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Double Bass I don't like my new iAmp 500.

S

sadowskyschmaus

May 29, 2006
93
0
Tokyo, JP
#1
I LOVE this amp!! I got it in this morning and have been playing through it non-stop for the past few hours. I am utterly amazed at the clarity of this amp, and the tonal possiblilites are ridiculous. My kay with a wilson p/u and my sadowsky electric have never sounded so good. I have had an acoustic image coda combo, a walter woods m-100, a david eden wt 800 for my electric gigs, and an ampeg portabass 800. This amp makes them all pale in comparison. I must say my dream amp is the WWU, but that will be a long time coming and in the mean time this iAmp 500 is a dream come true. In fact, I may find that I don't need to get a WWU because this amp sounds so friekin' good and the customer support I've had already from EA is astounding. I'm not even playing this through great cabs either. I have a Dr. Bass 12 with an eminence delta 12LF speaker in it and a rehauled goliath jr. with 2 eminence delta 10's in it and they sound wonderful, so I can only imagine (for now) how good this amp will sound through EA cabs. Actually I was torn between getting an iAmp 500 or a Mark Bass LMK amp for a while, but after reading up on both of those amps I decided to go with EA and I couldn't be more satisfied with that decision (although it sounds like Mark Bass makes very good amps). Anyway if any of you reading this are thinking about getting one of these amps I say go for it and you will not be dissapointed.
 
#3
sadowskyschmaus said:
I'm not even playing this through great cabs either. I have a Dr. Bass 12 with an eminence delta 12LF speaker in it and a rehauled goliath jr. with 2 eminence delta 10's in it and they sound wonderful, so I can only imagine (for now) how good this amp will sound through EA cabs.
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As you are already imagining, the EA cabs match up real well with their heads (IMO of course).

I know that's stating the obvious, but in this case it's probably worth repeating (IMO of course).

Glad you are enjoying the iAMP so much.

Catchy title too. :eek:
 
#4
--so I can buy the smaller/lighter 500 and lug it around to all my gigs, not just the bass guitar ones. These amps sound fantastic! The power matchup is off, but the iAmp 800 with a Wizzy is a great combo for double bass. I still use a Walter Woods (so portable) most of the time with the big bass, but the EA could easily replace it.
 
#5
bolo said:
As you are already imagining, the EA cabs match up real well with their heads (IMO of course).

I know that's stating the obvious, but in this case it's probably worth repeating (IMO of course).

Glad you are enjoying the iAMP so much.

Catchy title too. :eek:
Click to expand...

Yup - I now have an (older) iAmp 500 with two EA VL 208s - I can't imagine anything sounding better!! :)
 
#7
Dissenting voice here. I don't buy into to the EA lovefest.

Great amp, I played a bunch of gigs with mine. My iAmp is collecting dust and is on audition with someone for purchase.

Walter Woods just sounds better to me.
 
#8
Most everybody and their brothers would like a WWU, but the fact of the matter is they are very expensive (although very, very worth it I'm sure) and are harder to come by then most any other amp. I was simply saying that I really dig the sound out of this iamp and for me it is the best sound I have had, but thanks for your opinion.
 
#10
Bruce Lindfield said:
Not even an advert!
Click to expand...

I'm a bit surprised that the WW would be completely unknown in the UK (although a lot of bassists here have never seen one either), but the lack of advertisement seems normal. I've never seen a WW ad here, and if he ever advertised his product it was probably only briefly, a very long time ago. It seems that you have to know someone who has an amp or has stumbled upon Walter's contact information to get in touch with him. I bought my WW used, and it came with a flyer containing the phone number to call. Every time I've talked to him he sounded at the end of his rope, as if he already had way more business than he could handle (which is no doubt true, judging from the waiting times for his amps).

I can see where Uncle Toad is coming from--if I do a comparison of the EA and WW with the same cab and bass in my living room, the WW sounds a bit clearer and more natural. (Which doesn't mean that the EA sounds unclear or unnatural...) But in a sonically-troublesome situation onstage, the EA really comes through for me in a big way, better than the WW. Could it have something to do with simple headroom (800watt EA vs. 120watt WW)? Almost certainly. But I'm done spending money on amps for awhile, and there's no WWU in my future.
 
#12
Yep, I borrowed one for a gig a few weeks ago and really got to like it as the night wore on. Quite a bit more laid back than my Ashdown MK500, but it sounded very versatile. A little quiet, perhaps, but we should all probably turn down anyway.
 
#14
Johono5 said:
But in a sonically-troublesome situation onstage, the EA really comes through for me in a big way, better than the WW. Could it have something to do with simple headroom (800watt EA vs. 120watt WW)? Almost certainly. But I'm done spending money on amps for awhile, and there's no WWU in my future.
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Not my experience. The Woods is at it's best in varied environments in a way the iAmp never could be FOR ME. My Woods is putting out 800watts at 8ohms. No difference in power in my experience with both amps. EA has a slightly tighter low end but flatter. I prefer the Woods color on most gigs, especially those with dense mixes on troubled stages where its midrange cuts through the muck. YMMV.
 
#17
Bruce Lindfield said:
Double bass is supposed to be quiet!! ;)
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Sorry to disagree. The way in which we use the double
bass is limited only by our imagination. Bertram Turetsky
really opened my eyes to the limitless musicality of the
bass, both compositionally and performance wise. I'm
sure you didn't mean to make it sound so limited. Loud,
soft, high, low, fast, slow are only starting points my friend.
 
#19
Bruce Lindfield said:
Err - did you notice the winking smiley...? ;)

Actually I was teasing Will Greer a bit, as it looked as if he was talking about bass guitar and not Double Bass...:eyebrow: ?
Click to expand...

Oops! Sorry, I didn't look at the smiley face. I took you
seriously. My error. Great! Now I feel like a blow hard.
I need a hug!
 

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