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New Head: Valkyrie from Baer Amps... Thoughts?

#264
andrew said:
Roger, can we see close up pics of the front and back of the Valkyrie? It's a bit hard to see on your site.
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Hey Andrew,
The front panel has changed quite a bit since that early prototype photo. I will try and get a couple new pics on the site in the next week or so.

andrew said:
I'm imagining this amp to be a cross between the EBS Fafner and the Mesa M9. Am I close on either count?
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As far as the Fafner/M9 comparison, I've never heard the Fafner head, so I can't comment on that one. I believe the M9 has some EQs curves built into the "flat" settings that would make it a brighter sounding amp. The VALKYRIE has a very flat response and there is no high end bump built in to the preamp. We like to describe it as the sound of your bass, only bigger. It tends to add some heft and muscle to your tone, without actually using any built in EQ to do so. The tube section will add tube harmonics and overtones and a bit of extra midrange character, but it still sounds like the natural tone of your instrument. IMO, built in EQs curves can be very difficult to dial out if that particular curve isn't working for you, as the amps EQ controls will rarely be centered at the same place that the built in EQ is centered at. My preference is to start with a flat preamp and mate that to a really good EQ section. Dial in what you want and your'e done.

I would imagine that Tom or Vic has heard all three heads, so maybe they would have a better idea of how they compare.
 
#266
R Baer said:
I would imagine that Tom or Vic has heard all three heads, so maybe they would have a better idea of how they compare.
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It's difficult to do such a comparison without hearing the heads side by side and with the same cabs. But I'll say that the M9 is going to have a big deep low end and a sweet, yet very present, high end that the other two won't. The Fafner has a lot going on in the midrange and a lot of ways to tweak the mids. This means that you can really change the overall character of the Fafner, which makes it hard to compare. The Valkyrie seemed to be very balanced from top to bottom, with a consistently thick, yet clear, tone. The tube overdrive option definitely gets you at least somewhat into Fafner territory. In truth, that's a really interesting comparison, but I will say this, the Valkyrie is much more intuitive in the way the tone stack is laid out.

Tom.
 
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#268
R Baer said:
The tube section uses a 12AX7 and a 12AU7. If you really wanted a screamer for metal, we could easily do a mod where the tube section is set to run with 2 12AX7's. Grab a couple ML212s and a pick and this rig would do just fine in a metal band. :bassist:
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Now that I want to hear. How much extra gain would the tube swap give you? Are we talking the difference between mild and full blown overdrive or something more subtle?
 
#269
tombowlus said:
It's difficult to do such a comparison without hearing the heads side by side and with the same cabs. But I'll say that the M9 is going to have a big deep low end and a sweet, yet very present, high end that the other two won't. The Fafner has a lot going on in the midrange and a lot of ways to tweak the mids. This means that you can really change the overall character of the Fafner, which makes it hard to compare. The Valkyrie seemed to be very balanced from top to bottom, with a consistently thick, yet clear, tone. The tube overdrive option definitely gets you at least somewhat into Fafner territory. In truth, that's a really interesting comparison, but I will say this, the Valkyrie is much more intuitive in the way the tone stack is laid out.

Tom.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tom. Can you think of an amp that is tonally closer in the ballpark of the Valkyrie than the Mesa or EBS?
 
#274
R Baer said:
Almost all manufacturers use a modified form of some stock driver. We should always be able to provide these to you to you, should the need arise. Worse case scenario, you can use a 3012HO or a 3012LF with very good results.



Custom designed crossovers with both low and high pass filters.


Hey Matt, we have been working on getting the website up to date and will have new pictures soon.



The cabs now have 2 triangular ports instead of one. In our designs, these ports also serve as structural bracing for the cabs. Those 45's brace both the bottom of the cab and the lower portion of the side walls.

NAMM1.jpg
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So ... is this thing red, or that nice burnt orange(like on the company logo) that it appears to be on the site?
 

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