Double Bass Upton Bass Amp at ISB

[Ric Vice]

Neither one is old enough to vote!

Having said that, for most jazz gigs I prefer my QSC CP8 which I think sounds more natural, whether I am using the Stat B, Yamahiko (with a preamp), a mic or even the Krivo.

I used a QSC K8 (v1) with a Headway EDB-2 (the original one not the H.E. Which is a greatly improved design) it was missing something in the midrange with the Ehrlund EAP. For me the Ehrlund EAP, RedEye, Traynor SB-106 is ideal for small to medium gigs. Just my take though I believe the QSC CP-8 is a newer power amp design than original I owned.

 

[Jay Corwin]

Ummm....the EQ knobs? Seriously just tell me what band I'm tweaking. A little too cute.

 

[brianrost]

It’s now official…the UptonE amp is shown on the Upton Bass website. Sit down before you take a look at the price, though.

 

[brianrost]

For comparison, here’s the prices for the Series 4plus AI combos from Gollihur Music. Inflation is a bitch

I’ve never been to the Upton shop, even though it’s only a 90 minute drive. This gives me an excuse to go check it out

 

[bassically_eli]

For comparison, here’s the prices for the Series 4plus AI combos from Gollihur Music. Inflation is a bitch

View attachment 7448240

I’ve never been to the Upton shop, even though it’s only a 90 minute drive. This gives me an excuse to go check it out

The $2,200 price tag is way more than inflation. Even the $1,400 Coda here is significantly more amp than the Upton due to the two-channel head. As I recall, AI charged significantly more for the two channel options than the single channel options. Plus the heads were removable. And could handle a 2 ohm load.

Oh, and it’s 650 Watts vs 200W!!!!

And the Coda is 5 lbs lighter.

 

[bass player 53]

For comparison, here’s the prices for the Series 4plus AI combos from Gollihur Music. Inflation is a bitch

View attachment 7448240

I’ve never been to the Upton shop, even though it’s only a 90 minute drive. This gives me an excuse to go check it out

You may have to sit down after the shock of filling your gas tank. Just sayin’…

 

[brianrost]

You may have to sit down after the shock of filling your gas tank. Just sayin’…

Gas just went up 15% here in my area this week. I read that heating oil is now $5.50, it was only $3.29 for my delivery 3 weeks ago.

 

[bass player 53]

Gas just went up 15% here in my area this week. I read that heating oil is now $5.50, it was only $3.29 for my delivery 3 weeks ago.

Yeah, thankfully the bulk of the winter is past for you. I think we all hope for an expedited and positive outcome to the conflict. My gigging days appear to be mostly over, so the Upton amp will have to ‘shock and awe’ others.

 

[brianrost]

My gigging days appear to be mostly over, so the Upton amp will have to ‘shock and awe’ others.

I’m mostly interested in it as something I could buy in the future if both my AI combos were to fail.

 

[ole Jason]

I feel like the idea has promise if they iterate on it but it's not the amp for me at this time. I think the price is a miss given the low-ish power, which is presumably an off the shelf ICE module or similar, and a very basic enclosure. I have considerably less invested in my Warwick Gnome / Barefaced 110 setup and have been really happy with that combo, it will take more to tempt me away.

 

[bassically_eli]

The high price tag is due largely to the head section I assume. It must be very expensive to do such a small run of combo amps. I hate to be a hater, but it’s just a poorly conceived project IMO. It would have been much simpler to do a bass cab only. At $2,200 there are just so many other options: GR Bass, Genzler, Phil Jones, Traynor, powered PA speakers, used AI, Euphonic Audio, Audiokinesis, or MAS gear….

 

[flatback]

Yeah I think that for a combo with a speaker that faces the floor (a proven problematic design...if you are actually gigging in real venues) and a boutique (hard to repair?) amp with one channel and weird eq nomenclature (that makes little sense in the real world) and a price that is head and shoulders above some very serious competition, including proven options like a Felix (with Anycab) I think it is gunna be a hard sell. But what do I know?

 

[fdeck]

Hopefully there's an IcePower in there.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

My sense is that this amp is directed towards smaller gigs without PA support and listening spaces, concert halls, etc. where the ensemble wants to be essentially acoustic but with some bass reinforcement. There are plenty of really expensive small bass combos to spend our money on and just because this lil' guy doesn't seem to fit one's idea of the perfect amp, doesn't mean it's not a viable rig for many people.

 

[LennyScalvini]

I think that an amplifier made for double bass MUST have a microphone input…
Anyway I have my AI and I don’t have reasons to buy this

 

[BobKay]

Yesterday I received an email from Upton announcing that the combo is now available. Included a link to a video with Gary explaining that the amp provides the proper input impedance to handle piezo pickups. That was pretty much all you learned. No mention of EQ package, no photos of the details of the amp section of the combo. Strange way to promote the product, IMHO. After all, a $275 Red Eye preamp will provide the proper input impedance. Full disclosure: I'm an Upton customer and supporter; over the years I've ordered two basses from them, and used their pickup.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Yesterday I received an email from Upton announcing that the combo is now available. Included a link to a video with Gary explaining that the amp provides the proper input impedance to handle piezo pickups. That was pretty much all you learned. No mention of EQ package, no photos of the details of the amp section of the combo. Strange way to promote the product, IMHO. After all, a $275 Red Eye preamp will provide the proper input impedance. Full disclosure: I'm an Upton customer and supporter; over the years I've ordered two basses from them, and used their pickup.

 

[bassically_eli]

Jeeeeeeez, the marketing hype is soooo over the top.

“No fluff and no unnecessary features”—right, that’s why it’s so expensive I suppose

 

[DJ Bebop]

Jeeeeeeez, the marketing hype is soooo over the top.

“No fluff and no unnecessary features”—right, that’s why it’s so expensive I suppose

It has one feature, trying to get into your wallet

 

[UB-EB]

It has one feature, trying to get into your wallet

I guess on the surface, this does seem like a bit over-the-top in both hype and cost. BUT, I think you have to dive deeper. In Upton's defense (or for that matter any company that offers a big buck high end product), I think the "proof is in the pudding" as they say. If I could find an amp that provides a clear, true acoustic and feedback-free sound with my acoustic upright in a loud setting, I'd go into debt and swim underwater backwards for ten miles to get that sucka. By loud setting, I mean drums, keys, electric guitar, maybe a horn and a couple vocals. I've been searching unsuccessfully for that sound for years using various speaker and amp combinations. I finally bit the dust and got a Yamaha SLB300 EUB last November. It allows me to hear myself in a loud setting, zero feedback, and I get compliments on the sound from other musicians as well as listeners. But it's just not the same. When I have a duo gig, I break out the acoustic and remember all the subtle nuances you can bring out that you just can't with the SLB. I'd be willing to give the Upton-e a go and if it took care of business, I'd keep it and sell off some of the other gear to pay for at least half of the e. Upton does offer a 30-day return policy so you could try it out. But if you end up returning it, you're out for shipping costs both ways. I got an estimate from FedX. For where I live, shipping the e runs about $100+. So, if the sound doesn't fly and I return it, I'm out somewhere north of $200. Maybe it's a gamble worth taking? Maybe not? I dunno. But it's certainly worth considering.