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Jule Amps Monique part 5

#141
mattyiop said:
Now that we got more people on board, have any of you guys played around with tubes at all? I just ordered a matched set of RCA red plates 6SL7. I have black plate RCA's in there now that I love, but I wanna hear what the reds are all about. Im super curious about the rectifier tube, and if any of you have swapped it out with good results. I got a Mullard EZ81 but found the stock tube to be more to my liking - I think I remember someone using a EZ80 awhile back - could be wrong though
Click to expand...

I replaced the stock 6SL7s with a matched pair of NOS early 60s G&E 6SL7s. Def sweeter sounding than the stocks and respond really well to the sensitivity knob. I replaced the 12AU7 with an early 70s RCA AU7 and didn't notice much of a difference. Replaced the stock rectifier with a NOS Tesla EZ81 (supposedly from the 50s) and found a bit more dynamic punch going on as if it just woke up a little bit. Eh, maybe it's just me. But it sounds incredible.
 
#142
Spending many, many hours with my various amp heads and basses over the last week (had a break between projects with my consulting business... love it when that happens... back to work now though... love it when that happens also).

Strange feelings with this one... basically, I love it, but can get pretty much identical tonality with my other heads, with a bit more positives to me with the other heads (i.e., can dial in a pretty similar tone to my favorite settings with the Monique with my Aguilar TH500, with a bit more mid range fatness and lower midrange punch, and the Monique can get pretty close... surprisingly close... to my Glockenklang Blue Soul, but when I really dig in, the Monique does overdrive a bit, and the Glock stays totally clean.

I will say that the Minnie hit a bit harder than the Glock, and quite a bit harder than the TH500, but with my high sensitivity CN212 at 4ohms, I never, ever reach the limits of my other amps.

So, when you consider size, cost, and 'simple' (i.e., no tubes, and a much more linear, straightforward front end), the Aguilar and Glock 'win' for me.

So, not sure what I'm going to do, but just throwing it out there to the club that if someone is looking for a DeMonique that is literally new, I could probably be talked out if it (with a meaningful 'rental fee' reduction from the new price). It is the current build, with no fan (nice).

I'm not going to list it in the classifieds, and am in no hurry (I do really enjoy it and will just keep it in my rehearsal space to play with for a while). But, I'll open my PM's now. If someone wants one for a pretty good deal, I would move it.

Again, wonderful piece of gear, but, hard to describe, the whole interactive, non-linear thing and the nature of the break-up when the input is pushed just doesn't speak to me like I thought it might (and like it does for others). If I was gigging at 8ohm cab with a mid driver, might be a different story!

PM is open now!
 
#143
Hey Ken, did you try comparing the DI outputs of all the amps as well? Not sure if that is important to you but perhaps that would make a difference as well.

The DI out is very important to me, and I have found Monique's DI out sounding a lot fuller, bigger, and punchier than the Puma 900 and Aggie TH's. Just some food for thought.
 
#145
maisbass said:
Hey Ken, did you try comparing the DI outputs of all the amps as well? Not sure if that is important to you but perhaps that would make a difference as well.

The DI out is very important to me, and I have found Monique's DI out sounding a lot fuller, bigger, and punchier than the Puma 900 and Aggie TH's. Just some food for thought.
Click to expand...

Actually, since I don't do any studio work at this point, the 'no pre EQ DI' and the 'not phantom power safe' are more negatives than positives. I always get rave reviews of my DI send from literally every front of house guy I deal with, and since I like it clean and accurate, most pre EQ high quality DI sends are great. The Glock is actually 'beyond great'.

If I was doing studio work, it might be a different story.

Again, FANTASTIC piece of gear, and a very unique front end. I guess I'm more of a linear guy. I prefer the more standard 'variable input gain' with predictable and 'linear' impact and precise control over what is hitting the later preamp stages, and also a predictable, linear response on the amount of 'hair' I have in my tone. Pure personal choice there.

I tend to enjoy trying a lot of stuff, but pretty much sticking to my primary rigs (and basses) for years until something 'better' comes along. I have no regrets spending significant time with the Monique. Truly unique and special and 'different' for sure!
 
#146
AMJBASS said:
Interesting that you say that as I've found the Aguilar TH DI to be just terrific live. Clean, clear, and fat sounding. Its almost as good as the REDDI that I had recently(I stress ALMOST ;) ).
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Yeah, the TH500 has become one of my favorite heads of all time (at least for my passive P). That is my gold standard for live gigging. Of course, not for everyone. Something special about even the pre EQ DI on that one... still quite warm and fat. At $600 and 4 pounds, it is a gift from god for those who want it fat and warm and 'organic' up top.

I will say the Minnie hits harder though, but I have no need to 'hit harder' with the high sensitivity 4ohm cab that I use. I'm actually REALLY impressed with that Minnie800..... REALLY impressed.

Different strokes of course!
 
#147
KJung said:
If I was gigging at 8ohm cab with a mid driver, might be a different story!
Click to expand...

Possibly. :D

I've had both the TH500 and Glock in the house and with the Baers and for my tone goals, Monique/Minnie wins. In my hands the TH500, while a very cool sound, was kind of 2D vs 3D of M/M to me. And the Glock just wasn't quite my thing as I like the interaction with the front end of the amp as opposed to linear. But I'm a non-linear kinda guy ;)

If I hadn't just dropped $2K on new near field monitors I'd snap this up. Heck, I still might. I totally get the no-muss/no-fuss thing of having pure solid state and no tubes. I do carry the Puma as backup after all. But I could just carry Demonique as a backup. Hmm...

:hiding:
 
#148
nostatic said:
Possibly. :D

I've had both the TH500 and Glock in the house and with the Baers and for my tone goals, Monique/Minnie wins. In my hands the TH500, while a very cool sound, was kind of 2D vs 3D of M/M to me. And the Glock just wasn't quite my thing as I like the interaction with the front end of the amp as opposed to linear. But I'm a non-linear kinda guy ;)

If I hadn't just dropped $2K on new near field monitors I'd snap this up. Heck, I still might. I totally get the no-muss/no-fuss thing of having pure solid state and no tubes. I do carry the Puma as backup after all. But I could just carry Demonique as a backup. Hmm...

:hiding:
Click to expand...

I worry a bit about some of my studio-folken because there are no numbers, no detents, behind Monique knobs. I know they end up sticking bits of tape all over everything with reference numbers for each cut. I've seen it. Thankfully, they have adapted to this non-linear world. :)
 
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#151
juledude said:
I worry a bit about some of my studio-folken because there are no numbers, no detents, behind Monique knobs. I know they end up sticking bits of tape all over everything with reference numbers for each cut. I've seen it. Thankfully, they have adapted to this non-linear world. :)
Click to expand...

fwiw I think the tape/sharpie thing is just to make people feel better and more "in control." The reality is that my mood will often affect the tone more than the knobs so reproducibility, while a goal for some, is kind of a pipe dream - at least to me (ymmv). I'm trying to go more with the whole Buddhist impermanence thing. The tone that I capture in the moment is the tone I've got. I'll never be able to exactly recreate that moment - it's gone. So twiddle the knobs, fiddle with the fingers, and create a new moment.

Thankfully I don't get asked for or paid for recreating the same thing over and over. In fact I think one reason I do get called is that they can put the same song on the set list for 10 gigs in a row and most every time I'll take it out with a different feel. That drives some guys nuts - I don't play with them any more :D
 
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#152
AMJBASS said:
Interesting that you say that as I've found the Aguilar TH DI to be just terrific live. Clean, clear, and fat sounding. Its almost as good as the REDDI that I had recently(I stress ALMOST ;) ).
Click to expand...


Just to be clear I don't thing the Aggie DI lacks, it is a very good DI circuit, I just think the Monique DI sounds better IMO. But to be fair, I wasn't a big fan of the Th500 either.

Btw Ken, if I just didn't drop money on the Minnie, I would have PM'd you already about your Demonique.
 
#154
Can't imagine taking a Tonehammer over Monique, let alone saying you can EQ in similar tones. In my brief experience with the TH, I found it very artificial and cold. Maybe I had a bad bass/cab combo for that head. Maybe it is all in the fingers.

Seems like a weird review from Ken. Not trying to start any internet arguments here, just saying that it doesn't read as I would have thought. After reading many of his posts, I thought I had a pretty clear understanding of how he evaluates tones, and have found them to be fairly aligned with my experiences.
 
#155
monsterthompson said:
Can't imagine taking a Tonehammer over Monique, let alone saying you can EQ in similar tones. In my brief experience with the TH, I found it very artificial and cold. Maybe I had a bad bass/cab combo for that head. Maybe it is all in the fingers.

Seems like a weird review from Ken. Not trying to start any internet arguments here, just saying that it doesn't read as I would have thought. After reading many of his posts, I thought I had a pretty clear understanding of how he evaluates tones, and have found them to be fairly aligned with my experiences.
Click to expand...

The TH500 is a bit complex also. Just like the Monique, it is not really plug and play. Also, remember the mix and match. I am strictly evaluating using the CN212, which is the only cab I'm interested in playing at this point. With that cab, and my basses, I could get the TH500 'close' to the sound of the Monique as I EQ'd the Monique to sound best to me with my PBass (which is the bass I had in mind for the Monique). I believe I posted a close up picture of both EQ's earlier in the thread. The differences that were there were, for me, in the positive direction for the TH500.

It would in no way surprise me if others felt totally different, or even came up with very different results using different basses and different cabs.

We are talking about different flavors of VERY good here (Aguilar, Glockenklang, Monique, etc.) I could be pretty happy with any of them! This is no slam on the Monique whatsoever.... unique and interesting piece of gear, and did I mention that the Minnie power section is VERY, VERY impressive!
 
#158
...interesting. i'm playing around with my new Mesa Buster, and i'm hearing some TH-like tones on my DI recordings. i haven't found a way to get the Mo tone copy yet, but i feel like it is possible, since the Buster tone controls are wildly interactive and variable. i had never thought about the Mesa/TH overlap in sounds, but it certainly is there. now i need to stop fiddling with knobs and lay something musical down, and/or work on my technique. thanks to ken for leading me down the path of listening.
 

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