Munjibunga said:
Should I get one of these? I'm on a quest to get a kilowatt, small, light amp. 900 watts is close enough, and the amp is small and light. Will I like the sound?

I am a man who knows what I like, and an amp that does not sound good to my ear is not an amp for the man who knows ...



... what I like.
Click to expand...

I've been asking myself the same question for a while so I decided to just buy one and see (should be arriving next week). I got it new on ebay at the going used price, so if it doesn't suit me I can sell and won't lose $$ on the deal. Something tells me I'm gonna be very happy though.
 
#468
I love that place! Two stages, two bands, two rooms, everybody shuffles over to the other room to hear the other band when the first band takes a break. Fantastic music every time I've been there.

chicago_mike said:
Playing tonight at Kingston Mines from 10:30 to 3:30. My Shuttle 9 in tow.

Oh, the DI sound great into various soundcards, m-audio, rme, motu..etc..

I think though, for grins and giggles, im going to try a couple of odd-ball tubes this weekend. 12BH7 and a 12DW7. I love the BH7 as a phase inverter and figure ill try it out...I dont want my amp to distort as I have pedals to do that anyways. If it sounds great to me, ill post a clip or two.
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#469
So I just got the Shuttle bag (my dealer was out of stock when I bought the 9.0). Well made bag, although not a ton of padding. The fit seems really tight.

Question: Does the fit loosen up after some use? I found I really had to jam the amp into the bag before I could zip it up.

Cheers!
 
#470
zippydog said:
So I just got the Shuttle bag (my dealer was out of stock when I bought the 9.0). Well made bag, although not a ton of padding. The fit seems really tight.

Question: Does the fit loosen up after some use? I found I really had to jam the amp into the bag before I could zip it up.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Does the bag open at both ends or does the amp have to be removed to use it?

Also anyone know where to get the rackmount?
 
#472
Munjibunga said:
Should I get one of these? I'm on a quest to get a kilowatt, small, light amp. 900 watts is close enough, and the amp is small and light. Will I like the sound?

I am a man who knows what I like, and an amp that does not sound good to my ear is not an amp for the man who knows ...



... what I like.
Click to expand...

You'll like the lightness.......as for the sound.....let us know after you buy one. The good news is they turn over relatively easily.
 
#474
Pedulla-Player said:
I just ordered a Shuttle 9.0 for my larger gigs. I use a Markbass F500 with two (8 ohm) Markbass HF410 cabinets for my smaller gigs. I'm just hoping that the Shuttle 9.0 sounds good with the Markbass cabinets. I guess I'll find out in a couple of days. I have a gig this Friday at a good sized bar , so I'll be using the Shuttle 9.0 for that gig. Then Saturday I have a gig at a smaller bar , so I'll be using the F500 for that gig. I'm hoping that this will be a good combo for my smaller and larger gigs.
Click to expand...


Someone wanted me to compare the Shuttle 9.0 to the Markbass F500 so here it goes.

When the Shuttle 9.0 arrived I hooked it up to my two 8 Ohm Markbass 104HF cabinets and set the gain so it clipped some when I played my bass at the loudest and then I set the other two volume knobs at about 8 or so. The Shuttle 9.0 did sound great , but when I plugged my Markbass F500 in after I played around with the Shuttle 9.0 for a while I honestly can't say that Shuttle 9.0 was any louder than the F500 - even thou the F500 is rated at 550 watts and the Shuttle 9.0 is rated at 900 watts. For that much difference in wattage the volume difference between the two amps should be noticeably different. I honestly (or my wife either) couldn't say which amp was louder than the other. That being said - BOTH amp heads sound absolutely amazing! I returned the Shuttle 9.0 because I purchased it for my larger gigs and since it didn't seem any louder than my F500 it didn't serve me a purpose since I already have a great sounding head. On a side note - I posted a little while back that I played a larger bar in the area on Halloween with my F500 and I just couldn't get the sound I was after. I played another even larger bar last night and the F500 sounded great and still had room to spare on the volume knob. It must have been the acoustics in that other bar that gave me fits with my sound. Next time I play there I'm gonna have to get there extra early to mess with my EQ to figure that room out - every other bar I played my F500 sounded great - except that one ~ Hmmm.
Don't take this as a ripping on the Shuttle 9.0 or bragging up the F500 thread. The Shuttle 9.0 sounded amazing - great tone , warm , and Punchy and I would have kept it if it could have shown me a noticeable volume difference over the F500. If I would have purchased the Shuttle 9.0 before the F500 I would be just as happy as I am now with my sound ( Minus the one bar I need to figure out yet??). Just my opinion - take it or leave it.
 
#475
Pedulla-Player said:
Someone wanted me to compare the Shuttle 9.0 to the Markbass F500 so here it goes.

When the Shuttle 9.0 arrived I hooked it up to my two 8 Ohm Markbass 104HF cabinets and set the gain so it clipped some when I played my bass at the loudest and then I set the other two volume knobs at about 8 or so. The Shuttle 9.0 did sound great , but when I plugged my Markbass F500 in after I played around with the Shuttle 9.0 for a while I honestly can't say that Shuttle 9.0 was any louder than the F500 - even thou the F500 is rated at 550 watts and the Shuttle 9.0 is rated at 900 watts. For that much difference in wattage the volume difference between the two amps should be noticeably different. I honestly (or my wife either) couldn't say which amp was louder than the other. That being said - BOTH amp heads sound absolutely amazing! I returned the Shuttle 9.0 because I purchased it for my larger gigs and since it didn't seem any louder than my F500 it didn't serve me a purpose since I already have a great sounding head. On a side note - I posted a little while back that I played a larger bar in the area on Halloween with my F500 and I just couldn't get the sound I was after. I played another even larger bar last night and the F500 sounded great and still had room to spare on the volume knob. It must have been the acoustics in that other bar that gave me fits with my sound. Next time I play there I'm gonna have to get there extra early to mess with my EQ to figure that room out - every other bar I played my F500 sounded great - except that one ~ Hmmm.
Don't take this as a ripping on the Shuttle 9.0 or bragging up the F500 thread. The Shuttle 9.0 sounded amazing - great tone , warm , and Punchy and I would have kept it if it could have shown me a noticeable volume difference over the F500. If I would have purchased the Shuttle 9.0 before the F500 I would be just as happy as I am now with my sound ( Minus the one bar I need to figure out yet??). Just my opinion - take it or leave it.
Click to expand...

Were you judging this strictly on where the volume knobs were set? If so.... REALLY?!? REALLY?!?!?!
The difference in these two amps, as MANY people have said is that the 9.0 uses linear taper pots. This means you don't get 90% of the volume by the time you get up to 12:00 on the volumes. Its about headroom. Many companies use pots that give about 90% of their output by halfway up. Genz Benz uses pots that are even all the way to "11".

I've owned the F500 and really liked it, but there was no way I could get the input and master past 12:00 without a limiting and squashing of signal. I've been able to use the 9.0 with the tube gain at 1:00, volume at 5:00, and the master at 5:00 with no distortion or limiting. Again, its not about where the volume knobs are set, its about the SOUND.

We can agree that the 9.0 doesn't seem to be as loud as one would expect for a 900 watt head, but it certainly has much more headroom than the F500. You just have to turn the knob more than the Markbass head.
 
#476
Before I start to think of dropping money on the 9.0 I really need to know about this wattage 'thing'. I realise GB make it so you can keep turning those dials right up...which is a good idea IMO. Ive heard once you are at 12:00-13:00 on the dials of master for the MB, thats your lot...and that they also dont operate quite as well at 8 ohms.

Then Ive also heard the Shuttle 9.0 just doesnt seem to have that ommph people expect from 900W. Its not the sheer volume I want...its 'headroom'...so I can turn up halfway, and know its got half more to give.

Can anyone realistically answer where exactly the 9.0 fits?

Cheers!
 
#478
B String said:
Were you judging this strictly on where the volume knobs were set? If so.... REALLY?!? REALLY?!?!?!
The difference in these two amps, as MANY people have said is that the 9.0 uses linear taper pots. This means you don't get 90% of the volume by the time you get up to 12:00 on the volumes. Its about headroom. Many companies use pots that give about 90% of their output by halfway up. Genz Benz uses pots that are even all the way to "11".

I've owned the F500 and really liked it, but there was no way I could get the input and master past 12:00 without a limiting and squashing of signal. I've been able to use the 9.0 with the tube gain at 1:00, volume at 5:00, and the master at 5:00 with no distortion or limiting. Again, its not about where the volume knobs are set, its about the SOUND.

We can agree that the 9.0 doesn't seem to be as loud as one would expect for a 900 watt head, but it certainly has much more headroom than the F500. You just have to turn the knob more than the Markbass head.
Click to expand...

Hey - I don't want to offend anyone ~ and I never claimed to be an expert on bass heads ~ I just gave my opinion ~ and like I said "take it or leave it". I just turned both amps up as load as I felt comfortable without fear of blowing something up. I never said I had the volume knobs set the same on both amps - I just had them cranked up as far as I wanted to push them. To me both amps sounded good loud - not a squashed signal as you suggested. As far as linear taper pots go - maybe they should put something about that in the manual for us laymen who aren't "sound geeks". Maybe they did and I missed it. I'm just saying that the Shuttle 9.0 isn't nearly as load as other bass heads that I've owned in that that were rated in the same power (watt) range. Yes it probably is more powerful than the F500 , just not as much as I expected. I tried to be as nice as I could in my comparison so as not to offend anyone , but I figured that someone would get "fired up" over my OPINION. Someone wanted my opinion - so I gave it. You know what they say opinions are like?? I can't say on here because there is a naughty word in that saying. ;)
 
#479
I don't see anyone getting fired up. I also don't think most folks here really care what anyone else decides to use. This isn't a popularity contest. I could care less what someone else decides to use, other than i hope it works out for them.

B String's point was that the amps have different controls, and a player has to learn these differences to really understand what the units can produce. Personally, I am rather surprised that you were able to clip the input, though I do recall the Pedullas, if that's what you're playing, have a really hot output. I haven't been able to clip mine, in contrast to my 6, which clips at the input pretty easily. So, I find that interesting.

Stick with what works for you. I find the 9 to be amazing.
 
#480
Musicman20 said:
I know its a 9.0 thread....sorry! But isnt the F500 500W at 4 ohms? Unless they are outdated on their site.
Click to expand...

Now that's where I'm confused a little (among other things I've been told as well). The owners manual says 500 watts @ 4 ohms , but the tag on the side of the head says 550 watts. That's why I said 550 watts , but I just looked in the manual when you asked the question and it said 500 watts @ 4ohms. So there you go - let's not hijack this thread any longer - don't want to offend anyone else.
 

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