My TF750 has been rock solid and I recently did a little test between the 750 and my DB750 and here is what i had to say:
I just spent virtually the entire day playing almost all of my basses, cabs, heads, pres etc....and I've got to say I had a great time and actually learned a lot! I am going to do another post about it with some of my findings but I wanted to post a little something about my AC here. As many of you know I opted for the Dalbergia Negra board on mine and I have been trying to determine just "what" it does for the bass if anything. I have had my theories in the past and I have made some observations about boards in general but I spent the day today focused primarily on the basses I want to keep and what to get rid of and whether the T-Funk was REALLY as great as I thought it was at first and whether it REALLY ended my DB750 lust once and for all....
First of all I have a Radial switching box that allows me to switch 2 different amps through one speaker cab so I set up the rig so I could go from the T-Funk TF-750 to the DB750 through either my NV610 or NV215 ( I tried a number of cabs but kept coming back to these 2). I also ran my bass through my Neve 8801 Preamp (basically a channel from a Neve 88R recording console). I left the EQ FLAT on both amps and used a measurement mic into my console to measure and match the output from the 2 amps so as to minimize any gain differences.
Once the rig was set up I pulled out basses. Among them, a US Bob Glaub, 3 Sadowskys, my Alleva Standard 3TS , 3 of my Warwicks, a MM Stingray 4, and an Old Spector I haven't played in a while. I had 2 guys from my current project there most of the time just kind of giving me opinions and helping me to decide what I was going to keep for what we are doing. I started out with a Sadowsky RV5 that I just got today because I REALLY wanted to hear it and I had not heard it before and thought it would be a good blind for me to judge the sound of the amps as well. VERY nice warm and fairly rounded tone through both amps (one of the guys was doing the switching between the amps so I had no way for my perceptions to cloud my judgement) One amp was obviously clearer and airier?? than the other and the more we switched back and forth the more apparent it was. I picked up my Sadowsky MV5 (which I am very familiar with) and WOW! I was blown away with how good it sounded! (I was playing through the NV215 during this time) Very punchy and clear with a tight bottom and sweet upper mids! I played through both amps and began to prefer one of the other and asked to just stay on that one for a bit and switched to the Glaub and there it was! Snarling P bass MOJO! The guitar player said Now THAT is what a bass is supposed to sound like. Very thick Duck Dunn/Willie Weeks kind of vibe. Switched bak over to the other amp and was feeling a little concerned because it just did not sound as good as the other, checked to make sure everything was Kosher, plugged into it direct into the speaker (bypassing the switching box) and it was the same....
SO I picked up the Sadowsky PJ and was BLOWN AWAY! KILLER P bass tone and a GREAT PJ tone...I don't care for the slap tone in the center position but what a great finger tone....Switched back and forth between the amps and made the decision to just hook up the favorite bypassing the Switcher....
Bottom Line, The Thunderfunk TF750 KILLED the DB750! I was stunned! I could not believe that I had bought and lost my a$$ on 5 of these amps thinking they were my grail and now the T-Funk was just killing it. More warmth, more depth, more air, more clarity, more punch, and the SIZE.....Oh the SIZE of the notes is just awesome!! Needless to say, I may be selling a DB750 with NOS Telefunkens (that I just put in a couple of weeks ago) all around!
I played a few more basses and finally the other guy says play my bass man! Come on play MY bass...He (he is the Sax Player and Lead vocalist) LOVES the Alleva and has said a few times he thought it was the best sounding bass he has ever heard. He ALWAYS calls me before a rehearsal or a gig and tells me to bring "his" bass. I plugged it in and BAM! It was literally like playing through a whole different level of rig or something! It was so different from the others that we first thought something was wrong. I had not changed anything other than the pre gain to keep the out level consistent from bass to bass but MAN it was unbelievable how much difference there was over the other basses!
The Guitar player said that it was almost like that bass was "alive" or something. There was some kind of essence that was in the Alleva that was not present in ANY of the other basses. We all noticed that the note bends and ghost notes were MUCH more pronounced and everything I did just came out more with the Alleva. I don't know whether to attribute it to the board wood or not but I had Maple, Morado, Rosewood, Bubinga, Wenge, Ebony, and Northern Ash Boards, and NOTHING was even close to what I was getting from the Alleva. I was getting so much more back from the neck and the "feel" that was there was just amazing. The more I played the more I realized that there was something magical about the sum of the parts of this bass! I have played it for a while now but never in a real critical listening type of environment until today. The consensus was that it was THE BASS....PERIOD! Not the best bass I played today, but the best bass they have ever heard me play. The singer and I go back over 30 years so this is pretty special! I felt like the bass was breathing with me and was alive, I don't know any other way to describe it. Like I said, I don't know for sure whether the board had anything to do wth it or not but I am convinced it did.
I HIGHLY recommend that you talk to Jimmy about this option if you are considering one and ask him if anything I said makes any sense at all. I would also be curious to know if anybody else has had any kind of experience like this...
EDIT - I got a PM asking me what was different about the AC and in short everything. The bass was clearer sounding, there was more sonic information, there was a warmth and an organic "life" to it. It is very hard to put into words. Imagine hearing 2 distinct sounds and thinking that they were both pretty close in that context but then hearing them side by side through the same playback mechanism and one just seems to open up and there is "more" of everything about that sound. Not just that a blanket has been lifted off of it, but more like a hundred blankets have been lifted off of it. I am not talking about volume, remember matched output level, same preamp, same amp, same speaker, same cables, same everything EXCEPT the bass. I really don't have the words to describe the difference. I have owned a number of Vintage Fenders in my day and NONE of them ever sounded or maybe I should say "felt" anything like this. There was an actual feeling to the sound that was coming out of it. Like I said earlier, the difference was so profound and amazing that we rechecked our signal flow thinking we must have hit a button or moved a cable or something to account for that much of a difference. I know there are ALWAYS going to be subtle differences between even very similar instruments but there was NOTHING subtle about the difference we were hearing. For what it's worth, I have had an Alleva with a Beautiful Honduran Rosewood board and my Modern 4 had a Maple board and neither of them sounded ANYTHING close to this one. Better is too subjective because as Mikebass can attest, his LG5 sounds friggin amazing! There is just something different and amazing about the sound of this bass and the only thing I can attribute it to is the combination of the love that Jimmy put into it and the Dalbergia. It has the SAME PUPS, Preamp, body wood and hardware as anything he is making. The ONLY difference is the Dalbergia and it blows my mind....I don't know if that helps or not....
SO what did I decide from my testing...
The US Glaub, and the RV5 will be up for sale or trade.
The NV610 will be up for sale or trade. (YES, the combination of the Neve, the TF750 and the NV215 is THAT good!)
The DB750 will be up for sale or trade. (See above...)
The EA Iamp800, NM410, and NL210 will be up for sale or trade. (truly great products just not the sound I am after. I am all about that Vintage with a FAT bottom sound)
The Demeter VTDB-2B will probably be up for sale or trade. (One of the best DI's in existence but the Neve just KILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I have FAR too much stuff sitting around collecting dust. (See above)
I have some REALLY good friends. (and Phenomenal musicians to boot)
I am VERY lucky to have the gear I have. (thank you Jesus)
I am VERY lucky that Jimmy put everything he had into making me THE BASS I will take to my grave. (I actually think I could kiss you if I ever got close enough!)
I am VERY lucky that I have a family that allows me the freedom to do the things that I truly love to do. (I am a bit of a challenge to deal with MOST of the time)
Sorry about the other stuff but I figured i would lave it for continuity...
Peace,
T
