Genzler Amplification Club

[agedhorse]

My 4 On The Floor arrived today. Should get a chance to work with it later this evening.

View attachment 7151336

Read through the manual, there are a lot of helpful hints to help with all of the features.

 

[Wheezerbass]

From a minor gig... I have to say im grateful for the existence of both creations they're light but comes with a beautiful sound and bite and bottom - very controlled and comfortable to play - I luv this . Cutting thru not a problem - Deep bottom - neither a problem - clean or dirty - choose your poison and swollow - tested and approved. Thank you for these great products.

 

[Jeff Genzler]

Beautiful rig. I'm sure this gear plays together nicely. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Hawk620]

Read through the manual, there are a lot of helpful hints to help with all of the features.

That's the very first thing I did after opening it up Andy.

 

[EricOnTheBass]

I have Bass Array 115 and 210 cabinets. I’m curious how the 112 sounds, as I’m thinking of a smaller, lighter setup for low-stage-volume situations. Lately I’ve been using the 210 by itself with my Magellan 800, as I prefer the 210 over the 115 when not used together. Can anyone describe how the 112 (or even the 110) sounds compared to the 210?

 

[5StringPocket]

From a minor gig... I have to say im grateful for the existence of both creations they're light but comes with a beautiful sound and bite and bottom - very controlled and comfortable to play - I luv this . Cutting thru not a problem - Deep bottom - neither a problem - clean or dirty - choose your poison and swollow - tested and approved. Thank you for these great products. View attachment 7151574

Nice rig indeed. I love the thickness and push the Kinetix provides without losing definition.

 

[Hawk620]

Played with the 4 On The Floor a bit yesterday and just now for a bit. I'm puzzled and somewhat concerned so hoping for some clarification here. I'm playing through a Sire U5 passive bass but haven't tried it with my other basses. Pickup volumes are between 60%-75% my normal playing range.

1) Even with drive at full gain and overdrive and clean volumes at noon I can't hear any change in the level or the amount of overdrive as I shift from one through four.

2) As I bring the volume level of the overdrive up in the mix there's a high pitched "whistling" sound beginning around 2 o'clock.

3) The level of that "whistle" increases as I increase overdrive volume and it was also picked up at a much lower setting by my compressor as I increase it's output. This doesn't seem right. It's a Keeley Bassist and without the 4 On The Floor the compressor is silent even at higher levels of output.

4) The HPF and LPF filter are set full off. As I turn the LPF clockwise the whistle increases dramatically. It's more pronounced in 1st gear and declines slightly as I shift up gear by gear and quite loud when running through the compressor.

Nothing in the manual gives me any hint as to why this is happening so I thought I'd reach out here for some opinions.

 

[MuseChaser]

Another "Genzler Saves the Day!" post...

I played a duo gig last night (me on keyboard primarily split to left hand acoustic bass sample and right hand Rhodes sample, and a great vocalist). When we got there, the small house PA that the venue had promised the vocalist was there, but not set up and missing all the necessary cables (power cables for the two powered speakers and the balanced XLR cables to connect them to the board). I was travelling light due to the gig being long and a hideous load-in .. just my single keyboard and a Genzler Acoustic Array Pro.

We did the whole gig with his mic in the second channel of the Genzler, and my keyboard in the first. He said he thought it sounded better than the PA usually did!

 

[Hawk620]

When we got there, the small house PA that the venue had promised the vocalist was there, but not set up and missing all the necessary cables (power cables for the two powered speakers and the balanced XLR cables to connect them to the board).

Never expect amateurs to do a professionals job eh?

 

[agedhorse]

Played with the 4 On The Floor a bit yesterday and just now for a bit. I'm puzzled and somewhat concerned so hoping for some clarification here. I'm playing through a Sire U5 passive bass but haven't tried it with my other basses. Pickup volumes are between 60%-75% my normal playing range.

1) Even with drive at full gain and overdrive and clean volumes at noon I can't hear any change in the level or the amount of overdrive as I shift from one through four.

2) As I bring the volume level of the overdrive up in the mix there's a high pitched "whistling" sound beginning around 2 o'clock.

3) The level of that "whistle" increases as I increase overdrive volume and it was also picked up at a much lower setting by my compressor as I increase it's output. This doesn't seem right. It's a Keeley Bassist and without the 4 On The Floor the compressor is silent even at higher levels of output.

4) The HPF and LPF filter are set full off. As I turn the LPF clockwise the whistle increases dramatically. It's more pronounced in 1st gear and declines slightly as I shift up gear by gear and quite loud when running through the compressor.

Nothing in the manual gives me any hint as to why this is happening so I thought I'd reach out here for some opinions.

With the clean volume at 12:00, it’s likely that the clean blend signal is masking the overdrive. Start with the clean volume all the way down, and add as needed, no more.

The overdrive in hears 1 and 2 are not at all in your face, in some ways it more a texture and rich harmonics tho g rather than gritty.

Can you try the 4 on the Floor without the Keely preamp to test. If the noise goes away, it may be that there is a switching residual (inaudible under most conditions) that is interacting with the rest of the signal change once the additional gain is being used.

What exactly is your signal path?

 

[DuluthDank]

I just made the switch from a GB Shuttlemax 9.2 to the Magellan 800. I'm still using my Uber Bass 2x12 but all those Genzler are extremely tempting!

Use someone who has used the 2x12, if I were going to get into the Bass Array line, which one cabinet would you suggest?View attachment 7131309

Would you say the Magellan is more like the FET or tube channels on your Shuttlemax? I love the sound of the my Shuttle 3.0 with the FET preamp, and have been trying to find a higher wattage yet portable (therefore not the Shuttlemax) amp with a similar sound.

 

[Kenny056]

Would you say the Magellan is more like the FET or tube channels on your Shuttlemax? I love the sound of the my Shuttle 3.0 with the FET preamp, and have been trying to find a higher wattage yet portable (therefore not the Shuttlemax) amp with a similar sound.

The Magellan's clean channel sounds very similar to the FET channel on my SM 9.2 in my estimation. With the SM, I was typically playing with the tube channel. Now that I've had some time with the Magellan, specifically the clean channel, it's made we revisit the Shuttlemax's FET channel.

I love how it sounds with my Sadowsky MetroExpress 5. I've swapped back and forth between both amps and found them to sound very similar with little or no eq adjustments. I will say that the simpler eq section on the Magellan is much appreciated. The Shuttlemax took some time to get familiar with and made me reluctant to do much twiddling in any direction. With the Magellan I'll twiddle all day long!

I'd say if you like the Shuttle then you'll love the Magellan!

 

[Hawk620]

With the clean volume at 12:00, it’s likely that the clean blend signal is masking the overdrive. Start with the clean volume all the way down, and add as needed, no more.

The overdrive in hears 1 and 2 are not at all in your face, in some ways it more a texture and rich harmonics tho g rather than gritty.

Can you try the 4 on the Floor without the Keely preamp to test. If the noise goes away, it may be that there is a switching residual (inaudible under most conditions) that is interacting with the rest of the signal change once the additional gain is being used.

What exactly is your signal path?

Bass into the 4 On The Floor then into the compressor. I did run each separately so I could determine there was no noise at all added from the compressor. It's dead silent even at 100% output. Running the 4 On The Floor separately the noise is there as I add more overdrive volume and increases as I move the LPF more clockwise. I've never experienced a high pitched whistle like or whine from any pedal I've ever used so it surprised me due to it's intensity.

I'll try reversing the order of the signal chain and see what that gives me but since the noise is also coming from the 4 On The Floor independent of the compressor it's clearly the point of origin. I'll also take your cue on starting with the clean volume full down and see what that gives me. The signal path is very simple. Just the two pedals then direct into the front end of the MG 350. Gimme a bit to work through a few more things and I'll report back. Thanks Andy!

 

[Hawk620]

Reversed the compressor and 4 On The Floor. Same results as far as the noise. No clean signal in the mix at all now.

The higher I set the gain and the higher I set the overdrive volume the greater the noise. Much greater noise level with high setting on sensitivity switch than low. The intensity of the noise is slightly greater in 1st gear than in 4th gear. When I add clean volume the noise attenuates somewhat when clean volume is between 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock. But even when there is no signal from the bass at all there is still a very low level of the same whistle or whine present when the 4 On The Floor is in the signal path unless I mute the head or remove it completely. So it's definitely the source. The compressor is dead silent when it's alone in the signal path. Is there a chance I have a bad unit?

On the other issue as suggested with no clean volume the differences between each gear are more apparent but still very subtle to my ears. I don't get any break up until I dime both pickups and play harder and then mostly in 3rd and 4th gear and only when the gain is set fairly high or dimed. This isn't altogether bad since I'm not looking for heavy distortion but I thought I'd get more break up at lower gain levels than I'm getting. The addition of the harmonics is definitely there but very little if any grit until I get to 3rd and 4th gear and higher gain level which means more noise. And this is with round wounds. My other basses have flats and pressurewounds that are less bright.

There's really no way to fairly evaluate it until we figure out what's causing that noise and it's not what one would expect just from a higher gain setting it's inherent in the signal from the 4 On The Floor itself. It's always there and essentially makes the unit unusable with any signal passing through it. Any better idea of what may be causing it Andy?

 

[agedhorse]

What are you using for a power supply?

 

[Hawk620]

What are you using for a power supply?

One Spot but I'll double check it too.

 

[Hawk620]

What are you using for a power supply?

One Spot but I'll double check it too.

Bingo! It was not a One Spot like I thought but a 9v power supply I must have received with another pedal. Swapped in a One Spot. Problem solved. Poor quality power supply. Now I can finally do an honest evaluation.

Andy, thank you so much for all of your help troubleshooting with me and on a weekend no less. Whenever anyone wonders why I would choose Genzler or Mesa gear over anything else the quality of the products and the attention to personal service is what I tell them and in this I have a perfect example to show them too. Thanks again!

 

[agedhorse]

These pedals are very reliable, we almost never see a bad one. Usually the problem is simple, and external to the pedal which is why we work through the troubleshooting step by step. We do this sort of thing every day, no problem.

 

[Hawk620]

These pedals are very reliable, we almost never see a bad one. Usually the problem is simple, and external to the pedal which is why we work through the troubleshooting step by step. We do this sort of thing every day, no problem.

Thanks for working through it with me step by step. That's what I was attempting to do but never once thought about the power supply. It's plugged into a Furman surge protector behind the amp and I thought it was a One Spot as most of mine are. Not this time. Wish I'd have spotted it sooner and tried a swap of that as well.

Since I've never doubted the reliability or the design of any of what I've bought from you and Jeff it surprised the hell out of me which is why I thought I might be doing something wrong and consulted the manual again before reaching out for a lifeline. It's just incredible to have you and Jeff here so often to deal with questions and issues.

 

[TheBass]

The SM9.2 is a timeless amp with endless options and very versatile sound. I use since many years and have done a lot of gigs with it.

Unfortunately the potentiometers start getting and scratchy now, which keeps me away from further use on stage. @agedhorse Is there any easy way to clean the potentiometers?