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.
Genzler Amplification ! New Genz Benz ?
- Thread starter svtb15
- Start date
I know this question was directed at Kirk by IME there is a punch, body and clarity to the notes which seems especially noticeable on the smaller strings; the D & G really "speak out" in the mix. It was much less of a struggle to eq those frequencies in the mix and I didn't have to rely on my compressor to balance out those notes with the low end. If anything I had to slightly balance out my plucking hand dynamics as I usually work harder to get the D & G to to "pop" in the mix.
Slightly off topic- The past 6 years I have been using compressors in one capacity or another. For the past 2-3 years I have been favoring the Diamond. With my Shuttlemax it was because the Diamond added some fatness and punch and with the Tone Hammer or TH500 tightened up the bottom added a certain upper mid articulation. With the Magellan I'm finding I like the amp better without the Diamond; I don't need it to add tightness to the lows and the upper mid thing the Diamond seems to add to my tone isn't needed. While the inherent thick tone of the Diamond is great with other amps I feel it takes away from how honestly the Magellen reproduces the natural growly mids of my bass... and for that matter the lows and highs as well. While I'm considering a more transparent comp or limiter right now I'm digging this amp plugged straight in. The Diamond is a great comp and others may love it with the Magellan this is just IMHO and of course YMMV..... and as always, I reserve right to change my opinion.
Last edited:
- Mar 22, 2004
- 13,004
- 4,741
- Disclosures
- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
@rmars The finest compressor pedal that i have found is the Keeley Bassist .. After playing so many of the popular ones i found the Keeley Bassist to work for me. .I liked it so much that i picked up the Keeley Comp PRO. I use it in AUTO mode but it has LEDs so i can visually see how much compression is happening..
The Bassist also has a Threshold LED that is handy in visually seeing the onset of compression..
I was talking with billy sheehan a few weeks ago and he loves teh Keeley..
The Bassist also has a Threshold LED that is handy in visually seeing the onset of compression..
I was talking with billy sheehan a few weeks ago and he loves teh Keeley..
I'm using the Keeley Bassist as well and like it a lot... transparent, quiet, and adds just enough
Yes the Bassist looks great, I really like it's simplicity and the sound clips I've heard have been excellent. The Pro have been on my short list and I keep hearing how transparent it is. I watched Billy's rig rundown and saw that he had the Pro on his board.
Because I'm loving the tone of the Magellan on it's own I'm also considering the Empress and Cali76-CB because they both have a dry/wet mix knob. The Cali has a HPF to keep the comp from overreacting to lows which is pretty neat and again I like the idea of keeping what the Magellans doing as intact as possible and I really like how the low notes on the E sound w/o compression. The Empress has a sidechain which I could put my fdeck HPF in (which I've also found less to no need for with the Magellan) and do the same thing. Options, options, too many options.
I use the Cali 76 CB, previously the Keeley. I am very pleased with it, and the wet dry/mix and HPF are really useful. It's super clean too.
After much research on the Genzler, the engineering, the design etc... I decided to order 2 bass array B12-3 cabs. I did see the Magellan 800 amp but immediately thought to myself "another useless lightweight head that can't cut thru anything but it sure is the best looking head I've ever laid eyes on." Lol...Right down sexy. Anyway after looking at a list of vendors on there site I immediately saw a vendor I was fimiliar with and trusted as we've done business over the years with no problems. By the way this is one guy I trust to as far as opinions on gear go because even though he could lose the sale and have sometimes lost the sale he has always been honest with me concerning if gear isn't up to my specs as he knows what I'm looking for. By the way he had nothing but great things to say about the cabs. Ok ring me up. As we are getting ready to hang up he asked me if I wanted the head also. I told him that I'm not up for another light weight "class D" amp that's 6 lbs and sounds like it's 6 lbs when I play. After laughing he said I should really try it. I say ok I'll try it but I'll be sending it right back to you if it sucks. He agrees and we hang up. Two days later UPS is at the door and I'm already skeptical because the cabs have no tweeter and the head is a micro. I hook up just the cabs to my lab gruppen power amp and my millennia TD-1. Oh my God! This is the tone I've been looking for absolutely hands down the best 12 I've ever heard. Are you sure there's no tweeter in these cabs. After about a hour I open the box and hook up the head to my Bergantino 410 to see what it can do. I hook everything up begin to play with it and starting thinking yeah another useless micro head...until I fooled around with eq and contour B. Wait a minute this thing is starting to sound good... Now the true test lets turn it up and see what it can do. Then I remember the wife is sleep. I'll try it another time as I'm sure it won't live up to my standards anyhow. Long story short I knew I loved the cabs but deep inside I still believe the head could not do a medium or large gig (even though I read it could on TB). I received the cabs and head on Friday and Saturday was my daughters 18th b-day so I never play with it again until Sunday. I liked what I hear from the cabs but now it was time to test them in the real world after all we've all heard what seemed to be good sounding cabs at home but on the gig it sounds terrible. Sunday morning I get up and begin to gather the gear I would take. I knew the cabs where going but not the head. I was loading up my truck and at the last minute I looked at the Magellan 800 amp and decided to grab it with the thoughts try it first and if it doesn't cut through you still have your other rack.
I get to church hook everything up and Wow I can't believe the tone these 2 cabs and light weight 6 lb micro head is producing. I would consider my church medium size and I had the volume on my bass turned all the way up and the volume on the Magellan at 12:00 for master volume and a 1:00 for the gain. Everything set flat. Contour B set to 1:00. We begin sound check and wowsers I could not believe the sound and neither did my keyboard player or drummer. I'm in bass heaven! After the first song the drummer ask me "is all that sound coming from those cabs and that head" lol, keep in mind I had no PA support. Needless to say I never even thought once of changing out heads. I heard every naunce played. Honesty I really had to clean up my technique a little. I could not believe how every note I played just soared about the mix with ease and our keyboard player is LOUD! The weight of each note could be heard for miles. After church my drummer and keyboard player said "you need to get rid of all that other stuff and keep this" and that's exactly what I'm doing/did. I was a die-hard Bergantino fan (by the way I still have a HD410 for sale if that's your thing). And the bergs still sound good but the bass arrays are just special. Worth every freaking penny! Well this concludes my review and I hope this helps some one at least want to try it for yourself. I personally think afterward you'll be coming to the same conclusion as me and selling your equipment. Lol By the way I'm not in anyway endorsed nor did Jeff ask me to do this. I love great engineering and this is as good as it gets. At least for now until technology out does itself again.lol By the way Monday morning I ordered me some more cabs. I decided to order another Magellan tomorrow. I plan to use them both to power my big stack of B12-3's. I plan to come out of the send of the first amp and into the return of the second. I'm thinking I'll be getting rid of at least one of my current big racks which has some pretty high-end stuff in them. Enough babbling....now for the good stuff pictures....and yes now I am bragging
Last edited:
Whoa
I hope the foundation of your house/church/and anywhere else you play is seriously overbuilt
Whoa
I hope the foundation of your house/church/and anywhere else you play is seriously overbuilt
Lol im seriously thinking of adding 3 more for a stack of 9.
Considering the pre / power amp combo you’ve been using, replacing that rig with the Magellan speaks volumes.
Please report back after the next gig.
Please report back after the next gig.
Jeff Genzler
Commercial User
- Feb 9, 2007
- 1,820
- 11,899
- Disclosures
- Currently GENZLER AMPLIFICATION / Formerly GENZ BENZ
Once the second head arrives I'll do that. Thanks
I don't even know what to say about that rig. I can't reconcile my feelings at the moment. (2) 12-3 arrays and the Magellan head seriously piss off my loud rock band with 2 full stack Marshall's. Are you the bass player for Manowar?
Lol no not that bass player but I don't come to take sides but rather to take over. No doubt my chops will be heard now!
Lol no not that bass player but I don't come to take sides but rather to take over. No doubt my chops will be heard now!
If the 12-3's have a true LF driver as Jeff says then three of them and a Magellan 800 would be like ballpark SVT w/ an 810 loud but with more low end extension..... With my a Berg HD312 (112&212) I easily held my own with a super loud drummer and guitarist...heck with just my 212 I had to turn down with my master at 10:30. A good friend of mine is the guitar tech for Imagine Dragons and he told me their bassist only uses one(?) Berg NV412 to play stadiums...but then he probably uses IEM's. I can't even imagine six of 12-3's?! Wow!... IN CASE YOU CAN'T HEAR ME I SAID "WOW"!!!!....AND WEAR SOME EAR PLUGS!
Last edited:
If the 12-3's have a true LF driver as Jeff says then three of them and a Magellan 800 would be like ballpark SVT w/ an 810 loud but with more low end extension..... With my a Berg HD312 (112&212) I easily held my own with a super loud drummer and guitarist...heck with just my 212 I had to turn down with my master at 10:30. A good friend of mine is the guitar tech for Imagine Dragons and he told me their bassist only uses one(?) Berg NV412 to play stadiums...but then he probably uses IEM's. I can't even imagine six of 12-3's?! Wow!... IN CASE YOU CANT HEAR ME I SAID "WOW"!!!!....AND WEAR SOME EAR PLUGS!
Lol....funny... Okay I admit it's over kill but that's who I am. I love having the best! Who doesn't? I know very well that the 2 cabs at my church was loud enough and 3 would definitely do any large gig but I like more just in case. Same with cars I have one that goes 200+ MPH although I'd never take it that fast knowing it can go that fast does something for me and all the guys who drool and ask "how fast does it go?" Same with headroom these cabs take 350 watts but my amp can push 600 watts to each cab. Now which of you seasoned bass players don't have 1,2,3,4,5 or more basses? That's overkill we really don't need anything but one bass but we make up excuses like my "back up bass" or "just in case bass" lol. I plan to use these in a modular way so most gigs will only see 3 to 4 of them with a big outdoor event or concert seeing all of them. I'd much rather be prepared for 4 or 5 guitars than not to be. Guess I better think about whether I should be adding 3 more for a 9 stack.... All what the heck lets do it!
By the way I just sold my Berg NV412-T and NV610T on TB yesterday which I played with a Crest CA-9 together so that should tell you a little bit about my overkill. I got drowned out by a band once....it will never happen again.
