Genz Benz Streamliner Part 9

[bherman]

Sure lots of people will; chime in, but imho, Don Oatman @ LDS would be a great person to talk to.

Low Down Sound - Custom Speaker Cabinets for Bass Guitar

Choose the 15s you like. Add 8s, or not. Add tweeter/horn, or not. For a straight 215, try the Eminence Kappa Lite 3015s or Faital Pro 15PR400s. Or another less expensive (& heavier) but still very good ferrite magnet 15.

Choose black Duratex or a color. Or do tolex. Metal grill or grill cloth.

Bottom line is lots of options all the way around for a very reasonable bottom line .

I second this - I have two LDS cabs, one is a 12/6 and the other a 15/6. Both are light, clear, and sound great! Bought the 15 because the 12 isnt usually enough for full band gigs. I Love the 15 - cant imagine ever selling it, and I have gone through alot of cabs getting to this point.

 

[Tunaman]

Still loving my Streamliner... Round tone in the upper mids, sweet musical treble
Sit in the pocket warm tone

Shuttlemax 9.2 for in your face stand out like a rock star covers with all the tonal flexibility in the world

Had to choose 1? 9.2 max for the awesome versatility.

No amp gas at all with the pair

 

[Not yet]

Cinco de Mayo outdoor gig, Streamliner and just an Eden 210XLT on a stand. Tiny bit thru PA. Three pc band, rig totally filling bottom while articulate.

Everyone commented on sound...key to using this thing (in Bluesrock world for me anyway) was the advice here to slam the Volume pre. Kept the Master at no more than 10.

Like it more every time as I figure it out. Band couldn't be happier-although not having to move around 410s and SWR900 in ridiculous heavy Gusdorf rack probably don't hurt either

 

[LoveThatBass]

Double-check to see that all the shieldig bonding wires on your bass are firmly attached, including the ones for the bridge and pickup shell (if present). The strings are solidly grounded through the bridge to reduce noise that might otherwise be induced into the pickup. I'm pretty sure you will find a loose or mising shield bond.

agedhorse, it is a 1 year old Fender American Jazz. All cavities read less than 1 ohm to the output jack/control plate signal common. The Bridge, ball of the string, and the tuners read less than 2/10th of 1 ohm. The crackling is very faint through headphones only just as I touch the string then ceases if I hold my finger there (rubbing the string causes faint crackle also). I have a thought I want to run by you and see if you agree. My strings are nano coated DR Silver Stars. I am thinking the coating (polycoat??? or whatever) may be storing up the faint static. It is not present when played through speakers and strangely not when I play through a small peavey bass headphone amp (which will not see much use now that I have the 600). Please let me know what you think.

 

[DLaunder]

Still loving my Streamliner... Round tone in the upper mids, sweet musical treble
Sit in the pocket warm tone

Shuttlemax 9.2 for in your face stand out like a rock star covers with all the tonal flexibility in the world

Had to choose 1? 9.2 max for the awesome versatility.

No amp gas at all with the pair

Do you use the SansAmp pedal a lot...and for what?

 

[alexofc69]

agedhorse, it is a 1 year old Fender American Jazz. All cavities read less than 1 ohm to the output jack/control plate signal common. The Bridge, ball of the string, and the tuners read less than 2/10th of 1 ohm. The crackling is very faint through headphones only just as I touch the string then ceases if I hold my finger there (rubbing the string causes faint crackle also). I have a thought I want to run by you and see if you agree. My strings are nano coated DR Silver Stars. I am thinking the coating (polycoat??? or whatever) may be storing up the faint static. It is not present when played through speakers and strangely not when I play through a small peavey bass headphone amp (which will not see much use now that I have the 600). Please let me know what you think.

what brand/type of cable are you using ?? Also, check to see if the ground wire to the bridge is making good contact. you would have to remove bridge. Sometimes the wire will push into the paint/finish etc and not make good contact with the bridge. I have an MTD that did the same thing. I removed the bridge, dug the wire out of finish, trimmed the wire and frayed the end. Reinstalled bridge and never a problem again.

 

[LoveThatBass]

what brand/type of cable are you using ?? Also, check to see if the ground wire to the bridge is making good contact. you would have to remove bridge. Sometimes the wire will push into the paint/finish etc and not make good contact with the bridge. I have an MTD that did the same thing. I removed the bridge, dug the wire out of finish, trimmed the wire and frayed the end. Reinstalled bridge and never a problem again.

It is a BabicZ Bridge. When I installed it I put a piece of copper shield with electrically conductive adhesive on the body under the bridge and down in the small recess where the wire comes up I soldered it to the copper shield (I chose that area so the soldered wire would not be higher than the body's top face so the bridge would sit perfectly flush). The area of the copper shield is 1/4" smaller than the bridge so it would not show. I have done this on several of my guitars to insure a wide conductive area that connects to the bridge. Overkill, probably...anal, definitely but that is just me. I never liked that idea of just "sandwiching" a stranded end of a wire between the wood body and the bridge.

I was using Planet Wave 10ft cable with gold connections. I will try my 20 ft Mogami later.

 

[alexofc69]

It is a BabicZ Bridge. When I installed it I put a piece of copper shield with electrically conductive adhesive on the body under the bridge and down in the small recess where the wire comes up I soldered it to the copper shield (I chose that area so the soldered wire would not be higher than the body's top face so the bridge would sit perfectly flush). The area of the copper shield is 1/4" smaller than the bridge so it would not show. I have done this on several of my guitars to insure a wide conductive area that connects to the bridge. Overkill, probably...anal, definitely but that is just me. I never liked that idea of just "sandwiching" a stranded end of a wire between the wood body and the bridge.

I was using Planet Wave 10ft cable with gold connections. I will try my 20 ft Mogami later.

ok - yeah you are good there. i had problems with Planet Waves cables not making a full contact plugged into my Genz Benz. I have a CoreX2 cable right now. Nice cable, but its cuts some of the highs and beefs up the low end just a little too much. Just got a Mogami and its nice. Try the Mogami. I just picked one up too, but have not taken out of package.

 

[LoveThatBass]

I have an MTD that did the same thing. I removed the bridge, dug the wire out of finish, trimmed the wire and frayed the end. Reinstalled bridge and never a problem again.

Hi alexofc69, I had that problem before and did the very same thing of digging the wire out of the finish. I guess that is about the time I tried the copper shied thing under the bridge.
I tried the Mogami cable. It was a little quieter but still there. When playing I don't here it above the bass signal much just when things are quiet. It is miniscule really. If I lay my hand over the coated strings and lightly rub back and forth it is pronounced, however If I lay say my left hand flat across the string then lightly rub across the strings with my right hand it doesn't do as the static can not build up. I think it is just the stupid coating on the strings.

 

[LoveThatBass]

ok - yeah you are good there. i had problems with Planet Waves cables not making a full contact plugged into my Genz Benz. I have a CoreX2 cable right now. Nice cable, but its cuts some of the highs and beefs up the low end just a little too much. Just got a Mogami and its nice. Try the Mogami. I just picked one up too, but have not taken out of package.

One day playing my 6 string electric guitar through my Fender guitar amp it seemed I had a problem with connection using the planet waves. I removed and replugged the cable and then couldn't duplicate it. Maybe I should do myself a favor and not use that cable.

 

[agedhorse]

Ok, this description is very helpful.

What you are experiencing is normal, it's purely electrostatic discharge as your body equalizes potential to the instrument which will cause a small signal to flow in the shield wire all the way back to the amp.

Electrostatic discharge like this happens anytime two objects touch each other, the transfer of charge is a natural phenomona. Charge is always being transferred, and you are just transferring your charge to ground. This is no different than when you walk across carpet on a dry day, the environmental conditions prevent charge leakage to ground (transfer) and accumulate to high levels and then when you touch another object or ground the charge transferes all at once.

Your amp just amplifies the current flow (that generates a small voltage) that this charge transfer causes. The higher the amp's gain, the louder the noise. There will always be some noise, even with the volume controls down, because of the various paths these currents take when flowing to ground.

There is a lot of work that goes into an amp to steer these currents in a way that does not cause any damage since some of these static voltages can reach into the thousands of volts. All of our amps are tested and certified as part of EN-60065 safety protocol to safely dissipate these discharges. Note that not all manufacturer's amps are tested to this level, so my comments are limited to our products.

Hope this helps you understand what is going on.

agedhorse, it is a 1 year old Fender American Jazz. All cavities read less than 1 ohm to the output jack/control plate signal common. The Bridge, ball of the string, and the tuners read less than 2/10th of 1 ohm. The crackling is very faint through headphones only just as I touch the string then ceases if I hold my finger there (rubbing the string causes faint crackle also). I have a thought I want to run by you and see if you agree. My strings are nano coated DR Silver Stars. I am thinking the coating (polycoat??? or whatever) may be storing up the faint static. It is not present when played through speakers and strangely not when I play through a small peavey bass headphone amp (which will not see much use now that I have the 600). Please let me know what you think.

 

[LoveThatBass]

Ok, this description is very helpful.

What you are experiencing is normal, it's purely electrostatic discharge as your body equalizes potential to the instrument which will cause a small signal to flow in the shield wire all the way back to the amp.

Electrostatic discharge like this happens anytime two objects touch each other, the transfer of charge is a natural phenomona. Charge is always being transferred, and you are just transferring your charge to ground. This is no different than when you walk across carpet on a dry day, the environmental conditions prevent charge leakage to ground (transfer) and accumulate to high levels and then when you touch another object or ground the charge transferes all at once.

Your amp just amplifies the current flow (that generates a small voltage) that this charge transfer causes. The higher the amp's gain, the louder the noise. There will always be some noise, even with the volume controls down, because of the various paths these currents take when flowing to ground.

There is a lot of work that goes into an amp to steer these currents in a way that does not cause any damage since some of these static voltages can reach into the thousands of volts. All of our amps are tested and certified as part of EN-60065 safety protocol to safely dissipate these discharges. Note that not all manufacturer's amps are tested to this level, so my comments are limited to our products.

Hope this helps you understand what is going on.

Thank you sir! That is all I wanted to be sure of is that the amp was fine. You make a very nice product. I am doing modifications to my bass cab and can't wait to be able to play this amp through it again. I held off modding the amp until I got the 600 so I could compare it to my GK 700RBII. Then after a couple hours I started to work on the cab which is an Avatar that had black carpet on it. I hated the stuff and removed it, coated the outside with Pickup truck bed liner paint. As much as I liked the GK amp I love this one more.

 

[agedhorse]

Good to hear, enjoy!

 

[Tunaman]

DLaunder- Never use it... except when I want a non-Streamliner tone I plug it into the poweramp in & have a 900w Sansamp.

Cool feature to have on the Streamliner. Honestly though I love the tone of the Streamliner with my GK NEOs. I had Epifani cabs which didn't play as nice with the Streamliner & I would use the Sansamp as the pre.

 

[DLaunder]

DLaunder- Never use it... except when I want a non-Streamliner tone I plug it into the poweramp in & have a 900w Sansamp.

Cool feature to have on the Streamliner. Honestly though I love the tone of the Streamliner with my GK NEOs. I had Epifani cabs which didn't play as nice with the Streamliner & I would use the Sansamp as the pre.

I've never been very successful at getting a good tone out of the SansAmp either, IME & IMHO. I carry it around on gigs just in case the Steamliner's tubes decided to act up as I've seen here from time to time. So far so good though; 11 months and I'm still find myself giggling at the tone I get from this and a 2x10 cab. I'm very curious about the 9.2 though considering I'm looking for versatility in tone with most of the freelance stuff I'm doing now-a-days.

 

[LoveThatBass]

I was wrong... I was DEAD wrong

Just got my Epifani 310 UL early S2 in today & all I can say is WOW with the Streamliner! Its FANTASTIC !

I've been saying all along that the Streamliner + Epifani was too much of a good thing, both scooped, both big in the lows which resulted in a bad muddy tone... and I still feel that way with my Epi 310 NYC but with the UL-2... wow!

FINALLY tonal bliss! My GK NEOs are great with my Streamliner, dont get me wrong but I'm forced to permanently cut the mids at 2.5K, which leaves me NO flexibility in tone (although it sounds good!) With the Epi 310 NYC I'm forced to permanently cut lows below 9 & raise mids at 2.5K (Even that still doesn't sound great)... but with the UL-S2 I can boost & cut lows & mids at different freq & get a pleasing tone no matter what... just depends on what I'm shooting for.

Its SO awesome to finally have a cab that is a PERFECT fit for this amp. The Streamliner is the perfect amp to correct the missing ingredients in a lot of NEOs lacking in the low end or too aggressive in the mids... but this is the 1st CAB I would say is a perfect fit for the Streamliner (in my limited experience trying it out on cabs & IMO )

BTW... anybody try the Streamliner with a Eden 410 xlt ?

I have found more of a use for the 220 and 800 with my Avatar cab with Neo's but the 2.5Khz has it's uses also.

 

[LoveThatBass]

Two 15" cabs have a little more total speaker area than a 4x10" cab. So I'm guessing it would also be a little easier to get the two 115 cabs to sound "louder" than one 410.

Well, definitely the Low end will benefit with 2-15" but I would think the 4 x 10 would be punchier.

 

[johnk_10]

Well, definitely the Low end will benefit with 2-15" but I would think the 4 x 10 would be punchier.

IMO, it depends on what 10" and 15" drivers that you're comparing.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

IMO, it depends on what 10" and 15" drivers that you're comparing.

This.

When the SWR Goliath first came out, you could make decent generalizations about the sound of a modern 4x10 vs two 15's. But 1986 is long-gone.

I was amp-shopping the other day. Out of interest, I plugged into a 70lb 4x10, and it sounded pathetic in comparison to my compact ONE BY TWELVE.

How can this be?

Well, I was testing a G-K MB500, the 4x10 was a cheap 8-ohm Hartke AK410, and my little 1x12 is an expensive, 4-ohm AudioKinesis Thunderchild.

With only 350w available at 8 ohms, the G-K/Hartke rig was farting out and sounding like it wanted to explode. With the full 500w available at 4 ohms, the 40lb G-K/AudioKinesis rig had tons of headroom, and just about blew the roof off the store at the same settings.

On another day, with a more expensive Hydrive cab and a thousand-watt amp, I would expect the 4x10 setup to rule the roost...

 

[jabella]

Got a new STM-900 this week which I paired with my Uber 212 cab - incredible warm tone, punch, and volume. I won't be be able to try in practice until this weekend. I was a little worried about the mid-eq center points, since I usually like a bump right around 330Hz in order to punch through a mix and still have a "bass-y" tone, so I tried out an MXR 10 band EQ in the loop. Putting this in the loop allows for a much more flexibility in shaping the tone. I can get a ton more punch and I can tighten up the low end, but the warmth and great overdriven tone are still there.