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Hunting for a clean-sounding head with nice sparkling highs

#81
logdrum said:
Euphonic Audio iAmp specially the one's with the bright switches, iAmp 900 and the 1200 and a cab that is full range and hi-fi (not necessarily audiophile grade) like MAS, Bag end and EA's very own like the Wizzy's and their older cabs or some Bergs ) - My experience of course but I have not tried others like Bergs, Epifanis, DNAs and what not. Acoustic Image too, but those are politer than an english butler.
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Yeah heard good things about EA and AI, but both are out of my price range.

So far I've whittled the list down to the following: (the ones with * are the ones I'm capable of actually trying out here)

Eden *
Mark Bass *
EBS *
GK
Eich (if I can find one used)
Warwick (maybe*, the dealer here has a ton of old stock but not sure they brought any new ones in)
Genzler
Aguilar

Of course I'll try out whatever cabinets I can get my hands on here as well with my D-800 - I may very well end up just getting a new cabinet instead!
 
#82
DeepHz said:
Years ago I purchased a Walter Woods blue light directly from Walter (RIP). I can't think of a more perfect match from what you described. The myth has been it's one of the best upright bass amps. To my ears it can do so much more with both electric and acoustic basses than any amp i have ever played through. It is a tad pricey. And I second the Eden amps. I recently A/B'd some of my amps and the WW was the hands down winner. Good luck on your search.View attachment 3941932
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Sweet setup! My eventual aim is to get my hands on a bunch of different class D heads and swap them around as I fancy! Yeah WW look cool but again... out of budget...
 
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#85
NeonVomit said:
Yeah heard good things about EA and AI, but both are out of my price range.

So far I've whittled the list down to the following: (the ones with * are the ones I'm capable of actually trying out here)

Eden *
Mark Bass *
EBS *
GK
Eich (if I can find one used)
Warwick (maybe*, the dealer here has a ton of old stock but not sure they brought any new ones in)
Genzler
Aguilar

Of course I'll try out whatever cabinets I can get my hands on here as well with my D-800 - I may very well end up just getting a new cabinet instead!
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Sorry that I forgot you have a budget ceiling. That's a really good approach so one doesn't over spend
 
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#86
A few have suggested Bergantino. I have a Forte (non HP) that I picked up for around $700 used. It is very flat with excellent highs. The high end isn't shrill or sterile, rather full and present. There's also a bright switch that will add even more sparkle to your tone. I definitely recommend it as the next best thing behind EA and Acoustic Image.

I've also heard good things about Eich, EBS Reidmar series, and Trickfish, which I believe are within your budget.
 
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#87
Not to state the obvious here, but an electric bass doesn't really have "a sound" until you put it into an amp. So really what you are getting is a combination of woods, strings, pickups, electronics, SETUP (yes, this is hugely important to tone), amp including tone and even volume/gain settings, and cab (and cab placement, both in relation to the room and to the player). When people say that want "transparent" they basically mean a tone that they personally like, without distortion, and probably without a big low mid hump.

Anyway, the GK neo stuff is pretty "sparkly" if that's how you dial it in. The only thing that might get you closer to what you're after is a proper 3 way cab. You might get some mids that work better for you with a cab like that. There are any number of those cabs out there. I tried out a pair of AccuGroove Tri-112s that were pretty nice and sound musical but with a sort of "blank slate" seeming sound that might be what you're after.
 
#89
I had a GK MB500 to use into a Epifani 310 UL cab that had the new Epifani drivers in it. Used that for a rehearsal room rig.

When I got the Berg B|Amp for on Gig Rig set up, it replaced a Genzler Magellan MG800.

I always struggled with the GK MB500 at rehearsal. Seems it never was clean enough or could give enough punch into the rehearsal room. And was constantly clipping at times. That is now where the Genzler is. It hangs in there fine.

But the Genzler can't compete with the Berg.
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BTW, the EPI cab is super efficient at 103 dbs and is a 5.63 ohm cab.
 
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#91
Cab considerations in this thread have focused on the OP's GK 410, but he did mention that he has a Mesa Subway 112 and 115. I've not played those cabs (though I've heard the 115 in performance -- enough to form some impressions, but not enough, particularly since the source was pretty colored, to have any sort of comprehensive handle on what it can do), but, while not studio-monitor types, I imagine that one of them might, with the right front end, be more suited to the compact, hi-fi/doubling use that the OP mentions in his original post than the 410 would be.

If the OP has a recording interface, he could record some simple bass loops and play them back through the effects return of his GK (or aux-in of the Mesa, via headphone output) and any of his cabs (start with the volume at zero at the interface AND the amp and come up slowly -- with some amps, the effects loop is before the master volume, some after, which could lead to a loud and nasty surprise if you're not careful). This might give him some idea of what a "flat" or close-to-flat amp would sound like with his cabs.
 
#93
jaroh24 said:
A few have suggested Bergantino. I have a Forte (non HP) that I picked up for around $700 used. It is very flat with excellent highs. The high end isn't shrill or sterile, rather full and present. There's also a bright switch that will add even more sparkle to your tone. I definitely recommend it as the next best thing behind EA and Acoustic Image.

I've also heard good things about Eich, EBS Reidmar series, and Trickfish, which I believe are within your budget.
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Hmm... haven't come across a used Bergantino within budget, nor a Trickfish (there's a price bump over this side of the pond). I think of everything I've heard, if a used Trickfish came along within budget I'd jump on it, but that does seem to be unlikely.

EBS does make me interested and is within budget, and Eich as well, but those are tricky to find used within budget. Everyone is now closed here for summer holidays (the entire town basically shuts down in the middle of August) so I'll have to wait a bit before I can try the ones available here, and their cabs.

I've been watching a lot of videos and samples of brands I can't try (all of these are DI-vids to avoid the issue of cab variations) - anyone here have any experience with Epifani heads and GR Bass? They seem to be real clean sounding, and the Piccolo 433 is going for about 400 euros which is not bad at all. Those are available new within budget as well. They do *sound* interesting but of course the impression you get from these videos is nothing compared to real life.
 
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#94
DWBass said:
GK not bright enough? Inconceivable!! Check out the Marcus Miller version Markbass amp. Should be plenty sparkle there.
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The GK sounds great and all, I do like it a lot but it's a bit bulky for my current needs. I've liked what I've heard of the new Legacy and Fusion series, but they're just a touch expensive. But also, I'm waiting to see if I can replace it with the new class AB heads that are rumoured to be coming out sometime this year. The 700RB is my main 'big rig' along with the NEO 410 and adding my Mesa 1x15 to the setup, it can handle any gig I'm likely to play here. My Mesa D-800 is (well, was...) mostly used for travelling shows and touring. Those are basically all metal shows where the detail of the sound doesn't really matter all that much and it does a great job of sounding big, full and old-school and has an excellent DI while being built like a tank.

I'm mostly just amp hunting to add another small class D amp to my collection and something a lot more neutral than my Mesa. Hence me not being in all that much of a rush :D

I'll definitely give the Mark Bass stuff a go when the store opens - they have a good amount of stock.
 
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#95
Ok guys so an excellent condition used Trickfish 1x10 cabinet has become available for 395 GBP (so about like 430 euros/~$510). Many of you were mentioning about how the cabinets may be the issue with getting a super-clean sound, and I do like 10's - anyone have any experience with these? A nice compact 10 may very well come in handy (not like my Subway 1x12 is exactly massive) but if it will help with getting a super clean sound from my Mesa it's definitely a thought and would be a cheap solution! What do y'all think?
 
#98
So, an update...

A new music store opened here - basically, owned by the largest timber importer in the country, they just set up a spinoff business importing high-end instruments and gear (Dingwalls, Valenti, G&L, Sandberg etc) and they also import Darkglass. It was the first time I got a chance to try out a Darkglass amp, and while they're known for their crazy distortion/overdrive grindy tones on social media, the clean channel of the amps are incredible!

I tried out the Microtubes 500 through a Darkglass 2x10N cab, and the clean channel was so clean, transparent and warm, with shiftable mids and really sparkling higs. When flat it was completely neutral sounding without imparting anything else on the tone of the bass! I did not expect this from this amp, I thought it would be a very heavily-voiced piece of gear with a focus on one specific type of sound but I was really, very wrong about it.

Engaging the VMT channel and setting it just right gave me an extra kick of top-end presence which I loved, giving a nice warm all-tube vibe to the sound which is also something I wanted! Two in one! The store owner gave me a good discount and I walked off with my new head, requirements fulfilled!

I tried it out at home and the sound was nearly identical through my Mesa 1x12 cabinet. I think I'll look to getting a Darkglass cabinet at some point, it was super super light and had a really cool modern tone (plus I love 10" speakers!)

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, I learned a lot!
 
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#99
NeonVomit said:
So, an update...

A new music store opened here - basically, owned by the largest timber importer in the country, they just set up a spinoff business importing high-end instruments and gear (Dingwalls, Valenti, G&L, Sandberg etc) and they also import Darkglass. It was the first time I got a chance to try out a Darkglass amp, and while they're known for their crazy distortion/overdrive grindy tones on social media, the clean channel of the amps are incredible!

I tried out the Microtubes 500 through a Darkglass 2x10N cab, and the clean channel was so clean, transparent and warm, with shiftable mids and really sparkling higs. When flat it was completely neutral sounding without imparting anything else on the tone of the bass! I did not expect this from this amp, I thought it would be a very heavily-voiced piece of gear with a focus on one specific type of sound but I was really, very wrong about it.

Engaging the VMT channel and setting it just right gave me an extra kick of top-end presence which I loved, giving a nice warm all-tube vibe to the sound which is also something I wanted! Two in one! The store owner gave me a good discount and I walked off with my new head, requirements fulfilled!

I tried it out at home and the sound was nearly identical through my Mesa 1x12 cabinet. I think I'll look to getting a Darkglass cabinet at some point, it was super super light and had a really cool modern tone (plus I love 10" speakers!)

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, I learned a lot!
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Welcome to the higher end. Take your time researching. There's a lot out there to be liked.
 
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