Genz Benz Streamliner-Pt 2

[svtb15]

Pretty

 

[KJung]

Initial 10 minutes-in review with passive P with broken in nickel rounds and Bergantino AE410, tweeter at noon, amp flat with just a touch of low end rolled off.... beautiful range of 'clean vintage type tube' to (as far as I'd want to go) nice warm 'crunch and growl'. Lot's of nice useable tone in the travel of the pre gain without the 'boost' on!

....Ken likey likey very muchy muchy Man, warm and clean and fat.... yeah baby.

 

[CharlieC]

keep in mind that we are a small amp company. Also...this is a very new piece of equipment. It may be frustrating that a dealer doesn't know about it, but......hey....we're actually shipping them.

It takes a while for our reps to get around their territories and they were just trained on this gear four weeks ago. TalkBass knew about it before they did.

The "big" brands do business with a lot of national chains too. You can't find Breitling at Kay Jewelers though.

Speaking of Breitling, can any of you comment on the feel + build quality of the Streamliner?

Are the pots nice and tight like quality pots with metal knobs are supposed to be? Do the push buttons have a healthy snap to them? The chassis looks absolutlely gorgeous, but does one get that Breitling feeling when holding the amp as well as operating it?

Thanks!

 

[KJung]

Speaking of Breitling, can any of you comment on the feel + build quality of the Streamliner?

Are the pots nice and tight like quality pots with metal knobs are supposed to be? Do the push buttons have a healthy snap to them? The chassis looks absolutlely gorgeous, but does one get that Breitling feeling when holding the amp as well as operating it?

Thanks!

Initial impressions.... knobs... creamy, heavy uber high quality, as good as I've felt... A+. Chassis... nice and hefty for a lightweight. Doesn't 'feel' like a heavy weight, but on the upper end of 'micro' quality feel.... B+/A-. Switches..... average.... like almost every micro, and 75% of non-micro's... B.

All in all, at the high end of look and feel for a micro. I'm very pleased! VERY different sounding than my other amps (this is a good thing), and it really has the feel of tubes, tubes, tubes.

 

[Joeykun]

Very cool, Ken! cant wait for you vids. Nice P too!

Initial 10 minutes-in review with passive P with broken in nickel rounds and Bergantino AE410, tweeter at noon, amp flat with just a touch of low end rolled off.... beautiful range of 'clean vintage type tube' to (as far as I'd want to go) nice warm 'crunch and growl'. Lot's of nice useable tone in the travel of the pre gain without the 'boost' on!

....Ken likey likey very muchy muchy Man, warm and clean and fat.... yeah baby.

 

[BioDriver]

So would you say "yay" or "nay" in a jazz setting?

 

[KJung]

Very cool, Ken! cant wait for you vids. Nice P too!

Thanks! The Nordy is killin'. I think you are set with your Shuttle Max for your tone goals. This is a totally different thing... closer to an Alembic pre through a power amp.... it is VERY 'P Friendly'.

This whole vibe is new to me (at least it is new to me since about 1975. I'll mess with it for a while tonight and tomorrow morning and then put up a more detailed review/evaluation and a clip or two.

 

[hasbeen]

....Ken likey likey very muchy muchy Man, warm and clean and fat.... yeah baby.

well...."a-freaking-men". It's about time we got you.

Seriously though.....we still look forward to your comments after the honeymoon.

 

[KJung]

So would you say "yay" or "nay" in a jazz setting?

I guess it would depend on what you mean by jazz. If you dig playing a P through an old B15 for your jazz hits, then by all means. If you like Marcus Miller and Alain Caron or Richard Bona, not so much.

Relatively straight ahead playing with a 60's J.... hmmmmmmm

 

[Oldtimer]

"closer to an Alembic pre through a power amp.... "

Uh Oh!

 

[wateroftyne]

Relatively straight ahead playing with a 60's J.... hmmmmmmm

hmmmmmmmmmmmm.............?

 

[KJung]

well...."a-freaking-men". It's about time we got you.

Seriously though.....we still look forward to your comments after the honeymoon.

VERY nice guys! Quite a difference from all the other micro's I've played. I'm not going to say it sounds like a Walkabout (nothing 'sounds' like another thing IMO)... but it is TOTALLY in that tonal universe. LOTS of sound in the ratio of pregain to volume. The top end is quite 'legit' compared to a few nice all tube amps I've played... again, no tweeter needed or quite frankly wanted... top of the cone grind!

I'll be back tomorrow!

 

[nostatic]

I missed guitar trader, my bad.....San Diego, darnit..

I'll have to call again to the westwood and West LA stores and speak to a manager. Maybe the folks there didn't know there were amps on order.

thanks for the assist!



Dan

Westwood normally has at least some GB stuff in stock. Hard to go wrong with Rocket though. The shipping cost risk pales compared to the sale tax hit, but ymmv.

 

[SteveC]

I have known about almost all the new GB stuff before my local dealer - Uber cabs, Shuttle Max, 9.2, Uber Quad, everything. TB is WAY ahead of the game. This could be frustrating as some people are playing their new heads and others are still trying to get one ordered.

 

[kobass]

if you look closely in the tube window, you can see a little nativity scene.

Yes, and you can see the "wise" men too (those of us who pre-ordered this amp! )

 

[KJung]

"closer to an Alembic pre through a power amp.... "

Uh Oh!

Again, not going to say it sounds exactly like that pre, but it is definitely in that tonal universe... both in tone and feel.

 

[hasbeen]

I guess it would depend on what you mean by jazz. If you dig playing a P through an old B15 for your jazz hits, then by all means. If you like Marcus Miller and Alain Caron or Richard Bona, not so much.

Relatively straight ahead playing with a 60's J.... hmmmmmmm

hmm....I'm very much into Bona and Marcus. To my ear...."it's in there"....especially with Bona.

 

[Oldtimer]

Again, not going to say it sounds exactly like that pre, but it is definitely in that tonal universe... both in tone and feel.

F2B or F1X? I'll wait patiently for your vids. If you remember my likes, it's F2B or older Walter Woods. F2B into a Walter Woods is heaven to me!

 

[KJung]

F2B or F1X? I'll wait patiently for your vids. If you remember my likes, it's F2B or older Walter Woods. F2B into a Walter Woods is heaven to me!

I owned the F2B, but it has been a long time. Check out the Rocket Music sponsored thread. Greg plays an F1X and I'm sure will put up some clips of the Streamliner. He feels it is in that F1X tonal universe.

 

[KJung]

hmm....I'm very much into Bona and Marcus. To my ear...."it's in there"....especially with Bona.

Yeah, it will stay clean, but there are other heads more suited for that (including your Shuttles). Bona gigs a Puma, and that is a totally different thing up top and through the mids. Totally different sound and feel to me, which is a good thing.

IMO there.