anyone else try this yet? half tempted to give it a go one of these days but a good Jensen JDI A/B would be beneficial.
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Motown DI - anyone try it yet?
- Thread starter project_c
- Start date
I made a variant of one with a UTC O2 transformer for personal use. They do sound quite good. I"m selling it for less than I have in it in parts on Reverb if anyone wanted to check it out. There are audio samples as well.
contemplating buying an old UTC A11 transformer for 150 and having someone put this together for me. Can't be that expensive.
I love listening to James Jamerson and his bass lines but I've never wanted to sound like him. If I did sound like him (as I hardly ever play Motown songs) I probably wouldn't sound right for the songs I do play.
The bass sound from that era I like the most is Bob Babbitt on Midnight Train To Georgia and I can get close enough to that without using any gadgets.
The bass sound from that era I like the most is Bob Babbitt on Midnight Train To Georgia and I can get close enough to that without using any gadgets.
That would be cool. They no longer build transformers that perform like those old ones can. People seek them out for that reason.
what's so hard about giving potential customers a little demonstration, on what the thing does and sounds like??? $449.00 without a demo is snake oil.
there is a vid on youtube with dennis coffey famous motown guitar guy.
here is one with bass, last half of the clip, versus a radial prodi
it sounds like it has a hotter output and wider bandwidth, more lows and highs. i'm either going to buy one eventually, get an original wolfbox, or get the parts (triad or UTC tranny) and make my own.
here is one with bass, last half of the clip, versus a radial prodi
it sounds like it has a hotter output and wider bandwidth, more lows and highs. i'm either going to buy one eventually, get an original wolfbox, or get the parts (triad or UTC tranny) and make my own.
Looks like there is quite a disparity in the cable used for the Radial vs the one for the Acme. Wonder if that has an impact?
Not sure if the cable would make a difference. The cables used in the 60's were not as good as the ones used today. I found that the demo was not done well. The levels should have been normalized, anything louder is going to sound better. That stacks the deck in favor of the Acme Audio DI.
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lol it's a overpriced di you want " that" tone plug direct into a tascam
portastudio lol yeah the crappy tape ones. you get distortion from tube amp, or mixing board, or a tube or saturation from a transformer. it's no different really than the boutique magic gguitar transformers guys paying hundreds of dollars for when they don't realize the "magic" was garbage cheap transformers getting saturated and the distortion is pleasing. I'm not saying studio quality transformers are garbage It's rather the opposite. but it's a tube mixing board. every body keeps thinking that a green box will make them sound like jamerson his
hands sounded like jamerson. wish he was here to play tthrough some garbage Practice amp turned up lol. then again when he pulled his tone off scores n scores of dudes would be buying peavey practice amps lol for " that tone"
portastudio lol yeah the crappy tape ones. you get distortion from tube amp, or mixing board, or a tube or saturation from a transformer. it's no different really than the boutique magic gguitar transformers guys paying hundreds of dollars for when they don't realize the "magic" was garbage cheap transformers getting saturated and the distortion is pleasing. I'm not saying studio quality transformers are garbage It's rather the opposite. but it's a tube mixing board. every body keeps thinking that a green box will make them sound like jamerson his
hands sounded like jamerson. wish he was here to play tthrough some garbage Practice amp turned up lol. then again when he pulled his tone off scores n scores of dudes would be buying peavey practice amps lol for " that tone"
yes and no. for motown dates he did use the motown preamp which was tube (had UTC transformers). But for later dates on the west coast and non motown stuff, he definately used his "wolfie box" as he called it. straight to board.
I'm not sure anyone believes that they are going to get the motown sound with one piece of the puzzle in their signal chain. I think it's more the idea having a piece of useful gear that is something special. People seem to agree that the old transforms perform and have a tonal quality that isn't replicated today because of the materials and manufacturing process that they used. Certain vintage audio transformers are parted out and highly sought after for reproduction pieces of studio equipment. Companies sell the same gear with reproduction transformers. People that can afford it prefer the vintage transformers.
I bought a Hofner 500/1 because of McCartney. I wanted to capture the look as well as the tone. Using the bass gets me part of the way there. It's fun to dream.
I bought a Hofner 500/1 because of McCartney. I wanted to capture the look as well as the tone. Using the bass gets me part of the way there. It's fun to dream.
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If Summer NAMM is anything like the real NAMM, there's no way anyone could tell whether it sounds good or not.
- Jun 3, 2009
- 3,330
- 398
- Disclosures
- Bassgearu, Music Industry Consulting and Sales. Tech 21, NBE Corp, Sonosphere.
SNAMM is about 1/5 the size, and for the most part of it you can hear. So it depends. On public day, its worse then WNAMM, but on Thursday and Friday you can hear pretty well. They also spread the booths out a bit more at SNAMM so a touch less interference. And, for the most part, its country pickers playing country licks. Unless you get near the Schecter booth....
Interesting. The demo is totally weird but there is a definite audible characteristic there which is very nice.
They had a high quality headphone setup you could demo the DI with.
To be honest: IMO a halfway decent Precision with the FAT Labella Jamerson set combined with a good compressor and preamp or DI played fingerstyle close to the neck just sounds as good or better than Jamerson did. The bass and the technique and the strings alone are 97% of the sound. There is nothing I miss soundwise. I use a Squier JV P with the Jamerson set, a Warm Audio WA76 and a tonebeast preamp or the Rupert Neve DI.
Good transformers seem to have an impact on the sound. My Compressor and the Warm Audio preamp both have Cinemag transformers and it makes a difference compared to simply using a mixing desk or an ordinary bass-amp, even a good one.
The isolated tracks that are available from Jamerson just showed me 2 things: 1. Again what an incredible player he is and 2. That it just sounds compressed to the extreme and distorted and hissy on its own, but well in the mix. No need for a magic box.
Good transformers seem to have an impact on the sound. My Compressor and the Warm Audio preamp both have Cinemag transformers and it makes a difference compared to simply using a mixing desk or an ordinary bass-amp, even a good one.
The isolated tracks that are available from Jamerson just showed me 2 things: 1. Again what an incredible player he is and 2. That it just sounds compressed to the extreme and distorted and hissy on its own, but well in the mix. No need for a magic box.
I came across this, here's a chance to win an acme WB-3 Motown DI.
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Thean himself (Jamerson) hit like a hammer. He played bass guitar like an upright....very physical. That affects every single thing down the line in the signal chain. If he dimed the volume knob tons of signal was coming off of his bass first just because of how hard he played.
If you think you can buy a box and play gently and capture the Jamerson sound you are incorrect.
I'm not trying to start the whole "tone is in the fingers" poop flinging fight. I'm just saying from a signal standpoint his "gain" was way up coming off the bass because he played very physically.
If you think you can buy a box and play gently and capture the Jamerson sound you are incorrect.
I'm not trying to start the whole "tone is in the fingers" poop flinging fight. I'm just saying from a signal standpoint his "gain" was way up coming off the bass because he played very physically.
