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"Mini" Bass Amp Heads
- Thread starter main_sale
- Start date
That and a lot of fretless too. I use the LMII on my Nahas cabs and also my pair of Euphonic Audio VL110 cabs and there's no lack of low mids with the amp set flat. I get an abundance of highs, mids and lows with the head set flat. I can get over the top in any of these areas with the amp's and bass' onboard EQ.
Here's what I typically do: most of my basses have either Bartolini or Aguilar preamps. I keep the outputs fairly hot. I also start off with the onboard EQ set flat. I bring the pre gain on the LMII to at least at 12:00 (it can easily go higher), EQ flat, both voicing filters off, then I bring up the master. I typically get a huge sound just by doing that. If I need to tweak at that point it'll typically be minimal.
If OTOH someone doesn't start from that point and has lows and/or highs boosted I can see where the mids might be affected. If you use the second voicing control it does just that and the mids end up cut.
I can dial in a ridiculous super Jaco pump with my fretless Brubaker five by setting the amp as above, soloing the bridge pickup and just for grins pull up and booost the mid control in the 250 hz band and proceed to bust heads and blow speakers
. Low mids for days.
Easy... because we don't know what else is involved
Speakers, bass, playing style, location, EQ settings, tonal, preferences, listener's hearing, etc., etc., etc.
I have a few months of gigs under my belt and this has been among the easiest amps I've ever used to dial in exactly what I want live. I did an old school funk gig a couple of weeks ago and ran a Micro QTron through my MB/Nahas rig and it was Bootsy time, replete with killer low mids. Lots of grins all over the stage.
If it were me I'd get one from from GC and try it out on a gig or two. Their return policy allows you to make sure you're happy with your purchase. There's no better way to find out if it'll work for you.
When I got mine I tried it with a MB 610 cab. Nice but nothing to write home about... in fact it I had to depend on that test to make the purchase I probably wouldn't have. Sounded okay.
Then I brought it home and tried it on my cabs. I can't remember anticipating a gig as much as I did after hearing the LMII through my Nahas, EAS and Bag End cabs. If that little sucker sounded that good at home, imagine what it would do live
. Then I took it to the shop and ran it through Kevin's Eden D410XLT and it lit that thing up like a Christmas tree, easily had enough juice to blow that cab up.I had to wait another week before my first gig after buying it and when I finally did I was even more amazed than I was at home. I got a huge sound all night long and the amp never got up to room temperature. At that point I was afraid to open the top of the amp for fear the elves might run out.
So try it. Don't like it? Take it back for a refund. No amp is for everyone and this is no exception. OTOH there are many people who try these amps and complain about stuff like a lack of high end and then apparently don't know that one of the voicing controls rolls off highs as soon as you use it. RTFM
Again, my suggestion is try it with the EQ flat, voicing controls fully CCW and bring the gains up as loud as you might need them. Then see what's missing.
That and a lot of fretless too. I use the LMII on my Nahas cabs and also my pair of Euphonic Audio VL110 cabs and there's no lack of low mids with the amp set flat. I get an abundance of highs, mids and lows with the head set flat. I can get over the top in any of these areas with the amp's and bass' onboard EQ.
Here's what I typically do: most of my basses have either Bartolini or Aguilar preamps. I keep the outputs fairly hot. I also start off with the onboard EQ set flat. I bring the pre gain on the LMII to at least at 12:00 (it can easily go higher), EQ flat, both voicing filters off, then I bring up the master. I typically get a huge sound just by doing that. If I need to tweak at that point it'll typically be minimal.
If OTOH someone doesn't start from that point and has lows and/or highs boosted I can see where the mids might be affected. If you use the second voicing control it does just that and the mids end up cut.
I can dial in a ridiculous super Jaco pump with my fretless Brubaker five by setting the amp as above, soloing the bridge pickup and just for grins pull up and booost the mid control in the 250 hz band and proceed to bust heads and blow speakers
I'm really leaning towards trying the return policy and giving it a go for a couple gigs. At least I'll know then. Either it's for me or it isn't.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,952
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Not trying to give you a hard time, I just recall being impressed with many things at low volume amid the din that were much less impressive afterwards
I'm actually being serious, too, and I don't feel like you are giving me a hard time. You are absolutely right, and I really mean it when I say that people should not put much weight on what I (or anyone else) say about what we heard at NAMM (with somewhat of an exception for the things that I as able to hear on Wednesday night, at full volume, and with nothing else to compete with).
Tom.
I found a LMII in like-new condition with original packaging and manual that I should have by the end of next wee. I'll be able to take my time checking it out to see if I like it.
Good luck.
I just did a gig with my iAmp350 and it still kills. Nothing like having choices.
Right on.
But it looks like dude's pipes bursted and got the head (and his other equipment) wet and it's back at GC and my $ is coming back to me. So I'll have to wait. No big, the Focus 2 still rocks.
So far, I'm pretty happy with my WTX-260, but I'm also interested in checking out the new Markbass and EA micros.
Well, then I think you'd like it.
Background: I've spent a good amount of time with the mainstream Eden stuff (WT-400 and a 1205), and a LOT of time with their SS jewel the 405. I generally prefer the quickness and extra emphasis in the high end the 405 has, but I do dig their mainstream stuff as well... just not quite as much. To me, the "perfect" Eden head would be a Time Traveler 800.
I personally was actually hoping the 260 would sound pretty much exactly like the 405, and while I do think it sounds really nice, it doesn't sound just like the 405 at all. It's somewhere between the mainstream/tube and Time Traveler/SS models.
Surprisingly, especially for an amp its size, it's got a strong emphasis on the low end... in fact, I find myself rolling the bass off a bit. It's got the same smooth high end of their mainstream stuff, but the usual SS "quickness" due to the lack of the "bloominess" of a tube in the preamp. That tube "blossom" is what lotsa' guys really dig, but it's not really my thing. So IMHO, this amp has all the "coolness" of a tube preamp (rich lows, smooth highs), but all the benefits of a SS preamp (tight/quick response).
I do have a couple minor niggles with it...
I wish the mid control push/pull was reversed. I rarely find myself messing with the low mids, but often like to edge up the high mids a bit, and you have to pull it out for that. This is REALLY minor tho, and you can call me an OC freakazoid, but that bugs me a little visually to have one knob sticking out.
When it clips, it's kind of a harsh clip. It's easy to avoid, but IMHO, they need to adjust the internal limiter to clamp just a little bit sooner. I've spoken to Dave about this at NAMM and he's going to look into it.
I also wish it would do 2 ohms, but this is also a pretty minor deal since my 405 does, and the lighter stuff I use the 260 for doesn't require anything below 4.
I will say this, tho, this amp pairs AMAZINGLY well with one of those Yamaha BBT110S cabs (tho you can only hook one up since they're 4 ohm cabs).
Also, and this is just me being a typical bass player, now I want an 800W version of it.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,952
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
I was able to see all of these at NAMM, and I played through the D-400, and heard others play through the iAMP 300 and WTX-260 (though of course, NAMM is a terrible place to 'audition' gear). The EA is the smallest of the group, and stupid light, though the other two are still very compact and light. They each offer a slightly different feature set, and the PJB and EA are both 2-channel designs. The D-400 was just crazy loud, and sounded great driving numerous cabs at the same time (2 ohm load, I think, though I am not sure what it is rated at). I did not hear the EA played very loudly at all. I did hear the Eden cranked about to its limits, and I agree with Vic that the compression/limiting/whatever does not behave very gracefully when pushed this far, but it seemed fairly loud (can't really make any kind of comparison unless you try them all with the same cab under same conditions, of course).
And FWIW, the Markbass F1 was also very impressive.
Tom.
True, but most folks don't want to have to re-cab for a secondary head. However, if it's all a new purchase, moot point.
In my case, I already have a pair of Yamaha BBT110S cabs (4 ohms each), so I have that covered, but I think I'm still gonna' wait to see if they come out with a monoblock version.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,952
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Tried the WTX through a couple of fairly efficient cabs and that compressor did kick in at fairly low (by gig standards) volume... and it was pretty blatant too. A guy had just purchased it at Chuck's for about $50 less than a Markbass LMII with about twice the wattage. Didn't bode well for the little Eden.
Over on the Eden board I've read about how incredibly loud it supposedly was for it's size... maybe there was an issue with the one we tried?
