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Double Bass New from Acoustic Image at NAMM

#82
Don Sibley said:
Looks like Ed has been doing his research. Best upright sound I've heard from him.

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Ed's a very savvy player, his Jazz Upright Bass DVD for Hal Leonard, is very well done. I have to say that with all that gear, including the Troll, I still hear the midrange bump that's a characteristic of the Realist's tone. I'm personally not fond of that sound, but I think it has more to do with his choice of strings and pickup. I'm anxious to hear his review, when it's posted. I hope he'll turn of the pickup so we can hear the Troll by itself through the Flex.

Ric
 
#83
Ric Vice said:
Ed's a very savvy player, his Jazz Upright Bass DVD for Hal Leonard, is very well done. I have to say that with all that gear, including the Troll, I still hear the midrange bump that's a characteristic of the Realist's tone. I'm personally not fond of that sound, but I think it has more to do with his choice of strings and pickup. I'm anxious to hear his review, when it's posted. I hope he'll turn of the pickup so we can hear the Troll by itself through the Flex.
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Well put. +1

The Realist thump dominates that clip, and Ed still sounds good in spite of it. Would love to hear the Troll by itself.
 
#86
Jazzdogg said:
I'm eager to see the full review, especially if there's a chance I'll hear Ed playing double bass instead of an electric with rounds. ;)
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Jazz Dog,
Although many of Ed's reviews feature bass guitars, when the product has Double Bass applications he adds a DB clip, so you can hear the amp with an upright. In past reviews he's done that for the Phil Jones Super Flight Case, and the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2. The preview clip,for the Flex is DB all the way. :)

Ric
 
#88
tappingtrance said:
nice write up in jan issue of bass player (the one with eddie gomez) on this new flex.
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TT,
I read that review recently, but I can't recall if Ed wrote it or not. Acoustic Image has a great reputation for customer service, an for me that's a real plus, because it seems like the small companies like Genz Benz, who built really nice DB amps end up getting sold off, and boutique amp builders like Walter Woods, eventually have trouble sourcing parts for their discrete component amps. Acoustic Image seems to be weathering the problems, better than most.

Ric
 
#89
Ric Vice said:
TT,
I read that review recently, but I can't recall if Ed wrote it or not. Acoustic Image has a great reputation for customer service, an for me that's a real plus, because it seems like the small companies like Genz Benz, who built really nice DB amps end up getting sold off, and boutique amp builders like Walter Woods, eventually have trouble sourcing parts for their discrete component amps. Acoustic Image seems to be weathering the problems, better than most.

Ric
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I read the review yesterday and it was done by Ed. Based on the Youtube clip and the BP review I would definitely consider that system if I were in the market for a new amp. However, although Rick does an amazing job introducing amps with more power and features, he also does an amazing job servicing the old ones. I'm very happy with my series I and II Clarus heads and comfortable that Rick will be there to service them for the foreseeable future. The FLEX system may well be the state of the art in DB amplification, but if it ain't broke..................:smug:
 
#90
Ric Vice said:
Jazz Dog,
Although many of Ed's reviews feature bass guitars, when the product has Double Bass applications he adds a DB clip, so you can hear the amp with an upright. In past reviews he's done that for the Phil Jones Super Flight Case, and the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2. The preview clip,for the Flex is DB all the way. :)

Ric
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Thanks, Ric.
 
#91
Greg Clinkingbeard said:
I read the review yesterday and it was done by Ed. Based on the Youtube clip and the BP review I would definitely consider that system if I were in the market for a new amp. However, although Rick does an amazing job introducing amps with more power and features, he also does an amazing job servicing the old ones. I'm very happy with my series I and II Clarus heads and comfortable that Rick will be there to service them for the foreseeable future. The FLEX system may well be the state of the art in DB amplification, but if it ain't broke..................:smug:
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I've been very happy with my Focus, but there's something I find very compelling about two bands of mid-range EQ; I was spoiled by the EQ functions on my iAmp800.
 
#92
I see on Gollihur you can preorder a flex preamp. I thought they were out on the market already for everybody. Did they already sell out if the first batch?!?! I've been saving up to get the preamp and almost ready to pull the trigger. Anyone know the status?
 
#95
Don Sibley said:
IMO your intuition is correct. Not only is the 4-band EQ much more functional, the center frequencies for each pot are very well selected.
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+1 Acoustic Image has gone through several incarnations of pre amp voicings. The Series II had a presence control added to the tone stack. Series III took that out. I think the Flex has the best setup for DB.

Ric
 
#96
Ric Vice said:
+1 Acoustic Image has gone through several incarnations of pre amp voicings. The Series II had a presence control added to the tone stack. Series III took that out. I think the Flex has the best setup for DB.

Ric
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Actually, the Series I and II heads have a treble and brite control. The treble is a shelving type +- 15 db at 10k and the brite is a non-shelving type +- 15 db at 9k. In practice, I tend to see them as more similar than different and that may be why the brite control was eliminated in the Series III. It seems to me that the treble is set much too high for DB. The center frequency of 650 for the mids works fine for me.

What I like about the Acoustic Image heads is that my bass sounds very natural with the EQ set at noon. Although the EQ on the older ones is weak, normally a minor adjustment is sufficient to getting a nice sound that preserves the acoustic nature I'm after. With other heads, I can get really close but some of that acoustic magic is lost.

I've owned Series III Focus and Clarus heads and probably should have kept the Focus due to it's power reserve, although the combo inputs were problematic. At some point I may try the new Clarus which has the Flex front end, but I'm enjoying the Series I and Fdeck HPF. I've done the whole 'mic' thing and am getting along just fine with a 1/4" input, single channel amp. ;)
 
#97
neddyrow said:
I see on Gollihur you can preorder a flex preamp. I thought they were out on the market already for everybody. Did they already sell out if the first batch?!?! I've been saving up to get the preamp and almost ready to pull the trigger. Anyone know the status?
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They're IN STOCK.
 
#98
Nice!! Thanks Mark! Still got a few more bucks to save but I think it'll be worth it. I have a few ideas as to how to use the 2-channels. I was thinking of trying to run my full circle into it and running one of my contact mics/pickups that is in my fretboard to pickup the slap. Kinda of like a bassmax rockabilly on steroids. Anyone try using one of the channels to try to blend the "clicky" with the bass?
 
#99
neddyrow said:
Nice!! Thanks Mark! Still got a few more bucks to save but I think it'll be worth it. I have a few ideas as to how to use the 2-channels. I was thinking of trying to run my full circle into it and running one of my contact mics/pickups that is in my fretboard to pickup the slap. Kinda of like a bassmax rockabilly on steroids. Anyone try using one of the channels to try to blend the "clicky" with the bass?
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There's no reason that wouldn't work, and you'd have the added benefit of being able to EQ each pickup independently (and even put a little bit of verb/delay on the slap pickup for depth.)
 
#100
Have the Acoustic Image Ten2 Plus and Realistic Life Line. Thought that equipment being new/improved would take my sound to the next step...The Realistic is done/off as the midrange is all it can produce. The Ten2 is a disappointment as the low mid control is too much and I have it completely off. I am going back to the K&K master with the preamp to define the sound before it hits the expensive Acoustic Image amp, which has enough power but bad frequency control points
 

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