TecAmp amplification club.....is there such a thing yet

[J.Wolf]

Yeah but, is that the best bass for metal?

 

[vin*tone]

About as different as can be. The original Puma is much more extended in the low end, much more 'hi fi' up top, and has much less midrange distortion. The newer Puma model sits between the two IMO.

Thanks Ken. I'm a passive bass with flatwounds guy, but I'm finding that I'm tending towards cleaner amps these days and relying on the bass to deliver the warmth.

There's a good deal on a 1st gen Puma locally. hmmm.

 

[monsterthompson]

I'd like to thank my Puma 900 for saving my relationship with my Dingwall ABZ5. I was ready to let it go until I got this amp. The clean and even sound smoothed over the peaks from my M6 that made this bass sound thin and brittle. With the EQ, I've dialed in some sounds that greatly I enjoy. I'm seeing a new face of this bass, and I like it. Hate to say it, but the more I play the Puma, the more likely I am to let go of the M6. I can get the sounds I liked from that amp, and more.

 

[nostatic]

Can any xs112 owners comment on that cab? I assume it is a strap handle on top, and no issues covering small rooms (at reasonable volume) well?

 

[J.Wolf]

I believe the xs112 is identical to the puma 112 combo i reviewed for BMM. That combo put out around 300 watts iirc and it thumped pretty nicely. I managed to crank it up a few times and it sounded great. No doubt with higher wattage it would be even better IMO. Great padded handle, super light too.

 

[monsterthompson]

Playing around with the 900 as a recording DI box today. Wow, what a great sound and powerful tool. The clip light seems to be triggering sooner than it was before, but I'm also trying some more extreme EQ settings. Going deep with the Lo makes for some killer electro sub-bass sounds. Flipping it around to cut the lows makes for a nice contrast, though not a sound I'd usually run solo. Regardless, I'm way happy with this purchase. I need some fine tuning before I'm willing to share, but there is a wide range of sounds in this little box.

 

[moretolife]

There was a lot of love for this amp after NAMM, what makes the Puma so great?

 

[nostatic]

From the various discussions, it seems that the preamp design is part of it. I talked with Glenn a fair amount and he's a big fan, in part because their stuff just works sonically. I'm interested because while I love my TH500, it is a somewhat voiced head that tips more towards the vintage/warm side of things. That is a perfect fit for some of my gigs, but for others I want something a bit more neutral that still can kick. I've gone through most every other small amp known to modern man, so the Puma is next on the list.

The S212 cab interests me a lot, as I've picked up some more gigs where I'm fighting with a denser mix and need to move more air than either a single 12 or my Berg AE210. While I can stack a pair of the AE210s, I like the concept of a vertical single cab that is 4 ohms, weighs 40 lbs, and fits in the back of my wagon with room to spare. The form factor seems about right. One thing I love about the Berg 210 is that it is really shallow front-back. That is great for tight rooms/stages. The Aguilar cabs are the other end of the spectrum, coming in at 18" (for the SL), a bit shallower for the DB but those weight a comparative ton.

 

[monsterthompson]

There was a lot of love for this amp after NAMM, what makes the Puma so great?

lots of power in a small package. clean, even sound, but musical and not sterile. good eq points with lots of range. cool bonus features like aux-in and headphone out which can be run without speaker load.

 

[J.Wolf]

Regarding the heads, I'd say their strengths are as thompson described, and on a more sublime level, they really hit the sweetspot between transparent and 'voiced'. To me the puma sounds more like a nice hi fi tube amp than a ss micro head.

At the risk of sticking my neck out for subjective bludgeoning, I like to think of the puma heads as an ideal tonal candidate for those who love the glockenklang BAC/soul tone, but find it to be ever so slightly too sterile and dry for their needs.. Puma seems to nail that level of clarity and accuracy with added musicality, warmth and dynamics, IMO, YMMV.

 

[The_Owl]

Hey guys! I am having trouble EQ:ing my (previous gen 2HU) PUMA 350 for my new Star Bass. With the custom UNICORNbass it works better, but whatever I do I can't seem to find a good setting for the midrange. Whatever I do the mids never sound as they are part of the bass sound, it is more like the are independent frequencies on top of the bass sound, disturbing everything (boosted). If I cut them the sound becomes unfocused and bland.

Any tips?

 

[J.Wolf]

did you try cutting the hi and lo slightly, to focus the sound? Ive had good luck doing that in rooms that were wierd, or with very wide or unwieldy sounding basses, it kinda focuses/pockets the tone.

Not sure thats the solution you're looking for, or even if I'm interpreting the problem correctly, but its a handy setting regardless and worth a try

 

[KJung]

did you try cutting the hi and lo slightly, to focus the sound? Ive had good luck doing that in rooms that were wierd, or with very wide or unwieldy sounding basses, it kinda focuses/pockets the tone.

Not sure thats the solution you're looking for, or even if I'm interpreting the problem correctly, but its a handy setting regardless and worth a try

+1 With the original Puma, cutting that 30hz shelving bass control slightly can really open up the midrange of those heads. That issue was one of the things that was 'fixed' with the newer models... a tighter hi pass filtering that eliminated a bit of that sub bass that can mask the midrange in some rooms and with some cabs.

 

[The_Owl]

I wouldn't say the midrange is masked, it just doesn't want to "fit in" with the sound. Very subjective experience, and very hard to communicate to other people.

Thanks though, I will def. try what you suggested!

 

[monsterthompson]

Owl, have you toyed with the taste knob much?

 

[The_Owl]

Owl, have you toyed with the taste knob much?

Yes, I have done that, mostly towards the dry side, the left side. I didn't help much other than giving me less bottom...

 

[monsterthompson]

Try going the other way and cutting some of the lows. Just guessing that might smooth out the tone a bit, then cutting the low and low mids to balance the darkness, and boosting the upper mids to your liking. I'm speculating that the richer, darker tone might give you a better baseline to start from, though you might have to go through some knob gymnastics to get the rest of the way.

 

[The_Owl]

Try going the other way and cutting some of the lows. Just guessing that might smooth out the tone a bit, then cutting the low and low mids to balance the darkness, and boosting the upper mids to your liking. I'm speculating that the richer, darker tone might give you a better baseline to start from, though you might have to go through some knob gymnastics to get the rest of the way.

Thanks, I will try this as well!

 

[J.Wolf]

That bass is a hollow body correct? I suspect what you're experiencing may be a common issue with hb's: severe peaks and/or dips in the basses natural frequency response can make the midrange sound jagged or disjointed or whatever. If you have access to a parametric eq it would be interesting to boost the db a bunch and sweep the frequency range and see if anything jumps out with this test, which will exaggerate any peaks that are already there. I think hollow body basses should come complete with an empress para eq pedal for just this reason, but that's just me.

 

[The_Owl]

That bass is a hollow body correct? I suspect what you're experiencing may be a common issue with hb's: severe peaks and/or dips in the basses natural frequency response can make the midrange sound jagged or disjointed or whatever. If you have access to a parametric eq it would be interesting to boost the db a bunch and sweep the frequency range and see if anything jumps out with this test, which will exaggerate any peaks that are already there. I think hollow body basses should come complete with an empress para eq pedal for just this reason, but that's just me.

Well it sounds awesome in every other amp I've tried. This "hollowbody" doesn't behave like your typical hollowbody bass, soundwise. But good point! This bass sounds more like a jazz bass but with fatter low end!