Would any of you that now have experience with the preamp care to share your preferred settings (and music style)? Just wondering if there are any common themes among players.
Just got back from my first gig using the Genzler Pre/D.I. into my Genz Shutle 6.0. I was running the pre into the effects receive of the Shuttle. For speakers I used both my Berg HT112 and EX112. I primarily used my Roscoe Beck V, mostly with both pickups in single coil mode, occasionally switching to neck pu in parallel mode. On the bass, I always keep my tone knob fully open, and the volume almost always fully open. I have TI Jazz Rounds on it.
I tried to match the gain and volume of the bass into the pre pedal so that it was close to unity with the volume I got plugging my bass directly into the front panel input of the Shuttle.
The six piece band (guitar/vocals, keys/vocals, guitar/sax/vocals, bass, drums, female vocalist) was on the stage of a community center hall for a 70th birthday private party. There were approximately 150 people in attendance (boy, did they dance all night!). The band plays functions in this hall a couple of times per year over the past 15 years I’ve been working with this group. We played dance music appropriate for the crowd who were mostly in the 50 - 75 year old age range, so pretty typical cover material ranging from Louis Prima, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Meatloaf, Earth Wind and Fire, Labelle, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, The Go-Gos, Duran Duran, Willie Nelson, to Adele, Taylor Swift, Pink, etc, even playing Fireball by Pitbull as a special request for the birthday boy.
We also played a dinner set of jazz standards with the keys, sax and me using my Kala U-Bass.
For some reason when I first set the U-Bass into the Pre pedal, into the effects receive of the Shuttle, then sending the D.I. (Line level) from the Shuttle to the board, our very experienced sound engineer said that the signal was very, very weak. I was getting full volume out of my speakers. I didn’t have time to try to troubleshoot, so I took the Pre pedal out of the loop, and just used the Shuttle as I normally would. The D.I. signal was fine. I played the dinner set with the U-Bass, and the first dance set with the Roscoe Beck. The sound was great both from my speakers and in the PA, as it normally is.
I consulted with the sound engineer at the break, and for the second dance set I went back to the Pre pedal into the effects receive, but this time took the D.I. from the Pre directly to the board, and my Shuttle as a power amp for my speakers. I used all the same cables as before.
Wow!
I loved the sound I was able to get with the Pre. It was full, punchy, authoritative, and most importantly to me, it had an openness and airy quality about it, even over and above what I normally get with the Shuttle. I mostly used the Contour A, occasionally using Contour B for some Motown (settings are shown below). I was very pleased with its performance. Our drummer said that he almost had a heart attack from the power of my bass during Uptown Funk!
I am anxious to gain more experience with the Genzler Pre. My first outing with it has left me very impressed. I also need to figure out why I wasn’t able to get the Shuttle D.I. to work with the Pre into the Shuttle. I have no doubt that it was something very simple, that I just didn’t have time to troubleshoot. I expect user error on my part is the most likely explanation.
I have early versions of the Sansamp BDDI and VT-Bass. I don’t use them much because, even though I can get decent sounds from them, certainly adding punch and fullness, there is always a compressed or “closed” character that I can’t seem to dial out.
I have a Fishman Pro EQ Platinum, also an early version, that I use for my upright. It is a very nice preamp, but I have only compared it at home with the Genzler using my Roscoe Beck. I preferred the Genzler, again, for its “open” “airy” sound and the variable contours.
I haven’t tried the Genzler with my ‘39 Kay upright with a copper Realist yet. It has many similar features of the Fishman (>1 Mohm input impedance, variable HPF, versatile EQ) except it lacks the phase switch and the compression. I’ll report on the Genzler/upright combination after I get to try it.
I also need to try my other basses, ‘65 Jazz, Turner Ren V fretless, Precision A/E fretless, with the Pre, but they are currently in storage after our recent move.
Finally, I do have to give a big shout out to Mark and Sam at Gollihur Music! I bought the Genzler Pre from them. They are my go to source for most of my upright needs. They are fantastic to deal with, exceedingly helpful and always ready to answer questions. I highly recommend them without hesitation.
seems it worked!
