Genz Benz - Shuttlemax

[KJung]

I see, I usually put effects on my effects loop, you're just saying put it in front of the chain. PLUS I could use it for my Streamliner

Cool

+1 With the true bypass, you won't even know it is there, and will serve as a nice tuning mute. I believe the Pitchblack tuner is also true bypass, and while it doesn't have the accuracy are quite the tracking speed of the Sonic, it is half the price. Also a good option.

However, for you specific, unusual situation described above, I would just turn that head around on the cab so it is facing you... issue solved I think!

 

[Tunaman]

I'd still like a footswitch mute. My 12.2 would be racked with a tuner. I just hate having stuff in my chain pre amp

The amp is actually pretty far away 8' & I'm sitting in the back. I can't really get up & shut it off.

Yeah I could get the pedal but I'd MUCH rather have the mute on the GB footpedal for sure, not even close

 

[KJung]

I'd still like a footswitch mute. My 12.2 would be racked with a tuner. I just hate having stuff in my chain pre amp

The amp is actually pretty far away 8' & I'm sitting in the back. I can't really get up & shut it off.

Yeah I could get the pedal but I'd MUCH rather have the mute on the GB footpedal for sure, not even close

I believe all the Shuttle Max heads come with a footswitch controller that has a mute function.

And, most of those rack tuners are not 'true bypass' in any way, so that would definitely be something I would not want in my signal chain, versus the higher quality pedal tuners now available.

 

[Tunaman]

I believe all the Shuttle Max heads come with a footswitch controller that has a mute function.

And, most of those rack tuners are not 'true bypass' in any way, so that would definitely be something I would not want in my signal chain, versus the higher quality pedal tuners now available.

Nope the footswitch doesn't have a mute...

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And the rack tuner is hooked to the tuner out & not in the chain

I figure if you're going through the exercise of making a huge pedal the most important, most used part of it is the mute, by far! All the time, every gig I'd use it. The shaping stuff? Its cool but during the gig I won't use it much.

So... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE add a mute on the footswitch!!

 

[KJung]

Nope the footswitch doesn't have a mute...

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And the rack tuner is hooked to the tuner out & not in the chain

I figure if you're going through the exercise of making a huge pedal the most important, most used part of it is the mute, by far! All the time, every gig I'd use it. The shaping stuff? Its cool but during the gig I won't use it much.

So... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE add a mute on the footswitch!!

+1 That having that huge foot controller without a mute switch is a strange design decision. I just assumed it was on there. My mistake.

Also, +1 to the tuner out sidechaining the unit. That makes the sonic an even better bet for you.... much higher quality tuner, reduces rack size or eliminates the need for a rack, and gives you a nice footswitch operated tuning mute as a bonus.

 

[Tunaman]

+1 That having that huge foot controller without a mute switch is a strange design decision. I just assumed it was on there. My mistake.

Also, +1 to the tuner out sidechaining the unit. That makes the sonic an even better bet for you.... much higher quality tuner, reduces rack size or eliminates the need for a rack, and gives you a nice footswitch operated tuning mute as a bonus.

BUT the Sonictuner pedal out would NOT mute the PRE-EQ direct out if plugged into the tuner out see? Thats why its SO important to have it on the Genz Footswitch!

 

[KJung]

BUT the Sonictuner pedal out would NOT mute the PRE-EQ direct out if plugged into the tuner out see? Thats why its SO important to have it on the Genz Footswitch!

With the true bypass, you LITERALLY cannot tell it is in your signal path. There is NO need to put a tuner like the sonic in the 'tuner out'. Run it between your bass and amp. When it is bypassed, you literally will not know it is there. When you mute to tune, your entire system is muted and you are good to go.

Wonderful unit and design that will eliminate your big rack tuner, and eliminate the need to carry yet another mute pedal.

 

[Tunaman]

So I have to spend $1000 for the 12.2, $140 for the tuner & $ for the rackmount

It adds up fast & I could look elsewhere for amps that give you the tuner & the rackmount stuff. I may need to at this point.

 

[KJung]

So I have to spend $1000 for the 12.2, $140 for the tuner & $ for the rackmount

It adds up fast & I could look elsewhere for amps that give you the tuner & the rackmount stuff. I may need to at this point.

Or spend $140 on the best tuner known to man, be happy with your Streamliner (or any other small head in a nice padded bag), and get rid of the outdated, un-necessary rack that adds lots of size and weight for little gain.

 

[Tunaman]

Or spend $140 on the best tuner known to man, be happy with your Streamliner (or any other small head in a nice padded bag), and get rid of the outdated, un-necessary rack that adds lots of size and weight for little gain.

Do you consider the Shuttlemax an amp that doesn't need a rack? I think it needs a rack OR they should put handles on it. Something. I don't want to move my amp around like its a cake. Sure you can get the... another additional option... the bag but thats as much as a more protective rack case with my wireless & tuner in it. Its a big investment & having it protected all the time in a rack keeps me at ease. The footswitch tuner would save $ I need to put to the amp.

Honestly I may just have to wait for it used or look in another direction

 

[KJung]

Do you consider the Shuttlemax an amp that doesn't need a rack? I think it needs a rack OR they should put handles on it. Something. I don't want to move my amp around like its a cake. Sure you can get the... another additional option... the bag but thats as much as a more protective rack case with my wireless & tuner in it. Its a big investment & having it protected all the time in a rack keeps me at ease. The footswitch tuner would save $ I need to put to the amp.

Honestly I may just have to wait for it used or look in another direction

I would never put an amp that lightweight in a rack myself. I guess if you have all that stuff in your signal chain (wireless, etc.) it would make sense. I luckily don't move around that much on huge stages, etc., making wireless luckily unecessary (since all but the most high end of those units really seems to mess with your tone quite a bit, especially in the upper frequency regions).

 

[Tunaman]

I have a shure ULXS4 & last time I did an A/B which was years ago... the tone was actually better with the wireless. I'm probably due to test that again. I like the wireless to go out in front & get an idea of my tone pre gig especially considering the amp is way in front of where I am.

I dunno man, I may need to get that pedal but that certainly pushes me away from a new 12.2 or 9.2... in fact I'm sure of it. I just have to hope for that footswitch mute, some handles or some rack ears... especially at the > $1000 price point. Its one thing if we're at $500 but I can't afford a couple hundred extra in accessories to boot.

EDIT: Just hoping for something new or otherwise a used 12.0 will get the job done right? Not just a change from a silver face to a black one. The heat management from what I understand is needed for >600 watt amps & wouldn't affect the 3.2 6.2 or even the 12.2 since its 2 separate amps. So ...

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Or its a used 12.0 in my future

 

[KJung]

I have a shure ULXS4 & last time I did an A/B which was years ago... the tone was actually better with the wireless. I'm probably due to test that again. I like the wireless to go out in front & get an idea of my tone pre gig especially considering the amp is way in front of where I am.

I dunno man, I may need to get that pedal but that certainly pushes me away from a new 12.2 or 9.2... in fact I'm sure of it. I just have to hope for that footswitch mute, some handles or some rack ears... especially at the > $1000 price point. Its one thing if we're at $500 but I can't afford a couple hundred extra in accessories to boot.

+1 Better or worse is subjective, but those things do impact your tone quite a bit.

And +1, if a footswitchable mute is that important to you, there are, I assume, some brands that have that. The best execution of that I've seen is with the TC heads. That footpedal is amazing. Very high quality built in tuner, with a tune mute and preset switching on the pedal, and a tuner window actually in the pedal. The TC RH750 is a pretty smoking head... athough not rack mountable... so there you go again.

Your requirements are a bit limiting, and I can't think of a head that would give you everything you need.

 

[KJung]

Here is an idea. Again, not sure what Genz will be showing at NAMM, but the GK MB800 has a footswitch included that switches to the channel B setting. I'm pretty sure you could set that channel B master to 'off' and use that footswitch as a mute. Not completely sure, but that head would have plenty of power, and I'm pretty sure rack ears are available. The footswitch is included with the amp (at least on the MB500 spec, so I assume the same on the MB800 spec). Might be worth a call to them to see. That might fix you up nicely.

I remember the MPulse600 manual suggested using the 'boost' channel with the master set at zero as a footswitch operated mute button. That would be another option to replace the Streamliner, since the tone is in the same universe, and it pretty much needs a rack.

 

[Tunaman]

+1 Better or worse is subjective, but those things do impact your tone quite a bit.

And +1, if a footswitchable mute is that important to you, there are, I assume, some brands that have that. The best execution of that I've seen is with the TC heads. That footpedal is amazing. Very high quality built in tuner, with a tune mute and preset switching on the pedal, and a tuner window actually in the pedal. The TC RH750 is a pretty smoking head... athough not rack mountable... so there you go again.

Your requirements are a bit limiting, and I can't think of a head that would give you everything you need.

Going above >$1000 & STILL needing to purchase more stuff is limiting. Just saw a used Shuttlemax 12.0 with the bag, rack ears sell for $600... I can afford to add on pedal at that price point... not when I'm pushing $1000, need to buy a bag, rack kit & then a tuner? So Genz, help us out by adding some stuff to the mix here OR add something new right to justify buying a new amp vs hitting the used market.

The Shuttlemax amps are fantastic, I just want to see some real improvements \ innovation \ thoughtful additions to help me justify buying new vs used.... I think a lot of people are with me on that for a > $1000 purchase in these economic times

EDIT: The options you give are viable, I hope Genz is listening... I'd hate to have to look another direction. I'm willing to wait it out... they just need to "Bring it" in this crowded market... and how do you differentiate yourself? You just pointed it out... a footswitchable mute? Very few amps have it! Viola you've helped the masses get that much closer to justify spending > $1000 on an amp vs 1) other manufactures 2) Used Genz products that are essentially the same as the new ones

 

[KJung]

Going above >$1000 & STILL needing to purchase more stuff is limiting. Just saw a used Shuttlemax 12.0 with the bag, rack ears sell for $600... I can afford to add on pedal at that price point... not when I'm pushing $1000, need to buy a bag, rack kit & then a tuner? So Genz, help us out by adding some stuff to the mix here OR add something new right to justify buying a new amp vs hitting the used market.

The Shuttlemax amps are fantastic, I just want to see some real improvements \ innovation \ thoughtful additions to help me justify buying new vs used.... I think a lot of people are with me on that for a > $1000 purchase in these economic times

Again, not sure that your needs would be widespread enough for Genz to bother with. I would think a very small portion of the market for lightweight heads would bother to put them in a rack, and an even smaller number would require a footswitch mute that would require some sort of separate switch pedal to carry around.

Again, it seems the MB800 might have everything you are looking for, and the cost new is well under $1000.

 

[Tunaman]

Again, not sure that your needs would be widespread enough for Genz to bother with. I would think a very small portion of the market for lightweight heads would bother to put them in a rack, and an even smaller number would require a footswitch mute that would require some sort of separate switch pedal to carry around.

Again, it seems the MB800 might have everything you are looking for, and the cost new is well under $1000.

All of your points are very valid but also points more people AWAY from Genz. Why buy Genz (FOR A PREMIUM) when they don't offer that much more vs whats out there? = lost sales.

BUT lets talk about why we're on the Shuttlemax thread... because they rule!

TC 750 vs Genz? I'll take Genz everyday of the week over them, reliability, quality. The TC750 is a nice unit though but no shuttlemax 12.0. A little underpowered for 2 bigger cabs, no semiparametrics mids which makes the Shuttlemax series so awesome.

MB800? Again no semiparametric mids, no footswitch mute, the 2nd grit section isn't that exciting & can't be EQ'd. I just sold my MB500 literally 30 minutes ago. I liked it a lot but its no Shuttlemax in terms of flexibility.

I love Genz Benz and I'll take the Shuttlemax over many if not all other amps... all I'm asking is that Genz brings some really cool innovation, new features, maybe throw in a handle\rackmount gear to justify buying a new 12.2 vs the used 12.0. Over > $1000 I feel that Genz needs to differentiate itself not only from its competition but from its own past products.

 

[KJung]

+1 Since the NAMM products have long been locked and loaded, my assumption is you won't see any of the things you are looking for, so was trying to give you other options.

 

[CTC564]

Kjung...any chance I might be able to email you regarding your reviews?

 

[Musicman20]

If you want to stick with Genz, and you like the Max amps, then get a 9.2 and a cheaper tuner (the TC Polytune is true bypass as well) and you have your mute.

ALL the Max amps have a 'mute' footswitch 'option'. I call it an 'option' because you have to buy a single latch pedal (ANYTHING will do it I think) and there you go, the mute works.

The RH750 does the whole lot, and is fantastic, but I understand how good the Genz amps are and I want to pickup either a 9.0, Max 9.2, or one of their new ones.

So, as above, you don't need the tuner....just get a cheap single latch switch for the mute with one of the Max amps.