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Genz Streamliner 600/900 tone control primer

#262
I also tried the cut at 220, but for kicks I tried the same cut at 600 and liked it better. I am sure it has much to do with the voicing and tone of the bass used for which one is preferred. For me it was really a nice sound.
 
#263
Gab124 said:
I also tried the cut at 220, but for kicks I tried the same cut at 600 and liked it better. I am sure it has much to do with the voicing and tone of the bass used for which one is preferred. For me it was really a nice sound.
Click to expand...

IME, which freq you cur has more to do with the particular cab that you're playing it thru.
 
#265
johnk_10 said:
IME, which freq you cur has more to do with the particular cab that you're playing it thru.
Click to expand...

I bet your right. I play through an Avatar TB153 4ohm. When I cut 600 it seems to be a bit more authoritative and clear. I wonder what freq's are being boosted by cutting low and 600?
 
#266
Gab124 said:
When I cut 600 it seems to be a bit more authoritative and clear. I wonder what freq's are being boosted by cutting low and 600?
Click to expand...

When you cut the bass and the low mids and dial the treble back a little, you get this amp as close as it can get to a flat response.

If you keep the tone pots at the same settings, but move the Freq switch up to 600Hz, it allows quite a bit more of the Streamliner's baked-in low mid boost to peek through the gap between the bass and midrange tone control frequencies. I like the way you describe it- in TB language, a boost around 200-300Hz is often referred to as punch, but "authoritative" works for me.

At either mid frequency setting, there's a secondary effect on gain staging, which probably helps to create the sense of clarity you're hearing. When you cut aggressively, the very gentle curves on the SL900/600's tone controls serve to affect a pretty broad range of frequencies. As a result, you lose a lot of overall level through the preamp.

If you want to keep the same amount of "hair" on the notes as compared to having the tone controls at noon, you have to boost the gain and pre volume controls quite a bit, to keep levels high through the tubes.

I haven't experimented with cutting 600Hz before, and I don't normally go for overdriven tones on bass. But at a gig last night, I decided to try out your settings. I overdid the gain compensation initially, and actually got the merest hint of breakup going in my in-ears. I was about to dial it back a bit, when I realized that I was hearing something very close a pissed-off SVT. Sure enough, I pulled my earbuds, and holy liftin': what a fat, bodaceous, growling, burpy tone coming out of my cab!

The magic settings for me, looked like this: Gain and pre volume between about 2:00 and 3:00 o'clock, gain button out, bass WAY back, around 8:00 or 8:30, mid mids at 9:00, treble around 10:30 or 11:00, and the master around 1:00 o'clock.

This was all with an AudioKinesis TC112AF. If you don't know the Thunderchild, it's pretty hi-fi for a bass guitar cabinet, with a smooth, extended treble response. I was playing the 5-string in my avatar, with slightly dead D'Addario nickel rounds, and the EMG P5 at the neck wide open (no tone shaping on the bass).

There was an audio engineer present at soundcheck, doing some work on the DriveRack. The mains were off at the time, and his chin was on his chest when he heard my tone, because he couldn't see a fridge behind me. His jaw dropped even further when came over for a look, saw that I had no pedals engaged, and realized that it was all coming out of a mini-rig!
 
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#267
i just tried that setting Steve (on my 2x15 w/3015's cab), and your description of an 'angry SVT' is a very good one. the more that you experiment with the eq on an ST900, you start realize just how many different voices it actually has. for it appearing to have a minimal eq set, it's powerful, and it really is capable of having alot of variabilty as to what you can get out of it. cutting at 600hz was not something that i often did on it, but i could see myself using that setting with a bit of gain to slightly dirty it up.
 
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#268
I've had my 900 for a few days, and have put it through its paces at a couple rehearsals. One through an older Avatar 410, and one through my LDS 15/6. In both cases I'm really digging bass around 11 o'clock, mids around 1 o'clock (2.5khz setting), and treble around noon with the high gain button engaged. A little tweak here or there to accomodate the different rooms and I'm left with a very sweet "in the mix" tone. Strangely enough, I set everything at noon, drop the mids down to 600hz, and disengage the high gain button and it's the perfect bedroom tone. Pretty small EQ changes between practice and bedroom playing, but a big change in the gain structure (i.e. the high gain button). I definitely see why a lot of people say that the gain should be treated as a tone control on this amp. Lots of variation from that knob alone.
 
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#270
The crazy thing is that i found a cut at 2.5k made it sound quicker and more mid present than a cut at 600 and with a bass cut at 9. This seemed to have more punch then 2.5 boosted. I prefer the cut at 2.5. Anyone else try this? This is with an Uber 410 and nylon tapewounds.

Gain out
Gain 2
Volume 3
Bass 9
Mid 2.5 3
Treble 3
 
#271
adivin said:
The crazy thing is that i found a cut at 2.5k made it sound quicker and more mid present than a cut at 600 and with a bass cut at 9. This seemed to have more punch then 2.5 boosted. I prefer the cut at 2.5. Anyone else try this? This is with an Uber 410 and nylon tapewounds.

Gain out
Gain 2
Volume 3
Bass 9
Mid 2.5 3
Treble 3
Click to expand...

Makes more sense when you remember that all of the tone controls, and the gain setting, are interactive - like the traditional Fender tone stack.
 
#272
I bought a SL600 last yr and have paired it with a GK212II..ive bought it to replace a 25 yr or so Peavey MK IV and the best sound from that amp was mid cut on channel B on the sweepable mid range and same on the graphic..so i copied that across to the Streamliner and use the 600 and 2.5 setting on the amp with mid at 9 o clock and then use the the gain and volume to taste..master at about 2 o clock..sounds great

Leslie
 
#273
I like the pissed off or angry SVT term, even though I have never had the privaledge to play through one, it is nice to know I might be close. I going to try the 2.5 cut next and see what that sounds like.
cool, fun amp.
 
#274
I've got to take the time to do some more scope traces on this amp...

I was playing with mid cuts on the gig lately, and tried cutting 2.5K this weekend. I didn't try this before, because my AudioKinesis is so polite in the upper midrange, and I figured that last thing I needed up there, was a cut.

Well, I was wrong. Without looking at a scope, I've don't know what's going on, but the best way I can describe it, was that the sound "snapped into focus".

If you're running a Streamliner with a wide, smooth cab like a Thunderchild or a fEarful, you owe it to yourself to check this out.

With the button out, gain at 1:00 o'clock, volume at 3:00, bass and upper mids around 10:00, treble at 11:00, and the master at noon, the peak light was flashing on big hits with my active 18V 5-string, and my 900/TC was sounding like the thunder of the gods. I had to keep pinching myself- an easy one-trip carry has no right to sound this good...
 
#276
I continue to be thrilled with this amp. Amazing how interactive and musical the tone controls are, combined with the nice impact of different gain levels. Of course, the tone settings interact greatly with the instrument being used, technique, etc.

I am loving my Streamliner with my new Art of Noise fEARful 15/6. Plenty of ooomph at 8ohms, and the EQ seems to work VERY nicely to achieve the sort of Duck Dunn to Bob Glaub to Ready Freddie Washington range of P Bass tones that I enjoy.

I purchased the very nice Shuttle Max 9.2 in anticipation of the Streamliner not matching well with the big sounding fEARful. WRONG! 9.2 is on the way out. Great head, just don't need it:bassist:

At this point, with my relatively bright sounding Nordy ash/maple VP5 with nickel wounds, I'm loving a starting setting of:

Gain boost: Off (this bass has hot output)
Gain: 3 o'clock (for just a smidge of 'hair' in the tone)
Volume: noon
Bass: Around 10 o'clock
Mids: 1 o'clock at 220
Treble: 9 o'clock (the mid driver in the fEARful is VERY present and powerful up top).

Very articulate, punchy, P Bass tone, with a great, focuses, open B string, and nice 'snap and grind' when you dig in.
 
#277
steve_rolfeca said:
I've got to take the time to do some more scope traces on this amp...

I was playing with mid cuts on the gig lately, and tried cutting 2.5K this weekend. I didn't try this before, because my AudioKinesis is so polite in the upper midrange, and I figured that last thing I needed up there, was a cut.

Well, I was wrong. Without looking at a scope, I've don't know what's going on, but the best way I can describe it, was that the sound "snapped into focus".

If you're running a Streamliner with a wide, smooth cab like a Thunderchild or a fEarful, you owe it to yourself to check this out.

With the button out, gain at 1:00 o'clock, volume at 3:00, bass and upper mids around 10:00, treble at 11:00, and the master at noon, the peak light was flashing on big hits with my active 18V 5-string, and my 900/TC was sounding like the thunder of the gods. I had to keep pinching myself- an easy one-trip carry has no right to sound this good...
Click to expand...

Yea, it's crazy counter intuitive. I was experimenting with the cut at 600 that someone was talking about, and cut 2.5 on a whim and bam! You got to scope this.
 
#280
-this thread is crazy! just received my STM 900 sat- took it and my recently (last year) completed 12/6 cube and 15/6/1 fEARfuls to my sextet gig sat...WOW!!

the interesting thing is that my rig for nearly 10 years has been a Kern IP777 and qsc 1202. also a gooey thick, smooth, bottom heavy 3 tube preamp. I`ve been searching for a small head to mimic it a little- but this is ridiculous! the streamliner is very similar.

tried a few of the recomended settings with my Fbass 5 string fretted- it`s just creamy, authoritative love here....

my sound is about 60% palm mute to imitate an upright on this blues/east coast swing/nawleans funk gig. I am very impressed!!!

...and thanks to all of you I have barely scratched the surface! thanks all- and the graphs early in this thread were killer!!

joseFbass
 

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