Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Genz Benz Streamliner, Part 10
- Thread starter Thor
- Start date
That is my exact set up. Streamliner 900 into a NeoX212T. I have never come close to pushing it that hard! I guess its nice to know it can take it!
I might not run it so hard with a p-bass (or something with more inherent lows...you know the massive low end on the streamliner), or anything with a hotter output. Also of note, i run the cab with the tweeter off. Took it like a champ though for about 90 minutes!
Nice to see the Streamliner thread back to life.
So here's a great product
So here's a great product
These heads are really well constructed and they will be around for awhile. I am a manufacturing engineer in my day job. Military and commercial work. I really appreciate the construction of the chassis and the internals are well done. Really well designed and put together.
I've been using my STL900 for about 9 months and loving it. I just noticed some high frequency noise, a barely noticeable sizzle coming through the tweeter. I sprayed DeoxIt on a quarter-inch plug and cycled it in and out of the effects loop jacks 15+ times (and the input jack for good measure) and it's back to silent running.
Used my STM-900 a lot with my NeoX 212T last couple years. Mostly with '08 Am St P5 w/Tapes; bass is maple/cola red. Started using my NX2 212T stand alone more this year.
I think this is sort of the SVT setting on my 900 that I read in a thread some time ago.
Here goes: from left to right - gain button out, G-3:00, V-3:00, B-11:00, Mid-2:00, Freq @ 600, T- noon, Mast Vol-noon-1:00; with some left right clicks for the room. But lately I've been using this setup at outdoor gigs last 4 or so gigs in July. No PA support at all. Only Vox, some keys thru PA, just 2x15's on sticks.
This really lets my bass punch thru the mix where I just play light finger on blues tunes or really dig in on some more funk or classic rock tunes. I could never get a good mix with my Epi UL-410-II, 8 ohm. So I sold both of them. Wish I had read of this setting before I sold them cabs, mighta worked out.
Still quite happy with my NX2 and TB153, 4ohm plus once in awhile my two TC-E RS210's. But mostly use those cabs with my SHuttle 9.2 for my modern/funk gigs with an active bass. And those cabs are sounding nice with my new PF800.
Without too much knob twists on the PF800, it sounds just like my 9.2. The STM-900 still gets the call for most my gigs though.
I think this is sort of the SVT setting on my 900 that I read in a thread some time ago.
Here goes: from left to right - gain button out, G-3:00, V-3:00, B-11:00, Mid-2:00, Freq @ 600, T- noon, Mast Vol-noon-1:00; with some left right clicks for the room. But lately I've been using this setup at outdoor gigs last 4 or so gigs in July. No PA support at all. Only Vox, some keys thru PA, just 2x15's on sticks.
This really lets my bass punch thru the mix where I just play light finger on blues tunes or really dig in on some more funk or classic rock tunes. I could never get a good mix with my Epi UL-410-II, 8 ohm. So I sold both of them. Wish I had read of this setting before I sold them cabs, mighta worked out.
Still quite happy with my NX2 and TB153, 4ohm plus once in awhile my two TC-E RS210's. But mostly use those cabs with my SHuttle 9.2 for my modern/funk gigs with an active bass. And those cabs are sounding nice with my new PF800.
Without too much knob twists on the PF800, it sounds just like my 9.2. The STM-900 still gets the call for most my gigs though.
Curious about your opinion regarding this vs. the Walkabout. Mostly overall tone and feel. Does the the STM feel any faster than the Walkabout (like tighter staccato playing)?
.
.
STREAMLINER & GK NEO 115 stack GIG REVIEW !
A Fantastic pairing !
I ended up messing around with the pair at home for a hour before getting to the gig. I haven't run this stack at a gig... ever in favor of the wireless & Shuttlemax 9.2 combo as I end up being the soundman. I ended up finding 3 settings I liked with these cabs. 1) Bass at 10 Mids at 2 Freq at 220 treble at 2... Overall warm but still with a strong round mid punch to hear fills 2) Bass at 9 Mids at 3 Freq at 600 treble at 2... Clarity without losing the volume during fills 3) Bass at 1 Mids at 10 Freq at 600 Treble at noon... Pure warmth. ALL GAIN OUT. Those 3 settings allowed me to cover the tone of the artists for most covers we are playing
At the gig... I ended up just using setting 1 all night. POST EQ for soundman so I didn't want to screw him up. The tone was AWESOME. I was really surprised at the tone... it was warm, thick, punchy while still clear & present in the mix. My fills I heard very well. The trick is cutting the bass & raising the Mids at that 220 freq. It really cuts the super bass this Streamliner puts out. Since the Streamliner puts out very little treble glass I put the tweeter up to normal vs 9 oclock with the Shuttlemax 9.2. Even a cranked treble doesn't get you sharp treble but still present round upper notes.
The GK NEO 115 handles all this Streamliner warmth perfectly.... basically because its the opposite. The 15 inch GK has LESS low warmth than the 12s. MORE grindy Mids than the 12s. PROOF that speaker size & tone assumptions are wrong. I love how the GK NEOs tighten up the overly warm Streamliner & add mids to where the Streamliner is missing mid grind. I was still able to get a clear & punchy tone due to the GK NEOs 115s
I've tried to pair a Streamliner & an Epifani 310 UL which is a cab with big lows & little mids. What an AWFUL combo that was & totally ungiggable. Sounded good with my Shuttlemax 9.2. Same for the combo of my GK NEO 115s & GK MB500. Two aggressive pieces yield a crazy aggressive tone thats hard to tame. Cool if thats what you're shooting for but a versatile tone for many covers... not so much.
So if you have a muddy warm amp & want to clear it up.. grab some GK NEO 115s
If you have aggressive grindy cabs & want to warm it up.. grab a Streamliner
A Fantastic pairing !
I ended up messing around with the pair at home for a hour before getting to the gig. I haven't run this stack at a gig... ever in favor of the wireless & Shuttlemax 9.2 combo as I end up being the soundman. I ended up finding 3 settings I liked with these cabs. 1) Bass at 10 Mids at 2 Freq at 220 treble at 2... Overall warm but still with a strong round mid punch to hear fills 2) Bass at 9 Mids at 3 Freq at 600 treble at 2... Clarity without losing the volume during fills 3) Bass at 1 Mids at 10 Freq at 600 Treble at noon... Pure warmth. ALL GAIN OUT. Those 3 settings allowed me to cover the tone of the artists for most covers we are playing
At the gig... I ended up just using setting 1 all night. POST EQ for soundman so I didn't want to screw him up. The tone was AWESOME. I was really surprised at the tone... it was warm, thick, punchy while still clear & present in the mix. My fills I heard very well. The trick is cutting the bass & raising the Mids at that 220 freq. It really cuts the super bass this Streamliner puts out. Since the Streamliner puts out very little treble glass I put the tweeter up to normal vs 9 oclock with the Shuttlemax 9.2. Even a cranked treble doesn't get you sharp treble but still present round upper notes.
The GK NEO 115 handles all this Streamliner warmth perfectly.... basically because its the opposite. The 15 inch GK has LESS low warmth than the 12s. MORE grindy Mids than the 12s. PROOF that speaker size & tone assumptions are wrong. I love how the GK NEOs tighten up the overly warm Streamliner & add mids to where the Streamliner is missing mid grind. I was still able to get a clear & punchy tone due to the GK NEOs 115s
I've tried to pair a Streamliner & an Epifani 310 UL which is a cab with big lows & little mids. What an AWFUL combo that was & totally ungiggable. Sounded good with my Shuttlemax 9.2. Same for the combo of my GK NEO 115s & GK MB500. Two aggressive pieces yield a crazy aggressive tone thats hard to tame. Cool if thats what you're shooting for but a versatile tone for many covers... not so much.
So if you have a muddy warm amp & want to clear it up.. grab some GK NEO 115s
If you have aggressive grindy cabs & want to warm it up.. grab a Streamliner
I had the possibility to try the head other two times live (with 2x212 GK MBE) and two times at the rehearsal (only one cab).
As you said, playing with gain, volume, master and gain button I’m finally very loud!
I have also tried to change V1 tube with Groove Tubes 12ax7c and stock JJ in V2 but this combination increases gain (good overdrive) but also too much noise…
Compared to walkabout the STM (for me) is less immediate.
Is not so easy to find the right sound.
Where the first is almost perfect flat, with the STM you have to cut bass, boost mid and play with gain, but once you understand how it works you get what you want…
Streamliner is also more round and sometimes too fat, where Walk is more mid focused and “in the face”…
Very different heads, one for more clean, direct sound (until gain at noon), the other for more vintage dirty tone.
All this obviously IMHO.
In the meantime two led dies, not bad, I don’t really like blue light... (thanks agedhorse for PM reply)
(sorry for my english...
and, sorry McFarlin, what do you mean with "tighter staccato playing"?)
As you said, playing with gain, volume, master and gain button I’m finally very loud!
I have also tried to change V1 tube with Groove Tubes 12ax7c and stock JJ in V2 but this combination increases gain (good overdrive) but also too much noise…
Compared to walkabout the STM (for me) is less immediate.
Is not so easy to find the right sound.
Where the first is almost perfect flat, with the STM you have to cut bass, boost mid and play with gain, but once you understand how it works you get what you want…
Streamliner is also more round and sometimes too fat, where Walk is more mid focused and “in the face”…
Very different heads, one for more clean, direct sound (until gain at noon), the other for more vintage dirty tone.
All this obviously IMHO.
In the meantime two led dies, not bad, I don’t really like blue light... (thanks agedhorse for PM reply)
(sorry for my english...
and, sorry McFarlin, what do you mean with "tighter staccato playing"?)
Last edited:
I guess the speed of response when playing (vocabulary and description isn't a strength for me)....does either give the feel of quicker note delivery?
The Walkabout is often described as having "give" or simulated "tube sag". I notice a difference versus other amps like the Markbass LMIII and Aguilar TH500 or compared to my former Demeter preamp running into a QSC power amp. With any of those three it seems like I can pull-off much faster and cleaner fingerstyle playing.
I wonder if the Streamliner simulates a similar "sag" or "give" like the Walkabout or if it the note delivery is more immediate (considering this a trait associated with solid state amps).
I think, based on your description of rounder and fatter, it wouldn't be a good option for me. I am always considering higher powered options, like many other WA users.
The Walkabout is often described as having "give" or simulated "tube sag". I notice a difference versus other amps like the Markbass LMIII and Aguilar TH500 or compared to my former Demeter preamp running into a QSC power amp. With any of those three it seems like I can pull-off much faster and cleaner fingerstyle playing.
I wonder if the Streamliner simulates a similar "sag" or "give" like the Walkabout or if it the note delivery is more immediate (considering this a trait associated with solid state amps).
I think, based on your description of rounder and fatter, it wouldn't be a good option for me. I am always considering higher powered options, like many other WA users.
If you are looking to tighten up the bass response a little and a reduction in gain, you can change V1 to a JAN phillips 5751. There is still plenty of gain on tap for most needs and it cleans up the bottom quite a bit. I run the 5751 along with a pair of vintage RCA 7025'S in V2&3. Big improvement over the stock JJ's. I have also run 7025's in all three positions as well, but recently went back to the 5751 in V1.
Hmm... I have also became a brand new owner of an SL900 (lucky for me, they are quite hard to get in Europe). I took my time and practically read all 9 parts of this thread plus Ken's sl900 vs rh450 one.
This amp kills! Atm Im only using it with the 4.5xl Hartke cab, but it really pushes things. Indoors this cab quite sucks, but outdoors it rocks, mainly because its so hard sounding and it really pushes the air. On the other hand, the silkiness of the sl900 makes it work impressively nice.
What made me really worried is the death of the company itself. This means limited support, and probably 0 chances of getting yourself spare parts. I've seen a few ppl in this thread buy a 2nd head just to make sure as a backup.
I have also read that this head is pretty seriously well designed which is always a plus... I have also seen it by myself.
But I'm not educated in electricity. Since I realize that repairing tube related issues is for most skilled repairmen a piece of cake, I still have my fears, that over time something electronic may blow up.
Is there something on this head that cannot be repaired once the components hit their lifespan? Should I also start looking for a 2nd backup sl900?
I mean, if it means to last a really long time, this is a nice bonus, but I really wouldn't wish it to die on me in, lets say, next 5 years and only then start searching for spare parts or new heads. After all this really looks like the head, one would like to stick with till death (which I cant say for most of today's products...), among other amps.
What does the statistics say? After all, despite being released in 2011, its still a very young product.
Thanks for any information, this amp could very well be THE thing I'm looking for along with many many other users on TB.
This amp kills! Atm Im only using it with the 4.5xl Hartke cab, but it really pushes things. Indoors this cab quite sucks, but outdoors it rocks, mainly because its so hard sounding and it really pushes the air. On the other hand, the silkiness of the sl900 makes it work impressively nice.
What made me really worried is the death of the company itself. This means limited support, and probably 0 chances of getting yourself spare parts. I've seen a few ppl in this thread buy a 2nd head just to make sure as a backup.
I have also read that this head is pretty seriously well designed which is always a plus... I have also seen it by myself.
But I'm not educated in electricity. Since I realize that repairing tube related issues is for most skilled repairmen a piece of cake, I still have my fears, that over time something electronic may blow up.
Is there something on this head that cannot be repaired once the components hit their lifespan? Should I also start looking for a 2nd backup sl900?
I mean, if it means to last a really long time, this is a nice bonus, but I really wouldn't wish it to die on me in, lets say, next 5 years and only then start searching for spare parts or new heads. After all this really looks like the head, one would like to stick with till death (which I cant say for most of today's products...), among other amps.
What does the statistics say? After all, despite being released in 2011, its still a very young product.
Thanks for any information, this amp could very well be THE thing I'm looking for along with many many other users on TB.
I've had my STM-900 for over 3 yrs as my main gigging amp. I do use my other amps at times for the tonal-variety but the STM gets the call for most gigs since I bought it. Using it a lot at outdoor, no PA support gigs with a single 4ohm cab or a couple 8ohm, 210's.
Still works like a beast and no hiccups yet; don't expect it to either. I also bought a Shuttle 9.2 for my more modern gigs but the 900 can do those as well. The 9.2 is a very nice backup but I do gig it quite abit, then the 900 is a backup. If you can find a ShuttleMax 9.2 seems to be the head you'd wanna own for life. I like the small size of these two GB amps I have, so I'm happy with the two separate heads.
Very happy with my GB cabs as well. This after owning my first GB head; GBE600-then GBE750, plus a few different GB cabs, now settled on a Neox 212T and a NX2 212T. Still have my GB NeoPak 2.0 that never gets used but can't seem to want to move it out. Good stuff.
Still works like a beast and no hiccups yet; don't expect it to either. I also bought a Shuttle 9.2 for my more modern gigs but the 900 can do those as well. The 9.2 is a very nice backup but I do gig it quite abit, then the 900 is a backup. If you can find a ShuttleMax 9.2 seems to be the head you'd wanna own for life. I like the small size of these two GB amps I have, so I'm happy with the two separate heads.
Very happy with my GB cabs as well. This after owning my first GB head; GBE600-then GBE750, plus a few different GB cabs, now settled on a Neox 212T and a NX2 212T. Still have my GB NeoPak 2.0 that never gets used but can't seem to want to move it out. Good stuff.
Well if I will get the opportunity shuttlemax 9.2 will also be on my equipment list. Though I don't really think theres a strong need for this one anytime soon. Along SL900 now I also have GK 1001 RB-II and some other amps... Though based on first impressions and spending a few hours checking the sl900 through various mixes on many rehearsals (didn't yet have a chance to test it on stage though) I am starting to believe and feel comfortable to let the GK go. That amp has a nice sound, but it just feels lifeless sometimes... I guess it all has to do with the lack of tube/s in the preamp or something. Thats how the idea to grab the sl900 came in. And I don't regret it at all. One of best decisions I made for sure.
What I wonder is: How hard is it to repair sl900 if something blows up
I mean for EBS, TC, Mesa, Fender, Glockenklang etc its a piece of cake to find parts/repairmen/other as these are mostly european brands anyway or have strong presence on eu market (fender, mesa and so on).
On the contrary, I have never ever owned an amp/guitar which brand does not exist anymore :/ Such a shame fur such great equipment...
What I wonder is: How hard is it to repair sl900 if something blows up
I mean for EBS, TC, Mesa, Fender, Glockenklang etc its a piece of cake to find parts/repairmen/other as these are mostly european brands anyway or have strong presence on eu market (fender, mesa and so on).
On the contrary, I have never ever owned an amp/guitar which brand does not exist anymore :/ Such a shame fur such great equipment...
Last edited:
Jeff Genzler
Commercial User
- Feb 9, 2007
- 1,819
- 11,893
- Disclosures
- Currently GENZLER AMPLIFICATION / Formerly GENZ BENZ
Well if I will get the opportunity shuttlemax 9.2 will also be on my equipment list. Though I don't really think theres a strong need for this one anytime soon. Along SL900 now I also have GK 1001 RB-II and some other amps... Though based on first impressions and spending a few hours checking the sl900 through various mixes on many rehearsals (didn't yet have a chance to test it on stage though) I am starting to believe and feel comfortable to let the GK go. That amp has a nice sound, but it just feels lifeless sometimes... I guess it all has to do with the lack of tube/s in the preamp or something. Thats how the idea to grab the sl900 came in. And I don't regret it at all. One of best decisions I made for sure.
What I wonder is: How hard is it to repair sl900 if something blows up
I mean for EBS, TC, Mesa, Fender, Glockenklang etc its a piece of cake to find parts/repairmen/other as these are mostly european brands anyway or have strong presence on eu market (fender, mesa and so on).
On the contrary, I have never ever owned an amp/guitar which brand does not exist anymore :/ Such a shame fur such great equipment...
Great to hear that you've snagged the Streamliner 900. You should not be concerned about future service. Between Agedhorse and myself you'll be taken care of. Our pride in the products we designed and built goes far beyond the current status of the company.
Love the Streamliner! I've been gigging my old Jazz bass with it, really pumping the bass and mids (1 to 2 o'clock, mids at 2k) and rolling the treble way back (~10 o'clock) and just loving the tone, with very little drive in the pre it is so darn fat, warm, and old school! I have also been running it more driven for a 60's psychedelic rock project with my Warwick, and that's been great too.
