Reiner Amplification Megathread

[dukeorock]

I still want to look into the Darkglass stuff. Lately on my doubling gigs to keep weight and pack space down I've just been using my Pope MPP2. Love it on upright, but not so much on electric. Thinking I'm going to redo my rack so my 6SL7 pre is always in there. I miss it so much when I have to use anything else on electric bass!

 

[Sharknose79]

Great review, Ken...!!!






Awes

So, that's the 1200 stuffed into the Xbox case at tonight's band practice (basement rehearsal). Hey, it'll serve for gigs and rehearsals until the Gigskinz bag comes in.

I really came here to say how thrilled I (still) am with the 1200. I've sort of been GASsing for the new Berg CN210 cabs, but the CN112 sounded fantastic tonight being pushed by the 1200. The same rig has sounded great at apartment volume too, but it's even nicer when the speaker gets to work a little harder!

Tonight I played my Martin Keith Elfin Plus fiver with Nordstrand pickups and Aguilar OBP1 preamp. The strings are stale from a couple of sweaty gigs, but the reverse P and Music Man tones were still spectacular. I tweaked the 1200's EQ a little just for fun, but mostly left it absolutely flat... because it sounds that good. With the Music Man pickup I sometimes boosted onboard bass and treble for classic MM zing, but mostly left the onboard EQ flat, too.

Of course the 1200 has tube mojo out the wazoo, whether clean or dirty. Again, I've owned some boutique tube preamps, but the 1200 has the tone I've always been looking for, with powerful, musical, usable EQ that's flat when set flat. With the active Keith bass, the Gain knob on the 1200 transitions from clean (9 o'clock) to mostly-clean (noon) to fairly overdriven (4 o'clock).

As expected the overdrive isn't modern metal, it's vintage/warm. If I need metal, I'll use a pedal. On that note I have a BDDI, a VT Deluxe, a new Brimstone XD2, and a Darkglass B7K on the way (I'm guessing I'll prefer the latter two). I haven't gigged a pedal in decades... it's been a lot of fun using SansAmp rack rigs and keeping my stage area clean... but I don't mind changing because I am delighted to have the 1200 as my starting point. I'm all about downsizing these days, and I'm playing less hard rock so cleaner/flatter tones have become more important. The 1200 is a mini-rig with tube sparkle and maxi-volume. Actually the real volume test will come this Saturday night, but I'm confident that the 1200 will hang with my hard rock band.

 

[kd5uwl]

JGR, I hope all is well with you. Just making my weekly weekend check-in to see if you might have any updates for us?

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Damn you man have you no mercy!

 

[BassyBill]

Just a reminder -advertising is not free on TalkBass.

 

[JGR]

Just a reminder -advertising is not free on TalkBass.

Sorry Bill. Will make sure Q&A is more specific/on point going forward.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I still want to look into the Darkglass stuff. Lately on my doubling gigs to keep weight and pack space down I've just been using my Pope MPP2. Love it on upright, but not so much on electric. Thinking I'm going to redo my rack so my 6SL7 pre is always in there. I miss it so much when I have to use anything else on electric bass!

Quick off-topic comment: as Tom B. said the Darkglass BK7 is awesome, but leans toward being a metal pedal. I thought it sounded fantastic for modern rock: Seether, Metallica, RATM, Linkin Park, etc. I could also get some warmer overdrive from the B7K, but from the demos I've heard, the Darkglass Vintage Microtubes is probably a better bet for traditional tube grit.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Finally, the debut gig of my 1200. It was awesome!

I gigged it through my Berg NV610. That afternoon I got a text that the owner said we should be careful about volume. I briefly considered leaving the 610 at home and using my pair of Berg HS210 cabs (because it's a less scary-looking rig), but then I said "screw it, the amp has a volume knob, I'm bringin' the MOABC".

The guitard put up a fight about his volume level (it doesn't help that he has buddies who regularly tell him to turn up, but he rarely needs encouragement), but the singer managed to convince him to keep volume reasonable for the first two sets. Reasonable does not mean quiet! Our new drummer isn't as loud as the previous one, but he still hits pretty hard. The 1200 didn't break a sweat! By the third set, the guitard went back up to his usual level: eleven. Again, I'm grateful that he blew his 4x12, so he's now using his backup 2x12 as primary. The 1200 still kept up fine! The clip light flashed on occasion during the louder songs, but the only distortion I heard was by design, when I kicked in my new Darkglass B7K pedal which I used for about 50% of the gig. Also I didn't hear any compression squish, no loss of dynamics.

Basses played were Martin Keith Elfin Plus, and Sadowsky P-bass. I experimented with EQ a little, but most of the time I kept EQ flat aside from some generous treble boost: I like bright tones, but of course the NV610 has no tweeter (generally I prefer treble from the woofer, not a tweeter -- esp. with overdrive). I kept Gain low so tone from the 1200 was clean, and I'd kick in the B7K for dirt. Both basses sounded amazing! Nicely balanced across the spectrum. I am extremely familiar with the basses, the NV610, and this particular room: the only unevenness I heard was from the room.

I know, I still sound like a fanboy, but I'm allowed to like gear! I honestly can't think of any bona fide negatives. Yes, the price is fairly steep, but it's reasonable: you get what you pay for, Jonathan doesn't skimp anywhere. Also... tube harmonic richness is always there, even when the amp is clean... solid state freaks might not go for that (shrug). Finally, some players prefer tone coloration: Ampeg tone, GK tone, Mesa tone, whatever. I get it, I'll always love my SansAmps, but I can put a pedal in front of the 1200 when I want it. I've never been a pedal guy before, but these days I prefer pedal in front of small amp, rather than a bulky 30+ pound rack rig. And I do plenty of gigs where I don't need distortion. The 1200 will do some grind!

Bunch of pics below because I dig the color-changing "ground effect" lighting. Trainspotters will notice I brought a rack rig as backup (I always bring backup), but I didn't miss it!

 

[CL400Peavey]

So I had some time to run the pre Eq on my JGR to a power amp and my F212.

My dingwall sounds fantastic even with out eq. Who woulda thunkit...

Jonathan how similar is the pre eq to the box of tone?

 

[JGR]

So I had some time to run the pre Eq on my JGR to a power amp and my F212.

My dingwall sounds fantastic even with out eq. Who woulda thunkit...

Jonathan how similar is the pre eq to the box of tone?

Very similar, though the BoT is more optimized specifically for it, so it has an edge. Also similar to the vibe of the Studio 1200.

 

[CL400Peavey]

Very similar, though the BoT is more optimized specifically for it, so it has an edge. Also similar to the vibe of the Studio 1200.

Honestly the pre doesn't need anything else. It is nice to have that kind of output should I want it. It could run a clean pre as well.

 

[TomB]

Honestly the pre doesn't need anything else. It is nice to have that ki dog output should I want it. It could run a clean pre as well.

What's a "ki dog" ? Thanks.

 

[CL400Peavey]

What's a "ki dog" ? Thanks.

Hahaha fat fingers on a smart phone...

 

[tombowlus]

Quick off-topic comment: as Tom B. said the Darkglass BK7 is awesome, but leans toward being a metal pedal. I thought it sounded fantastic for modern rock: Seether, Metallica, RATM, Linkin Park, etc. I could also get some warmer overdrive from the B7K, but from the demos I've heard, the Darkglass Vintage Microtubes is probably a better bet for traditional tube grit.

+1 Absolutely.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Of course the Studio 1200 can deliver some nice warm tube overdrive too, but results may vary based on the output level of the instrument.

 

[kd5uwl]

JGR,

I hope all is well with you today. Just making my weekly check-in to see if you have any updates regarding production for those of us waiting on our own Studio 1200 amps? Any update on when the next one might be ready to ship?

I think the next one is mine - so I'm particularly interested!!

Thanks, JGR, in advance.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I look forward to double duty this weekend -- both gigs with the 1200, of course! Tonight I'll be playing old-school rock, blues, and country. Tomorrow, loud hard rock.

Tonight I'll use a pair of Berg CN112 cabs. I'll bring my Sadowsky P5 strung with TI flats, and my new custom P5 (local builder) currently strung with Hi Beams (they are nice enough, but I will switch to Lo Riders or nickel rounds when they die). I expect the 1200/CN stack to be my favorite mini-rig. The 1200 is not as mini as my TH500, but I like it even better.

Tomorrow I will likely go with a pair of Berg HS210 cabs instead of the NV610, simply because I haven't yet used them with the 1200. I've stowed my 2kW rack rig in my storage unit because I now know the 1200 is loud enough -- even for this particular band!

 

[kd5uwl]

JGR .. also, are you working on any new projects that might be of interest to us?

 

[Fuzzbass]

Friday night's gig was awesome. I played a nice bar in swanky Chevy Chase MD. We didn't get swanky pay, but did get a free meal. Cut to the chase, the 1200 was spectacular through the pair of Berg CN112 cabs. I mostly used my Sadowsky P with TI flats. As usual I kept EQ fairly flat, but I dialed in a warm phat classic rock/country/blues tone. I also bumped gain a bit for a smidge of tube overdrive.

I was a little worried when I saw that the 3' high stage was wooden and hollow -- thought maybe I should have brought the Gramma pad. Turns out the stage sounded really nice: I had no issues with dead or boomy notes. Obligatory pixies:

Stage lighting was very yellow.

Nice bling by the entrance: vintage Jag and three-wheel roadster

 

[MarkA]

I tried a longer post without success (phone typing over a slow connection - sometimes stuff gets messed up if I try something fancy like moving the cursor), so I'll try to keep this short: the DI on the Reiner Amplification Facebook page - I'd like to hear more about that. It's described as being a beefed up Box O' Tone with three preset EQ boosts, engageable singly or in combination. I liked the BOT when I played through it and the Sonic Farm DI at Mike Arnopol's place back in July. I thought both made good, lively front ends, but wasn't sure about the idea of using a box with little or no EQ. The fixed boosts on a DI are an interesting approach, and I'd be curious to see how they work.

Questions:
- Are the boosts voiced specifically for bass or more generally?
- How about the DI as a whole - voiced, EQ-wise, or fairly flat?
- I haven't played the Studio 1200, but it's been described as cleaner and more HiFi than the BOT. Where does this fall along that spectrum? Same tonal family, or are there differences worth noting?

Danke in advance.